Simple Recipe for Homemade Weed Killer That Works

Summer at the South Carolina Botanical Garden (SCBG) that is a fun time filled with summer camps and children laughing and learning. Below are some of the simple, low cost ideas we used in our Creativity Camp to get children outside, where they enjoyed nature, and tapped into their creativity.

Fall bird migration is in full swing in South Carolina. As our temperatures cool and the days get shorter, many birds start preparing to move south. Many warblers pass through the South Carolina Botanical Garden (SCBG) on their way to subtropical and tropical areas. If you visit the SCBG with your binoculars, you may see some warblers in the migratory flight path located below and behind the Bob Campbell Geology Museum.

Many of us enjoy searching for monarch caterpillars on milkweed in late summer and thinking about the next generation of beautiful monarch butterflies. Along the way, one may be surprised to encounter a lesser-known caterpillar getting its fill of milkweed alongside the monarch caterpillars. Milkweed tussock moth, Euchaetes egle, sometimes referred to as the milkweed tiger moth, specializes in milkweeds and dogbanes for larval food. One can find these cute (in my opinion) caterpillars munching away on common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, at the South Carolina Botanical Garden.

THE LATEST BOOK GIVEAWAY–which was a smashing success–ended at midnight Sunday, but there’s a “win” for everyone, it turns out. Collaborator and author Katrina Kenison and I asked commenters to tell us about books they’d relied on in times of transition…and wow, did they ever.

LOST ANYTHING IN THE GARDEN LATELY (besides your mind)? That’s the question Forum member Boodely poses in the Urgent Garden Question Forum this week, and I’m confessing to eyeglasses, every manner of tool and more. (Usually my MIA items turn up when I turn the compost heap.) Lost anything in your garden? On the very practical side comes a twist on the groundcover question, which usually includes the words “for shade.” Not this time.

A recent interview with ethnobotanist and author Mike Balick of the New York Botanical Garden got me thinking about jewelweed—and then a shady front-yard bed under an old Eastern red cedar did, when the “weed” grew overnight from almost-unnoticeable volunteers to nearly knee-high (below) in the first spurt of steady warmth.“Growing up in the Northeast,” said Balick, author of “Rodale’s 21st Century Herbal,” “when I’d get stung by nettles, the jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is always growing nearby. What I do, since it’s only available for two or three months: I grind it up in the blender and put it in an ice-cube tray, and have some ice-cubed jewelweed to rub on my skin for rashes or irritations at other times.”So there’s a reason to let some grow this year: to make an effective,

Dr. Tripp, the voice of Robin Hood Radio’s newest program, “Your Health,” received her D.O. from the University of New England. In previous incarnations she has her BS and MS from Cornell; her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, where she also served as Curator of Conifers for the famed J.C. Raulston Arboretum, and did postdoctoral work at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. She knows from trees and shrubs—and that’s what we talked about:q&a: great trees for gardens, with kim trippQ.What woody plants always got your recommendation—what did you try to encourage clients to plant when you were making gardens for people, while supporting yourself through medical school? A. The first thing I always did, especially with a new client, was to walk around with them and say, “Let’s just see what’s growing here now–what’s out there and doing well,” and have a look at it and see if we like it or don’t. And we’d go from there.I found a few plants in our region that no matter what the conditions, were always doing well—even with deer browse.They were thi

David, also known as the Xeric Gardener, is chief horticulturist of High Country Gardens in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The former garden center, now closed, began in 1984, but you can visit anytime online, or in the print catalog (published since 1993; the catalog-request form is here).I first met David through my work years ago at Martha Stewart Living, in the days when almost nobody even knew what terms like or water wise, let alone xeric or even sustainable meant as they pertained to our gardens. I’ve been thrilled and impressed to watch David teach and inspire the nation–earning the

About 10 years ago, Dan Furman joined the nursery and mail-order operation his parents Kasha and David had started in 1989 in Connecticut to specialize in Chinese tree peonies, which are still a mainstay of the family business. Well, Dan brought with him a growing interest in edible ornamentals, he says, “to make landscapes more bountiful, not just beautiful.” And with lots of personal research and experimentation, he has added a great assortment of them to the Cricket Hill lineup. That’s Dan, below, in a recent video he did on Cricket Hill’s Instagram, praising Aronia fruit (chokeberry).Read along as you listen to the September 16, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).unusual fruits, with dan furman of cricket hillMargaret Roach: Welcome Dan. I’m so excited that I saw you at the booth the other day.Daniel Furman

The previous time Ken had visited the show, just a couple of weeks prior, we got so sidetracked into talking about favorite tools that we rely on that we barely started sharing our garden resolutions, and then time ran out. So he’s back as promised to make his confessions, and I made mine–ranging from reclaiming grass paths that have grown too narrow, to tactics for avoiding overwhelm, and even a commitment to sharing plants (and the important of ruthlessly tossing some out, too).Read along as you listen to the December 30, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: To celebrate the new year and decade, I‘m offering two giveaways with this edition of the show and blog: a chance to enter to win Ken’s 2019 book, “The Scent

Beloved Broken Arrow Nursery will hold a plant sale in my driveway, including the chance to pre-order for pickup on Saturday the 7th at my place. Other garden- and nature-related headliners: Rebecca McMackin, the celebrated ecological landscape designer who has led the creation of Brooklyn Bridge Park (giving a pollinator-garden talk that is not to be missed); Chris Roddick, longtime head arborist at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (with a tree walk); and Annie Novak of New York Botanical Garden’s Edible Academy (wi

Many gardeners know the value of mulch around plant roots. Mulches stabilize soil, enrich it, and can contribute to better biodiversity. There are many landscape mulch alternatives to standard bark mulch. Many of these are cleverly recycled items that prevent landfill waste and foster a sense of sustainability.