Something new under the sun
Two or three people have already asked me, “Are you growing anything special this year?” Each time I had to stop and think: “Am I?” Then I feel, “Yes, I should be growing…
Ramping it up
Spring is here, in my basement. Allow me to set the scene: My basement is barely heated, and I replaced what once was a south-facing Bilco door with a wooden frame supporting two…
Now’s the time to start onion seedlings
The official start for this year’s growing season, which I count as the day when I sow my first vegetable seeds, will begin momentarily. Actually, the season should have already been underway, as…
Don’t run out of impatiens
You perhaps missed last summer’s plant plague, which might be back this summer. My garden was spared because last summer I happened not to have planted the particular host plant: impatiens (Impatiens walleriana),…
New wrinkles in pruning
Just because I wrote The Pruning Book doesn’t mean that I always go forth boldly, pruning shears in hand, to prune with speed and with total confidence. This realization hit me right between…
Some herbs will thrive even now on your windowsill
Growing vegetables is really quite simple. You put the seeds or transplants into sunny ground, you water and weed and then you harvest your bounty. For that small effort, you can put on…
Ash from your woodstove can serve many functions in the garden
Do occult practices contribute to the health of my pear trees? After all, there I was, clomping through lily-white snow in boots, tossing what looked like puffs of smoke at each tree. As…
Time to give houseplants some TLC
We’re now at the tipping point. No, not the global climate one, after which our climate permanently veers off in a new direction. Nor a sociological tipping point that describes, for example, how…
Sometimes it’s best just to let the garden be
“Let it be, let it be” went the old Beatles lyric, and this could very well be a mantra in gardening. Sometimes, sometimes a little and sometimes not at all. Take, for instance,…
Great gifts for gardeners
What would be a good gift for a gardener at this gift-giving time of year? Every gardener has his or her special inclinations, gardenwise, so each of us warrants a special set of…
