Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog

Beautiful Brunnera

Hello fellow readers, It’s challenging to talk when your mouth is wide open with a sucking device, dental tools and a set of hands. In fact it can be trying and I wonder if the strategy of encouraging conversation is to keep our mind off their work. Let’s just say I would rather go to
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Stop Garden Volcanoes Mary Stone Garden Dilemmas

Proper Planting & Mulching

Hello fellow readers, One hundred columns ago, we began out garden chat. It’s far more than about digging in the dirt. Gardens relate to all that grows in this garden of life. So for column 101, it seems fitting to reflect on our very first topic; Proper Planting & Mulching.
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two groupings of Hosta in a garden

Dividing Perennials

Column updated April 1, 2021  Hello fellow readers, Divide and multiply, and while you’re at it, why not move those that may be better living somewhere else. Of course, I am referring to dividing and moving perennials, not family members :^) Sally from Wind Gap asked if spring is a go
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White daffodils with yellow centers along a stone path

Easter Blessings

Hello fellow readers, Our world is greening up, and the snowdrops are finally peaking almost a month behind last year. As predicted, the ticks have made a robust comeback after a long winter protected by the snow. Nasty pests I think our creator could have done without, though I suppo
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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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Winter Burn Mary Stone of Garden Dilemmas

Preventing Winter Burn

Have you noticed many evergreens look as though they were scorched this winter?  John from Stone Church asked what to do about the brownish-red dry foliage, which is much worse on one side of his young white pines.
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pile of aged hemlock mulch

Woolly Adelgid- Hemlock Mulch

Hello Fellow Readers, At last, it’s the official start of spring! One of the chores many delve into, along with their spring cleanup, is freshening up their mulch. John from Andover asked what mulch he should use. Last week we spoke about the trend in using cocoa mulch but learn
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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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Starting Seeds Indoors

Starting Veggie & Perennial Seeds Indoors

Hello Fellow Readers, Ready to dig in? A rule of thumb is eight weeks before the last frost date (typically May 19th here in Northern New Jersey) is the time to start seeds indoors. I don’t know about you, but I am counting on normal despite our crazy winter! Hence I plan to start see
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Springfest Garden Show is coming to town

Hello fellow readers, We’ve flipped the calendar to March which means we are getting close to the new beginning of spring! We’re all more than ready for a jump start. It’s exciting that the Springfest Garden Show held at the Sussex County Fairground in Augusta is only a few days away.
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