EVEN THE BUDDHA OUT BACK GETS UP TO HIS EARS during the run-up to the holidays. And now on top of everything else, there’s shoveling and sanding and salting to do, since it’s the first real snow day here. If only they wouldn’t play “Let It Snow!” so much this time of year, I might stand a chance of being ready by the 25th!
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 — as we wait for our first serious snow, I feel your pain! And drat, I didn’t get my anti-desiccant on yet, but at least I’ve swaddled the viburnum davidii. Otherwise, they protest a bit too much when we get a too-cold winter here.
Please…..more on those BBC crime series. Alas, I am unconvinced that there is life after Blood in the Wire and MI-5. Recommendations??
Welcome, Linda. Yes, in the weekly newsletter I mentioned that I am addicted to BBC crime series of various forms. Wire in the Blood and MI-5 are among my favorites, but I have just been all the way through Foyle’s War (WWII period piece, police drama), and of course years ago watched all of Prime Suspect and then the other show that its creator did: Trial and Retribution (gritty, not nearly as good, but tons of episodes over many seasons), and the Brit version of Cold Case, called Waking the Dead and and and and and … oh, I loved Cracker (a crime series). Loved.
I will have to go to my Netflix history and look at all the things I have watched and get more names.
I would gladly take your snow!!!!