The cold weather has come up quickly and the freezing temps have just about done in the last of the flowers. Our yards and gardens may not look too cheery, but that makes this the perfect time to start planning for spring!
Take my advice below and when spring starts to, well, spring you’ll be ready to start improving your own patch of earth.
Take a Walk!
Fall and winter are great times to gather garden inspiration—after all, you’ll be looking at that fall/winter garden for several months each year. Check out the neighborhood and see what strikes you. Some plants’ showiest times are when you can only see their bark! Snap a photo—any plant sellers worth their dirt will be able to tell you what the plant is.
Curl Up With Some Plant Books!
Here are three of my favorites:
• The Humane Gardener by Nancy Lawson. This is filled with real stories of gardens gone great, Lawson’s own hard-learned lessons, and some gorgeous photos. It reads like a novel and is filled with great information.
• The Living Landscape by Doug Tallamy and Rick Darke. This is pretty enough to qualify as a coffee table book and has enough information to be considered an academic effort. I love this book for its practical advice and a really useful plant guide that helps you pick things that grow well in your area and allows you to select for when flowers bloom, for sun or shade, and for whether they attract birds, butterflies or other critters.
• Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This is the original guide for finding plants that grow here in DC. Produced by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, this is my plant bible. It’s not pretty (no photos), but I’ve found it invaluable for planning my garden. I was once warned at a garden center by someone who spotted my guide, “You better hold on to that—if you leave that in your cart it’ll walk.” Yikes! You can find the guide by searching “conservation landscaping” at www.dnr.maryland.gov.
Log On!
I’m amazed at the amount of information and guidance available for free online. It has helped me enormously in my own garden work and I hope you’ll take advantage of it as well. Online resources that I really love include the Humane Gardeners blog. It not only provides information but the author is also incredibly responsive to inquiries. Find inspiration and answers at www.humanegardener.com.
And don’t be fooled by the fancy name, The Xerces Society is a terrific resource and a really fun website (https://xerces.org). From the “Milkweed Finder” to the “BumbleBee Watch” to the “Dragonfly Partnership,” Xerces is a great place to find info and activities all can enjoy.
Free Help! I’m not a professional plant person and I have no formal training, but I’m willing to help. If you are interested in working to get your own green space growing, I’ll help (for free) with ideas and guidance. Questions, concerns, or inquiries, please email me at GloverDigThis@gmail.com.
(this article originally appeared in the Glover Park Gazette, December/January 2018)
StephShain 