Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
the canopy of a Tree of Heaven canopy against a blue sky

Why is it called Tree of Heaven?

Hello fellow readers, Jolee and I pass a mature stand of Tree of Heaven on our morning walks. There’s been a sickening smell of rotting apples for weeks now, and the trunks are loaded with Spotted Lanternflies. And I ask myself, why is it called Tree of Heaven? Spotted Lanterfly
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a meadow filled with purple, yellow, and white wildflowers below a bright blue sky.

A Walk in the Meadow

Hello fellow readers, A walk in the meadow with my friend and go-to mystery solver of all things in nature is always a treat. While Dennis Briede’s day responsibility is Stewardship Manager for The Land Conservancy of New Jersey (http://tlc-nj.org/), his true passion is living among n
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,, Invasive Barberry,Smoke Bush, Cotinus coggygria,

Alternatives to Invasive Barberry

Hello Fellow Readers, When I began as a designer, I thought barberry overtaking forest floors was native, which is not the case. The maroon leaf Japanese Barberry, Berberis thunbergii, has been overused in deer-populated areas for years, though it’s understandable why their popularity
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