It’s easy to get lost in the mesmerizing hues of the ancient stone faces. Zion National Park is a neighbor. But between rocks is a hard place to garden and the sound of thunder might mean something other than rain.

It was piled by the curb, a 16-piece sectional steel trellis ready for bulk trash collection. I passed it by several times while walking through the neighborhood. I didn’t think I had room anywhere in my garden for a big trellis. The structure was heavy, too. But the attraction outweighed all other considerations. After a…

Protecting fruit trees from squirrels at a home garden in Washington, D.C., called for a special kind of mettle.

Arugula awakening at breakfast.

Beholding the the Yoshino cherry tree’s beauty on the rim of Washington, D.C.’s Tidal Basin is easier than determining from whence it came.

Paths converge at the Miyazaki Japanese Garden in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Spring whiteout in Washington, D.C., highlights cherry tree contrast.

Flowers and foliage get plenty of glory. What about soil? Where’s the spotlight on the underground? It’s difficult to illuminate what’s out of sight. Sometimes a heavy price gets paid for inattention — today and yesterday. In Larding the Lean Earth: Soil and Society in Nineteenth-Century America, Yale University history professor Steven Stoll highlights the…