I love the science behind gardening, the stories that reveal what makes things tick in the natural world. A new book by Lee Reich called, “The Ever Curious Gardener: Using a Little Natural Science for a Much Better Garden,” is loaded with such stories. Lee Reich, or should I say Dr. Lee Reich, has degrees in chemistry, soil science and horticulture, and is author of many previous books including, “Landscaping With Fruit,” “The Pruning Book,” and “Weedless Gardening.” 
The topic of our recent conversation was more about wondering and explaining not just the how-to, but the why and how things happen in those subjects and more: ways to know your soil better, to propagate bulbs by understanding their physiology, or nudge fruit trees not to skip a year of bearing fruit and more.
Increasingly in recent years, my garden “weeds” include more and more tenacious opponents – and the landscape along the roadsides nearby and pretty much...
When I got my copy of the new “Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America,” I tracked down the author’s email address at...
I spent much of the summer transfixed by this year’s pair of phoebes who nested on the back porch as usual, and from a...