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, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, Gardening wiht Dogs, Overseeding Lawns

Overseeding Lawns

Hello Fellow Readers, Remember Ed from Basking Ridge who wrote in about his digger dog?  It seems Dulcie also loves a good game of fetch and Ed wonders how to create a lawn to stand up to speedy turns. His current lawn rolls up, has little root structure and is mostly crabgrass and cl
Read More
pile of aged hemlock mulch

Woolly Adelgid- Hemlock Mulch

Hello Fellow Readers, At last, it’s the official start of spring! One of the chores many delve into, along with their spring cleanup, is freshening up their mulch. John from Andover asked what mulch he should use. Last week we spoke about the trend in using cocoa mulch but learn
Read More
Starting Seeds Indoors

Starting Veggie & Perennial Seeds Indoors

Hello Fellow Readers, Ready to dig in? A rule of thumb is eight weeks before the last frost date (typically May 19th here in Northern New Jersey) is the time to start seeds indoors. I don’t know about you, but I am counting on normal despite our crazy winter! Hence I plan to start see
Read More

Springfest Garden Show is coming to town

Hello fellow readers, We’ve flipped the calendar to March which means we are getting close to the new beginning of spring! We’re all more than ready for a jump start. It’s exciting that the Springfest Garden Show held at the Sussex County Fairground in Augusta is only a few days away.
Read More

Salt Impact on Plants (& Remedies)

Hello fellow readers, This is getting silly – another 15 inches of snow followed by an icy wintery mix! John from Blairstown stopped while I was walking Ellie during the latest one-two punch and said, “You get an A for effort!”  Thanks, John, I like to think of myself as an achi
Read More

Cold & Snow Impact on Pests

Hello fellow readers, Mr. Wooly Bear Caterpillar sure predicted this winter spot-on!  Jane from Bangor asked if our single digits and snow cover will help reduce bugs.  Wouldn’t that be a well-deserved outcome after all of this brrrrr!   They say invasive insects may be more susceptib
Read More

Vertical Gardening Part 2

Hello fellow readers, Several of you like the idea of standing tall while picking vegetables and are intrigued by the decorative possibilities of vertical gardens. Ted from Allamuchy uses a cattle panel arched in half so he can walk under it and secures each corner with T-posts – Wall
Read More

Vertical Veggie Gardening

Hello fellow readers, Oh, goodie! Garden catalogs are here to tease our fancy and tickle our toes. Not sure what toes have to do with it, but it sounds exciting. And it is! John from Hope asked whether to grow veggies in those newfangled vertical garden “systems” and bags.
Read More