with Kim Eierman
Content Archive
Join Kim Eierman for this EcoBeneficial interview with Benjamin Vogt, ecological landscape designer and author of A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future.
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Garden Groove, Interview with Kim Eierman of EcoBeneficial April 10, 2019
As spring begins in earnest, pause for a moment before rushing off to the nursery or garden center to shop for plants. First, consider how the steps you take and the choices you make can increase the health of your landscape and the environment around you. Here are some tips to get you started:
1) Do a soil test before you buy a single plant. You cannot know what plants to choose unless you know the basic information about your soil. …
During a recent trip to the annual Great Smoky Mountain Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, I was overwhelmed by the incredible biodiversity of native plants and animals, interwoven in their natural habitat in the Smoky Mountains, making up one of the healthiest and most beautiful ecosystems I have ever encountered.
Instead of the endless Japanese Barberry thickets I notice at home in spring, one of the earliest plants to green up in our Northeastern woods, I was treated to vast expanses of Rhododendron calendulaceum (Flame Azalea). …
Join Kim Eierman for this EcoBeneficial interview with gardening legend, Marjorie Harris – ecological landscape designer, plant consultant and author of 15 books on gardening. An organic gardener since the 1960s, Marjorie is based in Toronto. She authored one of the first books advocating the use of ecological gardening principles, Ecological Gardening.
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A successful Pollinator Victory Garden attracts an abundance of pollinators, as well as a variety of different pollinator species. Pick up some tips on plant diversity to boost your pollinator garden in this short EcoBeneficial video….
The new year brings more challenges than ever to our environment. Fires, floods, development of pristine natural areas, species loss, pollinator decline – on and on it goes. Sometimes it can feel a bit paralyzing as we ask ourselves – “what can we do, how can we really make a difference?”
The answer is this – we can do a lot in our managed landscapes to improve the environment around us. It’s not mysterious and it’s not even that difficult – we simply have to landscape a little bit differently,…
Ever wonder why those terrific native viburnums you planted are not producing fruit? You are not alone. It’s one of the frustrations of gardening ecologically in a world where “cross pollination” is rarely mentioned at local nurseries or garden centers (and forget about the big box stores!). Some plants, although deemed self-fruitful, may need a “pollinator partner” to bear fruit reliably.
Most native viburnums are actually pretty self-incompatible and typically require cross-pollination for good fruit production. Two genetically different plants of the same species should be planted in reasonably close proximity. …
Shopping for shrubs can be a dull experience when so many garden centers, nurseries and big box stores sell the same lackluster choices. Does the world need another forsythia, another boxwood, another sterile hydrangea? Go beyond the ecologically-mediocre and seek out great native shrubs that contribute big ecological impact to your landscape.
Here are a few worthy choices for your consideration:
Corylus americana (American Hazelnut)
American Hazelnut is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub typically found in open woods and woodland edges….