All of our employees are expert pumpkin carvers！ Each Fall, the Pumpkin Brook Organic Gardening team comes together for our annual pumpkin carving tradition. A chance to celebrate the season, showcase our creativity, and enjoy some friendly competition. Congratulations to our 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners! Thank you to everyone who helped make it…
Get out and enjoy all the bloom in your garden Finish editing any spreading perennials Keep up with weeding, especially weeds with seedheads Finish mulching beds, or ideally plant spreading groundcover or short perennials to reduce quantity of mulch needed Finish planting by month’s end when the hot weather begins Deadhead peony, iris, roses, and…
Maple Leaf Viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium One of my staff cut this native shrub back a few years ago to reduce tick habitat on my woods edge, thinking he was being helpful. Initially I was alarmed, but it resprouted with multiple stalks and has more small white flowers than ever before! This is an important plant…
Small signs with the intriguing words “Pollinator Pathway” began appearing in our area in the past two years to mark home or municipal gardens that are pesticide-free and planted with native pollinator plants. This group began in Connecticut, and its message has spread up and down the Eastern seaboard! See their website, www.pollinator-pathway.org to find…
Native plant guru, researcher, professor and author Doug Tallamy recommends that 70% of our gardens be planted with natives. That leaves 30% for non-native plants. You may enjoy his books Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope. Native plants and native pollinators evolved together and depend upon each other for their continued existence. We at PBOG are striving to plant straight…
Pumpkin Brook owns an air spade and recently used it for radial trenching around a tree growing in compacted soil at the Francis Parker Charter School in Devens. Enjoy this photo of our crew at work and let us know if we can help you with this specialized power tool in the future. See a video…
Stevens-Coolidge House and Gardens, 153 Chickering Street, North Andover – Their bulb festival tickets have sold out, but grounds reopen to the public on May 16. Advance reservations are strongly suggested. There should still be plenty of bulbs to see! This Trustees of Reservations property has had a recent expansion including a new Visitor Center, parking lot, and…
Do you feel that some of your plants or garden beds need a boost? Do you have shrubs undergoing rejuvenation pruning? Have you had recent construction and the resulting soil compaction? Or do you have a group of young plants still getting established? Your levels of soil biology, that microscopic life so critical to plant health, could be…
Our Plant Pick this month is the Hawthorn tree, an ancient plant in the Rose family with all-season interest. Persistent fruit, colorful fall foliage, lightly exfoliating bark, and reddish winter twigs make it an appealing choice. In New England, Crataegus crus-galli, our native hawthorn has large thorns and is commonly called Cockspur. This plant is…
With Easter coming in late April, we’ll have plenty of time to herald the season. Container changeovers will happen as early as we can possibly plant. We know you’re tired of winter greens, but we just need to avoid those freezing nights in the low twenties and teens. Contact Laura Semple for ideas and to get on her…