Hello fellow readers, Last week, I had the privilege of visiting with Elisabeth, who moved back to Blairstown from Chicago to be near her family. She purchased a farm built in the 1800s and is amid renovating and restoring the house and barn. Elisabeth wishes for a landscape design fi

Hello fellow readers, Have you ever heard when the peepers are peeping, it’s time to plant peas? Or when dandelions bloom, it’s a cue to dig in potatoes? It’s called phenology –observing animal migrations and when certain insects, amphibians, and hibernating animals

Hello, fellow readers, Thanks to Anita from Blairstown, NJ, who sent me an alert; I sat in on an informative talk about Vegetable Gardening Basics. Kelly Durkin, Manager of Catherine Dickson Hofman Branch of Warren County Library, looking springy in a lovely floral dress, introduced L

Hello Fellow Readers, A few weeks ago, I heard from my high school sweetheart, who remains a lifelong friend. Rusty writes, “Sara is starting her hot pepper plants from seed this year. Is there effective plant grow lights that we should get? Many thanks.” I sent a long-ago

Hello fellow readers, Last week’s chat about the end of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) quarantine brought quite a buzz. Though authorities will no longer restrict ash wood movement, we can help control Emerald Ash Borer spread by doing our part. Which brings the question of Robert

Hello fellow readers, After a week’s transition in the garage to re-acclimate our ‘Baby Blue Eyes’ Spruce to the outside world, Ellie’s memorial Christmas tree now sits in a protected spot. She’s in front of the future vegetable garden where the rundown h

Hello fellow readers, It’s the fall garden wrap up time, and I tended to some over the weekend. It feels good to be ahead of my usual scramble when the first snowflakes fly. Some fall garden wrap- up tasks, such as cleaning up perennials, may seem obvious. But others, like fall

Hello fellow readers, I recently received an email from the NJ Landscape Contractors Association (NJLCA), alerting members about legislation pending to limit the use of neonicotinoid insecticides to agricultural properties only. Neonicotinoids (neo·​nic·​o·​ti·​noid) are a synthetic d

Hello fellow readers, After our volunteer sing at the Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice last Friday, my singing buddy, Ken of Branchville NJ, asked about grub remedies for his lawn riddled with brown patches. He tried a product from a home store, but it didn’t help. It may not be a g

Hello fellow readers, Last week, I enjoyed a visit with facilitators of a recently installed memorial garden at Father John’s Animal House, a no-kill rescue facility in Lafayette, NJ. My colleague and dear friend Marty of Three Seasons Garden Design volunteered to create the gar