Hello fellow readers, “Is fall a good time to mulch,” asked John of Washington, NJ. I think so, mainly because there’s much to do in the garden when spring arrives. And for me, the madness of the season speedily unfolds. Like most springs, mulching didn’t happe

Hello fellow readers, On September 22nd, the first day of fall, our weather seemed to turn a switch, and leaves began to drop. It’s no surprise that the early leaf changers and droppers, customarily maples, show wounds from the growing season. I stumbled upon one such leaf while

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

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, It’s the time of year for tending to leaves and tidying our gardens for a long winter’s rest. The truth is, though, our gardens don’t rest. The fallen leaves and decaying plant material provide nourishment for next year’s growth by decompo

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, This growing season provided a perfect environment for foliar disease. Earlier in the summer Hector from Morristown, NJ sent a photo of his Mom’s maple tree dotted with black spots. “All the leaves seem to have the cooties.” I sent the photo off to my favorite as

Hello fellow readers, The ideal conditions for stunning fall color are a moist growing season (check – we had that) followed by a dry fall (yup – we’ve had that too) with sunny, warm days and cool nights (nope – didn’t happen). After a wet summer, most predicted we’d

Hello fellow readers, This time of year, on morning walks with Miss Ellie, I come across woolly bear caterpillars (Pyrrharctia isabella) and can’t help but help them along. Just as I pick them up, they curl into balls of fur. After ten or so saves, I consider just letting them b

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