Custom Country Gardens LLC

02/24/2026

Need help identifying native Wisconsin spring-blooming wildflowers? Here you go!

02/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1aMRsFS3cS/

Every February, a warm spell tricks people into "spring cleaning" their gardens. 55°F feels like summer after weeks of cold. You grab the rake, the clippers, the leaf blower.

And you destroy thousands of lives that are 3 weeks away from waking up.

WHAT'S HIDING IN YOUR "MESSY" YARD RIGHT NOW:

🐝 NATIVE BEE QUEENS are hibernating in hollow plant stems you're about to cut. 70% of native bees nest in the ground or in dead stems. Cut them now and you eliminate an entire pollination workforce before it starts.

🦋 CHRYSALISES are attached to dead plant stalks, fence posts, and under bark flaps. They look like dried leaves or small bumps. When you snap dead stems and toss them in the yard waste bin, the butterflies go with them.

🐸 TOADS are buried 2-4 inches in loose garden soil. They won't emerge until soil temperature hits 50°F consistently. One pass with a rototiller in February kills every toad in the bed.

🐛 BENEFICIAL INSECT EGGS are laid on the undersides of dead leaves, in bark crevices, and on dried flower stems. Lacewings, hoverflies, parasitic wasps — the insects that eat your aphids — are overwintering as eggs in the mess.

THE RULE: DO NOT CUT, RAKE, OR CLEAN GARDEN BEDS UNTIL NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES STAY ABOVE 50°F FOR A FULL WEEK.

In most of the USA, that's late April to mid-May. Not February. Not March.

That warm day this week is a trap. Your garden isn't ready. The insects, amphibians, and pollinators inside it are still sleeping.

Let them sleep.

11/28/2025

You may see Goodyera pubescens or Rattlesnake Plantain, as you walk through the forest this time of year. A bit of a rarity, it should not be disturbed as it does not transplant well.

11/22/2025

10/21/2025

I still warn that planting zone 5a or 5b plants in the marked 5ab zones is a gamble. There are micro zones depending on if you are elevated or exposed, or not.
The best thing to do is make sure your plants are in their ideal soil and lighting conditions, and fertilized properly.

05/26/2025

Great idea!

I pick up old table umbrellas out for the trash. I take off the fabric and they can be adjusted to the height you want. I'm using this one for pole beans and I do cucumbers
See more : https://mideas.co/qHLrH

05/18/2025

This:

04/25/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12LNsEhY84Y/

Trillium, also called birthwort as it's roots were used in birthing and to treat wounds, is found in many forests across the US and Canada.
Although the trillium is a perennial plant, as a spring ephemeral it’s very fragile. The trillium blooms for a few weeks in the early spring, before the trees grow leaves, so it can get more sunlight. During this time, it collects all the nutrients in needs to survive until the following year. If you pick the bloom, the plant won’t be able to collect sunlight and nutrients and it may take years to recover — or it may never recover. While it's not illegal, just keep in mind: It takes a trillium plant up to 10 years to produce its first flower. They also have a symbiotic relationship with ants who carry off a nutrient rich part of the plant that is filled with seeds to their underground home.
Take Nothing But Pictures.
Leave Nothing But Footprints.
Kill Nothing but Time.

04/24/2025

https://www.nwf.org/Native-Plant-Habitats/Create-and-Certify

We can all make a difference!