Blog grid – Lee Reich

ESPALIER, A TASTY FUSION OF ART AND SCIENCE

April 2, 2026

Espalier is a pruning technique that results in a decorative plant also can also yield especially delicious fruits. My latest blog post provides an introduction to espalier. To dive much deeper into espalier, see my book, The Pruning Book, which has a whole chapter on the why and the how of this technique!

Lush meadow above ground, rich soil below ground

THE TOP OF THE SOIL

March 26, 2026

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Need some topsoil this time of year to fill a depression or for raised beds? Maybe you don’t. But just what is topsoil? Questions asked and answered in this latest blog post:

TRAVELING PLANTS

March 18, 2026

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Depending on your locale, nurseries, garden centers, hardware stores, and the web are or will soon be offering trees and shrubs for sale. Some plants might even come from hundreds or more miles away. Is buying such plants and good idea? Is bigger better? What makes a good nursery tree or shrub. All this is address in my latest blob post:

Hedges need repeated shearing with hedge shears each season

TEN ESSENTIAL PRUNING TIPS

March 11, 2026

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Most, but not all, cultivated trees, shrubs, and vines need periodic pruning be at their best, both in appearance and health. Pruning can be complicated so I've distilled it all into 10 tips, which should leave your plants reasonably healthy and happy. It's all in my latest blog post, here:

WITH GOOD REASON, FAMILIES MIGRATE AROUND MY GARDEN

March 3, 2026

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So many different families visiting my vegetable garden this year -- plant families. Yes, they exist! Learn what makes a family, characteristics of some familiar families, and -- most important -- who know the families will make this year's garden better. Read here:

THE DARKER SIDE OF TINKERBELL

February 25, 2026

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Tinkerbell in your garden? Well, not Tinkerbell, but these little gals could each pass for her. Unfortunately, she needs to be controlled. Fortunately, she’s relatively easy to control Read more here:

Another relative, this one called Amorphophallus

AND THE REAL SPLIT-LEAF PHILODENDRON IS. . .

February 18, 2026

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A “philodendron” that’s not really one, and this one has eerie flowers, followed by a unique fruit — imagine of corn on the cob tasting like a melding of pineapple and banana.

BARKS OF ANOTHER STRIPE

February 11, 2026

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Think of the bark of white birch in winter and you're not barking up the wrong tree, just that there are many others worth "barking up." Yew, for example, hackberry, and many more. Shrubs also. Here are some of them:

Grapefruit chimera, illustration from my book Fruit: From the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection

MYTHOLOGY COMES ALIVE!

February 4, 2026

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Like the fire-breathing chimera that was part lion, part goat, part dragon, and feasted on humans, plant chimeras are weird-looking. What’s more, they do, in fact, exist. How do they come about and what is their appeal? Read more about these botanical freaks here: