'horticultural how-to and woo-woo' | margaret roach, head gardener
chores by month
The monthly chores are one of my top features (and are all archived below). Though the how-to in them will apply most anywhere–pruning a rose or sowing a tomato seed is similar, wherever the rose or tomato may grow–the when is not the same. I garden in Zone 5B, on the NY-CT-MA border, so you may need to adjust timing by referring to the previous month or even the next. Or search my list of regional calendars.
FOR MOST OF MY CAREER, I was an editor more than a writer, and good thing. Editing is the gardener’s assignment, especially in August—and particularly..
THERE IS PAYOFF—new potatoes, a tomato finally, and then garlic harvest as the month winds down. There are also problems to be managed (hello, Japanese..
REMEMBER, amid the frenzy: There is nothing wrong that some good-quality mulch won’t improve visually (while helping build soil beneath as a bonus). I’m spreading..
ONE LAST-MINUTE FIRE DRILL of outdoor chores, before it’s time to settle down with the seed catalogs: That’s December in my Northeast garden life, the..
SO MANY LEAVES, so little time. That’s November’s urgent-feeling message—to somehow tuck in before the snows arrive. Composting expertise, the top skill any gardener can..
SEPTEMBER IS OPPORTUNITY MONTH: the opportunity (especially up north) to divide or add perennials; to plant shrubs and trees; to repair or renovate lawns; to..
THE JAPANESE BEETLES are subsiding, or at least focusing their energies to activities other than chewing leaves, but the rabbits? No such luck. I’m tempted..