I SOLEMNLY SWEAR…well, at least until I get to the garden center, I do. No, it won’t be the astro turf that gets me, dear Andre the Doodler, no worry there, but the occasional garden ornament does seem to be calling my name. You? What can’t you resist that you know you ought to, friends?
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.)
I treasure the diversity in style and taste amongst gardeners, but Andre, you are totally rigth on that one (also that one). It should be mandatory to sign it.
Lene
I must admit that I do fall for the ornaments sold at garden centers…but only the beautiful colored glass balls on an ornamental stake (and I only have two). All the plastic rabbits, ceramic gnomes, etc., do not tempt me. And the astro turf? Yuck. Every summer I try to convince my parents to get rid of the chunk they have in front of the door at their cabin! :-)
Bird baths seem to call out to me and know exactly which button to push to win a ride home with me! I’m sure my feathered friends are thrilled; and I use some as planters for miniture rock and moss gardens.
My garden ornaments are mostly cement. Is cement okay, Andre? My favorite is a goose from the twenties. It has a lot of character. This is not your mother’s goose. It’s your great grandmother’s goose. Visitors have loved it or thought it the ugliest thing they’ve ever seen. Until a week ago, we had a cement architectural fragment from one of the old buildings in Seattle, but the sixteen year old driver who came through the fence, across the garden, and hit the front porch, broke it. Oh, I just put in a bottle tree. Are you familiar with bottle trees?
FROGS. Frogs. & more Frogs. I have a few (many) in my yard, house, trees. Did I mention I like FROGS !
oh i just mean the plastic fiberglass ornaments – cement has been used for a long long time.
I FORGOT TO ADD PLASTIC ROCKS!
I saw them at the weekend.
I shall have to do another oath lists.
I don’t have any trouble resisting garden ornaments because I usually make my own on a whim. And they’re usually constructed of weed trees – a tepee or arbor or trellis here or there.
However, I have been keepin an eye out for just the right bottle tree.
Hi Margaret,
Nice meeting you tonight at the Chappaqua Library.
I really enjoyed your lecture and your gardens.
If anyone here has not heard Margaret give a lecture (it really is a visual and narrative glimpse into her garden and life) and you have the opportunity to hear her speak, I recommend you go. You wont’ be disappointed.
Terry
More plants, plants, plants…
Just hoping I don’t turn into my aunt who can’t get around to garden anymore so she put rocks in her flower beds and plants plastic flowers every spring.