Garden chores

Collecting seeds is an optional fall chore for me. Most of the time I depend on the plants' own willingness to disperse seeds, or the availability of the seed from seed companies. But every so often I grow a plant and I am not sure I will be able to buy more seed, or I [...]

The weather has been glorious. Perfectly blue skies providing a backdrop as the leaves change to their brilliant autumnal colors. It makes my heart sing--and mourn.Not because winter is coming, per se. I live in a cold climate; winter is supposed to come.But not before I get through my gardening list! Yes, by the time [...]

Gardening experience, for the most part, is accrued bit by bit, as decisions are made to do this chore before the other, plants die and we know why--or we don't--and mental notes are made about what is blooming when. But every so often, the gardener has an epiphany, a light bulb moment. These milestones represent [...]

74F Last Thursday, 16F Predicted Monday Cold climate gardeners, we knew this was going to happen, didn't we? After the incredible, pinch-me-I'm-dreaming spell of beautifully warm weather, the real March weather is coming back with a vengeance. I don't think it got quite as warm here as it did other places in my general area, [...]

The unseasonably mild weather has prompted me to start in on garden clean-up. And since the garden was untended for at least a year, there is a lot of cleaning up to do. This was what the garden looked like last year in early June, the first time we went to see the house we [...]

Mulch can kill trees--that sounds kind of extreme, doesn't it? But it caught your attention, right? I suppose it would be more accurate to say improper mulching can kill trees, but as I look around me, improper mulching of trees seems to be the standard practice, the only kind of mulching around trees that's being [...]

........................................The curious stranger roves, With grateful travel, through a wild of groves; And though directed, oft mistakes his way, Unknowing where the winding mazes stray; Yet still his feet the magic paths pursue, Charmed, though bewildered, with the pleasing view. Stephen Duck, 1731 The hedge clipping was finished yesterday (October 5). We have a variety [...]

Heading into fall, there are times when we might be feeling overworked, too frazzled, or simply not feeling like doing everything we normally do. Everyone needs to find their own balance in the garden, but you may want to take the time to avoid these common mistakes which can wind up costing you in the long [...]

Five inches of rain fell here in roughly 24 hours. After a multi-week dry spell where my constant promise to my garden was, "As soon as we get some rain, I'm going to…", it finally rained, big time. Casting an eye at the seasonal clock and acknowledging that we really should have had a frost [...]