my garden chores for october 2014

“Just as a computer comes with certain pre-installed programs, I was born with a fully functional 7.0 horticultural operating system…I wasn’t very popular in high school, where an interest in plants was not something for a guy to admit in public.”Rosalind Creasy, author and edible landscaping guru:“I was in charge of finding the cutworms curled around [my father’s] tomato plants. With every cutworm I found, he would whoop and holler; I felt like I had saved the family from starvation.”Penelope Hobhouse, author and National Trust gardener:“Gardening is not about instant gratification. It is a process—from seedling to flower (a matter of a few weeks) and from small rooted cutting to a useful shrub (often a few years). This whole process, rather than the ultimate product, seems to me half the joy of gardening.”Ken Druse, author and photographer:“Why do I garden? Am I crazy? I don’t

This is the 12th of our monthly Urgent Garden Question Q&A shows, and we thank you for your support—and for your questions most of all. You can keep them coming any time in comments or by email, using the contact form, or at Facebook.Read along as you listen to the Jan. 1, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: Enter to win a copy of Ken’s n

Your Urgent Garden Questions have been arriving in blog comments, on Facebook, and in emails, and we’ve rounded up the most representative ones to tackle today, in the monthly Q&A episode of the program. (All past editions of our Q&As together are at this link.)Ken, an award-winning garden photographer and author of more books than I can count, including “The New Shade Garden” and “Making More Plants,” produced his own “Real Dirt” podcast for 10 years, all available on KenDruse dot com (and on iTunes, too).Let’s dig right in:Read along as you listen to the April 24, 2107 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Oh, an

GARDEN VISITING: Entry to the garden from 10 AM to 4 PM, as for all Garden Conservancy Open Days, will be a suggested $5 donation per adult, with all proceeds to be split by the Conservancy and Friends of Taconic State Park, a local charity. No reservations required for garden visiting.KEN DRUSE LECTURE: Ken Druse‘s 11 AM talk on creating exciting plant combinations will be held at the Church of St. John in the Wilderness, Copake Falls, about 2 minutes’ drive from my garden. Reservations suggested as space is limited; learn more and buy a $20 ticket, to benefit Friends of Taconic State Park.SHOP FOR PLANTS: Broken Arrow‘s plant sale will take place in my driveway from 10 AM to 4 PM. Want to know more about them? Read my recent Q&A about exceptional plants with Adam Wheeler of Broken Arrow of

The selection is unlike in the early 1990s, when Ken published his first big shade-garden book and most people knew maybe two, hostas and astibles. Then, gardeners cursed shady areas of their yards as a liability to be eliminated instead of a refuge to be celebrated and expanded upon.Ken has been called the “guru of natural gardening” by “The New York Times,” but I just call him my old friend and the longtime master of the shade, and I’m was glad to welcome him back to my public-radio program to talk about making gardens in th

Want to submit one for consideration for a future show? Details on how to do so are in the box farther down the page.In 2017—just in time to debut the new feature together—Ken and I are celebrating 25 years of friendship and garden collaboration. We met when I called to interview him in 1992 on the publication of his ground-breaking book “The Natural Shade Garden.” We worked together on his book “The Natural Habitat Garden,” have been guests on each other’s radio podcasts, app

Thanks for submitting lots of good Urgent Garden Questions this month to me and Ken. You can always ask us anything, urgent or otherwise, on Facebook, or in comments on this website, or using the contact form here or on Ken Druse dot com.Plus: We’re giving away a copy of Ken’s book “Making More Plants.” See details for entering at the bottom of the page.ligustrumRead along as you listen to the Jan. 29, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or S

When everyone else is headed to work at 7:30 AM or so, Ken‘s done with his morning shoot session—and doesn’t head back outside until late afternoon. It’s all about chasing that good, subdued, light.“White flowers disappear in the sun—and the greens all gets ‘black,’” he explains.” But besides the technical solutions Ken pursues, “I want to communicate the feeling of the place,” Ken says, “to explain in each image, ‘What does this place feel like?’”q&a on photography with ken druseQ. Let’s talk gear for a minute: In the days of film, I know you used to travel with an outfit of six or s

(Spoiler alert: probably not the sexiest stuff, but it’s what we really rely on.)Garden writer Ken Druse is author most recently of “The Scentual Garden,” a big, beautiful book about fragrant plants. Besides top tools, we also gave a sneak peek about some of the promises we made to ourselves as we put the garden to bed—what we’ll do differently next year, our early resolutions.Read along as you listen to the December 9, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast usi

My longtime friend Ken, an award-winning garden photographer and author of many books, including “The New Shade Garden” and “Making More Plants,” produced his own “Real Dirt” podcast for 10 years, all available on KenDruse dot com.Read along as you listen to the May 15, 2107 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).The May show is a doubleheader; this transcript is the “overtime” segment, starting at about 24 minutes into the audio file, and Part 1’s transcript is at this other link, including how to work around wet spring so

Read along as you listen to the July 2, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).You can also browse all the past Q&A’s with Ken Druse at this link, or visit him at his website.urgent garden questions, with ken druseQ. Hello, Ken.A. I was going to complain.Q. Oh. [Laughter.]

THANKS TO YOUR BOUNTIFUL supply of Urgent Garden Questions, my friend Ken Druse and I are being kept busy. In our latest Q&A edition of my podcast, we’ll tackle how to plant groundcovers under established trees, and the gentle care required. Our other topics include what to do with that gift plant like a Primula, after you enjoy it for a week or two as a centerpiece, and how to use “pea brush” to “brush up” floppy plantings.