I love a good mystery, and the garden provides many puzzles. Sometimes I am stumped, but it sure is satisfying when the solution presents itself! Last spring, I decided to make use of some rotting pallets we had set aside. The wood was pretty far-gone, and I thought I could bury it under some compost […]
garden pests
Posted inFeatured, Garden
Get The Dirt — On Home Gardening
Fall Harvesting September and October are a time for pause and reflection and also new beginnings. It’s a time to celebrate the bounty in our gardens and to harvest and preserve fruits, vegetables and herbs for later enjoyment. If you have extra produce, remember to take it to local food banks for others to enjoy. […]
Posted inBlog, Featured, Gardeners Corner
Mossy Rose Gall — A Fascinating Pest
I love plants with interesting foliage, be it the striking color, shape or fragrance. Rosa glauca, with her lovely bluish foliage, captured me the first time I saw it. Its flowers and hips are a bonus, always appreciated for their color and delicate nature. The flush of bloom is over for the season, so imagine […]
Posted inFeatured, Garden
Get The Dirt — On Home Gardening
Carpenter Bees Recently at breakfast, I overheard someone talking about carpenter bees. Most people have heard about carpenter ants but carpenter bees were a new one to know. This person had inherited a deck that had been built with old, untreated and unpainted scrap wood. While sitting out on his deck, he noticed these small […]
Posted inBlog, Gardeners Corner
Gardening Happily with Hungry Wildlife
I expect you’ve heard that the only way to protect your plants from hungry deer is a good fence. The deer in my neighborhood illustrate this point perfectly. Before I built my current fence, I kept my treasured deer “candy” covered in black netting. Harvesting strawberries from under the fencing was tedious, and as plants […]
Posted inFeatured, Garden
Outsmarting Your Garden Nemesis
Weeds are not altogether undesirable plants. “Heresy!” you might say, but the term “weed” is an arbitrary designation made by a gardener who would prefer to grow another plant instead. To some people, a foxglove is a gift in an otherwise bare bed, and to others, an interloper whose poisonous leaves beckon to a pup […]
Posted inBlog, Gardeners Corner
Tent Caterpillars Are Making a Comeback
The last tent caterpillar outbreak in West Sound happened quite a while ago. Yet the memories — of the sounds they made as they munched away at our tree canopy and the shivers they sent through my spine as they fell on my head or crunched underfoot — have not diminished all that much over […]
Posted inBlog, Gardeners Corner
Garden Thugs: Four Pesky Plants to Avoid in Your Garden
Most gardeners have plants they wish they never had planted. I have three in my own garden. These nefarious plants are yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata), bishop’s weed (Aegopodium podagraria) and Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria). All three plants are deciduous perennials. I regret the day they ever came into my garden. I inherited the Alstroemeria 21 years […]