Many of us are likely already mulching our gardens and landscaping with wood chips, grass clippings and leaves, spreading them on top of the soil for insulation and to save water, reduce weeds and prevent erosion. While a huge help above ground, mulching doesn’t address the nutritional needs of the soil underneath the surface.

Chuck Beard is a man who practices what he preaches. A horticulturist and garden designer, he has spent nearly 27 years creating beautiful gardens throughout St. Louis. But perhaps the most beautiful testimonial to his talent has been in his own yard.

Bring technology into your landscape with these innovative products that will make tending to your garden a little easier.

If you would ask gardening aficionados in the St. Louis area to name their favorite spots, chances are many would list this Webster Groves garden. Filling both front and back yards, the lush, peaceful space, filled with hostas, ferns, specimen plants and walkways, seems to beckon visitors to take a stroll and be refreshed.

If you are looking for that holiday gift for someone who has everything, you might think about picking up a pond. Whether it’s hardly bigger than a puddle or large enough to swim in, people who have added ponds or waterfalls to their landscapes are passionate about the way a simple little (or big) water feature has changed their lives. They use words like “tranquility” and “peace” and “world away” to describe coming home and simply sitting beside some bubbling water.

Be it tending to pots overflowing with floral color or supervising projects so major they begin with earth movers and retaining walls, Kim Kelce, along with partner Nancy Pedley of Kelce & Pedley, spends six days a week up to her green thumbs in other people’s gardens. So where does she head when her workday is over?