avant gardens Archives

Tag: avant gardens

March 27, 2019

making succulent pots and wreaths, with katherine tracey of avant gardens

I’M ALREADY DREAMING about summertime containers each year, even before the first flat of spring’s pansies arrive in the local nurseries as winter fades. My..

April 30, 2017

5 Comments

get creative with succulents, plus spring rehab, with avant gardens’ katherine tracey

ONE RECENT FALL, an unannounced package arrived. Inside was a “bowl” made from a pumpkin whose handle had been removed, with the pumpkin topped with..

April 17, 2016

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getting creative with succulent hens & chicks, with katherine tracey

GRANDMA raised them, her darling hens and chicks–and no, I’m not referring to the egg-producing flock of adorable Bantam poultry in my Grandmother’s backyard, but..

February 14, 2016

375 Comments

time-tested perennials, with kathy tracey of avant gardens

WHAT ARE YOUR time-tested perennials—and would you like expert help selecting others that rate that status? It’s time to talk standout plants, and on that..

October 13, 2014

9 Comments

overwintering tender plants, with kathy tracey

ARE YOU JUGGLING the tender plants, playing a game of “Beat the Clock”—or is it “Beat the Mercury”—as temperature increasingly dip? I asked garden designer..

March 14, 2014

530 Comments

fine-tune your garden: designer katherine tracey helps us take a hard look

NEEDING TO FINE-TUNE your garden’s design, but not sure how to begin? Katherine Tracey of Avant Gardens helps us take a virtual walk through our..

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.”