Growing Greener

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A British Horticultural Ecologist Challenges the U.S. Consensus Mar 04, 2026

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Citing European studies, British horticultural ecologist James Hitchmough, a leader of the ecological gardening movement in his country, rejects the intrinsic superiority of native plants over exotic garden imports for supporting insect diversity in the garden.

Balancing your account in the soil seed bank Feb 25, 2026

Show notes

A square foot of topsoil typically hosts thousands of dormant seeds deposited by previous floras. Nathan Lambstrom of Lambstrom Garden Ecology discusses his research into how this "soil seed bank" can enhance or derail ecological restoration, and how to manage your "account" to benefit your garden.

A Tree's Perspective on Pruning Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

Is your pruning aimed only at gratifying your aesthetics and needs? Chris Roddick also views pruning from the plants' perspective, promoting techniques that enhance their growth patterns and ecological function as well.

O Canada ¬– A Garden Activist Enriches and Beautifies Lawns with Local Prairie Flora Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

Travel with Growing Greener to Winnipeg, Manitoba to learn how Ash Burkowski is collecting seed from local prairie remnants to raise indigenous grasses and wildflowers that can be integrated into lawns, restoring populations of native flora while relieving homeowners of the need for fertilization and irrigation and reducing the need for mowing.

Creating Crops that Thrive in Your Garden Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

A replay of a February 2024 conversation in which Joseph Lofthouse, author of "Landrace Gardening" details how anyone can create genetically diverse vegetable and fruit crops that flourish in the local climate and soil with minimal inputs in just three years.

Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center combines energy generation with agriculture for a double harvest Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

Byron Kominek knew the family farm needed a more profitable crop than hay to survive. By installing photovoltaic panels and growing crops underneath, he now supplies electricity to 300 neighboring houses while also producing food and hosting educational programs at what is now a popular learning center.

The Missing Piece of Your Ecological Garden Jan 21, 2026

Show notes

Liz Koziol of the University of Kansas shares hew work with mycorrhizal fungi and native plants, and how a properly designed fungal inoculant can make your ecological garden more biodiverse, quicker to establish itself and more resistant to weeds.

An Antique Tool Brings New Knowledge of Native Plants Jan 14, 2026

Show notes

Herbariums, annotated collections of dried plant specimens first appeared in Italy almost 500 years ago. In today's Growing Greener, Lea Johnson, Director of Conservation at the Native Plant Trust discusses why they remain an essential tool for those who track and study native plant populations, and the new technologies herbariums facilitate.

How Your Garden Helped Drive the Deer Population Boom Jan 07, 2026

Show notes

Dr. Elic Weitzel of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History describes the thousands of years of association between deer and people, how they long ago came to prefer human-created landscapes, and why their population has exploded

Behold the Magic of Warm-Season Grasses Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

In a conversation recorded in December of 2019 Shannon Currey, a leading educator in the native plants industry, describes how the unique adaptations of warm season grasses make them winners in an era of climate change as well as invaluable in the late summer garden.

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