As we celebrate Washington’s birthday, let’s question his honesty — about the cherry tree and all that. What are the chances that he even chopped down a cherry tree? I look at this question from a horticultural perspective in my lates blog post.
It’s an especially nice day to be outdoors — and pruning. What am I going to take with me? What am I going to prune? No matter; just three tools will do just about everything. Read about these tools and my favorite models in my latest blog post.
Winter can easily conjure up future visions of branches laden with delicious fruit ready for you to pick. But wait! What about pest control? Pruning? No problem if you choose your fruits and varieties carefully. And details about that, of course is what I write about in my latest blog post.
The winter garden is more worth a look if it has some things to anchor it, whether they’re arbors, stone walls, evergreens, or dense, deciduous plants. Read about some of what I’ve created serendipitously or planned in my latest blog post.
Yes, I am growing an orange tree — actually a “hardy orange” and it’s a bush — outdoors here, where winter temperatures regularly plummet below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Why? For a few reasons, some obvious and some not so obvious (until you see the plant). If all this seems obfuscatory, it’s clear in my latest blog post.
Potted herbs gracing windowsills with a backdrop of snow are enticing scenes for garden catalogs, but the idea doesn’t usually pan out in practice. Except in the case of two woody plants — rosemary and bay laurel. Read why in my latest blog post.
Grow bananas here in NY’s Hudson Valley! I tried many years ago, with mixed results which, if you must know, read about in my latest blog post (my name dot com slash blog). Now I’ve come upon some candidates with more solid prognosis for success, one in particular and all with one caveat. As usual, if you’re interested, it’s all detailed in that latest blog post (my name dot com slash blog).
Puffs of “smoke” follow me was I walk around the farmden. This very mysterious-looking conjuring up goodness for me soil has a firm basis. I’m not going to divulge anything here. If you’re interested in garden gnomes and gremlins, do NOT read my latest blog post.
Digging up a tree, roots and all, even a small tree, is no small task when done by hand. But there are easier and harder ways to do it. Trees are getting bigger, but, with experience, it’s getting easier for me, all documented, of course in my latest blog post.
If you’ve gardened at the same location for many years, as I have, you may have thought either your plants were getting better at fending off cold or that winters are getting milder. If you thought the latter, you’re right. And to prove it, the USDA has just released an updated version of Plant Hardiness Zones. In this blog post, we dive into the map, some of its (and any such map’s) limitations), and other things affecting winter plant survival. If you want to read my blog, it’s here:
