How well it is named, this tree with an unbroken lineage of two hundred million years! It once formed vast forests around the northern hemisphere—forests in which the dinosaur roamed and in which the early birds learned to use the air as a means of transportation. This tree left an abundant fossil record in the … Read more
Here’s everything you need to know if you want to use hanging baskets in every climate. Containers Old-fashioned wire baskets in various sizes (from 8” to 18” inches in diameter); square or half-circle redwood or cedar baskets; or any other container of suitable size that can be suspended using a chain, rope, or wire. Wire … Read more
I use the word “basket” to designate any container holding living plants that can be suspended from a support. For example, it could be a purchased or homemade wire basket filled with pendulous tuberous begonias, achimenes, or English ivy, to be hung from the roof of a porch. It might be a bucket of blue-flowered … Read more
To raise lavender in one’s own garden and use the crushed flowers and leaves as a sachet is to touch hands momentarily with the lady of the 17th-century manor. She and her maid grew it in the stillroom garden, where it was especially favored for preparing sweet washing water and other “conceits” employed by the … Read more
Why not emulate the ancient custom of making a hedge of grape vines? To do this, you allow your young vine to develop only one single rod, which you train horizontally along a wire or bamboo canes, nailed to pegs driven into the soil. When this rod has reached a length of 13’ feet, you … Read more
There is still time to sow seeds of many perennials to provide plants for next year’s garden. If you have a cold frame, you will have space after annuals and tender plants are set out in your garden. You may sow seeds directly in the frame bed or flats, given cold frame protection. Making A … Read more
What is a good lawn and garden fertilizer? There have been many answers over the years, but from the frequency of weed-choked lawns, dead trees and shrubs, disease, and insect problems, not all have proved completely satisfactory. The 10-5-5 Formula Recently, scientists have come up with a new answer, and so far, it is the … Read more
Thick layers of mulching materials lessen the need for weeding and cultivating, conserve moisture (reducing the need for watering), and gradually build up soil fertility. And they effectively lower the soil temperature, as the photographs on the left show, helping promote plant growth during hot weather. We, gardeners, should mulch whenever and wherever we can. … Read more
Three years ago, the possibility of growing anything in a bed of cinders would have needed more interest for Bill Robinson. Then, he was a get-down-on-the-knees type of gardener who liked the feel of rich soil under his hands. He battled bugs and weeds in his small garden and could point with pride to a … Read more
Who says every garden bed must be edged with military rows of prim, plump marigolds or ageratum? There are several uncommon but equally decorative edging plants and dozens of vegetables and fruits that look good enough to eat—and are. Are petunias too flamboyant and sprawly for your small, full-flowering bed? Try some of the ornamental … Read more