With the showers we've been getting, you may be wondering... "Where does all this rain go?" This quick video shows you! Here is a fun online tool that lets you track a raindrop from your neighborhood, or any neighborhood, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico- River Runner At Abundant Design, we can help you design and install Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) and even walk you through potential rebate opportunities! Contact Us for Rain Gardens, Native Plantings, SQR and More! Native Planting in Adel Soil Quality Restoration in Highland Park ..read more

Nine Square Feet is once again partnering with Abundant Design to bring you a fruit tree grafting workshop.  During the workshop you will learn how to graft trees with hands-on experience and valuable in-person coaching. Nine Square Feet Learning Garden 1020 8th St West Des Moines, IA 50265 Saturday April 6th, 2024 9:30am-10:30am & 11:00am-12:00 noon Register at Signup Genius! (link) Jeff Reiland will demonstrate grafting techniques and show you how to care for your newly grafted trees. Participants will select from popular and historic varieties or may bring scion from ..read more

Iowa Backyard Farmer This up and down weather has been crazy!?!?  Shorts on Monday, snow on Sunday!  I think last year might have been even a little worse...  This 2023 weather app screenshot from Iowa Backyard Farmer really shows how crazy... and this year seems to behaving similarly. It just goes to show that we need to resist the desire to rush into planting our gardens and pay attention to those last frost date charts and old-time gardening practices. "Potatoes and onions after Easter""Tomatoes after Mother's Day""Sweet Potatoes after Memorial Day or Father's D ..read more

After their new addition was built, these Urbandale homeowners saw it as their chance to include some new outdoor elements they wanted instead of just repairing the construction damage. Patio, bench wall, garden beds and stream behind It included a patio with bench walls and a firepit, vegetable and herb gardens.  A dry stream directs stormwater runoff to a pair of rain gardens. Upper rain garden basin ready for planting Bridge set over the rain garden outlet to access the existing woodland paths In the production area, herb beds run along the access pat ..read more

This Saturday head down to the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden for their Learning on Saturday series. We'll be presenting this week's topic - Creating an Edible Landscape Learn all about edible plants that you can incorporate into your landscape in Iowa! 10:30 – 11:30 AM Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden 909 Robert D. Ray Drive (Directions*) Des Moines, Iowa 50309-2897 Get tickets here - Learn on Saturdays – Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (dmbotanicalgarden.com) *GPS can be a little tricky- try this route ..read more

The numbers out of Mexico aren't good, and I'm not talking about the border crisis. Overwintering Monarch Butterfly totals from Mexico have just been released.  Nine colonies of monarchs were found and covered an area of just over 2 acres (0.90 hectares on the graph below).  Nearly all of the monarch butterflies in the world are overwintering in a space that is- Less than two Football Fields!  Or ten average suburban yards! These numbers are down nearly 60% from the previous winter, and the second lowest number ever counted – the lowest was during the 2013–2014 season.  Th ..read more

Each year at the end of winter and beginning of spring, there are a few weeks of magic that happens.  Tree sap starts to flow, bringing life from the roots back into the branches. Farmers across the northern US and Canada collect sap from their maple trees as they have for over two hundred years.   The sap is collected and usually taken to their "Sugar Shack." There, this barely sweet, clear sap is boiled down using time-honored methods passed down from generation to generation to produce the sweet, dark maple syrup we use on pancakes, waffles and more. You can also take part i ..read more

These new homeowners had an idea for their backyard, and it didn't include the existing gravel parking lot. They also had significant yard damage from a geothermal system, that was not repaired the way they had expected. The goal was for a natural, relaxing space filled with as many edible and ecological benefiting elements as possible. We began with three main goals- a garden, a patio and a fence.  Garden beds were high on the priority list for clean growing fresh produce!  A relaxing patio for their firepit, surrounded by a natural environment using some of their exi ..read more

Durable block wall raised beds with...  Under Armor !?!? These garden beds, installed this summer, were going in near an existing Hackberry tree.  Although near the current drip line, the footprint was small, and the installation shouldn't damage its roots any more than the other construction traffic.   However, future growth would mean that the root system would be expanding.  I was concerned about these tree roots invading the raised beds and stealing water and nutrients from the plants growing there.   Original SPROUT Garden At the old&n ..read more

Another large project was started in the previous season incorporating stormwater best management practices into a full native planting that includes basically the entire property.   The home was built for a gentleman that wanted to be very responsible and not contribute to ANY stormwater runoff, erosion and flooding. Woodland & savanna styled plantings in the front incorporated a walking path, some native shrubs and smaller trees.  Several invasive burning bushes were taken out.   A rain garden captures the front down spouts as well as most of the drivewa ..read more