Arbor Day & Tree Planting  [pdf]
Thanks to the luscious warmth of spring and the ongoing inspiration of Arbor Day, many homeowners and community groups have started to think about tree planting. But choosing just the right tree or trees can be somewhat daunting. Here are some general guidelines, with suggestions from experts around the county.

Bald Cypress Trees Have a Thirst for Soggy Soils  [pdf]
Many homeowners are plagued by soggy or low-lying wet areas which seemingly transform suburban backyards into Cajun-friendly bayous.  Poor drainage, heavy soils, and excessive runoff from neighboring yards or roadways can make it almost impossible to grow much more than moss and alligators.  One solution to this swampy situation might be found in the bald cypress, a fast-growing, bog-friendly tree which not only thrives in moist environments, but can also sponge up and transpire many hundreds of gallons of water a day!

Breathing New Blooms Into Old Bulbs  [pdf]
Coaxing spring-flowering bulbs to bloom during the winter is a popular trick for adding brilliant color to the home and a welcome boost to the spirit. Unfortunately, the trick does not work well for everyone, while even successful practitioners often look at the faded foliage and wonder what next? Enjoy this new GreenMan column to get maximum mileage from your magificent bulbs.

Chrysanthemums: Jewels of the Autumn Garden [pdf]
Autumn light is mellow, warm and golden, and almost seems to glow across our landscape. Gardeners, looking to respond to that gentle light, will find no plant which can echo the gentle colors of fall more kindly and completely than the chrysanthemum. The chrysanthemum is often called the “queen of fall flowers,” and is actually the largest commercially produced flower in the United States, both as a potted plant, and in floral arrangements, where chrysanthemums are valued as one of the longest lasting cut flowers.

A Colonial Approach for Your Landscaping  [pdf]
Many people overlook the style of their homes when they are seeking landscaping inspiration. The brick colonial, complete with ye olde garage and driveway, is among the most commonly found designs in our older, post-war communities. These modern colonials typically feature an indeterminate landscape of lawns and azaleas rather than anything that might be considered truly colonial, and perhaps better suited to the home and its setting.

Composting Myths [pdf]
It is a tribute to composting that humans have taken such a simple, natural process and elevated it through myth and misunderstanding into a form of new age alchemy. The spread of these myths has been facilitated by word of mouth, misguided publications from solid waste managers, and, worst of all, hardcore marketing. In order to keep composting simple and inexpensive,let's put to rest some of the more popular myths.

Controlling Mosquitoes Around Your Home & Garden
Mosquitoes have buzzed around our planet for countless millions of years, long before the emergence of man and insect repellant. They have spread malaria across the globe, helped decimate isolated villages and have spoiled innumerable picnics and walks on the beach. At great cost — and to no avail — we have fought them with DDT, incense coils and backyard foggers.

A Corny Solution to Weeds [pdf]
Homeowners looking to control weeds in their lawn often grapple with the difficult choice of using toxic herbicides, pulling them by hand, or simply tolerating patches of dandelions and crabgrass. Fortunately, there is now a safe, organic alternative brought to us by our corn-centric friends in Iowa. 

Creating a Butterfly Garden  [pdf]
Butterflies are on the wing!  They grace our days with a rare and evanescent beauty.  And yet, for all their amusing fluttering and richness of color, they have unfortunately met with much the same treatment as many of the other beneficial organisms in our environment. Their habitat has declined significantly due to the persistent impact of overdevelopment and urban sprawl. Moreover, their very existence is continually threatened by chemical-intensive efforts to eliminate agricultural, lawn, and garden pests.

Defending Turf from Pests & Problems  [pdf]
 A well-established, properly maintained lawn is naturally weed and pest resistant -- for the most part. For the other part, we need to consider a few more issues than just mowing, watering, and fertilizing correctly.

Discovering the Secrets of Papyrus
In recent years, ornamental grasses have become de rigueur for most modern garden designs.  They are graceful, tall, and elegant – rather much the Audrey Hepburn of horticulture.  But how can we translate this vertical effect to our indoor gardening environment?  The solution comes replete with a rich and stunning history dating back to the ancient Nile, Pharaohs, Egyptian gods, and Moses in the bulrushes.  Welcome to papyrus, one of the most important plants in early human civilization.

Don't Get Bamboozled!
A common axiom in gardening is putting the right plant in the right place.  Where bamboo is concerned, most people think that the only appropriate location is somewhere on the far side of hell.  Bamboo is cherished and ardently defended as a vigorous landscape screen by some, although it is usually cursed as an invasive, unstoppable menace by most others, especially irate neighbors who find spikes and spears shooting up in their lawn and garden beds. 

Garden Catalogs Promise a Horticultural Heaven [pdf]
Just as holiday catalog deliveries are waning, gardeners’ mailboxes fill with dozens of seed and garden catalogs bursting with gleaming copper obelisks, Chinese Giant Peppers and a host of tantalizing plants, tools, and often wacky products.

Gardens That Are Always Minty Fresh  [pdf]
Mint is unquestionably the dominant flavor of our everyday world.  It seems that you can’t leave the house without dealing with mint-flavored dental floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash, and even mint-scented shampoo.  Recently, many of us watched the Kentucky Derby while sipping mint juleps, or enjoyed an after dinner mint – maybe even one of those too-sweet crème de menthe cordials.  Then there are the breath mints, chewing gums, and so on.

Grasscycling: An Environmental Lawn Care Series  [pdf]
The Environmental Lawn Care series includes the following titles.  In addition, please be sure to visit our Grasscycling Homepage!
   Environmental Lawn Care
   Mower Power to Your Lawn
   Proper Feeding & Watering Guidelines
   Defending Your Turf from Pests & Problems

Great Gourds! In Praise of Pumpkins  [pdf]
Celebrating As you select and prepare to carve a pumpkin this Halloween, you should pause to reflect on the vast impact this humble gourd has had on our cultural history. Pumpkins generally trace their origins to Central America, and collections of seed have been found in Mexico dating back several thousand years. Today, pumpkins are grown on every continent except Antarctica, and have found their way into our legends and traditions, kitchens, kitschy competitions, and media.

Greening & Cleaning Your Indoor Air  [pdf]
The overall quality of indoor air in our homes has been declining steadily during pasthet three decades. Concerns regarding energy conservation led to superior insulation materials, tight-fitting windows and doors, and other  features which have effectively bottled up our living spaces. Unfortunately, those design elements have also sealed in a host of potentially harmful air pollutants, leading to "sick building syndrome" and other health issues.

Ground Covers for Shady Areas  [pdf]
 More and more often, savvy gardeners and landscapers are replacing unsuccessful grassy areas with mulches or ground covers - or, preferably, a creative combination of the two. These lawn alternatives offer a host of aesthetic, horticultural, and environmental benefits.
Light requirements for ground cover plants.

Hanging Baskets: Gardening at Eye-Level
Hanging baskets have come a long way from the plastic potted geraniums traditionally sold outside supermarkets. Garden centers beckon with Old World styled wrought-iron cages or light and elegant moss-filled wire baskets, along with artisan-forged hooks and brackets. And trailing petunias must now compete with an entire aerial garden of colorful snapdragons and fragrant heliotropes, surrounded by a riot of verbena, trailing lantana, nasturtiums, and Italian bellflowers.

Living Christmas Trees Help Plant Memories  [pdf]
For many of us, Christmas wouldn’t be the same without a fragrant, fresh-cut Christmas tree in our home.  And for a lucky few -- those with large yards and strong backs -- the holiday is an opportunity to celebrate with a living Christmas tree; a cheerful, green guest whose role in this holiday tradition is only matched by its future value in the landscape.

Lobelias for Your Landscape [pdf]
Late summer is probably not the most exciting time to hike through our native woodlands.  Weekend rambles present varying shades and textures of green. It's pleasant, but not engaging.  A cool breeze may flutter a yellow leaf or two to the ground, a mere portent of the colorful autumn-kissed leaves to come.  Then suddenly, across the greenness, a brilliant scarlet spike appears.  It's nearly luminous — it's Lobelia! 

Luring Bats to Your Landscape [pdf]
It is easy to encourage the creation of gardens that attract butterflies, hummingbirds or songbirds. But bats?  Rather than appreciate these fascinating night fliers, most people tend to react with a loathing inspired by superstition and misunderstanding. However, inviting bats into your yard and garden is one of the easiest and safest methods for eliminating thousands of pesky insects a night, including the much-dreaded mosquito.

Meditations on a Monastic Garden   [pdf]
A garden can play many roles in our lives, depending on its design and intent: a treat for the senses, a source of sustenance, or a simple place to mess about with plants.But certainly one of the most important and traditional roles is as a unique place away from the world and worldly concerns.This special sort of garden can serve as an area for reflection, meditation, and spiritual healing.Indeed, for many of us, while we acknowledge having lost Eden, we haven’t given up on trying to recreate an ideal space for body and soul. 

Menu for a Hummingbird Garden  [pdf]
Few sights outdoors are more delightful than the charmed beauty of hummingbirds. They seem to appear as if by magic, hovering with nearly invisible wings, silently darting from flower to flower. Adorned in iridescent green and scarlet, these visitors can be coaxed into almost any garden with just a handful of the appropriate nectar-rich flowers.

Moon Gardens for Luminous Landscapes   [pdf]
For some people, gardening is a diurnal affair: watch them as they toil, sweat, plan, and plant with peppy bright colors resplendent in the sun. Yet for romantic souls, twilight stirs enchantment and a pure quiet beauty which only awakens with the fall of night. For the nocturnal gardener, a moon garden is a phosphorescent paradise, filled with shimmering silver foliage, the subtle glow of white blossoms, and the sultry, intoxicating fragrance of night-blooming jasmines, stocks, and fantastic twining moonflowers. 

Native Grasses for a Naturally Elegant Landscape  [pdf]
The introduction of ornamental grasses to the American landscape is one of the defining moments in modern garden design.  These grasses, planted in clumps or large masses, recall elements of the nation's vanishing prairie, while adding sophistication and panache to even the most groomed garden.

Natural Color for Shady Landscapes   [pdf]
Planting in full shade is one of the most daunting challenges facing the average gardener.  Not the partially sunny, light-dappled kind of shade that feels so lovely in midsummer, but the deep Amazonian shade so dark that moss will grow on your garden trowel if you don't keep moving.  Not surprisingly, many folks facing full shade simply give up and resign themselves to a dull landscape of invasive ivy and much over-utilized liriope, little realizing that there are ways to foster splashes of vibrant color even in their horticultural twilight zone

Pathway to Fragrance [pdf]
Pathways can extend an invitation to friends and guests or lead us away on new adventures. Unfortunately, most of the paths we typically design are sterile ribbons of concrete.  However, with some alternate paving materials and a nose for fragrant ground covers, we can transform those lifeless, static pathways into a welcome treat for the senses.

Peachy Ideas for Your Patio   [pdf]
There has been a Lilliputian revolution going on in the world of fruit.  While most everything in our culture has been getting super-sized, horticulturists and plant geneticists have been toiling away, developing dwarf and super-dwarf varieties of fruit trees ideally suited for the smallest backyard or patio garden.  You can almost smell the peaches ripening from your bedroom window. 

A Plant with Pedigree and Pizzazz [pdf]
 For those of us with a drop or two of chlorophyll in our veins, propagating and sharing plants with friends and neighbors is second nature. You might think of it as hand-me-down horticulture.  One of my most bizarre and entrancing pass-along plants is the Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum), often erroneously called “Night Blooming Cereus” or “Queen of the Night.”

Planting a Pizza & Pasta Garden  [pdf]
Pizza gardens can be planted simply to provide the fresh herbs and vegetables to make your home-baked pizza a masterful culinary creation, or they can be designed to create a whimsical round garden bed resembling a large deep dish pizza.

Planting Fragrance in Your Garden
Gardens play many roles in our lives.  They’re sanctuaries and playgrounds, habitat for wildlife and colorful backgrounds for entertaining.  They can also be aromatic portals to our past. Nothing conjures up long forgotten memories like our sense of smell.  A whiff of lavender and we remember our father’s aftershave or a great-aunt’s parlor. And so, with just a shovel and a shrub, you can open a pathway to your past – or perhaps create some fragrant new experiences.

Putting Your Soil to the Test  [pdf]
Healthy soil is the single most important ingredient for successful lawns, yards, and gardens.  Unfortunately, it is the one element generally overlooked by homeowners as they head into their neighborhood garden center, hell-bent on beating some pest or jazzing up the green in their grass.  The simple fact is that healthy soil produces healthy plants.  Period.  Anything done to improve the yard or garden which does not consider the needs of the soil is a waste of time — and potentially damaging both to the soil and to the community of plants it supports. 

Rhapsody in Blue  [pdf]
 Gardening, at its best, is all about orchestration. Like any musical composition, a garden requires the proper arrangement of colors, textures, and form. But it also begs for a certain amount of experimentation. Why not follow a bit in Gershwin’s musical footsteps? His innovative jazz concerto stunned audiences by combining a range of musical traditions. You can likewise use your garden space to blend together a wide variety of otherwise unrelated plants.

The Roots (and Tubers) of the Thanksgiving Tradition  [pdf]
Thanksgiving is fast approaching, a holiday full of swirling memories and preparations, like so many colorful autumn leaves.  It's a celebration of family and food and delightful traditions.  And it can be a reminder that our traditions are actually anything but traditional.

Salad Days in Your Salad Garden  [pdf]
Like many people, I grew up thinking that salads were little more than clumps of tasteless iceberg lettuce, wedges of flavorless supermarket tomatoes, and a oily dressing reconstituted from dried Italian herbs in a foil envelope. Thankfully, American cuisine has changed, and now most of us can turn to our garden for help in creating exciting salads from homegrown greens, vegetables, herbs – and even flowers!

Sharing Your Holidays with Wildlife [pdf]
However you prepare to decorate for the upcoming holiday season, you might want to expand your spirit of giving to include your feathered and furred neighbors.  You will find that creating colorful, edible outdoor ornaments is a fun, imaginative, and rewarding activity that will bring your family closer together, and may launch a wonderful new tradition.

Showering With Your Schefflera [pdf]
Indoor gardening can introduce a wide array of benefits into your home and office, from decoration and fragrance, to fresh-cut culinary herbs. Unfortunately, indoor plants can introduce annoying pests and other  problems, especially if some of those plants were brought indoors to overwinter.

Solutions for Steep, Sunny Slopes  [pdf]
A steep, sunny slope in your landscape can be a real challenge, especially if you're trying to manage that area as a lawn.  The slope itself makes mowing difficult — if not outright dangerous — and it is difficult to keep the turf green, as most water simply flows downhill, leaving the hillsides brown and barren.  A proper solution should really turn this landscaping liability into an attractive asset.

Success in a Soggy Garden  [pdf]
Many homeowners are frustrated by low-lying areas in their yards which are always a bit on the soggy side. Fortunately, these wet areas can be turned into desirable landscapes which are beautiful, easy to maintain, and beneficial to the environment.  Using native or indigenous plants and a bit of creativity, you can transform mucky soils into lively gardens which will provide wildlife habitat, filter excess nutrients and pollutants from stormwater, recharge groundwater supplies, and control flooding.  Natives are essential to this reclamation of wet areas.  Over thousands of years, they have adapted to rainfall and seasonal temperature patterns; if you have a niche, they can and will fill it.

Swinging With Native Vines [pdf]
"Come and swing with these native vines." Vines are one of nature’s greatest gifts to gardeners. They can cover ugly fences and utility poles, camouflage storage sheds, or bring color, fragrance, and panache to trellises and arbors. Vines fit into almost any available space, whether spilling out of a balcony window box, climbing up the front of a town house, or running free like a ground cover. It is too bad gardeners seldom think to use vines, or else plant the wrong ones by mistake.

Tabletop Topiary  [pdf]
Since the early 1970s, garden enthusiasts have flocked to Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, Maryland, for a view of horticulture taken to a fanciful extreme.  Of course, with a little effort, most patient gardeners can create their own topiary displays, whether to adorn a doorway or grace a dining room table.

Tasty Trellises and Appetizing Arbors  [pdf]
Recently, upscale horticultural venues have been tempting gardeners and their wallets with an exciting array of prefabricated arches, arbors, and trellises, often with exquisite designs and metal finishes which echo the costly wrought-iron structures found in estate gardens. In addition, there are also less expensive wooden options, should you forgo an expedition to Smith and Hawken.  Whatever your budget, if you envision a trellis in your future, consider treating yourself to some of the tasteful — and tasty — climbers best suited for vertical gardening.

Terrific Townhouse Gardens  [pdf]
There's no denying that townhouse communities are popping up all over our region.  Townhouses are popular and often more affordable than single family homes, and with a bit of horticultural slight of hand, they can provide almost as many satisfying garden options as larger yards. The trick to mastering these smaller, confined landscape areas is to realize the inherent limitations of your site, and to create the illusion of more space. 

Turning Autumn Leaves into Healthy Lawns [pdf]
Autumn is perhaps the most mellow and reflective season. Shorter days encourage reading in the evening, while crisp air and colorful vistas invite weekend hikes and trips to the countryside. Regrettably, too many people waste their precious weekends raking leaves into piles or shatter the quiet peace of sunny afternoons with leaf blowers. There is a better solution.

Turning Office Spaces Into Greener Places
The modern office is generally a product of strict efficiency and economic design. Lines are straight, wall-coverings are bland, windows are sealed shut, lights fluorescent, and cubicles ubiquitous. And this is where many of us spend the better part of our lives. Perhaps it’s time to consider personalizing – and naturalizing – these uninviting spaces. And the best place to start might be with a favorite houseplant brought from home.

Zen Gardens Provide Space for Meditation [pdf] 
Troubled times and a hectic world have often called people to natural places, or cultivated manmade spaces, which emphasize quiet and reflection. A wonderful blend of the two is readily found in Zen gardens, which sometimes imply island-studded ponds, tea houses and pagodas, although a personal meditation garden might simply include a small corner of a backyard artfully designed and carefully tended.