Advice on When to Prune Shrubs – Mostly Wrong?
In a recent post I mentioned hiring an expert to teach my coop to prune their (damn) shrubs and linked to the pruning instruction that resulted. The shocker to me and [...]
Susan Harris
Susan’s a garden writer, teacher and activist in the Washington, D.C. area. Co-founder of GardenRant, she also wrote for national gardening magazines and independent garden centers before retiring in 2014. Now she has time for these projects:
- Founding the pro-science educational nonprofit Good Gardening Videos that finds and promotes the best videos on YouTube for teaching people to garden.
- Creating DC Gardens, the nonprofit campaign to promote the public gardens of the Washington, D.C. area, and gardening by locals.
- Creating and editing the nonprofit website Greenbelt Online to serve her adopted hometown of Greenbelt, Maryland (a “New Deal Utopia” founded in 1937).
Susan rants about anything that misinforms or discourages gardeners – from old-school quacks to mistaken do-gooders to local laws that mandate conformity.
Contact Susan via email or by leaving a comment on one of her articles.
In Boise, Evelyn Hadden Grows Thickets for Wildlife
Like so many people these days, I've been catching up with old friends by phone - including former Ranter Evelyn Hadden in Boise, Idaho. She's a busy singer-songwriter and DJ [...]
We Hired an Expert to Teach Coop Members to Prune their (damn) Hedges
Marianne made the case against HOA gardening rules, but my community has a different problem, dare I say a much bigger one? A New Deal project, my planned community included [...]
Buying Plants Locally During the Shutdown
Curb-side pick-up. Oh, the ethical turmoil I've been in! Should I stay home and shop for food only, or support other local businesses, too? Plus, it's spring and [...]
Eco-Friendly, Low-Maintenance Gardening with Roy Diblik
During the lunch break Roy answered questions from gardeners, like Carole Galati here. Photo by Kathy Jentz. Way back (it seems) in February, I attended a popular winter [...]
These “Inspiring” Gardens are Hilarious
Um, no it's not! For some tension-releasing laughs (I'm getting tired of funny animal videos myself), I'm sharing some truly ridiculous gardens I found on a bogus gardening [...]
Replacing the Hated Arborvitaes with Crossvine
Arborvitaes failing to screen my view of the parking lot. When I wrote last September that "I hate my arborvitaes" because several of them DIED during a drought [...]
Informal “Gardening Boosters” – Less Hassle than Starting a Garden Club
Gardens in Old Greenbelt The obvious answer is that NOT starting a garden club is less hassle than starting one, but my local gardening friends and I want [...]
On the Persistence of Sheared Shrubs
Azaleas as Mother Nature intended. I've held off ranting about the examples of sheared shrubs that I see in my town, but no more. In my defense, I'm [...]
Great Courses with Linda and Melinda
I was researching a blog post about my local library, digging deep into its online resources, and came upon something I associate with a high price tag - Great Courses. [...]
Trade Shows Turns 50. Garden Writers Party.
Lord Baltimore lobby before the arrival of 30+ boozy garden writers. GardenRant has covered the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show several times, and I hope readers are ready for [...]
Tending my 5 Adopted Gardens
Behold my pick-up truck 2013 Honda CRV! Just don't ask me to give more than one person a ride anywhere on short notice, coz it would take a while to [...]