Landscape

Here’s An Outdoor Fireplace That Works

Country living and outdoor fireplaces go hand in hand. And so, while it will probably be several years before we’ll be living at “the farm,” we decided at the outset

How To Succeed With Ferns

Ferns of one kind or another can be grown in practically every situation in the modern home except perhaps in the sunniest windows. This is because, in their native habitats,

Sawdust Mulch For Daffodils

Daffodil Growing Up

Sawdust, I have discovered, is an excellent mulch for daffodils. Its greatest advantage is its almost total suppression of weeds. This has allowed me to grow a collection of 135

Peonies: Positioning for the Perfect Bloom

Peonies Spot

Our first adventure with peonies started almost 40 years ago when we bought a collection of about a dozen varieties. This included: We moved our garden twice in the following

Enrich Your Soil with Green Manures

Green Manure

There is no closed season on good soil improvement practices for the gardener who wants the best from his land.  True, in most places, the frozen ground of winter puts

Mushroom Mastery: DIY Mushroom Gardening

Growing Mushrooms

There’s no secret to growing mushrooms! Any gardener can do it if he has access to a dark room or cellar where temperature and ventilation can be controlled.  Mushroom culture

Climbing to Garden Greatness: Fruiting Vines

Ornamental Vines

If any appraisal of ornamental fruiting vines, the bittersweet are among the first to come to mind. The American bittersweet Celastrus scandens is spectacular in Autumn when its yellow fruits

Common Witch-Hazel

Delicate Vernal Witch Hazel

Witch-hazels are among the most typical undercover shrubs of eastern forests. Great diversification in the places where they grow wild offers a good index to their usefulness in landscape plantings. 

Three Willows

weeping willow

The year 1950 was a good time to tell the story of our great crack willow trees. They began in the spring of 1850 when Grandpa was the pilot, the