I’m generally a believer in following what research reveals, especially if it’s solid research and backed up by multiple sources. But the one bit of gardening advice that I still just can’t buy is the one about not improving the soil before planting. This fairly widespread guidance comes from findings that plant […]
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 […]
The only thing certain about gardening is that things change. Don’t ever think you’ve got gardening figured out because this is a moving target if ever there was one. The environment around us changes. New bugs show up. New plants come and others go. The weather changes – sometimes […]
Had enough of yanking weeds this season? No matter how good or bad a growing season turns out, weeds always seem to thrive. But that’s one of the traits that makes weeds such survivors – they’re pretty good at rolling with whatever punches nature (and gardeners) throw at them. Rather than […]
Two reasons explain why non-gardeners are non-gardeners (or ex-gardeners). One is lack of time, the reason behind most every non-something. The other is lack of confidence. Soil rookies either tried and failed, or they didn’t bother in the first place because they were pretty sure they’d fail if they did try. (Homer […]
Since the prolific spotted lanternfly first showed up in America nearly 10 years ago, it’s been causing near panic as it spreads from one area to the next. Some people go crazy when these inch-long flying bugs and their spotted nymphs show up en masse, fearing they’re going to kill the whole landscape […]
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 […]
Like most gardeners who have moved, I’ve had to deal with starting all over in a new landscape after spending years parenting an old one. My case was probably a bit more extreme than most. My wife and I spent 32 years at our previous home – a third-of-an-acre yard in suburban Cumberland […]
Dr. Ronald Stanley was a fledgling dermatologist when he and his new wife, Cheryl, built a house in 1979 on five acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. At first, Stanley focused on a rather large and innovative vegetable garden that was good enough to be featured on PBS’ Victory […]
Weeds rank high on most gardeners’ list of landscape vexations, but that’s one problem that’s never bothered me too much. For one thing, my strategy of planting real plants wall-to-wall and mulching the limited or temporary openings doesn’t leave much room for weeds to get started. Plus, I’ve never minded going on […]