garden – Barking Dog Gardens – Gardening in New England

Best Pruning Tools And Their Care

I love teaching my pruning workshops at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. I teach five workshops throughout the year that correspond to the five pruning windows in which I professionally prune. One of the most common questions and part of my introduction in each class is a brief discussion of the tools we use to prune. The knowledge ofContinue reading “Best Pruning Tools And Their Care”

How To Determine What Plants Are Native For Your Garden And Why

This has been an interesting year for me with the number of jobs with which people wanted to plant all or mostly native plants. When the gardens mature they will be as beautiful as any traditional, or non-native, garden. They will just look a little different and require slightly different and less intensive care. Almost all of myContinue reading “How To Determine What Plants Are Native For Your Garden And Why”

Summer Garden Topics: Spring Bulbs, Fireflies, Checkerspot Farm, and Doug Tallamy

Spring Flowering BulbsIt’s that time of year to think about what bulbs you might want to plant in your garden this Fall. Spring Flowering bulbs are planted in the Fall and are some of our earliest flowering plants that go well into early Summer. They add important color when nothing else is happening. The evenContinue reading “Summer Garden Topics: Spring Bulbs, Fireflies, Checkerspot Farm, and Doug Tallamy”

Hugelkultur: Creative Idea For A Native Garden

I had the pleasure of meeting a new client last summer, who lives on a lovely property in Belmont, MA. It historically had been planted with traditional, non-native plants with an extensive overstory of Red and Black Oak. Over the years, she has added an extensive layer of native shrubs, trees and perennials. In the frontContinue reading “Hugelkultur: Creative Idea For A Native Garden”

Is Spraying For Mosquitos And Ticks Effective and Safe?

A trend has exploded over recent years regarding companies that will spray your garden for ticks and mosquitos. It may be a franchised business focused just on eliminating these pests, or some other business that is filling gaps in their workload during the summer season. The most deceiving part of these pitches is that it isContinue reading “Is Spraying For Mosquitos And Ticks Effective and Safe?”

Drought in New England Gardens in 2026

The Greater Boston area and southern New Hampshire are in the Severe Drought designation, according to the US Drought Monitor, and all of Coastal New England is in some form of drought. This time last Spring, almost all of New England was out of drought conditions. We had a wet Spring(25) and previous Fall(24). However, as weContinue reading “Drought in New England Gardens in 2026”

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 youContinue reading “Garden Mulch: Friend or Foe”

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, almostContinue reading “New American Garden Maintenance”

New American Garden Maintenance

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 greatContinue reading “2025 New England Weather Summary from Blue Hill Observatory”