Monthly Archives: July 2008

How Do YOU Water the Garden?

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Please vote in our poll. As we try to develop new solutions, it helps to understand how people are watering their gardens. We had almost an inch of rain last weekend, and this week I couldn't get over how great the gardens looked. The soil was moist and the plants looked so HAPPY! Clearly they had been nourished by the rain in a way that no amount of hand watering could equal. Here in Vermont, we are usually blessed with enough summer rainfall to satisfy most plants. My low-yield drilled well Read more [...]

Flexible Clematis Support

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Deer fencing makes an excellent support for clematis. For many years, I've tried to grow clematis on my Garden Starter Greenhouse. I tried string and other techniques, but this year's solution has proved to be the best so far. I used a 4-foot-wide piece of Heavy-Duty Deer Fence, and it works like a charm. I was able to run the fencing from the base of the plant all the way to the peak of the roof—plenty of room for my vigorous Cardinal Wyszynski clematis. What's more, the inconspicuous, black Read more [...]

What’s Bugging Your Plants?

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Online resources can help you find the best solutions for control of pests and diseases. Beneficial praying mantises eat insects that damage garden plants.The azalea looked healthy and happy last week. The shrub was full of leafy new growth and loaded with flower buds. This morning, all that remains are the flower buds—every leaf has been stripped. What did this? The power of the internet makes my sleuth work easier than ever before. University extension services offer some of the most extensive, Read more [...]

Summer Care for Tall Bearded Iris

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What to do with bearded irises when the show is over. Majestic, tall bearded irises reign in the early summer garden. Photo from the garden of Leo Vandervlugt, president of Dutch Gardens. By mid-summer, nothing remains of my bearded irises’ glorious color and fanfare. The tall, once-stately stalks hold nothing but shriveled brown flowers. Papery, canoe-shaped bracts protect the developing seedpods along the stems. Removing spent flowers is one of my favorite gardening activities because the Read more [...]

Weed and Feed with Cover Crops

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Clover, ryegrass and other cover crops deter weeds, conserve moisture, and add nutrients to the soil when tilled under. Clover, ryegrass, and other cover crops deter weeds, conserve moisture, and add nutrients to the soil when tilled under.I spent a fair amount of time on my aunt and uncle’s 100-cow dairy farm as a child. The patchwork landscape of the farm’s 500 rolling acres changed every summer as corn, oats, and alfalfa followed each other in rotation. Deep-rooted alfalfa brought minerals Read more [...]

Woodchuck Woes

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To make sure your garden is protected from groundhogs, get a fence. The Animal We live in the city, but we still have plenty of wildlife. For many years, our big problem was woodchucks—also known as groundhogs. They'd come into the garden and chew prized perennials right to the ground. These herbivores preferred phlox, echinacea and asters. I tried repellents and motion-detecting sprinklers, which didn't keep them out. It seemed that the best choice was a fence. Our backyard is already fenced, Read more [...]

Going Native with Bill Cullina

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Choosing locally adapted plants makes sense for many reasons. Ferns add texture to woodland gardens and provide the background for colorful native flowering plants. Going Green means different things to different people. For Bill Cullina (pronounced kul-EYE-nuh), it’s literally about “green.” As the Director of Horticulture Research at the New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS) for the past 13 years, he has promoted and advocated for planting native North American wildflowers, ferns, Read more [...]

Ground Covers with Tenacity

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Creeping phlox, saved from the compost pile, makes the perfect ground cover behind this new wall. Creeping phlox, saved from the compost pile, makes the perfect ground cover behind this new wall.This spring, I hired a local mason to make a stucco wall to enclose a new patio at the back of my house. I had imagined letting the meadow grass grow right up to the wall, but once the wall was finished, I didn’t want to hide an inch of it. The same week the wall was completed, I removed about 30 Read more [...]