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”
Tag Archives: nature
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”
Summer Garden Topics: Monarchs, Jumping Worms, Caterpillars, Rabbit Glue and a Photo Contest
With Summer in full bloom and the heat settling in, I wanted to share some interesting topics, since you may not want to go work in your garden. Monarch ButterfliesThe Eastern Monarch Butterfly is having a resurgence in populations that have overwintered in Mexico, according to Monarch Watch. While the numbers are significantly below recent levels, itContinue reading “Summer Garden Topics: Monarchs, Jumping Worms, Caterpillars, Rabbit Glue and a Photo Contest”
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?”
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”
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 writtenContinue reading “Dramatic Protection Of Peach Blossoms During A Freeze”
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’,Continue reading “A Love Letter To Trees”
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 someContinue reading “New England Native Perennial Plant Seeds For Sale”
Interesting Garden Topics For The Summer
The caterpillar above will soon be a Black Swallowtail Butterfly. They lay eggs, grow and eat exclusively on plants in the Carrot Family, and you will often see them on your Parsley or Dill plants, eating away. This one is munching on some Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea.) It will shortly pupate and be a butterfly inContinue reading “Interesting Garden Topics For The Summer”
Barking Dog Gardens - Gardening in New England 