Hello fellow readers, Last week’s chat about remedies of carpenter ants and termites in mulch brings to mind the best solution of all. Plant mulch alternatives instead—groundcovers, which go beyond everyday ones like pachysandra and vinca minor. First, consider cultural requirem

Hello fellow readers, While walking along the Paulinskill Rail Trail the last few weeks, a low-lying plant that lines the sooty path in the shadier spots has caught my eye. Mayapple is a native perennial, a desirable one, unbeknownst to me while planting my first comprehensive perenni

Hello Fellow Readers, I have an assortment of deformed and dwarfed flowers on my Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) and Coneflower (Echinacea). In addition to distorted petals, some flowers didn’t form at all.  Plus, the ends of others look like something nibbled them off. This year,

Hello fellow readers, Have you noticed on a humid summer morning, sometimes there are shiny clusters of droplets on what looks like cobwebs in the lawn? The webs could be the branching nature of dollar spot fungus. Or, they may be the webs of grass spiders. Then there are the adorable

Of all Suzanne's perennials, only her Blackberry Lilies were competing heartedly with the Stilt Grass, and so, I guessed they too might be considered invasive. Maybe not! One of the joys of working with fellow gardeners is learning about unusual plants. Plus, how to remediate invasive

Hello Fellow Readers, Fall is an ideal time to plant peonies. Not to say you can’t install them in the spring. But fall-planted peony will more quickly establish and flower sooner; some say a year before. We adore peonies for their magnificent sweet fragrance and palm-size flowers in

Hello Fellow Readers, I received an inquiry about an invasion amongst a patch of pachysandra from Josephine (Jo) of Phillipsburg, NJ. “How do I best get rid of spider warts?” she asked. We shared a back-and-forth email chat that played out like an investigation. “I never heard of spid

Hello Fellow Readers, We spoke a few weeks back about Sarah’s mile-a-minute weedy dilemma in Hope, NJ. She proudly sent photos of the clear-out of her front foundation garden, poised to be a butterfly garden. Sarah asked if there was a list of native deer-resistant butterfly pla

Hello Fellow Readers, Chris from Morristown, NJ, wrote in, “My small Shasta daisies didn’t survive the winter, so I’ll have to choose another variety.  Also, the holly is on a lifeline right now. I’m upset because it was doing well.” Chris is a hardcore DIYer who did an extraordinary

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