Articles by Arthur Winslow

Backyard Animal Tracks: Snow and Mud

The morning after a light snow is when my backyard turns into a storybook. The lawn looks blank at first, then you notice it: a dotted line under the bird feeder, a purposeful trot along the fence, a little handprint at the edge of the compost bin. I used to assume I would need a wilderness guide...

A Safe, Busy Bird Bath for Backyard Songbirds

I used to think a bird bath was just garden decor. Put out a bowl, fill it with water, wait for the birds. Then I spent a few quiet mornings actually watching. The finches approached like they were crossing a wide-open parking lot. The robin hopped up, took one look at the deep center, and backed...

5 Common Yard Plants That Fold Up at Night

Most evenings, if I am out puttering around the yard, I catch the same small miracle: a plant changing its posture as the light drains away. Not wilting, not suffering, just shifting. Leaves tilt, pairs of leaflets meet like hands in prayer, blossoms tuck themselves shut. That nightly “closing...

Identify Deciduous Trees in Winter

When I was a kid, I thought winter “turned nature off.” No leaves, no flowers, no birdsong I could recognize. It felt like the backyard had gone quiet and blank. But the longer I’ve sat still in cold air, the more I’ve realized winter is readable in a different way. Trees do not stop having...

What Weed Roots Say About Your Soil

I used to think pulling weeds was just yardwork, the kind you do quickly so you can get on with your day. Then I started paying attention to what came up with the weed. A thin white thread of root that snaps off clean. A stubborn carrot-like spike that seems to reach the center of the earth. A mat...

White Clover as Living Mulch

The first time I let white clover take the lead in a scruffy corner of my yard, I did it out of pure laziness. I was tired of bare soil crusting over, tired of weeding the same little patch, and honestly, I liked the bees. By midsummer that corner was cooler to the touch, softer underfoot, and...

A Mini-Woodland Garden, Layer by Layer

I used to think “real nature” lived somewhere else, in far-off parks with trailheads and big maps. Then I spent one slow spring sitting on an upside-down bucket in the shadiest corner of my own yard, watching a pill bug vanish under a curled oak leaf like it had stepped through a trapdoor. That was...

Identifying Tree Leaf Galls and Burls

I used to think a “healthy tree” meant a smooth trunk and spotless leaves, like something out of a landscaping catalog. Then I started actually looking . One July afternoon, sitting under a young oak with my notebook, I noticed the leaves were stippled with little green blisters and a few tidy,...

7 Early Spring Indicator Plants for Your Backyard Phenology Journal

Every year, I catch myself doing the same quiet thing without meaning to. I walk out to take the trash down or check the mail, and my eyes flick to the same corners of the yard: the sunny edge by the driveway, the damp spot near the spigot, the scruffy strip along the fence that I keep insisting is...

Native vs. Invasive Lookalikes in the Backyard

I used to think my backyard was too ordinary to hold any real surprises. Then I started noticing the “twins” hiding in plain sight: plants that look almost identical at a glance, yet behave very differently once they settle in. One feeds bees and birds and politely stays put. The other is an...

Safely Identifying Edible Backyard Weeds

I used to think “foraging” belonged to other people. The ones with linen satchels and a secret patch of forest, far from cul-de-sacs and chain link. Then one spring I noticed the same three plants popping up everywhere in my own yard: in the lawn, along the driveway crack, at the edge of the garden...

Beneficial Lichens on Garden Trees

The first time I really noticed lichens, I was leaning in to inspect what I thought was a patch of peeling bark on an old backyard maple. Up close, the “bark” turned into a tiny landscape: mint-green rosettes, gray paint-splatter crusts, and a few branching tufts like miniature coral. It felt less...

Using Trap Crops to Outsmart Garden Pests

The first time I tried a trap crop, it was not part of a grand plan. I had simply tucked a few extra nasturtiums along the edge of a raised bed because I liked the peppery leaves. A week later, I noticed something that changed the way I garden: my cabbages looked calmer, but the nasturtiums were...

Make a Sand Planter for Ground-Nesting Solitary Bees

The first time I noticed ground-nesting bees, I almost made a well-meaning mistake. There was a little patch of bare, sandy soil by my walkway, and tiny bees kept zipping in and out of pinprick holes like commuters at rush hour. My instinct was to “fix” it with mulch. Luckily I paused long enough...

Leaf Mold vs. Wood Chips

Most of my best gardening lessons have come from doing very little, then watching closely. One autumn, I raked a thick drift of maple leaves off the lawn and tucked them behind the shed, meaning to “deal with them later.” By spring, that forgotten pile had slumped into something dark and...

5 Seed-Bearing Perennials You Should Never Deadhead Before Winter

Every autumn I feel that familiar itch to tidy. Snip the spent blooms, pull the tired stems, rake everything into neat little piles. It looks orderly for about a week, and then the real season arrives: gray skies, sharp wind, and hungry birds working the yard like a grocery aisle with the lights...

How to Encourage Native Moss in a Shady Lawn

The first time I stopped trying to “fix” the moss under my maple tree, it felt like I was breaking a neighborhood rule. Most of us are taught that a proper lawn is grass only, and anything else is a problem to solve. But in the deepest shade, grass is often the visitor and moss is the resident. If...

10 Ways to Create a Sit Spot in Your Garden

I used to think “real” nature observation required a trailhead and a map. I grew up in a very ordinary neighborhood, and for a long time I treated my own yard like background scenery. Then one afternoon, mostly out of boredom, I dragged a chair behind the lilac and sat still for ten minutes. That...

Build a Dead Hedge for Birds and Insects

Every spring and fall, I watch the same small drama play out on my street: yards get tidied, shrubs get “neatened,” and then the curb fills up with the best wildlife habitat money cannot buy. Twigs, stems, thorny canes, and leaf litter get bagged and hauled away. A dead hedge is my favorite way to...

7 Night-Blooming Plants That Attract Moths

The first time I truly noticed night pollinators, I was not out on some grand expedition. I was standing barefoot on my back step in a perfectly ordinary suburban yard, watching the last light drain out of the sky. The day shift had clocked out. Bees had tucked themselves away. Even the birds had...