Moving to Ohio fourteen years ago from New York city, Barb and I had great hopes of growing big, juicy garden tomatoes. Though we had space where we lived, it was dominated by a Norway maple on one side and a Bronx palm on the other. It was not exactly a prime growing space for […]
John Makley, Columnist
Posted inLife and Culture
Notes from a dirty, old gardener: In a State of Denial
Well, it’s official: Google’s Doodle announced the first day of fall Tuesday. With fall’s arrival came our first frost advisory, too. I guess there’s no denying it anymore. Goodbye summer. Hello Fall. Of course, the end of summer is inevitable. It is as certain as day will change to night. Yet every year I find […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Notes from a dirty, old gardener: Fall is for Planting
One of our suppliers at the garden center is running a promotion called “Fall is for Planting,” complete with little tags on their plants and banners for us to display. Doesn’t everyone already know that I thought, but I’ve discovered they do not. So here are some reasons why fall is for planting. Usually fall […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Notes from a dirty, old gardener: Ten & a half grasses Part II
So the count of the top ten and half grasses for your landscape, according to the dirty, old gardener, continues from last week. #6: Arrhenatherum elatius subsp. bulbosum ‘Variegatum’ (Bulbous oat-grass) – I never even try to pronounce this grass, even with three years of Latin. It’s a lovable little grass though, with thin white […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Notes from a dirty, old gardener: Ten & a half grasses
Grass season is in full swing. From August through September, the warm season ornamental grasses are coming into their full glory. In honor of the season, I’d like to list ten and a half of my favorite grasses. The great thing about grasses is that most of them are very adaptable, and relatively pest free. […]
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Notes from a dirty, old gardener: Journey to America
Growing up, the word “grass” meant two things, either the thing you begrudgingly mowed each week, or the thing you found in your brother’s drawer that he told you was oregano. Today, it can also refer to a plant in your landscape that is about to bloom right now. For those of you young enough […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Notes from a dirty, old gardener: From little things
Personally, I’ve never been big on growing my own food. Perhaps, that’s because the foods I like to eat (M&Ms, Snickers, Doritos…) you can’t grow. The idea of growing my own food does intrigue me though, and there are plenty of people who do it. One of them is a wonderful woman I met by […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Notes from a dirty, old gardener: Queen of the Road
I have been accused of liking weeds, and I suppose if one were to visit my garden right now, it might appear I am cultivating them. Not all weeds can be hated though. Queen Anne’s Lace is one of those “weeds,” and right now she rules the side of our roads with her lacy white […]
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Summer garden travels lead to daylilies and “Coney Island”
This week I visited two gardens that have collections of two perennials that I’m interested in. Daylily is one of them and for them I visited the Kit Walter. His fascination with daylilies began over twenty-five years ago when he received a dozen of them in a box from another gardener. According to Kit, […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Notes from a dirty, old gardener: Changing the world
The other day, a young landscaper friend of mine posted on Facebook before and after pictures of a job he had done. Done in one day, it completely transformed the area. It reminded me of the first landscape job I was on almost thirty years ago. I was a new grad with no clue as […]