Growing Greener

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Spring-Flowering Bulbs: Beautiful and Sustainable Sep 21, 2022

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Inheritor of a century-old family tradition of supplying the best spring-flowering bulbs to American gardeners, Brent Heath details the important role that they can play in today's sustainable gardens. Flourishing without the use of chemicals, these plants furnish reliable early spring color and food for early season pollinators; follow Brent's growing tips and your bulbs will return year after year as the toughest of perennials.

Wild By Design Sep 14, 2022

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Fostering wildlife and native plants – making our landscapes contributors to the local ecosystem – has become a goal of so many gardeners. In her new book, "Wild By Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration," Laura J. Martin traces how this became so. Introducing a remarkable band of ecologically minded pioneers, many of them women, Martin describes how this consciousness spread through the land preservation and gardening communities, how the understanding of restoration has changed over time, and what the future may hold with climate change.

Dutch Gardeners Explore A New Relationship With Nature Sep 07, 2022

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American gardeners typically turn to England when looking for inspiration abroad, but they'll find a far more imaginative approach to integrating nature with human needs in contemporary Dutch gardening. Carrie Preston, an American designer who has made a career there, takes us for a tour.

Planting Native Spring Ephemerals Instead of Dutch Bulbs Aug 31, 2022

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Gardeners are busy now planting Dutch bulbs for a spring show, but there is an environmentally more beneficial alternative: native spring ephemerals. Neil Diboll, founder and president of Prairie Nursery, shares how to use these early blooming natives to create truly perennial early spring color while also benefiting pollinators and other wildlife.

Rain Barrel Gardening Aug 24, 2022

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Too often environmentally conscious gardeners look for the "silver bullet" for our sustainability and resource issues, rather than contenting ourselves with what Kathy Connolly describes as "two percent solutions." Kathy, an in-demand natural garden designer and educator, is referring to small changes that cumulatively can have a big impact. Listen to her describe her use of rain barrels as a convenient, inexpensive way to conserve drinking water, reduce energy usage, and make gardening more fun.

An Organic Makeover for Your Lawn Aug 17, 2022

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Late summer through early fall, according to Shay Lunseth, is the ideal time to put your lawn on a more environmentally friendly path. Shay's got advice about boosting the health of your grass without chemicals, reducing or ending inputs of fertilizer and water, and even making your lawn pollinator friendly

Fighting Global Warming with Biochar Aug 10, 2022

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Biochar has been touted as a valuable soil amendment that fosters better plant growth and stretches fertilizer budgets. Will Hessert and Javaughn Henry have also found in it a means to sequester carbon and confront global climate change. Listen as Will describes how they are putting in place a project to convert municipal landscape waste into biochar on a grand scale

Starting Native Plants From Seed Aug 03, 2022

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Starting native plants from locally sourced seed is the most economical and ecologically advantageous way to rewild domestic landscapes. In the past, though, this has been perceived as tricky and demanding, a process only for experts. Anna Fialkoff, Ecological Programs Manager of the Wild Seed Project in North Yarmouth, Maine, describes how her organization makes starting native plants from seed affordable and easy, even for novices

A Gardener's Brawl Examined Jul 27, 2022

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Admirers of exotic garden plants have taken to claiming that their foreign-born treasures are just as good nutritionally for our North American pollinators. Proponents of native plants insist that their flora supplies a better diet. We ask Dr. Harland Patch of Pennsylvania State University for the facts

Drought-Proofing the Garden with Nancy DuBrule-Clemente Jul 20, 2022

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Managing water is the crucial task of the summertime garden, especially as climate change boosts the heat and the frequency of droughts. Join Nancy DuBrule-Clemente, founder of the pioneering woman-owned landscape company and garden center, Natureworks, as she brings her organic gardening sensibility to bear on ways to reduce watering while weathering our warming summers.

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