Gardening

Earlier this December, the Kansas City Rose Society launched its Save the Pillars Campaign, which aims to raise $20,000 by the end of the year to help restore the historic stone structures in the Laura Conyers Smith Municipal Rose Garden in Loose Park.

There’s no shortage of products designed to grow beneficial fungi that will help your crops or garden. Whether they actually do that, though, is a different matter.

The first English word for “lawn” dates back to the early 1500s, described as an “open space among trees.” Lawns today are a far cry from that description, but they’ve come to dominate our physical — and cultural — landscapes. Now concerns over environmental impacts are propelling yet another redefinition.

Native plant species are better adapted for our environment, great food for bees and butterflies, and available to purchase at nurseries and plant shops across the Kansas City region. Can you dig?

The practice of preserving food via canning has been around for two centuries, but has experienced a revival in interest. Here’s how two Kansas Citians are keeping the practice alive in two very different ways.

So you want to do something about climate change, but what? We have ideas. Some require a little planning, while others might mean one less thing on your to-do list. (You can skip raking leaves!)

Ottawa city officials are trying to strike a balance between people who want to produce food and the interests of their neighbors

Overland Park is updating city codes to make space for planned native landscapes, which have long been banned as "weeds." That could mean front yard gardens featuring milkweed, blue sage, native flowers and other species that once dominated the northeastern Kansas landscape.

The proliferation of traditional grass lawns have brought problems like flooding, river contamination and pests. But the local ordinances and the rules of homeowners’ associations across the Kansas City area practically insist on Euro-style turf.

Ellen Finnerty dreams of beekeeping and of supplementing the income from her warehouse job by selling products from her garden.

Traditional grass lawns are much less effective at absorbing and filtering stormwater than native plants and trees. The Contain the Rain program aims to increase the number of rain gardens across 16 Johnson County cities.

Kansas City is about a week behind schedule for vegetable planting because of an exceptionally chilly March, but gardeners don't have to wait any longer. Local horticulturist Dennis Patton shares his tips on how to get the most out of your lawn and garden this spring.