Garden Care & Design Tips
GIVE YOUR LAWN AN ORGANIC POWER BOOST THIS SPRING!
Espoma’s chemical-free lawn program nurtures lush, rich green lawns that are kid, pet and planet friendly. All Espoma Organic Lawn Products are specifically formulated to provide 2.5 times more slow release nitrogen (SRN) than conventional lawn programs. And you don’t have to worry about burning the lawn with this slow-release fertilizer that also builds healthy…
Read MoreBack Off Bambi
With colder weather approaching, so are deer. Many shrubs are prime targets for voracious consumers. Some of their favored snacks are arborvitae, yew and rhododendrons. Stop them in their tracks with Plantskydd animal repellant, which is 100% guaranteed and approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). Plantskydd was the first organic animal repellant to…
Read MoreJazz up your Winter Landscape
It’s time I faced reality and accepted the fact that wi….wint….winte…winter (I said it!) is around the corner. Winters can be very long in Maine. To help combat the winter blues, I like creating attention-grabbing winter vignettes, both in the front landscape, as well as in the sightlines of commonly used rooms, like my home…
Read MoreUnique Fall-Blooming Bulbs
As leaves start to change color, many gardeners grab their trowels and start planting spring blooming bulbs. Depending on your hardiness zone, most spring blooming bulbs are best planted sometime in October. Conversely, late summer is ideal for installing fall blooming bulbs like Sternbergia, autumn blooming Crocus, Colchicum and Lycoris. These bulbs are typically harvested…
Read MoreNasty Little Voles!
My blood pressure soared the other day when I noticed one of my Hydrangea ‘Incrediball’ had suddenly wilted. The adjacent ‘Incrediball’ seemed fine. As I drew closer to investigate, I noticed a small hole at the base of the shrub. Upon closer inspection, I discovered a tunnel and cavity underneath the shrub, where roots used…
Read MoreSpring Garden Maintenance
Last Sunday was my first chance to putter about my gardens, enjoy the bursting new plant life, and do some spring clean-up. As I mentioned earlier, not only has my schedule been insanely busy, but spring has also been very slow to arrive in Kennebunk, Maine. Even though it was cold (in the 40’s) and…
Read MoreJump-Start Gardens in Spring
With spring around the corner, I’m itching to get out in my gardens. Colorful flower gardening catalogs and magazines can only satisfy my gardening cravings for so long. At this time of the year I feel like a ship’s captain scanning the horizon for land – except I am searching for small green shoots. The…
Read More2017 Gardening Trends
This past fall I attended several professional green industry conferences that showcased cool gardening trends on the horizon for 2017. In addition to the political scene (don’t get me started), the shift in American demographics is having a dramatic effect on the economy. As stated in one conference report “The 78 million people who make…
Read MoreAct Now for Rich Blue Hydrangeas Next Year
There is something about full-flowered, rich blue Hydrangea blooms that sets your heart a’flutter. Maybe this only happens to those of us in colder zones (6 or lower) that find it so rare to have ANY flowers on our bigleaf Hydrangeas (pictured – Hydrangea macrophylla CITYLINE ‘Venice’). Let’s face the brutal facts. ALL bigleaf hydrangeas…
Read MorePerennializing Spring Blooming Bulbs
I hate having to repeat myself, but when it comes to digging in spring blooming bulbs each fall to replace those that fizzled away or were munched by critters, I CAN stop this expensive, repetitive madness. Now I plant long-lived, naturalizing bulbs that stick around for years. Here are a few of my tried and…
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