Hi there.

Today is Western Monarch Butterfly Day. And there’s bad news.

Turns out that both Western and Eastern monarchs are in big trouble. 

Before 2010 there were millions of Western Monarchs wintering along the Pacific Coast. By 2020, the population had dwindled to less than 2,000.

The reasons for this severe population decline include: loss of habitat (development), pesticide use (including pesticide coated seeds which - just - no), and (sigh) climate change.

Since 2020 the monarch count has increased to around 200,000. A lot of advocacy work is behind this good news including a push to get monarchs protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Thing is, the Act is overseen by two federal agencies - the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - that have uncertain futures.

So, that’s the doom and gloom. Here’s the hopeful to-do list - 

A good portion of the recent ten-fold increase in the population of these glorious pollinators was due to us: the humble👩🏼‍🌾, the mighty👨🏽‍🌾, the gardener.

We planted milkweed to house and feed monarch caterpillars and tended to nectar rich plants to give adult monarchs the energy to migrate and proliferate.

Of course we did! And we’ll continue to do same.

If you’re expanding your flower garden this year, check out this list of monarch friendly native plants, sortable by state.

Got room for more milkweed in your garden? Here’s a list of places to grab milkweed seeds that are - important - native to your area. Fat and happy caterpillars coming up!

The Xerces Society is a great place to learn about monarchs and what else needs doing.

As for me, milkweed seeds are on order for the pollinator bed I prepped last Fall - with monarchs in mind! (How-to video available on Youtube.) Just six weeks to go until the start of Spring!

Take care🦋,

Lisa

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Melissa Burovac on Unsplash

Hi there.

Have you ever made up your mind to do something even though you weren’t sure how to do it or whether you could pull it off?

Regardless, you made the decision: “I’m doing it! Comfort zone be damned!"

That was how I felt when I made my very first 2xEDGE video back in April 2022. 

The subject: a neighborhood parking strip tree with a sad, it-all-fell-down wood garden border.🌳

I thought, “OMG fixing this would be a great way to show how easy it can be to re-use existing garden borders!”

So, I roped a fearless pal into helping me with the shoot.

There was rehearsal, there was a wardrobe malfunction, there were friendly and not so friendly dogs walking through the shot.🐕‍🦺

Aaaaand, scene.

The shoot took about 30 minutes.

I spent the next 48 hours tearing my hair out while using new-to-me video editing software.😵‍💫

My goal was to turn what I came to realize was, ahem, a bunch of random video clips and photos into a short and poignant story focused on reduce/reuse/recycle in the garden.♻️

You know - living my values!

Is it my best video? My worst? On this one I agree with those who say: it’s the journey that matters.☯️

And the lesson: if you have garden borders that need a pick me up? It really is quick and easy to get them back in service with 2xEDGE Staples.

This time around, add some color accents to those borders! There's still time to get in on the (code) COLORMEHAPPY sale. $2 off all color staples. Enter your subscriber-only code at checkout. Ends tonight!

Take care,
Lisa

PS. Just seven weeks until the vernal equinox!

Hi there.

Have you noticed that I've been on a tear lately with digital gardening tasks?

Not Spring garden prep. We all know that's many weeks away. Eight weeks away if we're ... dealing ... in reality.

Sigh.😐

Fresh off of tending to the 2xEDGE Youtube channel, which is now in full bloom, I've moved over to the 2xEDGE blog - and struck black gold!

Gardeners know all about black gold - that nutrient rich compost that's a soil building wonder. Spread it around and watch your plants (and your worms) stand up and shout "thank you!"

It takes a bit of work to create black gold. Fine.👩🏼‍🌾

I pulled on my gardening gloves and dove deep into the blog, turning it over, breaking up clumps, removing bits that aren't enriching.

And now? The compost is ready for use!

Head on over to the 2xEDGE Landscape Edging Ideas Blog and grab your black gold!

The blog is teeming with -

• tips and tutorials,
• insights on mmmmmulch (can’t help it, I just love mulch),
• interviews with 2xEDGE customers, and
• info on using lumber as garden edging.

All to say, it’s all here for you: the 2xEDGE blog, the 2xEDGE Youtube channel, and me.🤓

Take care,
Lisa

PS. You can still save on color staples - use the COLORMEHAPPY discount code. And the scratched-n-scuffed continues. Save $3 on Rustic Steel Staples!

Hi there.

You know that spot in your garden that isn’t really “garden”? 

It’s sort of scraggly. Unplanned. A bit forlorn.

Maybe it’s your catch-all space: a holding pen for transplants, a place to tuck thinned out perennials and left-over annuals (because, like me, you can’t stomach tossing living plants in the compost or - 😵- garbage so tuck ‘em in...somewhere).

Until very recently, the 2xEDGE Youtube channel was a lot like a scraggly, unkempt garden patch. I used it for storage when I used it at all, uploading videos without much thought.

This year I decided to clean up the channel. I pruned, fertilized, topped up, raked smooth.... My goal was to create a useful learning space for DIYErs like us.

Well, the channel has bloomed!

You'll find how to videos, customer project videos, project outcome videos, and fun Youtube shorts.

Please have a look! Let me know what you'd like to see. Subscribe to the channel and be the first to know when new content is uploaded.

For my part, I'll continue with this digital "yard work", tending to the channel to help it thrive and grow into an even better resource.

All this cultivation work has me thinking: that scraggly unplanned patch in my yard is undergoing a metamorphosis this year!

👉🏼If you’re thinking this is your year to give that scraggly patch in your garden a little love, we’ve got a “scratched-n-scuffed” sale going on. Save $3 on Rustic Steel and Satin Black Staples!

Take care,
Lisa

PS. Just nine weeks until the vernal equinox!

Hi there.

So, this past weekend a neighbor, who’s also a friend and a gardener, caught me staring at my small backyard garden.

Dusted with snow on a cold grey day, it was hard to imagine that under all that gloom there's a vibrant life giving garden - and not just for the birds and bees.

“Great news!” my neighbor said. “Spring officially starts in just ten weeks!”

(FYI - the COLORMEHAPPY discount code will be in effect for three more weeks.💰Save $2 per color staple in Mint Green, Forest Green, Rose Pink, Robins Egg Blue, and Monarch Orange through Jan 31.)

She meant well. But ten weeks may as well be ten years from nowwwwww!

It’s okay. I have sweet recent memories of moments in the garden last Fall. Like edging this new bed to create a shade garden on the side of my she shed!

I got a little adventurous with this project. I used a dark walnut stain on the wood and paired that with Robins Egg Blue staples. Both are super contrasty and look great together.

Soon this patch will host a variety of shade plants. Mostly ferns which the deer have yet to show interest in.🦌🤞🏼

Plus (score!) I got the last few pots of purple Jacob’s Ladder and sweet woodruff on end-of-season sale at our local garden center. Can't wait for these to make an appearance this Spring!

Check out the project video on the 2xEDGE Youtube channel, and get all the project deets in this article posted to the 2xEDGE Landscape Edging Ideas Blog.

And remember: just ten more weeks until Spring!

Take care,
Lisa

Hi there.

It’s been a while since I sent out a 2xEDGE e-newsletter.

Apologies!

Life happened, I lived it, and good news: my mother is now happily living a stress-free life in a terrific assisted living situation. Phew!

If you’ve ever helped family, or framily, make a huge and anxiety-ridden life transition in a hurry, you no doubt get the need for stress relieving breaks.

Gardening is a go-to stress reliever for me. So when the going got tough last year, when I could, I got into the garden.

I tackled this project - installing garden edging alongside our storage shed - a few months ago. (The part where I had to get busy with a pick-axe? Extra stress relieving!)

For years this full sun patch has been crying out for a flower bed. As you can see, I decided to go all in on color, painting the 2x4 lumber to match the shed and using Forest Green 2xEDGE Staples to complement that muted blue-gray color. 

(I agonized over which color staple to use but then figured I can always swap out one color staple for another - easy enough to do with 2xEDGE.)

We Midwesterners are months away from picking up a garden hose or planting anything outside. Regardless, I’m so looking forward to planting up this bed this Spring! With my mother safe and secure, my newly freed-up garden design brain can have a little fun with this.

Today I’m thinking marigolds - saturated orangey-yellows against the blue-grey will look spectacular. 

Or maybe zinnias - the shed would be a fantastic backdrop for a multitude of colorful flowers. 

Or - oooh - bee balm?

So many choices! I’ll keep you posted!

The project video is available on the 2xEDGE Youtube channel. Get all the project details in the article posted to the 2xEDGE Landscape Edging Ideas Blog.

I hope, like me and mine, you and yours are finding things to feel optimistic and excited about in 2025. 

Happy New Year! And Happy 2xEDGE-ing!

Lisa

PS. To help bring about a more colorful 2025 I've dropped the price on 2xEDGE Staples in Mint Green, Forest Green, Rose Pink, Robins Egg Blue, and Monarch Orange. 💰Save $2 per color staple! Use coupon code COLORMEHAPPY at checkout. Sale ends January 31.