I WAS DELIGHTED TO BE ASKED to post on the all-things-stylish blog called Bluelines today (and based on the outfit I’m about to head outside in, I could use some personal-style advice, for certain. Yikes!). The subject is pots, and what to put in them, and I hope you’ll go visit to support a blog that supports this one.
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 love the Bluelines blog. Such great advice for all us balcony gardeners! Merci!
Gorgeous pictures, and as always, v. helpful ideas about pairing colors and textures…
@Paige: With words like those, you never know, you might get some free plants or something….
Great advice as always but the picture of the impish child steals the show! It is almost tent time! Next visit to Logee’s, let me know and I will show you some local, fabulous gardens!
@Layanee: That is my favorite baby photo of all time. The umbrella makes me think of the great line from the Leonard Cohen song ‘The Anthem:’
“There is a crack in everything;
that’s how the light gets in.”
I may have started life with a crappy umbrella and the wrong footwear for the occasion, but I didn’t seem to notice. March on.