The fact is, I am short. Not extremely short, but short enough so that I require the assistance of a step stool or an obliging tall person to reach high shelves. If I were a garden plant, I would be a good mid-border specimen—not tall enough to dominate the back and not short enough to use as an edger. I […]
The short, gray days of winter in the north, coupled with snow, often create landscapes that resemble a black and white photo. Winter landscapes need not be drab and dreary and can have color, by choosing plants for interesting bark. One of my favorite shrubs for its bright red stems is the Red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea). For even better color than […]
CALLISTEMON—Bottle-Brush Tree (Calliste’mon). Tender evergreen flowering shrubs from Australia which belong to the Myrtle family, Myrtaceae. They are well adapted for growing outdoors in California and in similar mild climates and for greenhouse cultivation elsewhere. They have narrow, dark-green, leathery leaves, which are slightly aromatic when crushed. The flowers are densely packed in terminal cylindrical spikes resembling a bottle brush […]
BIRDS IN YOUR GARDEN How to Attract Them and Care for Them All who have closely studied birds claim that the set by the good which they do. On the other damage they may do in gardens is more than offhand, gardeners without an intimate knowledge of birds are generally quick to recognize the harm done and slow to acknowledge […]
Although the calendar may say spring, here in the north country, March only hints at the warmer weather to come. For gardeners this can be a frustrating month with late season snows, fluctuating temperatures, and mud limiting outdoor activities. One way to shorten the waiting period until the gardening season is to force branches of spring flowering shrubs like forsythia, […]
Winter Ornamentals – Bark Book Excerpt by Dan Hinkley Like the last and messy hours of a party gone on too long, the soggy, cool days of late autumn cast about the garden a mood of the season’s demise. Yet as the last colored leaves, varnished with the first rains of winter, fall earthward, the deciduous trees bare their sinewy […]
The commonest types of nut grown are the hazel and walnut. The two variants of the common hazel, Corylus avellana, are the cobnut with short husks and the filbert with long husks. Both are suitable for planting on poor, stony soils unsuitable for fruit trees, where they make medium growth and crop heavily. On rich soils growth is lush but […]
Growing Fruit trees in a greenhouse in pots Fruit trees may also be grown in the unheated greenhouse in pots, tubs or boxes. The restriction of the roots induces early fruiting and keeps the trees small, while the glass catches the sun’s warmth, thus forwarding growth slightly, protects the blossom and fruitlets from spring frosts and renders protection from birds […]
General Information provided by Mountain MaplesLandscape PlantingIf your soil is heavy, it should be a amended with sand, bark, or other material to improve drainage, and the soil should be mounded above grade to assure good drainage. Maples are very adaptable to soil types, so if drainage is good, the addition of compost for nutrients and tilth is all that […]
Of Mediterranean origin and flowering in late February and March, outdoor apricots demand a frost-free sunny site. Bush trees can be grown only in southwest and south-east England; elsewhere, as fan-trained trees on walls facing east, south, or south-west, or in greenhouses. Apricots prefer a moisture retentive, friable and well-drained soil: they object to stiff clay and heavy loam. A […]