northern-gardening

Mud Season Chores: Cleaning up

– Posted in: Garden chores, Mud Season

I hate to admit it to you Southerners, but when the snow melts, what it invariably reveals is…a mess. I'm not just talking about the dead vegetation that needs to be cut back. There's human-made messes that ought to be dealt with, too. But let's talk about the plants first. Cut back and clear out [...]

A Garden Labyrinth

– Posted in: Design

And what is retirement for, if not to make a few dreams come true? And what is a garden for, if not to satisfy the longings of your heart? I have learned a lot from watching the garden of my best garden buddy, Bub, develop. The most satisfying garden, for the gardener and for others, [...]

Northern Gardener Magazine praises Cold Climate Gardening

– Posted in: About this site, Recommended Links

Look at the hardiness map for Minnesota and you will see that the whole state is in zone 4 or colder. The Minnesota State Horticultural Society, which publishes Northern Gardener Magazine, is devoted to helping northern gardeners. If you join the society, besides the magazine you will get borrowing privileges at the society's library (they [...]

The Intimate Garden: Book Review

– Posted in: Book reviews, Design

The Intimate Garden: Twenty Years and Four Seasons in Our Garden by Gordon and Mary Hayward belongs to the rare breed of landscape design book that is actually helpful: One private residential garden--not little glimpses of a dozen gardens The garden was developed over many years. (They figured it out as they went along) They [...]

Blooming in March

– Posted in: Weather, What's up/blooming

I took this photo yesterday, a day ahead of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I knew that rain was predicted for Wednesday afternoon and throughout today, but late yesterday morning it was merely overcast and quite mild, and I thought, "Go looking for flowers now, or forget about it." So I went galomphing about in the [...]

The Million Dollar Garden

– Posted in: Book reviews, Design

I've often thought my biggest hindrance to becoming a professional garden designer is my aversion to spending money, mine or anyone else's. Consequently, I tend to filter out great-but expensive-ideas almost as soon as I've thought them, even at the risk of being penny-wise but pound-foolish. So it should surprise no one that I find [...]