If we want to garden in a more ecologically beneficial way, it only makes sense to go outdoors and see what the natural world can teach us. It doesn’t look like much is going on in the woods after most deciduous trees have shed leaves and gone quiet for the winter. But recent woodland walks have given me ideas and inspiration aplenty.
No need to cut the whole garden back in fall. Standing stems and seedheads provide food for birds, shelter for overwintering insects - and good excuses to go outside to tidy up a little bit at a time on a nice winter day.
For those wonderful gardeners who joined us for Solving Garden Design Dilemmas on October 20, Here are the promised handouts for winter gardens, pollinator plants and my favorite great problem-solving plants.
Spotting Invasive plants when leaves are green can be tricky. But invasives with a longer growing season than native plants are easy to see in fall. Their leaves remain green or display bright autumn color long after natives have lost their leaves for the winter.
I’ve often dried anise hyssop leaves for a note of licorice flavor in winter pots of tea or infused them in gin, but this year my friend Julie taught me a tasty new trick.
Experts commonly answer the question, “When is the best time to prune?” with “When you have clippers in your hand.” But that’s not always the case.
I’m hearing lots of clues that summer is winding down, though. Dawn gets quieter and quieter, but the side yard is alive with twittering goldfinches clinging to Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) plants, gorging on ripe seeds, while bumblebees keep up the buzz pollinating its long-lasting lavender flowers.
Being surrounded by gardens is like living in a wildlife blind. The more native plants I grow right outside the windows, the more critters appear.
Solidago shortii 'Solar Cascade' Goldenrods are one of the most important food resources for native bees as summer slides into fall. The many tiny individual flowers on each flowerhead supply not just nectar, but all-important pollen, a crucial protein source. Read all about garden-worthy goldenrods in the July/August 2018 issue of The American [...]
Garden coaching is about helping homeowners see their property with new eyes. Read about it in the September/October issue of Connecticut Gardener Magazine.
