I came across a home gardening book recently (“Garden Enemies” by Cynthia Westcott) that was popular and well respected in the 1950s for helping gardeners figure out what to do about damage to their plants. Over and over again, it suggested DDT as a routine solution to the assorted caterpillars and other bugs […]
I wrote a garden column for the Patriot-News a few years ago on a talk that University of Maryland entomologist Dr. Michael Raupp did at a plant conference. He made the interesting argument that bugs are a healthy part of any ecosystem (including home gardens) and that the key to keeping them from […]
Plants are generally pretty docile and defenseless creations. If your dog wants to dig up a daylily or you feel like decapitating a cabbage for dinner, there’s really not much the plants can do about it. Then there’s Toxicodendron radicans, better known as poison ivy. This is a plant that not […]
Way back when I was a Cub Scout leader, we started the year by having the boys discuss what the pack’s rules should be. The 8-year-olds’ first suggestion was, “No killing.” I wouldn’t have thought of that, but it was definitely a good place to start. That also happens to be […]
Bugs. We like it when those pretty little skippers and monarchs flit around the flowers. And more people are coming around to the idea that bees are a good sign in the garden and that spiders do more good than not. But pretty much everyone is aghast when Japanese beetles swarm […]
The heat and humidity of a typical Harrisburg August is enough to make it seem as if we’re living in the tropics. If that’s the case, we may as well grow with the flow. Plenty of tropical plants do nicely here as summertime in-ground, landscape plants. They think they’re at home. […]
Hardly anyone plants masses of in-ground annual flowers anymore. For one thing, it’s expensive since $4 plants in four- and six-inch pots have largely supplanted cheaper six-packs. For another, most people don’t want the planting work and watering time that so many new plants require. I’m not even sure most people […]
A lot of people hurt themselves gardening. Much can go wrong out there, from pruning your finger instead of the branch to straining your back from picking up a pot that you knew was way too heavy. I hate to be naggy, but I’d also like to see fewer gardeners hurt themselves. […]
Picking the best plants makes a big difference in whether your landscape thrives or withers. Genes matter. So how do you sort the strong from the weak? One way is to lean on the experience of the experienced. Each year, organizations of growers, horticulturists, researchers, and other plant experts bestow […]
Gardeners have to overcome erratic weather, sidestep a laundry list of potential bug and disease threats, and beat back attacks by deer, voles, and groundhogs to grow a decent plant. So why would any sane gardener ever consider cutting a healthy tree or shrub to the ground? I can think of a […]