Your DIY Centre

By late October, the maples out front have dropped every leaf, and suddenly the view from your kitchen window includes the neighbour's shed, the road, and the driveway. That's where evergreens come in. Cedar, spruce, yew, and a handful of other hardy species hold their needles right through a Kingston winter, which means they're doing two jobs at once: blocking the view and giving your yard some backbone once everything else has gone dormant. Why Evergreens Matter for Privacy and Structure A …

You laid down sod a couple weeks back but instead of green lawn you're seeing a worrying yellow. Take a breath as this can be salvaged. Yellow sod almost never means dead sod, and in nine cases out of ten we see with yellow sod here in Kingston, Ontario, it's fixable with a change to your routine rather than a truck of new turf. The Most Common Cause: Watering Problems Walk the yard and look at where the yellow shows up. Does …

Every September-October, Kingston lawns disappear under a layer of leaves and every fall, homeowners wonder the same question: should I rake them, mulch them, or just let them sit? There's no single right answer as it depends on how many leaves you're dealing with, what shape your lawn is in, and how much time you've got. Keep reading and we'll walk through when each option makes sense for your yard. What Happens When Leaves Sit Too Long A thin scattering of leaves …

Most people pack away the trowels the moment the tomatoes come in, and figure the garden's done providing for the year. It doesn't have to be, and if you've still got a patch of open soil sitting empty right now, you're sitting on more growing season than you think. A handful of cold tolerant vegetables don't just tolerate the drop into fall, they do some of their best growing in it, so let's look at what you can still get …

If you try to push your finger into the lawn near your driveway after a dry August week you'll be able to see first hand the compacted soil. This is the moment fall lawn aeration and overseeding truly pays off and the window for getting it done right runs from about mid August through late September. The Signs Your Soil Is Compacted (Before You Even Aerate) Compacted soil builds up gradually over time whether its from a place the kids and pets …

Six weeks ago that bed by the driveway was full of colour and life. Now the coneflowers have gone brown and papery, the catmint has flopped sideways onto the lawn, and things just aren't looking as vibrant as they once did. That's the August garden slump, and every perennial garden across Kingston hits this same wall around the same time each year. Early bloomers are finished, the July heat has stressed everything else, and the whole bed just looks worn …