June is one of the busiest months of the year for pruning. It’s prime time to size-control the evergreens, trim the hedges, and thin out and cut back the flowering shrubs that bloomed earlier in spring, such as azaleas, lilacs, weigelas, and deutzias. For most people, pruning means getting out the power […]
It occurred to me one day while inspecting the butt hairs of a lawn grub that gardeners are not normal people. We gardeners tend to pay attention to things that “regular” people don’t, we don’t notice odors that regular people do, and we often engage in activities that would curl the skin of […]
You’ve probably heard of the kids book “The Little Engine That Could” in which a never-give-up little locomotive pulls a long train over a tall mountain by believing, “I think I can, I think I can.” It was one of our kids’ favorite bedtime books. It seems I have a plant with […]
Last week I zeroed in on my list of gardening jobs that I’m not too crazy about doing – the ones that will be the first that I farm out as age forces me to scale back. This week it’s time to look at the seven jobs that I like most – in […]
As I was finishing off the last few bucketfuls of my most recent 10-yard load of mulch, my back reminded me why I’m not a fan of this labor-heavy activity. Mulching might be great for discouraging weeds and keeping moisture in the soil, but it’s not much fun. “Brutal” better describes it […]
Most plants have fairly pleasant names, such as love-in-a-mist, moonflower, glory-of-the-snow, and sweet william. Then there are those with such disgusting or beastly names – bladder fumitory (a poppy-family annual) comes to mind – that you wonder why anyone would plant them. Here’s my list of 10 of the worst-named plants… […]
Forget AccuWeather, the National Weather Service, and even the Farmer’s Almanac. If you’re a gardener and you really want to figure out what weather’s on the way, the most accurate system is one I’ve figured out… one I call the “WOOPS model of weather forecasting.” I’ve been using it for years, and […]
One of the odder things you’ll sometimes see in nature this time of year is little green balls about the size of Ping-Pong balls. Sometimes they’re very light-weight and papery with white fibers inside. Other times, they’re spongy – almost like over-ripened, mini green apples. People usually don’t know what to make […]
Last week, I introduced you to a photo gallery of 50 of my favorite American garden settings of all-time. This week, it’s time to take a look at 50 of my favorite international gardens that I’ve seen in the 30 or so years I’ve been a garden writer. As with the American […]
I’ve seen literally thousands of gardens, both public and private, in the 30 or so years I’ve been a garden writer. Some of them really stand out in my mind, mostly because of a particular feature or setting that made the space impressively memorable. I thought I’d share some of them with […]