If your home guzzles energy there’s no better time than now to do green remodeling, because rebates and incentives still exist. Two local green builders explain what your best bets are in terms of payback and the environment. By Scott Rodwin & Ron Flax If your house is more than 15 years old, an energy-efficient […]
By Molly Rettig If deer treat your yard like a buffet—munching roses, gulping from your pond, and nibbling your hard-grown fruits and veggies—you’re probably at your wits’ end. But it is possible to get deer to pass on the potluck. These cute but pesky garden visitors can attract predators like mountain lions into your yard. […]
A fanatical love of gardening is passed from father to daughter. By Mary Lynn Bruny I am a ridiculously ardent gardener. People admire my garden and “ooh” and “aah,” but I’m a little embarrassed about it. It shows that I purchase way too much and spend way too many hours puttering that I should probably […]
Ravaged by disease or old age, a beloved tree can live on in a different incarnation. If your favorite tree’s time is up, here are ideas to keep it around a little longer. By Lisa Truesdale It’s easy to fall in love with a tree. Trees are symbols of permanence and faithfulness, reaching optimistically for […]
This lush landscape is a 40-year work-in-progress for the homeowner, single mom who did most of the work herself. photos by weinrauch photography.com The day Catherine Schweiger closed on her Mapleton Hill home, she walked through the front door with a sledgehammer in one hand, a shovel in the other, and a plan. It was […]
Here are a few things to consider when choosing stonework for your garden, walkways or patio. Ground Preparation Proper ground prep, especially for stone and brick surfaces, is crucial. “Here in Boulder we have clay-based soil,” says Brian Scott, a stonemason and owner of StoneScapes in Boulder. “You want to make sure you have your […]
Here are three delicious desserts guaranteed to please. I don’t believe baking should be complicated. I know some people like the challenge of a baked Alaska, and that’s fine. But I lean toward baking’s more creative than challenging side. That may stem from having to do a TV segment in four minutes that has to […]
Windows frame the outdoors and ventilate our homes, so it makes sense to know the different styles before you shop so you can choose the appropriate windows for your home. We drape them, dress them, shade them and gaze through them, but we often ignore their functional aspects. Windows frame our views and connect us […]
An interior designer dramatically transformed four chairs destined for the dump, showing how easy it is to keep Grandma’s chair out of the landfill. “I’ve always had a chair fetish,” admits Barbee James, owner of Details Design Studio in Boulder. Who better to turn to, then, when I inherited an ugly 1960s wing chair from […]
This home by Haystack Mountain is a crossroads for two cultures, especially in the kitchen, where cuisines from different countries are continually cooked up. Photos by WeinrauchPhotography.com When Thanya LeBlang moved from Thailand to Boulder four years ago to live with her American husband, Steve LeBlang, she thought his country home near Haystack Mountain “was […]
Too many front porches are outfitted with only a chair or two. If that describes your front porch, here are ways to make it a comfy, cozy space in any season. Photos by Weinrauchphotography.com With spring right around the corner, now’s the time to prep the porch and get your outdoor spaces primed and ready […]
It’s easy bein’ green when it comes to cleaning house. Alternatives to chemical cleaners are just as effective, and not hazardous to your health or the environment. Next time you head to the store, add a few items to your shopping list: fresh lemons, baking soda and vinegar. Then scratch off glass cleaner, scouring powder, […]
This Niwot landscape was designed to amplify the earth’s electromagnetic field to keep the home’s occupants healthier and in tune with the earth. Photos courtesy Outdoor Craftsmen When you round the corner into Jeff Lambert’s modest-sized, suburban backyard, a surprising visual feast awaits: Cascading waterfalls, a blue-green sea of plants, a hobbit-esque stone-and-timber sauna, and […]
The creative stonework in this garden makes it stone-cool rather than stone-cold. Photos by WeinrauchPhotography.com When Brad and Emily Hahn purchased their Mapleton Hill home in 2003, it’d been a rental property for 30 years. The neglected house needed a facelift, and the yard was covered in pesky vines, unwieldy rhubarb and dying pear trees. […]
Autumn is tree-planting time, so dig a hole for these favorites of the senior curator at Denver Botanic Gardens. They’re tough, generally xeric and pretty to boot. Text and photos by Panayoti Kelaidis Trees and shrubs are the bones of our gardens, the structure upon which everything depends. We often ignore them in summer, when […]
Teaching children gardening skills empowers them to make healthier choices for themselves and the planet. Gardening is easy. Just ask Alexis Smith, 10, who loves helping her mom tend their sprawling east Longmont garden. “I just write down everything my mom tells me,” Alexis says, proudly showing off her gardening binder, which contains pages and […]
Fall is the perfect time to plant bulbs, and pairing bulbs makes for fabulous displays. Here are ideas for creating gorgeous beds come spring and summer. Bulbs are the unsung wonders of the garden. They give us unending color with very little effort, and even a novice gardener can create a spectacular display. If you […]
The nation’s first net-zero greenhouse is being built and tested at a local organic farm by a Boulder firm, which hopes to develop it for residential applications so homeowners can grow vegetables year- round—without the associated astronomical energy costs. It’s an odd disconnect: If you grow your own food, chances are you’re going to have […]
Are your garden gloves too sweaty, too porous or too prone to pricking? We had Master Gardeners test four popular gloves to see which ones were just right for the job. By Carol O’Meara A gardener’s hands are a dead giveaway that he or she works with the earth: scraped and pricked, with split nails […]
It’s hard to love plants that die off, never produce or need constant babying. Sometimes you gotta give your plants “tough love,” and let ’em figure it out on their own. Here are some that thrive on tough lovin’. By Panayoti Kelaidis As senior curator at Denver Botanic Gardens, I always hear the same complaint: […]
