“No, I don’t want any more shrubs in my yard. They’re too much work,” says a man who has asked me to design his garden. Puzzled, I think about the structure shrubs provide. Their flowers, leaf color, leaf shape. Low maintenance. Water deeply for the first season, then let Mother Nature take over. Decades [...]
Who decided that insects do not belong in the garden? Producers of exotic plants brag that their plants are “pest free.” Gardeners who find a little bite mark in a leaf run to the poison shelf to obliterate the offending arthropod. Why? Your garden is part of nature, not a sterile laboratory separate from it. [...]
Rainy Saturday mornings were a special treat in my Southern California childhood. Six months of the year it rained not at all. The hills near my home were golden, not verdant as their name claimed. Talk of drought and practice of water conservation imprinted on my young mind. The lush green of the Washington, DC area, [...]
Thank you, great-grandfather, for planting my oak tree. Over 100 years ago, someone–I do not know who–planted a White oak, Quercus alba, in the front yard of the house I recently moved into. That person has already died, for a White oak’s lifespan is many times that of a human, but his legacy remains. Few [...]
Click HERE to listen to Lisa Caprioglio’s segment on invasive plants with NPR’s Michele Norris. People blessed with shady gardens often feel stumped about what to plant, so they turn to English ivy (Hedera helix). English ivy is inexpensive, fast-growing, and easy to care for. Unfortunately, it is also invasive. It quickly crowds out desirable [...]
Click HERE to listen to Lisa Caprioglio’s segment on native plants with NPR’s Michele Norris. Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) is one of my favorite native plants. This small tree, (about 25-30 feet tall) beautifully marks the passage of the seasons. The delicate white blossoms of early spring, small purple fruits in the summer, orange leaves in [...]