Local Hellstrip-Curbside Garden Teaches a Lesson

  • Post published:07/04/2014
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I have been reading Evelyn Hadden's book Hellstrip Gardening: Create a paradise between the sidewalk and  the curb, with all its beautiful photographs of  the different ways a curbside garden can be created.  Hadden includes gardens from across the country from Oregon and California to Minnesota and New York. Different climates and different inspirations.  I was very happy that she also included Rain Gardens as one of her themes because many urban areas have a great problem with…

Water – An Essential Garden Feature

  • Post published:06/18/2014
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Water is an essential garden feature. It can be elaborate like this shady stone stream that empties into a stone pond. It can be in a Japanese plantscape with a fountain. A large pot with a circulating pump can be transformed into a shady water garden. Sometimes water can just be captured in  the concavity of a stone. Does your garden have water?  How can you create a water feature?  

Reading Comfort and Convenience

  • Post published:01/02/2014
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This chair provides reading comfort and convenience. The  Bibliochaise was designed in Milan and made in Italy. As a reader I am always looking for a comfortable reading chair. This chair might even control some of the book piles around the house. That would be a good thing. If you are a reader as well as a gardener, you might like to check out this post on the Good website. The Fishbol Bookseat is another take on a bookcase/chair…

Forbes Library Leads Off Garden Tour Season

  • Post published:05/29/2013
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Julie Abramson' s garden  is just one of six garden that will enchant garden lovers on the Forbes Library Garden Tour on Saturday, June 8, from 10 am til 3 pm. Julie's is a collector's garden that features some notable trees, clematis, and a colorful array of perennials and a rock garden. I was intrigued by the description of a rustic arbor covered with climbinbing hydrangea, PLUS two other arbors covered with roses, honeysuckle and clematis. Pure romance!…

S is for Sustainability on Earth Day 2013

  • Post published:04/22/2013
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S is for Sustainability this Earth Day. Yesterday I introduced Tom Benjamin who designs sustainable, low maintenace landscapes to an attentive audience at our local 'Little e' (not the Big Eastern Exposition in Springfield) where the theme was saving energy.  The topic was Reduce Your Lawn and Increase Your Leisure. Since I have been writing about low-mow landscapes I was interested to hear how Tom calculated the benefits. There are many. The first benefit, according to my husband, is…

Jono Neiger – Mimic Nature in Your Garden

  • Post published:02/02/2013
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  Jono Neiger of the Regenerative Design Group which has its office in Greenfield, spoke to the Greenfield Garden Club a couple of weeks ago. His inspiring talk explained how gardeners could mimic nature, and require less work and inputs to create a garden that would give us what we desire out of our garden and what wildlife and pollinators require. He gave some very specific advice beginning with the suggestion that vegetable gardens, and gardens that need…

Lessons from the Conway School of Landscape Design

  • Post published:10/05/2012
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I am not a graduate of the Conway School of Landscape Design (alas) but I am an admirer of the school, its teachers, principles and curriculum, and of the work its 600 grads have done around the country, and the world. As part of the celebratory 40th Reunion weekend I attended a program of Lighning Talks. A number of alums from different years were given six (6!) minutes to describe their recent work. Ginny Sullivan is an alum who lives in Conway.…

Gail Callahan’s Color Grid

  • Post published:03/02/2012
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Gail Callahan, quilter, weaver, and dyer, said she never 'got' the color wheel with its confusing array of colors. After working with textiles and fiber for years she eventually found a way to make color theory less confusing; she turned the color wheel into a grid. My photos don't do this interesting tool very clear, but Gail wanted to find a way to eliminate some of the confusion she and others feel. The black template blocks out many…