Hello fellow readers, I visited with Anne of Lafayette NJ last week and was delighted to see that she still has her Christmas tree. “It’s so fresh, I don’t have the heart to toss it out.” She combed a branch with her hand and not one needle dropped. Anne modified the decorations since

Hello fellow readers, One of my favorite evergreen conifer specimens is the Umbrella Pine (Sciadopitys verticillata). It sits to the right of the garage giving it protection from winds as advised by experts when planted in zone 5. Michael Dir, the guru of woody plants, lists its hardi

Hello fellow readers, We are inundated with requests for donations that come in varying forms and disguises. While we wish to give back and help others, evaluating good causes can be confusing. I recently received an official-looking envelope labeled 2018 New Jersey Tree Survey and th

Hello fellow readers, Nuts are abundant this fall which, in weather folklore, means a harsh winter is ahead. When walking around our Shagbark Hickory trees (Carya ovata) it feels as though I’m skating on marbles. The first time I was introduced to shagbark nuts was when a golf ball si

Hello fellow readers, Andrea of Morristown NJ asked what’s going on with her white pines. Seeing evergreens drop needles often triggers concern. It’s kind of like an abundance of hairs in your shower drain. Evergreen foliage, despite their name, does not live forever. As new growth em

Hello fellow readers. We chatted about Late-Season Bloomers (link below). An old friend, naturalist, and bird photographer, Mike Niven of Coatesville, PA, wrote that his Joe-Pye weed, one of the fall beauties, grew unusually tall this year, likely due to plentiful rains. He then asked

Hello fellow readers, I have the privilege to work with Stephanie of Denville, NJ, who moved from the west coast. She bought a cute cottage in a lake community overlooking a magnificent forest. The steepness of the slope is a dilemma for those like Stephanie who wish to ponder amongst

Hello fellow readers, One of my favorite vines is the Sweet Autumn Clematis in her glory this time of year. With a plethora of tiny white blooms from August through September, she looks like a snowdrift and smells heavenly. Once the flowers fade, a silvery blanket of seed heads follow

Hello fellow readers, A visit to Point State Park, an urban garden in downtown Pittsburgh, highlights a recent trip. The mist from a glorious 150-foot fountain that sits at the point where the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers combine provided soothing relief from the oppressive

Hello Fellow Readers, When I began as a designer, I thought barberry overtaking forest floors was native, which is not the case. The maroon leaf Japanese Barberry, Berberis thunbergii, has been overused in deer-populated areas for years, though it’s understandable why their popularity