Hello Fellow Readers; Sarah of Hope, NJ, was shy about providing photos before our Landscape Review and Recommendation meeting. Primarily because she fell behind in her garden maintenance, something I share in common during the summer heat. Sarah’s Mile-a-Minute weed is especial

Hello fellow Readers, Spring is a busy time for folks in the horticultural industry – Spring Madness Mode, I call it, and it’s hard to keep up. It’s also a busy time for wildlife. Birds are flitting about to find their best spots. It’s fun to anticipate new baby bird

Hello fellow readers; I often start chats with you by dictating thoughts on a morning walk with Jolee. And today, I am embracing spring unfolding, which we enjoy from year to year. The patterns in nature are familiar, bringing happiness and responsibility. Patterns of Spring Unfolding

Hello fellow readers, Have you ever heard of No-Mow May? It’s kind of like Dry January when folks forgo alcoholic drinks after a holiday of overindulgence. Well, maybe the only likeness is it lasts a month—the benefits of not mowing your grass in May last far longer. And it is e

Hello fellow readers, We visited Blue Mountain Lake, part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, to enjoy an early spring day. It’s sad to see the deterioration and the closing of sections under the guise of a lack of funding to maintain it. On the side gated off, w

Hello fellow readers, Over the almost eleven years of our column chats, I’ve often accessed the wisdom of Dennis Briede from Blairstown, NJ, who I refer to as my birder buddy, although he’s knowledgeable (I’d say expert, but he never boasts) on plants and wildlife an

Hello fellow readers, What a delight to help a lifelong friend plan a more sustainable backyard by removing turf and putting in a lawn alternative and native plants to nurture nature. Part of the criteria for a grant, which will fund some of the project’s expenses, is to include

Hello fellow readers; Sara from Oxford, NJ, asked how to prepare a plot for starting an organic garden. She suspects the previous owners used chemicals, as when they moved in, the lawn “looked like a golf course.” Kudos Sara. It’s wise to consider the prior use of ch

Hello fellow readers, The seasons of gardening relate to the cycles in our garden of life. In the early season of life, we don’t have choices. Like seeds, we live with what we were handed and where we landed. We are born into a family, a culture, and a country where we will grow

Hello fellow readers, We’ve shared the intrigue of two living fossils – Ginkgo biloba and the Umbrella Pine, both living in the days of the dinosaurs and surviving the Ice Age. The magnitude of their endurance is inspiring. And they’ve shared roots beyond the roots of thei