Compost Smart: What's your composting setup? Bin, tumbler or open pile—or maybe even an ingenious set of three pits in the ground? And most important, how is it working? More effective composting tactics, along with other timely advice to prepare for spring, was the subject of my conversation with New York Botanical Garden instructor Daryl Beyers.
The popular course that Daryl Beyers teaches at NYBG in New York City is called Fundamentals of Gardening. And now Daryl, who has more than 25 years of professional landscaping experience besides his teaching role, has put all the fundamentals into a new book, “The New Gardener's Handbook.”
It was in its pages that I picked up some new-to-me tips on better composting and more—including the right way to water as you plant trees and shrubs; how to choose which limbs to prune off or keep when shaping and thinning; and how to rejuvenate overgrown shrubs (all at once, or in stages?).
When I bought my place decades ago it was nestled in a tiny piece of former farmland with a little 1880s house and no...
Rather than digging in, let’s wade in to our topic this week – because the subject is waterlilies. If you follow any botanical gardens...
I was remarking to my friend Ken Druse earlier this spring about a garden I’d just visited, and how the stands of primulas in...
