Nature, wildlife, and how gardening affects the environment.
Let it snow
In Western New York, we had what we like to call an “event” last weekend. There was a great explanation of what happened in the Washington Post on Thursday, November [...]
Thoughts on local beautification awards – like the one MY GARDEN WON – and what makes a garden sustainable
I haven't mentioned it until now - because I wasn't sure of success - but I can now confess that I nominated one of my adopted gardens for a county [...]
No, We Don’t Just Need to Plant More Milkweed
The call to plant milkweed -- while easily sharable and actionable -- is greatly reductionist and oversimplified. Maybe even harmful in some ways. I don't see it as a baby [...]
Ode to the Green Anoles: Southern Bug Zappers
My latest Guest Rant is dedicated to America’s green anole lizards, the Rodney Dangerfield of beneficial predators. They’re cute. They eat bugs. They don’t bite people. And yet, compared [...]
Global Warming, Darkening Skies and a Gardener
Global warming is worsening, and the sudden realization that gardeners cannot do much about it alone knocked the filthy air out of me last week. The science of carbon [...]
After Too Many Years, A Father and Son’s First North American Rock Garden Conference
First off, "Annual General Meeting" is simply an incomprehensibly underwhelming name for what the event actually is. NARGS must change this, because it sounds like a meeting made up of more meetings. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Gorgeous Natives I’m Growing that MAKE the Garden
New neighbors have been asking me what native plants I recommend, and could they please see them in my garden? What a great idea! Seeing them in nearby gardens is [...]
The Path Forward: The Perfectly Imperfect Lawn
My perfectly imperfect lawn is remarkably vigorous, healthy, very green, and yet has quite a bit of diversity to it. Why does it have to be any better than that?
Connecting kids with nature—a continuing struggle
Guest post by Doris Settles “What could our lives and our children’s lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?”—Richard [...]
Winter Fear Porn Brings Out The Rant in Me
There is nothing quite so tender as the sight of a grey, ice-locked landscape melting into warm browns during a winter respite. I am struck by the beauty of it [...]
Leaf Blower News from California and Some Lawn-Bashing in the NYTimes
Did you hear about the GREAT news from California? The legislature passed and the governor signed a law banning gas-powered leaf-blowers and lawn-mowers! (Also chain saws, weed-trimmers and golf carts.) [...]