Topsoil

Whether you’ve lived in Maryland for only a little while or a long time, you know how the summers are hot and humid (often around 80 degrees) but the winters are harsh and cold (often 20 degrees), while the temperature throughout the rest of the year hovers at a comfortable 55 degrees. However, such drastic…

Whether you are building your landscape from scratch or you are looking to re-up your current landscape, one of the most important aspects of your lawn will be the topsoil. Most people have heard of topsoil before, so it is not a shocker that you are reading about it now. However, most people do not…

In 1986, in the context of the battling superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, a column appeared in the New York Times opinion section entitled “My Green Empire.” In it, author David Holahan considered his “Great Leap Grassward,” a plan to ambitiously expand his lawn. His ambivalence colors the text as he…

When planting comes to mind, we most often think of springtime, with its abundant flowers and April rains. However, fall is an equally important growing season, one for getting new annuals and heartier plants, like shrubs and trees, in the ground. Fall is an important—and advantageous—time for planting because air temperatures are cooling, meaning young…

So, you are looking around your local landscaping store at all the bags upon bags, rows upon rows, of topsoil. And you’re wondering: How much topsoil do I need? Do I even need topsoil? How do I get one of those 50-pound bags off the top shelf? Most of those are very important questions! How…