HAVE YOU VISITED OUR Urgent Garden Question Forums? And if not, why not? (I felt I had to ask.) Read what they’re about…or just go. And while you’re there, upload photos of your sick/beautiful/unknown plant and get it promptly healed/admired/identified. You get the idea: Got a gem/problem? We praise you/fix it. All of life should work like this.
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.)
There are great exchanges going on in the UGQ forums. People… people helping people… (sorry, felt like a Streisand moment)
Kenn,
You got me laughing with that one. Fine to have a Streisand musical moment (but those fingernails wouldn’t work in the garden for one minute).
I’ve got questions, but I think the “urgent” adjective has stopped me in the past. I’ve hesitated to ask things because I wouldn’t classify them as ‘urgent’ and don’t want to waste anyone’s time… but maybe I’m just being overly analytical and neurotic about this. (Speaking of Streisand…)
-Andrew
This is a perfect example of my somewhat-demented sense of humor not “reading” online. It’s kind of a joke–nothing’s ever urgent but I always feel such urgency when I am out there and don’t know what to do. And the phrase has a special significance for because my sister invented it to help us get back together after some hard times years ago. Read about how it came to be part of our family language. So every question, large or small, is welcome…urgent or just urgent-feeling or not-so-urgent. ;-)
I sort of figured it was hyperbole: “The Daffodils are coming! The Daffodils are coming!” I don’t know, Margaret. We may have a great b-movie script on our hands…
Oh, no
You’ve just opened yourself up to a flood of questions from us. Despite the better advice of both you and Andrew B, we went ahead and installed 50 raised beds for the vegetable garden. Stay tuned. Hilarity will ensue.