Growing Greener

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Daryl Beyers Shares a Fresh Approach to Gardening Fundamentals Apr 03, 2024

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Coordinator of the New York Botanical Garden's Gardening Education Program, Daryl Beyers has developed a fresh approach to teaching the fundamentals of the craft, one that not only provides a strong foundation for novices to go on and build their own skills, but which has proved valuable to experienced practitioners who want to move beyond the old-fashioned, often environmentally harmful practices they may absorbed at the beginning of their careers.

Native Annuals of the Eastern United States Mar 27, 2024

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Annuals offer unique advantages for the ecological gardener, growing fast to stabilize disturbed soils, and providing quick color for new plantings. In this conversation, master plantsman Ethan Dropkin of Larry Weaner Landscape Associates shares his pick of the best native annuals native to eastern North America.

Thomas Rainer: A Case for Thoughtful Optimism Mar 20, 2024

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In 2015 landscape architect Thomas Rainer and his professional partner Claudia West stirred the gardening world with their best-selling book, "Planting in a Post-Wild World." Now Rainer shares his arguments for thoughtful optimism regarding gardening and its potential impact on our ecological challenges.

Celebrating Regional Beauty Mar 13, 2024

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In the 1990's Lauren Springer helped pioneer a new, regionally focused gardening style in Colorado, an "undaunted garden" that celebrated the Rocky Mountain landscape and the plants, native and introduced, that were at home there. In this conversation, Springer recalls those times and details how her design style has continued to evolve, and what comes next.

Can Genetic Engineering Help Save North American Trees From Imported Threats? Mar 06, 2024

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The American chestnut was a foundational species of eastern forests until an imported blight killed virtually all mature specimens back to stumps in the early 20th century. Jared Westbrook, Science Director of the American Chestnut Foundation discusses how a project to genetically engineer a blight-resistant American chestnut has revealed the complexity of applying this process to tree species.

A New CEO for the Native Plant Trust Feb 28, 2024

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When it was founded in 1900, the Native Plant Trust was the first plant conservation organization in the United States. Its new CEO, Tim Johnson describes how, more than a century later, the Trust continues to break new ground, defining how an organization such as this can rise to meet the challenges currently facing our native flora.

"Poor Man's Fertilizer" Feb 21, 2024

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Too often we regard snow as merely an annoyance, but Kim Eierman, ecological garden designer and educator, makes the case for snow as a natural source of great and sometimes surprising benefits for the garden.

Create Your Own Locally Adapted Garden Seeds Feb 14, 2024

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Hybrid fruit and vegetable seeds are like thoroughbred horses – extraordinary performers but not resilient or good at coping with adverse conditions. When they didn't succeed in Joseph Lofthouse's Utah garden, he created his own "landraces", biodiverse crop strains that "promiscuously pollinate" and speedily evolve to thrive in local conditions and adapt to the gardener's style of cultivation.

Invasive Plants Waging Chemical Warfare Feb 07, 2024

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Why are invasive plants so effective in muscling out native species? Research by Dr. Susan Kalisz of the University of Tennessee Knoxville details how the invaders commonly release chemicals into the soil that disrupt the functioning of native plants and even the soil fungi and bacteria that help them grow.

Easy Hacks for Starting Native Plants from Seed Jan 31, 2024

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Jim Sirch of Yale University's Peabody Museum shares gardener-friendly resources and an easy, nearly foolproof method for starting natives from seeds, together with tips for finding locally collected seeds wherever you garden in the United States.

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