Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
Looking up at the shaggy bark of a shagbark hickory trunk.

Juglone Companion Plants

Hello fellow readers, One of the native trees that grace my yard is a shagbark hickory (Carya ovata). Its common name speaks for itself, with shaggy bark that stands out like a sculpture. But a treasure to some can be a nuisance to others. It’s true; the first time a golf ball-sized n
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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, Green and White Gardens, Gardens Glow, Oak leaf Hydrangea, Bottle brush buckeye, Horse Chestnut, Variegated ornamental grass

Gardens Glow

Hello fellow readers, If I may share a remarkable garden design story for Morristown Airport and lessons gained from how white gardens glow. Do you recall waiting until the last minute to finish your homework as a kid? As adults, it’s not about waiting but more about not having
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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, Ginkgo

The Wisdom of Ginkgo

Hello fellow readers, I recently attended the Woody Plant Conference at The Scott Arboretum in Swarthmore, PA. We learned about new plants and the dozen or more years it takes from propagation before they become available to buy. Plant patents, once rare, are now commonplace. Then the
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withered and curled leaves from aphid damage on leatherleaf viburnum

Reasons to Prune

Hello fellow readers, The reasons to prune are similar to the reasons for caring for ourselves and our families– Improving appearance and health, training the young, controlling size, preventing injury or damage, rejuvenating the old, and influencing bounty. But choosing the rig
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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,Cedar Apple Rust

The Gall of Cedar-Apple Rust!

Hello fellow readers, ‘It looks like a sea anemone!’ wrote Ruth of Hope referring to the alien-looking bright orange thingy with finger-like protrusions found on a cedar tree. Turns out this two-inch slimy blob is caused by a fungi called Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae (wowee; t
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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,recycle coffee pods, Doughnut Tree

Doughnut Trees

Hello fellow readers, What a roller coaster this spring has been. It came on like a lamb with highs up to 70 degrees stimulating early growth. Then, in comes the lion of overnight temps well below freezing. Many of the early blooming trees like magnolias ‘froze their faces’ I can hear
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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,recycle coffee pods, composting coffee grounds, coffee in the garden, making hydrangea blue

Coffee Grounds for your Garden?

Hello fellow readers, I’m not quite sure what inspired me to start collecting coffee grounds from the pods I once was resistant to use. Coffee grounds are terrific for your compost pile, but I don’t have one because of our resident bear. A while back, I considered worm composting indo
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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,Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa', Curly Willow

Rooting and Planting Willow Branches

Hello fellow readers, Gloria from Columbia, NJ, wrote in part two of an inquiry she made back in September about rooting a branch from a “curly willow bush” used as part of her daughter’s wedding centerpieces in 2008. She wishes to start a baby willow to give to her
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Beloved Birch

Hello fellow readers, I’ve been accused of being a birch lover, and it’s true. In fact, their glorious bark and see-through leaves have earned them beloved birch status as one of my favorite trees. Last week we spoke about the trees tolerant of wet conditions that The Natu
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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, Birch Trees, Yellow Birch, Red Maple, Sycamore, Pin Oak, Black Willow, Sweetgum, Swamp White Oak, Flood tolerant Trees

Preservation of the Paulinskill River

Hello fellow readers, If I may share the story of how I learned about activities to help the Preservation of the Paulinskill River. A friend from Stillwater stumped me when he asked what the plastic tubes are along routes 80 and 94. The plastic thingies look like tree tubes of sorts,
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