It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
First off, my apologizes to writer E.L. James for riffing on his popular novel title “50 Shades of Grey”. I rather doubt that my comments here will ever make it to the big screen. Just the same, the month of December in my garden is a pretty steamy mix of tan, brown, or black (and all the shades in between) emanating from foliage, seed heads, and bark, and frankly, I find it pretty stimulating…
It was 20 years ago in the spring that I wrote my first diatribe about the ill effects of daylight-saving time and how, while I love being on daylight-saving time, it is the change that gives me so much grief. The same can be said for the fall when we go back onto standard time. I don’t know how you feel about all of this, but I still feel the same as I did 20 years ago and for me the…
In my front yard is a mature White Pine that currently looks like it is about to die. The entire tree has a yellow cast to it caused by bundles of 2-year-old needles that have finished up their life cycle, have turned yellow, and are now dropping and blanketing my lawn. If this were a different plant I might be concerned, but…
Albert Camus, the French philosopher that developed Absurdism once said: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” While Albert didn’t attach any meaning to this annual event (since according to Albert everything is meaningless), at least he recognized that fall color is a pleasant experience that reminds us of…
I am not sure what happened to “Fall”. It seems like in September we went from summer to winter in a matter of just a few days. The current cool and rainy days feel more like November than September and I can only wonder what the month of October will be like. I am hoping for a few more balmy, sunny days with some spectacular fall color. Whatever we get, it is important to…
The Golfing Gardener
Trevor Cameron
I often tell gardeners in our region to rediscover their “Evergreen State”, which (in a play on words) simply means to show some gardening style with the structure, texture and color of conifers. Around here nature has the many shades of green covered, but how about some bold blues and bright yellows? When all of the deciduous shrubs and trees have…