Garden Mulch: Friend or Foe
Mulch is my favorite topic to discuss each Spring, because it can be one of the most beneficial things you do to your garden or one of the most damaging. This link goes to a comprehensive post from the past on mulch. Following on the topic of my previous post, I would like to get you…
New American Garden Maintenance
There is a movement underfoot, and it has to do with how we take care of our gardens. It is rooted in a design aesthetic called the New American Garden that is exemplified in the work of Piet Oudolf and the landscape architecture firm of Oehme van Sweden, among others. This style is naturalistic, self-sustaining, and largely native. Now, almost…
New American Garden Maintenance
There is a movement underfoot, and it has to do with how we take care of our gardens. It is rooted in a design aesthetic called the New American Garden that is exemplified in the work of Piet Oudolf and the landscape architecture firm of Oehme van Sweden, among others. This style is naturalistic, self-sustaining, and largely native. Now, almost…
Dramatic Protection Of Peach Blossoms During A Freeze
With very early Spring come flowers that can be susceptible to the brutality of Mother Nature. We see the fragility of Magnolia and Macrophylla Hydrangea flowers here in New England when a frost comes through in April, and it can crush the flowers and flower buds respectively before they even had a chance to shine. I have written…
2025 New England Weather Summary from Blue Hill Observatory
As much as I like to talk about plants and create plans in the garden, I am also a bit of a numbers and data geek. Hence, one of my favorite graphics of the year is the year-end weather summary, created by Mike Iacono, Chief Scientist at Blue Hill Observatory. I wrote about a great…
Van Berkum Nursery: Supporting a new ecosystem of native plant growers.
Before I get to my discussion with John, a quick real-time look into our gardens. I expect all the snow to be gone around Boston, except for the largest piles, by Wednesday. As it melts and we get out to do some pruning, I am seeing extensive rabbit damage with girdling of stems and trunks…
A Love Letter To Trees
Trees! Trees! Trees! We are going to talk about trees, and hopefully, with the input from a few passionate experts, I can help you to better appreciate and fall in love with the myriad of amazing attributes that they possess. I am not going to force ideas down your throat, or shame you into ‘taking my side’,…
Discussion with Mike Iacono, Chief Scientist at Blue Hill Observatory
As gardeners, we are always trying to be in tune with the weather, and how it impacts our gardens. Each newsletter, I try to provide some timely, weather information so that you know what has happened and what may be coming. Recently, I had a chance to talk with Mike Iacono, Chief Scientist at the Blue…
New England Native Perennial Plant Seeds For Sale
I apologize for not writing recently, but I just got a brand new knee, to help serve you better! I have also been busy updating my website and collecting native plant seeds from a number of gardens in which I work. Some of the early seeds were gathered much earlier in the year, and some…
Topics For Work In The Fall Garden
We have been enjoying such nice weather for the past several weeks and have even gotten to some fall work a little early to take advantage of the cool days and nights. Following is a glossing over of a class I teach in the late Summer called ‘Work in the Fall Garden’, and some of the…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Barking Dog Gardens - Gardening in New England 