Every fall I walk through my small garden and gather seeds from my region’s native perennials. I have a little paper lunch bag for each plant (nearly 100), labeled and dated, that I store the seeds in. Sometimes I take a mix of six to 10 carefully selected plants, put them in one bag,

I have a love/hate relationship with forsythia.  It’s blooming right  now and I love that it signals that Spring has finally arrived in New England. If I were honest with myself, though, I’m actually not a huge fan of the plant.  Its yellow, while bright and

As a follow up to my post a few weeks ago on the most nutritious vegetables to grow at home, this week we’ll explore what fruit you can grow in your home garden. The book, Eating on the Wild Side does a great job of examining different fruits and vegetables in terms of how

If you are dealing with water restrictions, have a lackluster irrigation system or simply want to conserve resources, adding plants that don’t get thirsty is a smart way to green up your outdoor space. Yes, you heard that right; I said “green.” Because while replacing lawns with grave

ZeroEnergy Design creates a house that makes as much as it takes.Tired of heating and cooling large, drafty homes, architect Stephanie Horowitz’s clients wanted their new Little Compton retreat to meet aggressive energy standards. Working within their budget, Horowitz followed the rig

The whole neighborhood watched eagerly as the front yard of this home was transformed into a tidy garden with a mixture of edibles and ornamentals. The owners were originally told not to grow vegetables in their front yard, at least until they met Andrea Nilsen of Nilsen Landscape Des

Side yards are often one of the most neglected areas of a landscape, becoming a no man’s land populated only by garbage cans, air conditioning units and the occasional meter reader. When the owners of this Cambridge, Mass. property decided they were tired of the unused strip next to t

It is officially Spring, though who would know it given the temperature and threat of snow here in New England.  I’m anxious to get outside, but the reality is I’m still doing more reading about gardening than actual gardening. I’ve been pretty fascinated lately

I met Noah Wilson-Rich earlier this month at New England Grows and got a chance to talk to him about The Best Bees Company, an urban beekeeping and research operation he founded in Boston.  I’m really interested in bees, and quite a few of my clients share this interes

I hade the opportunity last week to hear Glyn Jones, Garden and Countryside Manager at Hidcote Manor Garden, talk at a conference here in Boston.  Hidcote is a very famous garden in Glouchestershire England.  Created by Lawrence Johnston (an American!) the garden is known fo