Forest Garden

I appreciate all of you who have visited and chatted with me on this site over the years. It has been so heartwarming to meet so many interesting people and dedicated gardeners working all over t...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2023/04/15/catching-up/

When you’re planning what to plant, do your eyes sometimes glaze over while reading the growing instructions?  Does it all seem too complicated, to find some success with the plants you want t...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2022/05/27/beautiful-and-easy-the-lady-ferns/

It was so hot here yesterday that pots I had just watered on Thursday, and that seemed fine yesterday morning, were parched and nearly dead when I went out this morning.  It was our first day in...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2022/05/21/six-on-saturday-resistance-is-usually-futile/

An oak takes a long time to grow from a sprout to a tree.  Or so we think.  This morning I’m standing below oak trees that I either planted, or spared, when they were just seedlings.  We had...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2022/05/14/six-on-saturday-no-mercy/

I love finding mountain laurel growing in large, lovely masses in the wild.  Its creamy pink flowers glow softly in the forest.  Wild mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, sometimes covers the und...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2022/05/09/plants-i-love-that-deer-ignore-mountain-laurel/

When I began gardening here in a forested community in the autumn of 2009, my earliest efforts resulted in unexpected frustration as deer, rabbits, moles and voles ate much of what I planted. I s...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/22/plants-i-love-that-deer-ignore/

It may take only a few decades for a wonderful new plant introduction to cause enough problems in its new environment to find itself reclassified as an invasive nuisance plant. The very qualities...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/28/crossing-the-line-when-plants-become-invasive/

It’s finally raining. Cool, soft rain has been falling for several hours now with more on the way. It is such a relief, because I’ve been pulling hoses and carrying full buckets of water near...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/six-on-saturday-with-patience-and-flexibility/

Do you have pots that stand empty for weeks out of the year?  In northern climates, gardeners often empty and clean their pots in winter.  Since unglazed ceramic pots absorb water and sometimes...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/02/four-season-container-gardens/

Gifts are always fun.  Gardening gifts are the best, and gifts of plants always warm my heart.  A living plant is a gift from the heart, and it creates a special bond between giver and receiver...

https://forestgardenblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/02/six-on-saturday-gifts/