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When little becomes big – Avoiding the headache.

By |2018-02-20T20:40:47+00:00June 16th, 2017|

  It’s disconcerting to realize your plants are bigger.  A lot bigger. When a tree or shrub finally grips the earth with a committed heart and gets down to the business of seriously growing, the gardener can instinctively feel the change.  And it’s frightening.   This Edgeworthia chrysantha doesn't look like much its second [...]

Big Dreams, Small Garden

By |2020-09-07T22:46:33+00:00February 15th, 2017|

Over the last eight years, I have written many columns encouraging people to face the space in which they find themselves and to create the garden that lives within them. Particularly in the midst of the difficult economic period of the last decade. Disturbingly, one of the things that I often heard when I initially [...]

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 [...]

‘Easy’ Is a Matter of Perspective

By |2018-02-20T20:41:08+00:00February 9th, 2016|

With millions of innovative gardeners on this planet, differences of opinion and horticultural hair-pulling sessions are bound to erupt. Most of us look forward to a little good-natured thrust and parry – particularly in February when we’re all getting tired of endless conversations about how this winter stacks up to the last. Well this [...]

First, Do No Harm: Coping with Snow on Trees

By |2018-02-20T20:41:08+00:00January 22nd, 2016|

This extremely rude specimen has been affectionately named "Happy" - and I always avert my eyes when brushing off the snow. I'd like that bit of errant bark to make me smile just as broadly in ten years as it does now. An end-of-days snowfall is coming to the Mid-Atlantic this afternoon, if [...]

When Everyone Is Watching: Garden Design for Non-Designers

By |2018-02-20T20:41:10+00:00November 19th, 2015|

A front-and-center garden puts artwork on display and invites accolades or criticism. I've got nothing but accolades for this Oregon homeowner. Designing a garden is a humbling experience, period. But when your design is instantly on display because you are planting an entrance or a driveway, it’s a worrying experience. And, [...]

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