We all know that a lovely landscape makes you feel good, but researchers in the US have shown it does more than that: turning vacant lots into low-maintenance green sites caused depression rates in the area to plummet. The study was done in Philadelphia. Researchers selected 110 vacant lots around the city, focusing on sites […]

August is one of the loveliest seasons in the garden. This is when the last of the early-summer flowers are still in bloom, but we start to see blossoms emerge that hint at the fall to come. Whether you love perennials or annuals, exotics or wildflowers, there’s lots of action happening in the garden. The […]

When we talk about pollinators, most of us picture a honeybee. And if you’ve seen The Bee Movie, the animated feature film from a few years back, chances are you can even hear Jerry Seinfeld’s voice every time you see a honey bee pollinating a flower. There’s no denying honeybees are important to farmers: the […]

The look and scent of roses adds a treasured touch to any garden, but many people shy away from planting them at the cottage. They know that a lot of the popular varieties in the south just won’t survive in Muskoka, where our summers are too short, our winters too cold, and our springs too […]

It’s got texture and shape and it looks wonderful in just about any garden. When clients ask us about planting ornamental grasses, one of the first plants we look at is Miscanthus. Of course, that’s a bit like saying “one of the trees we look at is the willow.” Both Mischanthus and Willow are terms […]

Every creative area has its own awards: the Oscars, the Junos, and the Grammies are all fun to watch. The PPA Plant of the Year awards aren’t quite as well known, but those of us in the business still tune in to see which plant the Perennial Plant Association will name as the year’s best […]

Winter is the time when much of the landscape goes dormant, settling under a blanket of snow for a months-long snooze. For landscapers, though, winter looks quite a bit different. In fact, January and February can be extremely busy months at Water’s Edge: it’s the time when we get to dig deep into training, learning […]

If you’re coming up to the cottage this holiday season, it’s a good opportunity to do some landscape planning. There’s mounds of fresh, fluffy snow across Muskoka and a well-designed garden looks fantastic in all seasons.  So cast a critical eye across the landscape and ask yourself whether it looks fabulous. If not, let’s start […]

As we move out for the winter, our neighbours are looking for ways to move in. Mice and other critters are anxious to find a safe home in our cottages. It’s not surprising. Deer mice are the most abundant mammals in the forest: in a good year, with plenty of seeds, there can be ten […]

Have you seen many butterflies this summer? Probably not: the cool, wet summer really knocked butterfly numbers down, and most cottagers have seen very few butterflies this year. But it’s more than just weather that’s causing their numbers to decline. Fortunately, there are things we can do to help. Most of the focus on declining […]