Jeff is a welcome addition to our staff, arriving in late September. He worked for three years at Stonegate Gardens in Lincoln, as head of the perennial plant department and managed landscape installation and maintenance crews. Prior to that, he worked at Bransfield Tree on all aspects of tree care. He also has a permaculture…
All About Asian Jumping Worms Jumping Worms and the soil they create Have you noticed that some of your garden bed soil looks like coffee grounds? Do large worms jump out of the soil when you’re simply digging a small hole or pulling a weed? If you can answer at least one of these questions,…
White oak leaves Recently I was asked to identify an oak at the edge of a woodland where a new house had been built. This was a woods tree, with whitish bark somewhat resembling a hickory tree: clearly a white oak. Another clue was the rounded lobes on the leaves. The Latin name for white…
Fall color of blueberry bush We’ll be doing some important work this month for those of you with blueberries (lowbush and highbush) in the landscape. These plants fruit best in a soil that is acidic, yet require Calcium to produce well! A bit of a conundrum that we often solve by testing the soil and…
Deer Browse One item you may need to consider is winter deer protection. A few years ago we learned that in fall and winter, the enzymes in a deer’s stomach change so the animal can digest woody plants and evergreens in particular! With ever more deer per square mile in our region, deer fencing is…
Priscilla’s Garden To-Do List for November into December Clean up debris in the vegetable garden promptly to reduce hiding places for insect pests and diseases Cut back perennials that have no wildlife value (i.e. hostas, daylilies, Shasta daisy, catmint, lady’s mantle, etc), remembering to leave basal rosettes of foxgloves, heucheras, and hollyhocks to generate new…
Finish pruning spring-blooming shrubs by the first week of September Keep up with weeding in garden beds. and if you’re short on time, pull the tallest ones and those about to go to seed first, returning later for the finer detailed weeding Place an order for spring-blooming bulbs Evaluate the need to fill gaps…
Over 15” of rain in July alone has meant an explosion in the tick and mosquito population! Please be sure to turn over empty buckets, wheelbarrows, and the like in your yard to cut down on areas for water to collect and create mosquito breeding grounds. Empty and clean birdbaths frequently, too, then refill for the birds. It’s…
There are more deer per square mile than ever before in our area. This season, they have even sampled a few native plants at my back stoop! Garlic clips attached to a bamboo stake stopped this invasion, and the native Rubus odoratus (Flowering raspberry) and Porteranthus tridentata (Bowman’s root) have sprouted new growth, albeit shorter than usual. This reminds…
As a Board member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, Priscilla was active in early 2020 promoting the passage of the Healthy Soils bill at the State House. We recently received news about the funding of this bill, and concurrently, news about state funding for a study of the impacts of…