A Better Yard

Lawns teach us to chase control, but a rebel garden is about building a living system that gets better every season. We walk through a practical, homeowner-friendly roadmap for turning turf into a native plant garden that supports pollinators, songbirds, and healthier soil without getting trapped in analysis paralysis. If you’ve been staring at a blank patch of grass wondering where to start, we’l...

The hardest part of changing your yard isn’t the shovel work, it’s the moment you decide the “perfect lawn” game isn’t worth playing anymore. I’m continuing our three-part series on growing a rebel garden with the second phase: Reject. If you’ve ever felt stuck between keeping 100% turf and going 100% native, I’ll show you the wide, realistic middle ground where a small, intentional garden can shi...

Your yard doesn’t have to be a weekly chore chart disguised as “curb appeal.” If you’re tired of mowing, watering, fighting weeds, and feeling boxed in by neighbor expectations, I’m sharing a different path: the rebel garden, a small section of lawn converted into a densely planted garden of helpful native plants. Think one or two parking spots of habitat that can feed birds and pollinators, reduc...

Your yard can look “perfect” and still be a dead zone. I’m Brad Tabke, founder of A Better Yard, and I’m sharing what I keep seeing every spring: one property buzzing with birds and insects, the next one silent under a modern lawn system built around control. Once you notice that contrast, it changes the question from “How do I make this look flawless?” to “What does this space do for life around...

Your neighborhood calls it “yard waste.” I call it a pile of free fertilizer waiting for a truck. As summer hits Minnesota, I’m watching curb lines fill with bags of leaves, grass clippings, and garden debris, and it’s a perfect snapshot of how weird suburban lawn culture has gotten. We strip our yards of organic matter, then wonder why the soil struggles and the lawn needs constant help to stay g...

Your yard is not a static backdrop. It’s a stream of decisions you make all season long: what you plant, what you spray, what you mow, what you water, what you pull, and what you tolerate. Today we share a simple lens that helps you make those decisions with less stress and more impact, without getting trapped in perfection culture or the idea that you have to overhaul everything at once.  We call...

Your yard might be using more clean water than your showers and laundry combined, and the wild part is you may not even notice it. We sit down with Noelle Johnson, author of The Water Smart Garden, to get honest about outdoor water use, aquifer depletion, and the everyday habits that quietly waste water in both dry climates and “water-rich” regions like the upper Midwest. We dig into the biggest m...

“Free yard waste drop-off” sounds like a win, but it raises a bigger question: why are we creating yard waste at all? We look at the leaves, grass clippings, stems, and small branches we’ve been trained to bag and haul away and show why they’re actually nutrients, carbon, mulch, and habitat your yard needs. We talk about how tidy-lawn culture turns a yard into a factory where inputs come in and ou...

Perfect lawns are a great business model and a terrible way to spend your weekends. We’re pushing back on the endless cycle of pre-emergents, blanket weed killer, multiple fertilizer rounds, and “technician” visits that make homeowners feel like they need a chemical calendar just to own grass. If you’ve got kids running around, pets rolling in the yard, and friends coming over for a barbecue, you...

Audio from our free seasonal tasks masterclass on March 31   Spring makes people want to rush outside and “fix” the yard, but we’ve learned that the fastest way to a healthier landscape is slowing down. We kick off with a practical Upper Midwest spring gardening checklist: last-chance dormant-season pruning for shrubs and fruit trees, a clear warning to leave oak trees alone once temperatures warm...

Pasque flowers are blooming in this transition to spring. I’m out hiking with Scout along the Minnesota River on federal land at the Louisville Swamp, narrating what we see as the prairie wakes up. You’ll hear why those fuzzy, pale purple native wildflowers matter, how quickly bees find them, and what the first blooms of the year teach us about building real habitat, not just pretty landscaping. A...

The leaves don’t wait for frost—they’re already counting the night. We dive into the quiet timing system inside trees that decides when the colors ignite, why some years burst into crimson while others fizzle to brown, and how weather and latitude shape the show right above our heads. It’s a guided tour of photoperiodism, phytochromes, and the pigments that paint fall—carotenoids hiding under summ...

This episode is the audio from our October Masterclass: Key to Healthy, Living Soil and focuses on the importance of soil health in gardening, emphasizing the role of organic material, soil organisms, and sustainable practices. Our community discusses the EFS framework for maintaining healthy soil, the significance of understanding soil structure, and the impact of community engagement in gardenin...

In this episode of the Minnesota Gardening Podcast, host Brad Tabke reflects on personal challenges and the importance of community in gardening. He introduces the Minnesota Gardening EFSS's Framework, which focuses on eliminating chemicals, feeding pollinators, saving water, and storing carbon. Brad discusses the Landscape Wellness Stages, guiding listeners from standard maintenance to thriv...

We continue our 3x3 series with the final installment focusing on planting helpful plants to feed pollinators, save water, eliminate chemicals, and store carbon. This free course from Minnesota Gardening provides nine keystone actions for creating a healthier lawn and landscape. • Introducing the concept of "helpful plants" as an inclusive alternative to the native/non-native divide • Ex...

Fall is the perfect time to implement environmentally friendly practices in your landscape that support local ecosystems while reducing your workload. We explore part two of our 3x3 program on environmentally responsible landscaping, focusing on practical steps that make your yard more sustainable. • Leave fallen leaves in place to provide essential overwintering habitat for pollinators and return...

Today is a wonderful day! Releasing our free course called 3x3: Nine keystone actions you can take today for a healthier lawn and landscape . Here is the audio of the first lesson for you. The workbook, videos, and graphics are all available for free at MinnesotaGardening.com . Learn more about getting your own Rebel Garden at ABetterYard.org .

Spring plant sales and swaps are a great time for jumping worms to spread in our landscapes. Laura Van Riper, the Terrestrial Invasive Species Coordinator at the Minnesota DNR joins me for this replay episode of Minnesota Gardening Podcast. We discuss all aspect of Jumping Worms from where they're currently invading, what to do if you find them, how to locate them, and lots lots more. Check o...

I've been getting a lot of questions lately on the timing of spring gardening tasks. In this episode we talk through the timing on spring gardening tasks and how you want to accomplish them. Download the Seasons Calendar at MinnesotaGardening.com for a list of gardening tasks and when to do them. Join Minnesota Gardening today and get Two Weeks Free!! Learn more about getting your own Rebel G...

In this episode of Minnesota Gardening Podcast, host Brad Tabke speaks with Stephanie Rose, author of 'Regenerative Garden.' They discuss Stephanie's journey into gardening as a form of self-healing, the principles of regenerative gardening, and the importance of community involvement in gardening. Stephanie shares insights on understanding soil health, the role of weeds, and how ga...

Madeline Wimmer is a guru of Upper Midwest fruit tree in the UMN Hort Department specializing in grapes and apples. Lucky to have Madeline with us to talk care for midwest fruit trees. Show notes, links, and transcript for members at MinnesotaGardening.com . Learn more about getting your own Rebel Garden at ABetterYard.org .

Owen Wormser is the author of a wonderful book called Lawns Into Meadows   a "how-to book on growing your own wildflowers and native grasses is also about sustainability, regeneration, and beauty." Show Notes, Links, and Transcript at MinnesotaGardening.com Learn more about getting your own Rebel Garden at ABetterYard.org .

Show notes available to members at MinnesotaGardening.com . Minnesota Gardening's 2025 Seed Starting Cohort is NOW OPEN! The Seed Starting Cohort is FREE to Minnesota Gardening members and $197 for the cohort alone. Check it all out including the Seed Starting Course, one-on-one Q&A, and the 2025 Seed Starting Cohort kickoff on Feb 16, 2025 at 8 pm. Learn more at MinnesotaGardening.com ....

Unveiling the renewed Minnesota Gardening focused on sustainability and helping Upper Midwest homeowners switch to more environmentally-friendly landscape and lawn care practices. Right now, you can get an annual membership for only $127! That is 71% off the regular price. Join today at MinnesotaGardening.com .  Learn more about getting your own Rebel Garden at ABetterYard.org .

Connie Fortin and Kyra Oliver join me for a BONUS episode of Minnesota Gardening Podcast to talk all about Winter Design and efforts to reduce salt use and water pollution. Connie Fortin has been working for 20 years with winter maintenance professionals trying to reduce salt by integrating science into winter maintenance. Now she finds herself in an engineering firm, Bolton & Menk, working to...