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, Boxwood Blight

Boxwood Blight Coming to Town ?

Hello fellow readers, I recently learned that Boxwood Blight might be coming to town from Patrick LePore, an associate from Bartlett Tree Experts, who alerted me that it’s arrived in Central New Jersey. He was on his way to our client’s Bob and Kathy of Piscataway to asses
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Planting trees around a septic

Trees Around a Septic

Hello fellow readers, While the fall planting season is wrapping up, there’s still time to plant most species of woody plants. Good thing as Gail and Rich of Sparta NJ have a naked garden dilemma since a new neighbor moved in who opted to take down a glorious stand of Canadian hemlock
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She’s a Beautyberry

Hello, fellow readers, A visit with Jacquie, a dear design client, leads to sharing life stories and an introduction to her newest favorite plant – Beautyberry. It’s a marvel how life brings people together. It’s one of the joys gained from the work I do. Especially when I
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Dogwood Diseases,Anthracnose

Doggone Dogwood Disease

Hello, fellow readers, Anthracnose (Ann-thrack-nose, my phonetics) is the most discussed and severe among the doggone dogwood dilemmas. Though powdery mildew, leaf and flower blight spots and crown cankers also rank high. Never mind the dogwood borer, which can run amuck. Discula dest
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Woody Plant Conference, Scotts Arboretum, Morton Arboretum

Baobab Tree of Life

Hello fellow readers, I’m back from the Woody Plant Conference held at Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College PA, always a treat. While not nearly as knowledgeable as the scientists and arborists in attendance, I have a love affair with trees, especially those that have lived far longe
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Mary Stone with Miss Ellie Mae

Independence Day on the Top of the World

Hello fellow readers, Last Sunday, we visited Big Pocono State Park, which sits atop Camelback Mountain Resort in Tannersville, PA. I’ve coined it the Top of the World, where you can see eastern Pennsylvania and portions of New Jersey and New York. More than that, there’s
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Events, Ken Druse, Ken Druse Garden

Extraordinary Gardeners, Extraordinary Plants

Hello fellow readers, Last year I missed the opportunity for annuals, then scrambled to doll up my empty pots with perennials late in the season. Overwintered in the garage, I loved when their little faces emerged. This year I made time for the annual trek in time to find my favored a
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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
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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
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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
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