Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Ruth Ratcliff, Bumble Bee, Bee Balm, Monarda

Ruth’s Attraction

My dear friend Ruth shared this photo and Happy Bumble Bee Video of her newly acquired Monarda commonly called Bee Balm and for good reason; it’s a Bee Magnet! By the way, Ruth is incredibly attractive too. And, her gardening fortitude and talents tends to make the rest of us lo
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a white nest of Eastern Tent Caterpillars in the crotch of a tree.

Diehard Campers -Tent Caterpillars

Hello fellow readers, It’s the unofficial start to summer which brings on outdoor activities and vacations including tent camping for diehards. Ben from Bangor asked what to do about the wormy things building tents in the crevices of his cherry tree right above his grill. Easter
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Skunk-Cabbage-Emerging-in-marshy-water

Skunk Cabbage Appeal

Skunk cabbage's unusual chemistry creates heat, melting the snow around itself. It's one of the first things to sprout and serves a role long ago as well as today.
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone, Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design

Bare-Root Apple Trees

Hello fellow readers, Rebecca of Andover, NJ, received a dormant, bare-root apple tree via mail order and wondered the best way to take care of it until she plants it. What a wonderful gift! They are doing a backyard renovation and plan to include apple trees in the mix. Apple trees s
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Cut Christmas tree dusted with snow on the side of the road.

Extend the Joy!

Hello fellow readers, I always feel sad when I see retired Christmas trees curbside. It feels wasteful, even though they’ve served their intended purpose, to toss them out in the trash when there is still more these beauties can do. Many towns have programs of gathering used Christmas
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Late-summer Butterfly Magnets

Hello fellow readers, Many of you like to dance!  Jane from Mt. Bethel, PA, emailed me about the fun of watching butterflies in her garden and asked how to attract more. Ben from Belvidere, NJ, wondered if he planted butterfly loving plants, would he be inviting deer to the party. It
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Goats as pets, Mary Stone of Garden Dilemmas, garden blog, gardening blog

Goat Get ‘Em

Hello fellow readers, I had the privilege of meeting with Josh of Stillwater, who adopted Skippy and Jay Jay in March at five weeks old, weighing 15 pounds each. His “Kids,” the actual name for baby goats, are Toggenburg goats named after the Toggenburg valley in Switzerla
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, Gardening wiht Dogs, Overseeding Lawns

Overseeding Lawns

Hello Fellow Readers, Remember Ed from Basking Ridge who wrote in about his digger dog?  It seems Dulcie also loves a good game of fetch and Ed wonders how to create a lawn to stand up to speedy turns. His current lawn rolls up, has little root structure and is mostly crabgrass and cl
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Fashion faux pas: Black socks with white sneakers

Landscape faux pas & Cocoa Mulch

Hello Fellow Readers, I am grateful to all that came to the Springfest Garden Show and attended my lecture, along with Marty Carson of Three Seasons, on the Dos and Don’ts of Landscape & Garden Design. It was a lighthearted spin comparing garden don’ts to fashion blunders. To foll
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Gardening with Dogs Part 2

Hello fellow readers, There’s much to consider when gardening with dogs. Doggie garden dilemmas & remedies Doggone diggers are only part of the challenge when you have canine kids. The risk of trampling while playing, noshing while bored, yellow lawn spots, or leg lifting on
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