The horticulturist Alan Chadwick, according to his disciples, rebuked anyone caught weeding sow thistle (Sonchus) from his garden beds. “They’re all plants,” he once declared. “It’s just that, if a plant is growing where we don’t want it to grow, . . . Read More »
A groundcover is a low growing plant that fills in quickly to make a dense carpet of foliage. Once established, it will crowd out weeds, provide year round protection to the soil, and offer overwintering habitat for native fauna. Ideally, . . . Read More »
Meadows are beautiful dynamic habitats with rich populations of plants and animals, and unfortunately, they have been reduced substantially in the last 50 years. Contributing to their decline is the tractor mower which makes it very easy for everyone to . . . Read More »
With their roots in the earth and their stems twining upward, vines are a great solution where ground space is limited but vertical space is available. Choose a native species beloved by hummingbirds, butterflies, bumble bees or birds and you . . . Read More »
Fall and winter are the best times to sow native seeds. In Maine, the yearly cycle for seed ripening and germination is different from common garden and vegetable seeds. Many native seeds need to have a winter period of . . . Read More »
There is something satisfying about the idea of tossing seeds of wild flowers or trees into an impoverished area with the hope that it will magically turn into a flowery meadow or forest. After all, seeds scatter in nature by . . . Read More »
Belfast, Maine is loaded with butternut—the tree, not the squash. Since moving back to Maine last fall, I have seen more mature butternuts here than during my years at Purdue conducting graduate studies on the species. A young butternut, barely . . . Read More »
In urban areas, green spaces of natural habitat rapidly lose biodiversity if they exist in isolated patches. Many cities across the country and the world are working to promote corridors of native plants in an urban environment. Such contiguous arrays . . . Read More »
The warm, sunny days of midsummer are a great time to observe the many kinds of pollinators that visit flowers. In Maine, the pollinators include the ruby-throated hummingbird and a variety of insects, such as butterflies, moths, native bees (270+ . . . Read More »
Pop up parks and parklets are catching on as a way to create a mini-oasis in an urban or paved environment. All across the country and around the world in many different climates and situations, people are harnessing their ingenuity . . . Read More »
