In The Woods

The Patience to Wait

By |2018-04-11T00:20:22+00:00April 10th, 2018|

  Great gardeners and optimists know that a dead plant represents an opportunity to grow something new. But what of a dead tree? What of five? So much opportunity at one time can cloud a mind already weakened by the fumes of a chainsaw. It’s probably best then to stifle knee-jerk reactions – particularly the [...]

In The Frenzy of Spring, Remember The ‘Why’

By |2018-04-02T18:40:00+00:00March 30th, 2018|

Not satisfied with feeling overwhelmed with spring cleaning, spring wardrobe changeover, spring home repairs and spring holiday plans, I thought it might be clever to go outside last week, pick up a trowel and increase my anxiety in the spring garden. Beginning the process means a shift in priorities and a horrifying realization of everything [...]

Ashes to Ashes: The Legacy of The Emerald Ash Borer

By |2018-03-24T15:04:45+00:00March 23rd, 2018|

About two years ago in the early winter months, I spied three pileated woodpeckers on an ash tree outside my office window and immediately felt like an Audubon rock star.  These are large, colorful birds – the sight of which gives the amateur birder a feeling of accomplishment. The sight of three sent this ignoramus [...]

East Coast / West Coast: We’ve All Got Our Issues

By |2018-02-23T20:15:17+00:00February 9th, 2018|

If you look carefully, there are very few places teeming with more stories than an airport terminal. In more innocent days when such things were still allowed, I’d hang out occasionally at the international arrivals gate watching people reconnect after time apart. The idea that I should have so much free time on my hands [...]

End of season wrap up: My favorite plants of 2017

By |2018-02-20T20:40:44+00:00December 7th, 2017|

  Now that the garden has gently shifted into architecture and mush, it’s time to reflect on the plants we grew this season and decide whether we’ll continue to grow them for seasons to come. Whether sexy new introductions or old favorites, plants excite each one of us for totally different reasons and what lights [...]

Plant Those Trees!

By |2018-02-20T20:40:46+00:00July 21st, 2017|

As we begin to move later into the year and approach the fabulous fall planting season, it’s time to think about the trees we’d like to see sharing our space.  Time flies by quickly and you don’t want to find yourself saying “Why on earth didn’t we plant that oak thirty years ago?”   [...]

Creation vs. Maintenance: A Balancing Act

By |2018-02-20T20:40:46+00:00July 14th, 2017|

One of the most popular talks I've been giving lately deals with maintenance and balancing one’s life with one’s garden – more specifically, not taking on a project that creates six new maintenance projects in the foreseeable hereafter when the lifeboat is already taking on water. And to those watching me bounce around the podium, [...]

Mid-Atlantic Gardening – Not for The Faint of Heart

By |2018-02-20T20:41:04+00:00July 1st, 2016|

I can’t remember which of the many gardening books I was reading the day I jubilantly came across the statement, “If you can garden in the Mid-Atlantic you can garden anywhere.” My self-satisfied smirk widened further when I realized that the author wasn’t even a Mid-Atlantic gardener himself.  This gave his words great gobs of [...]

Title

Go to Top