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, Garden Blog, Choosing Annuals

Choosing Annuals

Hello Fellow Readers, (Excuse the late posting of this week’s column. I’ve been hobbling along without internet since last Tuesday’s Wizard of Oz storm. Humbling!) We have the green light for annuals based on the wisdom to wait until after the last frost date, typica
Read More
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Terrariums, Succulants, A&J Messina Greenhouses

Terrariums-a Mini Gardening Warmup

Hello Fellow Readers, Just before our gardens kicked into gear, I attended a succulent event hosted by A&J Messina Greenhouses in Blairstown, NJ, which served as a mini-gardening warmup. What a lively group of over seventy guests learning how to make a terrarium. Trays of succulen
Read More
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone, Gardening tips, Garden Blog, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, NJ Garden Coach, NJ Garden Speaker, Arbor Day, The Hidden Life of Trees, Do Trees Talk to each other

Talking to Trees on Arbor Day

Hello Fellow Readers, Arbor Day occurs worldwide at different times of the year, based on the growing season. In the United States, it’s celebrated on the last Friday in April. The origin of Arbor Day here dates back to 1872 when J. Sterling Morton, President Cleveland’s S
Read More
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone, Gardening tips, Garden Blog, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, NJ Garden Coach, NJ Garden Speaker, 'Phenomenal' Lavender, Cutting back Woody Pernnials

Spring Cleanup & Pruning Lavender

Hello Fellow Readers, At last, the big cleanup. Curt and I spent eight hours cleaning up branches, sticks, and wheelbarrows of hickory nut hulls. The critters ate the nuts and left the husks. Talk about poor table manners. Then there were the bucket loads of cones, a sign our hemlocks
Read More
a golden retriever looking over pots Ovewintering in a garage

When to Place Overwintered Pots Outdoors

Hello fellow readers, As I write you it’s Easter Monday when the tradition of egg rolling contests are taking place. But we woke to snow. Seven inches of it. An egg-shaped snowball could be charming…. Not to worry, it will melt quickly and the daffodils under the snow this morni
Read More
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Mary Stone, Mettler's Woods

Easter Wisdom from Mettler’s Woods

Hello fellow readers, If I may share a story about Mettler’s Woods located in Somerset, NJ. On the second day of Spring, we braced for another round of blinding snow and high winds. Instead, a peaceful eight inches of fluff fell. Good thing as we were all weary. The snow quickly
Read More
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Mary Stone, Pussy Willows

Legendary Pussy Willow

Hello fellow readers, Last week we spoke about witch hazel brightening the winter-scape with petite mops of color. Another first to show is the beloved pussy willow whose bud-like puffs of fuzz are in fact blooms. They are called catkins which seems fitting that pussy willows produce
Read More
the yellow mop-like flowers of Heinrich Burns Witch Hazel.

Witch Hazel’s Winter Reprieve

Hello fellow readers, We welcome witch hazel’s winter reprieve of blooms bringing color to the predominantly white and grey landscape. They are one of the first to appear, with tiny mops of late winter blooms. The late-winter or early-spring bloomers we see are hybrids of mostly
Read More
a large fallen branch of a hemlock in front of a garage that spared hitting my umbrella pine.

In Like a Lion

Hello fellow readers, As I write it’s the second day of March and a wild storm with high winds and heavy snow is underway. After a mild February with temps in the fifties, even some seventies, soil is saturated and soft. The risk of trees falling causing power outages are high. Talk a
Read More
Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Mary Stone, Bruce Crawford

Not Necessarily Invasive

Hello fellow readers, Thank you for your kind wishes for a return to health. I am grateful to feel well again…. Please excuse the late posting of the column due to power and internet outages caused by the nor’easter that slammed the northeast on Friday. It’s been quite an
Read More