For over 70 years, since the advent of World War II, the Fenway victory gardens of Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood have provided land for local residents to grow food, flowers and a wide va...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/04/people-who-plant-on-location-in-americas-oldest-victory-garden/
Would you like to take a tour of the New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden In The Woods with me? It is a wonderful place to visit for education about how to build your own native plant gar...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/04/a-visit-to-the-garden-in-the-woods/
Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste and Touch. These are the five senses that most cultures consciously use to experience the world. But in Zambian tradition, there are 14 senses. (And there are some...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/04/how-to-design-landscapes-for-all-14-of-your-senses/
Where the growing season is short (or shorter than you want), there are many tricks that gardeners can employ to make garden-time last a little longer. Highly practical changes can physically a...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/04/how-to-make-garden-microclimates-stretch-the-growing-season/
I am lucky to live near Walden Pond; I walk or swim there almost every day. Taking myself offline gives me a chance to reset. I go to the forest to breathe with the intention of reinvention, and ...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/04/shinrin-yoku-forest-breathing-reinvent-experience/
Goldenrod can get a little bit of a bad rap. The aggressive spreading nature of solidago canadensis in many gardens and wild areas throughout New England and up and down the East Coast has made m...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/04/8-best-goldenrod-solidago-to-use-in-your-new-england-native-garden/
It goes with the territory that I get to try out lots of new plants. Most are nice – but if they can’t pass muster, then they don’t stand a chance of getting a write-up here. There were h...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/03/fall-favorites-3-new-plants-look-2017/
I’m finding the ever-increasing variety of oxalis (commonly called Shamrocks or Wood Sorrel) available to gardeners very inspiring. In the last decade (or so) it seems like the color and shap...
It is always important to consider the views of any garden that you might enjoy from indoors. When a garden is in an urban environment, surrounded by tall buildings that overlook it, it is especi...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/02/a-yellow-brick-carpet-transforms-an-urban-courtyard-garden/
As you increase your knowledge of naturalistic planting, using natives in garden design, Matrix planting, and creating plant communities that function better than plant groupings based only on th...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/02/a-library-of-plants-root-system-maps-for-planting-design/
Slowly but surely, my new office is taking shape. The hardest part for me is always the finishing touches. I still need to find, load up, and style the bookshelves, sort through a pile of paper t...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/02/the-nearly-done-office-with-the-help-of-a-modernica-planter/
Looking for winter wreath ideas in English? Explore a variety of creative options to adorn your home during the winter season. From classic evergreen wreaths to innovative designs incorporating p...
Like me, you are probably feeling a bit depressed at the thought of your garden’s painstakingly planted scenes deteriorating over the next months (as they do every autumn). Yes, of cours...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/planting-ideas-match-making-with-fall-bulbs/
As I am creating my own spring bulb cutting garden this year, I have written down some tips to help you choose your own bulbs. The goal here is to grow your own materials for beautiful spring flo...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/how-to-select-bulbs-for-a-spring-cutting-garden/
Have you ever tried to trim a spiral topiary? If you are following existing lines, it usually isn’t too tricky, but if you are aiming to turn a cone into a spiral, it can quickly go off the r...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/how-to-trim-a-perfect-spiral-topiary/
Hey Guys! As I’ve been planting lots of bulbs this year, many of you have been sending your bulb planting questions in DM’s and emails and asking in my garden design classes, and I’ve e...
Guests are usually surprised when I tell them that our willow arbor only cost $35. Back in 2005, I spent $8 plus shipping for four hybrid willows... The post How to Plant and Grow a Living Will...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/making-a-living-willow-arbor/
I continue to simplify my own garden and streamline its maintenance. And I am increasingly conscious of what needs water and what can thrive on not just gardeners neglect but also in dry condit...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/succeeding-ground-covers-2/
Plants with black flowers and dark foliage are uncommon and defy our expectations of nature. It is their very difference that makes them so appealing, as we humans seem to be drawn to anomalies.B...
Reds are tricky, and I find them the hardest color to work with in landscape design. I’ve fallen for the lure of a gorgeous red azalea sitting in front of the garden center, slammed the brakes,...
Unless you’ve been living under a moss-covered rock in your perfectly manicured, abundantly productive garden, you know that backyard chickens are a “thing”. It seems that lately, everyone ...
Let’s face it, anywhere you put mulch, you can dig a hole and plant ground cover. Indeed, ground cover plants are simply living mulches that don’t cost time or money to install every spring. ...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/mulch-less-gardening-with-beautiful-ground-covers/
Right, let’s talk about types of berries. Not the kind you eat, but the kind that provide tiny little details to the garden, that feed wildlife, that look beautiful in flower arrangements, and ...
The old Germanic tradition of the Easter tree has made its way into modern American custom. These trees have not achieved the popularity of other holiday trees, but you know the look: colored egg...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/the-language-of-spring-in-a-garden-inspired-easter-tree/
Look, the reason why your outdoor plant is dying usually boils down to one thing. (the same applies whether it is an indoor plant a garden plant in the ground, or an outdoor potted plant – but ...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/why-plants-die-because-there-are-some-weird-misconceptions/
To make a winter container garden with houseplants, I look for themes to let my planting design start to tell a story. First came the planter found in the clearance section of Anthropologie. It...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/bogolan-inspired-planting-recipe-for-a-houseplant-garden/
As the winter darkness continues to creep in and the days get painfully short here in Boston, I crave the light of southern climates. Sarah Sherman Samuel’s new garden in Palm springs is just...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/fresh-new-garden-sarahs-desert-frame/
Perhaps this post should have a different title, like “How to Have an Orangerie Even if You Aren’t a Member of a Royal Family”. Or “Juicy Fruits – The Taste is Gonna Move Ya”. Growi...
Is a Hypo-allergenic landscape possible? Is gardening with allergies a problem for you? Can gardening cause allergies to worsen? Can you make your garden less irritating to your allergies? Yes (t...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/5-easy-practical-ways-reduce-garden-allergens/
I’ve got to scratch an itch – my travel itch. Today, Marrakech, Morocco, and the unique gardens of riads and oases are enticing. Tomorrow, it might be Sweden; it doesn’t matter where I ju...
https://pithandvigor.com/2024/01/garden-travel-le-riad-jasmine-marrakech-morocco/