Cold Climate Gardening

I had a conversation with a gardening friend about watering the other day. We each have strong personalities and the talk was lively and interesting, filled with opinions and advice. When the time came for “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” I did and I’ll share them with you too.
I have spent […]

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Pruning the apple trees is a rite of spring. In past years I had a tendency to get started late and finish in a somewhat hurried splurge of activity–tinged with a bit of panic that perhaps I wouldn’t get it done in time. This year I had to take a different approach.
Since I’m no longer […]

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This is one of the better reasons for trimming back all your perennials in the fall. Less hidey-holes for the resident rodents. There are probably half a dozen of these holes in the Birthday Garden alone, and there are plenty in my other garden beds, too.
Where’s a feral cat when you need one? Or an […]

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Barbara Damrosch makes the case that frost is a gardener’s good friend. She points out that the action of frost on the soil helps to break it up and improve it, and gives suggestions on how to use this to your advantage. This is a more workable idea for vegetable gardens than for perennial beds, […]

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This is what greeted my eyes Friday (Nov. 3) morning: the first snow this season that remained on the ground instead of melting on contact. After the freak snowstorms in Buffalo and elsewhere, it’s rather yawn-inspiring, I know, but it does help one turn one’s face like flint toward the coming storms. No more remaining […]

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News flash: There is a snowdrop that blooms in the fall, Galanthus reginae-olgae, Queen Olga’s snowdrop. Wayne Winterrowd and Joe Eck, in the most excellent A Year at North Hill: Four Seasons in a Vermont Garden, confirm that
It does indeed bloom in the snow, the first snow, which generally comes about the last week in […]

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The latest edition of Yard & Garden Line News, put out by the University of Minnesota Extension Service, is so full of handy information I’m tempted to quote the whole thing.
First, there’s a thought-provoking article on whether or not to wrap young trees to prevent sun scald. As with so many recommended practices in […]

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