TWO GARDENS I am lucky enough to have two gardens. At home in New Jersey I grow hundreds of plants, a full compliment of weeds and a daily dose of satisfaction. My summer garden in central New York State is much smaller and less ambitious. I tend it for three weeks a year at most, … Read more
Never underestimate the power of a woman with a good pair of loppers. Armed with those loppers, plus clippers, a pruning saw and a stout pair of gloves, I finally triumphed last week over the dastardly privet hedge that runs along one side of my property. The process has taken just this side of forever–almost … Read more
More than a few garden pundits have decreed that the most sublime and dramatic horticultural effects occur only in all green or mostly green gardens. Flowers, they say, are ephemeral, and therefore superfluous, with gaudy shapes and colors that disrupt the harmony inherent in a plant collection that showcases the many shades and textures of green. … Read more
The island of Guernsey sits in the English Channel, thirty miles from Normandy and seventy-five miles from Weymouth, England. Occupied at various times by Romans, Vikings, Normans and Germans, it is now An English dependency occupied primarily by foreign banks who have taken advantage of the island’s favorable business climate to establish offshore operations. But … Read more
Sometimes life’s little surprises produce a chain reaction of events that affect the garden. This is the story of one such chain. About a year ago we decided that it was past time to paint the house. We signed a contract with the painter and resolved to get the exterior in perfect shape before the … Read more
