Hello Fellow Readers, The pots between the garage doors remain largely vacant since our yellow jacket dilemma. Due to the proximity of the nest and the risk of anaphylactic shock of loved ones, a non-organic approach was sadly called for. If the yellowjacket nest was not in a tenuous

Hello Fellow Readers, We had a near-stinging episode from a garden pot begging for its annual dressing, a task not yet done due to a humbling hand procedure gratefully on the mends. A client grew tired of deer spraying and passed along Hosta, which I nested in the pots as a temporary

Hello Fellow Readers, For several years now I’ve had two bales of peat moss in my potting shed. For the life of me I don’t recall where they came from. Perhaps a donation from a client when they moved? Sphagnum moss, or peat moss, is a genus of approximately 380 species. It’s a

Hello Fellow Readers, Earlier this season, my brother Rick from Knoxville, TN, and a dear friend Ruth of Hope, NJ, asked about rose pest remedies and soil requirements to get them off to a good start. I find roses fussy and hard to keep in their glory. There are spider mites and aphid

Hello fellow readers, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) hosted a tour of two private gardens in Northwestern, NJ, and I had the joy of attending. A visit, if you will, with the two best gardeners of the garden state I have the privilege of knowing. While I frequently savor

Hello Fellow Readers, It’s humbling to witness our youth working together to weed out undesirables- making way for new beginnings, and offering a helping hand. Nearly 500 students, teachers, and staff of Blair Academy, located in Blairstown NJ, mobilized on May 19th to help over

Hello Fellow Readers, To properly plant trees and shrubs on a hillside, you should create a platform by elevating the downhill side or cutting into the hill—a lesson that leads to a story about a cherished tree planted in my sister’s hillside garden. Mom especially admired the R

Hello, Fellow Readers. Jeanne of Blairstown shared a fungi dilemma: an alien-looking plethora of mushrooms amongst her garden mulch. Mushrooms are the fruit of valuable spores that decay organic material and recycle nutrients back into the soil, which is good for plants. However, in v

Hello Fellow Readers, A few weeks ago, we spoke about how to evict ants from a natural stone patio without spoiling the charming moss in the joints (link below). The topic brings to mind how best to clean patios and walks without damaging the stone or plants; one of my nagging dilemma

Hello Fellow Readers, Interactions with wildlife can bring a tear to my eye… the wonder of it all. On April 23rd, while walking along Island Beach State Park, NJ, with canine kid Ellie, we spied a fisherman with what looked like a dog. I should preface that Ellie is a rescue who still