I got this interesting commentary from a reader and thought I’d just share it as is. “My neighbor and I can’t seem to agree on what is a weed and what is not. I told her that a weed is a plant that you don’t like or one that’s growing where you don’t want […]
Just got back from taking a bus load of fellow plant geeks to see some of the great gardens of Long Island — the ritzy estate gardens at Old Westbury and Planting Fields as well as the intriguing private garden of painter Robert Dash (named “Madoo Conservancy”). But I gotta tell you, the […]
I just got done breaking my back and blistering my hands this weekend trying to patch the dead spots in my lawn — again. Every year it’s something. This year it was mainly heat burning out the perennial ryegrass. Other years it’s grubs or chinch bugs or drought or rust disease. It […]
I’ve always thought the biggest strike against so-called organic products is cost. People might be willing to pay a little more for something they believe is “safer” or less polluting, but few will pay a lot more. When a bottle of oil-based Veggie-Pharm costs $12.99 and a bottle of Ortho is going […]
You might’ve guessed from news of the tornadoes that hit Dallas this week that that’s where I’m at. Anyone who’s been on a garden trip with me knows that bad weather seems to follow me around. Or vice versa. Wonder where I’m at? Check the top story on The Weather Channel. Anyway, […]
Now’s not the beginning of the end for vegetables. It’s the time to yank petered-out summer crops and reload the garden with fall crops. Few people do this. As the tomatoes fizzle and the cukes die from wilt, most gardeners wind down for the season. Not me. I take advantage of the 8 […]
I’ve always been fascinated by bonsai, that combination of art, horticulture and contortion that somehow manages to grow shrunken trees in little pots. It’s unnatural and seemingly impossible. To me, it’s hard enough to get regular plants to grow in regular soil, much less in those skinny little pots. So bonsai fascinates me, […]
You know you’ve earned your gardening wings when a Better Homes and Gardens publication features your landscape. Take a look in this month’s issue of Country Gardens magazine — on newsstands now — and you’ll see the half-acre landscape of Kathy and Don Engle of Southhampton Twp., just outside of Shippensburg. Country Gardens editors […]
This unrelenting, brutally hot growing season is causing all kinds of havoc for people, plants and water bills. It looks like we’re not done yet. I don’t know about you, but I’ve switched from keep-it-nice mode to survival in my landscape. I’ve got a well and don’t want to run it dry. So […]
It’s one of those love-it or hate-it plants, but the new-for-2011 annual flower that’s generating the biggest buzz is Ball FloraPlant’s petunia ‘Black Velvet.’ As the name implies, this is a petunia that blooms black. And from the ones I’ve seen growing at trial gardens in Buffalo and at Penn State’s Lancaster County […]