Lois de Vries' Garden Views

Garden lifestyle speaker and coach Lois J. de Vries was recently appointed chair of the Garden Writers of America's Sustainability Task Force. GWA, headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, has 1,800 members worldwide including book authors, staff editors, syndicated columnists, free-lance writers, photographers, landscape designers, television and radio personalities, extension service agents, breeders, growers, and other gardening professionals. (Click here to read more)

This septic system's mounded leach field is planted as a perennial garden. Working on the garden landscape is such an exciting pastime that it’s hard not to jump right in with every next big idea that comes along. In some ways, the garden industry is not very different from the fashion industry – styles come and go; this year’s “in” color is “out” next year; breeders are constantly tweaking petal profile, plant height, color, and shape; and trends, such as replacing the front lawn with meadow grasses, installing a Koi pond, or building a private water park, come and go.  Permits and professionals If you’re planning to make some big or important changes, do you know where to start? Practical matters come first. If you envision any major structural or drainage modifications, check with your local governing authority about what permits may be required and whether certain types of work must be done by an engineer or other professional. You don’t want to pay a contractor big buc...

The restored pool at Bamboo Brook The sixteen clubs that make up District 4 of The Garden Club of New Jersey have collaborated on a period flower show scheduled for Friday, September 16th from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, and Saturday, September 17th  from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Floral design entries will be on display in the Stone Barn at Willowwood Arboretum; horticultural submissions can be seen in the Music Room next door at Bamboo Brook. Children’s and special entries are located in the Summer Playhouse at Bamboo Brook. The Show’s theme, “In the Spirit of the Garden” honors Martha Brooks Huthcinson, America’s first female landscape architect, who designed Bamboo Brook. Hutchinson was a founding (1914) member of the Somerset Hills Garden Club. For more details, click http://bit.ly/pbDmB3

Connect with Nature from inside the house as well as from outside of it! Every gardener fails at something It goes with the territory. Even the best of us have plants beset by insects, fungi, bacteria and other pests that are difficult to control and can wipe out an entire growing season’s work. Then there is the weather – early snows, late ice storms, drought, floods, etc., all take a toll. Gardeners learn that they have to be flexible and roll with the punches. That ability is also important when others, particularly loved ones, don’t share our opinion about the importance of gardening in the big picture of national or global upheaval. And if you can’t show perfect results in a hurry, some folks may be inclined to suggest that you aren’t very good at gardening. Are you intimidated by the gardens you see in books and magazines? Do you feel that, if your garden doesn’t measure up to some ideal, it isn’t worth having? Do you feel pressured to ...

Rustic cedar boundary fence repaired! Mid-August is already upon us, so it’s time to check how much progress has been made on integrating my inner gardener’s 2011 resolutions into our garden sanctuary. It’s a good way to stay on track with gardening hopes and dreams and make any necessary mid-season corrections.   First, the unfinished, or never-started, projects from 2010. The undergardener/woodworker had promised to get that fallen cherry tree out of my rhododendron patch on the east side of the house before it rotted into worm food – two years ago. Not only is the log gone, but it was also sawn up into boards that will be used in other projects. While the tree cutters were here, we had them fell a half-dozen dead trees that had come part way down during the course of several severe winter windstorms. I also had them do some high-limbing. Some trees were sawn into boards; the rest are only good for firewood.   Sometimes a project creates it...

Tour your garden just the way it is now. If you had never seen your garden before, what would you think? Do you like it? Not like it? If not, take the time to figure out why. Sometimes it’s as simple as the fact that you don’t like some of the plants, ornaments, or structures that are there. Perhaps they were put in by a former homeowner whose vision of the garden was very different from your own. If you’ve lived in the same place for a long time, it may be that the way your 60-year old self calls out to use the garden is very different from what you wanted when you were 30. No one has to live with a garden that doesn’t feel right. My garden is not likely to ever appear in a magazine, even though as a scout for a national publisher, I’ve had the chance to study hundreds of fabulous gardens and have interviewed scores of landscape designers. Why? Because I live in the middle of a woodland forest, which means that the garden’s primary summer color is green. It’s very soothing and t...

Once you’ve settled on a garden style, it’s time to break out the reference books and plant catalogs to create a list of what to buy and how much it all will cost. That's your wish list. Next, add up the cost of everything on your wish list. Even if you can afford everything on the list, think about how much time and effort it will take to install it all. Can you get it done in one growing season? If the cost is too far beyond your budget, or the work can’t all be done in one season, consider breaking your plan into more manageable phases. Don’t buy anything that’s not on your list, or before you know it, your garden will look nothing like your original vision. Stay focused and follow your plan; it’s the map to the garden of your dreams. Balancing the budget Creating a balanced gardening budget means weighing the financial cost of proceeding, against the psychic cost of denying yourself a meaningful pursuit. It doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition, of course. If ...