The main maintenance task for hyacinths is called deadheading. Deadheading is simply pinching off old blooms to encourage new growth and transfer energy from making seeds. However, if you bought a self-sowing variety do not deadhead because you will lose the seeds. The only other concerns for hyacinth bulbs is the occasional animal or rodent. If [...]
Here's a great story sent from a friend about the wonderful benefits of garden water features with plant tips from the "your garden" section of the Chicago Sun Times by Susan Randstrom. They don't archive their garden stories on their site, so we scanned the story. "Bubbling with Life" Water attracts more than good fortune, butterflies and friends!
Capture Your Garden & Share with Family & Friends! This is coolest gift for anyone interested in watching a living plant bloom & grow - The PlantCam! The PlantCam is a digital garden camera, and a great spring gift for the gardener in your life who starts every day with a quick tour just to see how well everything is [...]
As the snow fell in DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland, I kept thinking about how my garden would survive. I repeatedly saw homeowners salting their gardens on the local news, and I cringed each time I saw it. Put down the salt, and check out these Washington Post tips on how to help your garden/landscape recover from the [...]
We're always looking out for fun family garden projects -- last season we wrote about a fun Fall project centered on planting bulbs for Spring. Now you and your whole family can start your herb and vegetable garden indoors! Yes, starting cool season seeds indoors is a great project for the whole family. Cool season herbs and vegetables can be started [...]
On Monday, we talked about what you can do in your garden during the cold winter months to prepare for Spring. In addition to our tips, the Washington Post came up with a few more ideas for the month of February: Spray For Pests Now -- Spray roses, fruit trees, and other ornament prone to mites, scale and lacebug [...]
A Smith and Hawken Reinvention? Smith & Hawken was a go-to garden retail outlet for many gardeners in the U.S. I visited my local stores in the Washington, D.C. area in Georgetown, McLean, VA and Chevy Chase, MD, many times over the years going back to the 1980's. I was as surprised as everyone else to read just over five months ago that they were going out [...]
I received my Plant Cam as a Christmas gift, can't wait to set it up!
If you live in Washington, D.C., consider the different landscape and hardscape spaces you can create to occupy the space between your home and the street. In the district, front garden spaces can be a major challenge as some of our front doors can be a mere 3-5 feet from the sidewalk/street. As a native Washingtonian, I've faced these very challenges for many years with my own homes, and I'm here to remind [...]
A well designed garden can be like adding a room to your home. And I'm passionate about creating landscape designs that can change how my clients use and enjoy their outside spaces. Below are before and after pictures I took with my iPhone of one of my favorite Washington, D.C., projects this year. The D.C. homeowners are just terrific, and they allowed GardenWise to go all [...]