Schiddygarden

Welcome to Schiddygarden—the garden that's much worse than yours. If you’re expecting useful gardening information and advice, you might be disappointed.

On second thought:

If you do ANYTHING ELSE than what occurs in Schiddygarden, then your chances of achieving awesome results should increase exponentially.

Right there is pretty good advice.

Breaking Better

Annual Friend or Foe Quiz

Dandelions—To Be or Not To Be?

John R

3 min

Breaking Better

Look on the bright side, says Monty Python. Sometimes, you just gotta do exactly that.

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John R

4 min

Annual Friend or Foe Quiz

It’s quiz time, and what self-respecting gardener doesn’t love a rousing no-consequences brain tickler? Truthfully, I’m not that fond of...

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John R

3 min

Dandelions—To Be or Not To Be?

Dandelions are the scourge of the suburban lawn—or are they?

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John R

3 min

Chicago

A walk in Rosehill Cemetery amid one of nature's finest monuments—big oak trees.

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John R

3 min

Artificially Intelligent

Come to think about it, what are those things coming out of the ground?

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John R

5 min

For the Love of Rellenos

I’ve written about our chili peppers before and although I don’t want to drive the subject into the ground I’m going to do exactly that....

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John R

3 min

A True and Actual Pain in the Ass

When life gives you hurts, make hurtinade.

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John R

3 min

Last Tangle in Paradise

What to do when time is ticking away.

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John R

1 min

Welcome to the Anti-Nut House

A soul-soothing look at a few garden bright spots.

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John R

3 min

Sunny Side Up

Letting nature in by getting immersed in the immediate.

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John R

2 min

The Return of Snidely Whiplash

I don't mean to complain and whine. It's just that I'm so good at it.

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John R

3 min

Dirge in A Miner

We could not be prouder of our spinach if they were our own children. Maybe prouder. Look how thoroughly green and upright! Look at those...

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John R

3 min

Where Are the Dead Birds?

Inquiring minds want to know. And so do I.

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John R

4 min

Stick It

My father cut off the ends of two of his fingers while reaching for a stick that poked out from under the lawn mower he was pushing....

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John R

2 min

Snow Job

Daydreaming of a Glorious Horticultural Breakthrough.

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John R

4 min

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Deep thoughts about small things.

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John R

2 min

More Pepper Dreams

Helpful advice for growing chilies.

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John R

2 min

Bad Pepper! Bad, Bad Pepper!

Blossom end rot tries to crush my naive hopes for a trouble-free harvest.

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John R

3 min

Five Good Things

Sometimes you have to look for five good things.

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John R

2 min

Cabbage Whites Save Summer!

They're happy little butterflies, but maybe they have a dark side?

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John R

4 min

Swamp Grass

Adding a raised bed for growing chilies meant confronting the swamp grass.

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John R

3 min

Slings and Arrows

The Tree Guy tried to pin this one on me. I’m not buying it.

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John R

3 min

Tater-rific

Welcome to the Blind Pig edition of Schiddygarden.

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John R

3 min

A Few Words from the Peanut Gallery

Sometimes a great notion simply doesn’t fly.

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John R

2 min

Danger Zone

It's the scariest time of year in our garden.

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John R

3 min

Flickers of Hope

That burst of sound cracks open the doldrums of winter with its insistence of spring.

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John R

3 min

Camellia, We Feel Ya

How to grow incredible camellias without even trying. At all.

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John R

3 min

Ivy Be-leaguer-ed

Ivy grows like crazy. What's not to like?

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John R

2 min

It's Going to Be a Scrumptious 2021

Having breakfast outside in the sun is one of humankind’s most rewarding experiences .

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John R

2 min

Are Those Bulbs in My Pants?

Planting a completely whacked-out flower bed that defies common sense.

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John R

2 min

Mutiny of the Bounty

I don’t particularly care for cabbages and radishes, but I’m a sucker for alliteration.

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John R

3 min

Memento Mori

Along came a Latrodectus and sat down for a semi-serious chat.

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John R

2 min

Ridin' the Wild Leon

If you don't plant Leontodon, they will come anyway.

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John R

3 min

Attack of the Tiny Tomatoes

Is too much of a good thing a bad thing?

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John R

2 min

The Beauty Thief

A timely gift of beautiful flowers put my larcenous impulses on hold.

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John R

3 min

Sticky Proboscises and other Sex Toys

Hummingbirds are stupidly fast, which explains a lot.

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John R

4 min

The Three Amigos Throw Down

A ruthless, no-limbs-barred dustup is slowly taking place in the back yard.

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John R

3 min

The Water Woes

Hellebores, you are woefully narcissistic and you can never get enough.

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John R

2 min

Don't Foodle with Your Doodle

If you are inclined to low-grade entertainment, these are the bugs for you.

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John R

2 min

The Case of the Missing Lilies

The clues: bare earth and unrequited mulch.

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John R

2 min

Nature's Schiddiest Garden

We needed a big dose of raw nature to restore our faith.

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John R

3 min

Kiss My Ash (goodbye)

It's a gnarly old tree, but should I cut it down?

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John R

3 min

Wisteria Hysteria

Friends warned that wisteria was a relative of extraterrestrial xenomorphs.

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John R

4 min

Reginald, My Dear

He was the greatest pet ever.

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John R

3 min

Me Ignore Plain Facts

There are gardening tenets that are so basic you couldn’t possibly ignore them. But you do.

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John R

4 min

The World's Clumsiest Tree

This sad, twisted clown of a plant is just crying out for love...

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John R

6 min

Return of the Murdered Valerian

The toughest plant in the garden meets its match—Deb and a pair of clippers.

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John R

3 min

The Drunk Robins Are Coming!

This annual event always creates a big kerfuffle.

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John R

4 min

Let's K-Vetch

The Cersei of the front garden is a cunning, ruthless, and good-looking adversary.

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John R

5 min

Bugs Buddies

Industrious creepy crawlies act as if the property is their own private domain. Well, it is.

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Schiddygarden

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