Aldertree Garden

No, forsythia is not a native species.  Yet, its bright yellow exuberance arrives just when our winter-tired eyes need it the most, and so it has won me over.  Forsythia is the energetic friend you invite to spice up your party.  And, like your high-spirited human friend, forsythia does not like to be restrained.  Please, [...]

  “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 [...]