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my top 10 garden posts of 2009 (thanks to you)

December 18, 2009

Picnik collage 2IKEEP SEEING TOP-10 LISTS EVERYWHERE; ‘TIS THE SEASON. So what’s mine—what individual posts on A Way to Garden got the most interest in 2009? And the winners are…

1. PICKLE-MANIA: My old friend Dan Koshansky’s recipe for refrigerator pickles—one of three archival 2008 posts that nevertheless made the top 10 again in 2009—was your choice for the Number 1 spot, based on how many views it got. The recipe couldn’t be easier, nor the results more delicious. Remember: lots of garlic, please.

2. GROWING A BETTER TOMATO: No surprise that this post about every phase of tomato growing, from seed to harvest, was a winner (as was the Number 10-ranked one about growing them from seed, specifically). Who doesn’t love tomatoes?

3. STEWARTIA CONNOISSEURS: Who knew a relatively unusual tree like Stewartia would garner the Number 3 popularity spot of the year—particularly since the story on it is from a year earlier? Now that’s a tree (and a blog post) with multiple seasons of interest!

4. WORKHORSE GROUNDCOVERS: I thought this would be Number 1, since really tough groundcovers that aren’t ivy or pachysandra or vinca are hard to come by. But I suppose the Number 4 spot isn’t bad.

5. DEER FENCING, MY WAY: Keeping deer out of the garden is one of the biggest challenges gardeners face, and I shared whatever insights I have in this popular post.

6. THINKING VIBURNUMS: My favorite genus of woody plants did it again: made me, and my readers, happy.  This 2008 post won the Number 6 spot in 2009, but if you added in the popularity of my viburnum-pruning how-to post and another one on the heavy viburnum fruit set this year, the topic of viburnum would rank as Number 3 over all for 2009 here. They certainly deserve it.

7. TOUR OF MY GARDEN: Seeing this slideshow of my spring garden tour on the most-popular list feels like I had a whole other group of visitors—the quietest, best-behaved ones ever. Fun.

8. WEEPING ALASKA CEDAR: Of all the beloved conifers I profiled so far, none was more popular than the weeping Alaska cedar, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula.’

9. PERFECT PARSLEY: The post on how to grow and store a year’s worth was another 2009 hit, part of the popular Summer Fest cross-blog cooking-from-the-garden series I did with some foodie friends.

10. TOMATOES FROM SEED: These tricks for how to germinate them and produce a stock seedling did the trick for many readers, apparently.

Thanks to all of you for your clicks, your comments, your camaraderie.

Related posts:

  1. beloved conifers: weeping alaska cedar
  2. the 2009 garden in pictures: a slideshow
  3. a way to garden version 3.0: welcome!
  4. ‘a way to garden’ in the washington post
  5. slideshow: springtime’s shrubs on parade

{ 4 Comments }

Comments

  1. Tammy says:
    December 18, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    And many thanks to you, Margaret. Looking forward to 2010. Can it possibly be almost here? yikes. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

  2. Johanna says:
    December 19, 2009 at 8:28 am

    It wasn’t a great gardening year, but it WAS great sharing it with you! Thanks for keeping our spirits up when the rain, the chill, the blight, and everything else was dragging them down.

    Looking forward to a spectacular garden in 2010!

  3. Eric says:
    December 19, 2009 at 11:58 am

    Dan’s refrigerator pickles were awesome! Thanks for the recipe. First time I made pickles too. I didn’t have any jars so I made one big batch in my sun tea container.

  4. Carole C says:
    December 24, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    With all the e-mails that appear in my mailbox, it was yours that I always looked forward to reading! Thanks for all the fun, excitement and valuable information you always provide.

Comment:

The Sister Project

The Confessional

Some stuff really gets A Way to Garden-ers going. Weigh in, or just lurk while everyone else shares about these hot buttons:

Compost, Compost, Compost

I am as proud of my compost heap as I am of any part of my garden. It is the archaeological record of my garden past; it is the stuff from which future gardens will arise. I read a lot about, from sources like these: Garden Organic, a 50-year-old British charity; Journey to Forever (don’t worry, not some into-the-bunker survivalist cult); and the vast Cornell Composting archive. Dig in.

Juicy Bits

375 VISITORS, 1 BIG RHODIE: spring garden open day, in a virtual visit. How it looked, and also what they all asked about

keeping deer out DEER FENCE: I tried every potion and anti-deer trick till I finally got real and fenced. Strategies for every garden situation.

secrets to great tomatoes TOMATO TIPS, seed to harvest: Dozens of tricks for a better crop.

yes, even in dry shade MY 4 TOUGHEST GROUNDCOVERS perform even in the worst spots, like dry shade. Maybe these tough perennials will serve you as well?

5 great small trees GARDEN-SIZED TREES can’t just be the right scale; they need to have multi-season interest, too, to earn a spot here. Maybe you have room for one of my 5 favorites?

10 underplanting do’s and don’ts MAKING MOSAICS—that’s what I call good underplanting of trees and shrubs with a tapestry of plants for many months of enjoyment. Here’s how I do it.

a ribbeting bullfrog whodunit LET BULLFROGS BE BYGONES? No way. Where have all my biggest frogboys gone? The latest frog mystery explained.

stars of the spring shrubbery BEYOND LILACS (and forget forsythia!), a slideshow of some of the finest spring shrubs you may not grow (yet).

speeding up the compost DRIVE BY, HIT-AND-RUN composting is my latest craze, and speeds up the decomposition process while making good mulch quickly. Here’s how.

making a 365-day garden THINK FALL (YES, FALL): Don’t get sucked in by spring-bloomers only when nursery shopping. A great garden happens 365 days a year: Shop smart to make it so.

the facts about bulbs SOMETHING UP with a flower bulb? Paltry bloom, or wondering when to feed or cut off the foliage? It’s all here.

must-read garden poem MY FAVORITE GARDEN POEM celebrates loss, one of gardening (and life’s) realities. It does it with humor: "Why Did My Plant Die?” is a must-read.

12 steps to sanity? HELP FOR GARDENERS: Hi, my name is Margaret, and yes, we operate a 12-Step program here. Welcome.

orchid rebloom made easy I REBLOOMED MY FIRST ORCHID last year (finally!) and it turns out to be pretty easy going. Here’s how.

my seed-starting 101 WHAT ABOUT SEED-STARTING in general? The A Way to Garden method.

crispy refrigerator pickles WHAT IS IT ABOUT refrigerator pickles that makes everybody so happy? Get those cukes growing now. And then some.

hail the stewartia I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?

can-do pruning REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies JUNE IS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but just before that another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting does its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant? SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.