One of my favorite spring flowers for perennials is the peony. Peonies are a long-lived perennial that you should be able to enjoy for decades. A few years after Sharon and I got married; my parents gave me a collection of four different peony varieties. A friend and reader of mine asked me why her […]
A Stroll Through the Garden
Posted inLife and Culture
A Stroll Through the Garden: Rhubarb stalks are smaller than hoped
A few years ago, I received an email from one of my readers about her Rhubarb or Rheumrhabarbarum. It seems that the stalks on her rhubarb were as thin and weak as they haveever been. Her rhubarb normally does well and has not let her down. You really should have big thick stalks to make […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus is edible
On my way home from teaching a wild edible class this week, I noticed an unusual plantin full bloom. I have been a fan of this plant since I lived in Florida. Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus or Opuntia humifusa is in bloom right now. The bright yellow bloom is a flower that will light up […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: Black Knot Disease can kill our cherry trees
A reader from Mohicanville contacted me around June 15 a few years ago to ask aboutthe deformed branches on her sour cherry tree. My reader’s tree had elongated, rough black swellings or knots that developed on the woody portions of the tree. This type of knot is found mostly on small branches and twigs. In […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: Help! My Dogwood is suffering
I recently received an email asking how you might be able to rejuvenate a dogwood tree starting in the Spring. If you have a tree in your yard that appears to be struggling, inmost cases, it’s common sense to fertilize it. There may be other issues that could have a serious impact on the tree's […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: Studying millions of invading Squash bugs
Last week, I got an email from a reader. My reader was pleading, ‘HELP!’ Squash bug or Anasa tritis had invaded her garden. She had planted pumpkins, acorn, spaghetti, and butternut squash. There was no hint of mercy in these squash bugs because she said, “There were millions overtaking everything.” Let’s take a military stance […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: Dandelions can be delicious, dainty edibles
Almost 20 years ago, I helped teach a class to my Pathfinders, a Christian group likethe Boy Scouts, on wild edibles. You know, there are several different approaches to weeds. You could pull the weeds by hand by digging the plants to the root level. You could spray any number of compounds over the weeds […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: Weeds can be pulled while protecting perennials
I got an email from a reader years ago in April about a sunny site with a recurring weed problem. “I used some chemicals a few years prior and got rid of them.” The bad news was that weeds from the lawn had crept back into her flower beds. As you prepare for the main […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: New solutions to the perennial problem of groundhogs
Last week, I got a question from a reader about a couple of groundhogs that reside in his garage and include his garden items in their diet without paying for their meals or leaving any tip. These rodents, called groundhogs, have a scientific name, Marmota monax. Groundhogs can tear up any garage floor. So, what […]
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A Stroll Through the Garden: Part 2 — Fighting voles & moles
Last week, I wrote a column on moles and recommended how to help you manage moles in your gardens. Moles and voles are not even in the same family. Voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, or meadow voles, are voracious vegetarians and may eat up to 100% of their body weight daily: carrots, beets, seeds, berries, bark on […]