YOU MAY RECALL LAST SUMMER’S VISIT HERE by the Apartment Therapy founders Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan and his wife, Sara Kate, the expert in charge of The Kitchn blog within that giant network. They wanted to see my kitchen (huh?) and just hang out. Now they’ve invited me to their turf—my old turf of New York City—for a “design meetup” next Wednesday evening, and you’re invited, too. Off I go to prep my PowerPoint presentation …
FROM THE WEEKLY PODCAST
rethinking the lawn, with dan wilder
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
Margaret:
Alan and I loved meeting you at the Apartment Therapy meet-up! Since I am from the Berkshires, and we would both love to get back there eventually (as soon as his son is off to college!) we really enjoyed listening to your story of “leaving the rat race” for the country! Meantime, we spend weekends in suburbia (Norwalk CT) for our parenting duties — but the good news is that we have a fairly sizable plot in our condo’s community garden, so I am really glad to have found your blog to help learn more about gardening.
Thanks again for your talk and we hope to catch one of your garden tours.
Best,
Frank
Welcome, Frank. So nice to meet you both, too. You looked so familiar…is it possible I have seen you here (Berkshires)? I do so hope that you will come and see me at one of the events — tour or smaller workshop. Thanks for your encouraging words, and (as they say) “back at you.” There is no substitute for self-determination, even if it’s a little scary at times.
And PS — or is it possible we have met via my mid-Century old friend Mark McDonald (formerly of 50-50 in NYC, then Gansevoort Gallery, then and now Mark McDonald in Hudson, NY?