Montezuma Cypress – a Gift from the Aztecs
If asked what the largest living thing on the planet is, most people will answer, “Whales.” The more adventurous might talk about the enormous soil fungi that cover acres of woodland, as wispy…
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The Basics of Tree Trimming
In our previous blog, Should I Trim My Trees? we talked about how to look at a mature tree and decide if the time has come for some trimming. On a larger tree…
Should I Trim My Trees?
Trees are great to have on your property, bringing beauty and shade, cleaning the air and removing CO2 from the atmosphere – we should all be planting more of them. Older trees, though,…
Grow Versatile Tree Roses in Your Garden
There are many kinds of roses – Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, Landscape Rose, and many more – but the same rose can come in different ways too. Typically, they are grown to produce stems…
Fringe Flowers – Everything You Need to Know About Loropetalum
I remember well the first time I saw a red Fringe Flower bush. Even as a pretty knowledgeable gardener I was blown away, so I understand why this plant has become such a…
Save Space and Add Beauty – Grow Shrubs Against a Wall
So many plants – so little room! The challenges in small gardens are considerable, but they all have to do with space, such as how to choose plants that won’t grow too large,…
Classic Trees for a Japanese Garden
The Japanese style of garden is enjoying huge popularity in the West. Perhaps it’s the huge interest in mindfulness and Zen, the desire for simplicity, or maybe the realization that it is the…
Nuts About Pecans? – Then Grow Your Own
These days it seems everyone is talking about – and eating – nuts. The peanut – not a nut at all, but a type of bean – is of course central to American…
Crab Apples – the Best Flowering Tree for Cold Climates
Spring and flowering trees go together – it wouldn’t be spring without them. But the classic flowering trees like cherry trees and magnolias are hard to grow in colder climates, below zone 5…
Plan Ahead for Winter Interest in the Garden
While we enjoy the last balmy days of summer, it is hard to think of the winter to come, but it will come, and our once-green gardens will be a lot barer when…
Give Them Room! Spacing Trees Correctly
A drive around any older neighborhood will quickly show you giant trees right up against houses, blocking windows, damaging foundations and drains, and making rooms dark and gloomy. Bad decisions about planting distances…
7 Top Plants for Japanese Gardens
Japanese and Asian-themed gardens are amazingly popular – and no wonder. They combine beauty with serenity, and by using just a few carefully chosen plants they create low-maintenance gardens, turning a few plants…
The World of Japanese Maples
Spring brings life back to our deciduous trees, and the delicate unfolding leaves are beautiful, no matter what the tree. But the most beautiful of all are undoubtedly the new leaves of Japanese…
Native Trees from the Four Corners of the Country
A big trend in gardening is growing native plants. This began with wildflowers, but it has spread to trees and shrubs too, especially with all the alarming stories of invasive species escaping gardens…
Jump-start Spring with These 5 Early-blooming Shrubs
Especially in colder parts of the country, it can be a long wait for spring. When the snow begins to melt, and the days lengthen, we can become impatient to see some signs…
5 Trees That Make the Perfect Gift
Gift-giving is a big part of the holiday season. Besides family and friends, it is common to give gifts to pets too – a bone for the dog, a catnip mouse for the…
Tips on Overwintering Patio Trees
One of the pleasures of gardening is growing plants from outside your hardiness zone. There are many trees and bushes that will grow happily for most of the year, but in winter your…
5 Ways to Give Your Trees Their Brightest Fall Colors
As the days shorten, and the weather becomes cooler, the grim prospect of winter is softened by the glories of fall. For a short time, our trees surrounded us in the brilliance of…
Trees in Containers – Perfect for the Smaller Garden. Part 2
When we started talking about growing trees in pots and planters, there was so much to say about choosing a container, soil, planting and pruning, that we never got around to looking at…
Holly Berries for Every Garden
As fall arrives, and the holidays are just a short few months away, red berries in the garden start to look like a great idea. There must be a million pictures out there…
Japanese Maples for Fall Color
Fall color is one of the great highlights of the year. Tourists come from around the world to see the colors of eastern North America, and almost everywhere, as the summer comes to…
Summer Care of Japanese Maple
Everyone loves Japanese maples, with their diversity of leaf color and form. Some are upright, some weeping, while some cascade elegantly over rocks and walls. Leaves may be green, or the coveted rich-reds…
Time to Prune Spring-flowering Shrubs – Part One
Now that spring is behind us, and summer has officially begun, don’t leave the pruning of your spring-flowering shrubs any longer. Ideally it should be done immediately after they flower, so for next…
Where Do New Plant Varieties Come From?
When we look at the huge range of different trees and shrubs available for our gardens, we take it as a given that something new is always coming along – the latest variety…