One thing I see less and less in gardens these days are gardeners that mix annual plants with perennials and shrubs. I’m not sure why, but it seems to be that fewer and fewer gardeners take the time to design border combinations using all kinds of herbaceous materials: annuals, perennials, and tender perennials like dahlias. [...]
Last week the residents of my town voted on a budget for the next fiscal year. There was some contention among the citizens regarding the need to raise taxes during difficult economic times, but the roads need paving, the police and fire departments must be funded, and the schools for our children staffed and maintained. [...]
The thing about rain is that it never rains right. When we need a good soaking we get squalls, more wind than wet and not enough water to soak through the mulch. When we’ve already had more than enough rain then we get even more, several inches more over several days. Rarely, if ever at [...]
Late winter in New England is never an easy time. The weather turns quickly, changing from frigid, to raw (a term I never used for the weather until I came to Connecticut), to warm, and then back again to cold or raw. Wet and heavy snow, like the kind we had a few weeks ago, [...]
After 15 years as a professional garden designer I feel confident that I know what it takes to grow healthy plants in the landscape. The variables of sun exposure, soil condition, availabilty of water, and seasonal climate are all factored into my plant selections because what each plant needs to grow and thrive is just [...]
This is the time of year, as the catalogs arrive in the mail and seed displays pop up in the garden centers, when experienced gardeners start to think about seeds. This is also the time of year when we will be subjected to at least one heart-felt missive from a magazine editor, TV show host, [...]
It’s winter time and what’s a gardener to do? Cold winds blow outside and snow covers the ground as night time temperatures drop into the teens and twenties. Snow and cold, however, is fine by me. I grew up in a Midwestern state where winter starts in early November and spring doesn’t show any sign [...]
Life at a nursery changes with the seasons. It begins with a flurry of activity in the spring followed by doldrums through the dog days of summer and then a final mad dash in autumn. In the temperate climate of New England winter has little to occupy a nurseryman unless he or she chooses to [...]
Tradition plays an important role in every holiday celebration, especially Christmas. It may be a special food, a family event, or beautiful decorations that represent the best of the season to you and yours. I can remember when as a child I used to help decorate our tree with tinsel, carefully placing each strand one [...]
Savvy gardeners know that fall is for planting. The milder weather is less stressful on newly installed plants, decreasing the need to water them every day to keep their roots alive and to ensure the rest of the plant will thrive. The fact that plants are beginning to enter their seasonal dormancy also helps them [...]