Gardening With Tony

UNITED STATES—Landscape design and gardening trends change like every other sort of fashion. Several fads of the past were quite practical and justifiable. Many were not. Whether justifiable or not, many merely became old fashioned. Some evolved into a more contemporary style. Others were not so adaptable. Planning for a landscape is easier than planning for fads. For example, plants...

UNITED STATES—There is no doubt about it. Weeds are sustainable. Otherwise, they would not be weeds. By definition, they grow where they are undesirable. Less sustainable vegetation should be less invasive. Also, it should be less resistant to eradication than most familiar weeds are. Unfortunately, also by definition, weeds are undesirable. They cannot become fads. Sustainable horticulture is a fad...

UNITED STATES—Seed is the most familiar source of much of the vegetation that inhabits home gardens. It is the origin of almost all vegetables and most annual flowers. Some seed grows directly into its gardens. Some grows in nurseries to become saleable young plants. Seed is not the only method of propagation though. Cuttings, division and layering are as...

UNITED STATES—Trees are generally the most significant living components within a home garden. Even treeless gardens benefit from nearby trees. Some old redwoods contain more wood than the homes that they shade. Some old oaks inhabited their gardens centuries before their gardens did. With few exceptions, nothing in a garden is as big or permanent as a tree. Japanese maples,...

UNITED STATES—All cacti are succulents. However, not all succulents are cacti. Actually, cacti are a very unique family. Their distinctive spines and thorns are very specialized leaves and stems. Such specialized leaves cannot photosynthesize without green chlorophyll. Therefore, cacti rely on their succulent green trunks for photosynthesis. Their trunks work as foliage. But of course, not all succulents are cacti....

UNITED STATES—Ferns are foliar perennials. They provide neither floral color nor fragrance. They provide neither fruits nor vegetables. With few exceptions, they provide no shade. The very few that are deciduous are not impressively colorful for autumn here. Ferns cannot grow as hedges. Nor can they become lawns. They exclusively provide distinctive fern foliage. They do so splendidly! Most produce...

UNITED STATES—The weather this year has been a cold hot mess! Both the worst frost since 1990 and the worst storms since 1982 occurred in one winter. Then, cold wintry weather lingered into spring to inhibit spring bloom. Now, cool and mild weather of spring lingers into summer to inhibit summer growth. This particular climate is innately mild, but...

UNITED STATES—There are rules to hedging. Many hedges violate some of such rules. Formal hedges are the most egregious offenders. Their uniformity, symmetry and form require compliance to relatively strict standards. Relatively relaxed standards of informal hedges or screen are standards nonetheless. Almost every hedge eventually needs maintenance of some sort. The primary difference between formal and informal hedges is...

UNITED STATES—Few trees that inhabit home gardens begin their residency as nature intended them to. Most are exotic, from other ecosystems, regions and climates. Almost all initially grew in nurseries, with their roots confined to cans of soilless media. Most rely on pruning and binding to develop straight and tall trunks. In the garden, most rely on stakes for...

UNITED STATES—Superbloom is brief for two main reasons. It involves native species that know to bloom quickly before arid weather of summer. Also, wildflowers in the wild receive no irrigation to sustain bloom through arid weather. With irrigation, some of such species are capable of prolonging bloom. A few can disperse seed for subsequent generations to bloom later. That is...