with Kim Eierman
Content Archive
The hot and humid days of summer are certainly not ideal for planting, but you can plant in summer with some special care and vigilance.
Maybe you just found a fantastic plant you have been looking for, or, perhaps you didn’t get around to planting some native perennials or shrubs you bought in the spring. Keeping plants in containers over the summer requires constant watering, so it may be worth planting now, or…?
Best Times for Planting
The best practice is to plant when the days are warm and the nights are cool….
Join Kim Eierman for this EcoBeneficial interview with Jessica Schuler, Director of the Thain Family Forest at the New York Botanical Garden, as they discuss how this acclaimed botanical garden improves and sustains the ecology of a first-growth urban forest. Schuler shares ecological lessons and insights that can be applied to any landscape….
While searching for native plants for clients this spring, I have once again encountered the annoying challenge of trying to find male pollinators for female plants when plants are dioecious (male and female plants). Conventional nurseries and native nurseries alike often fail to deliver the goods. It’s a serious problem for those of us who want to plant for wildlife, especially when we want to provide fruit for birds and other creatures. Read this article and ask your native nursery to meet the Mr….
Question:
I have a couple beds of Ninebarks and Viburnums and they’ve been there about two or three years. So I’m thinking it’s time to create a living mulch around them. Can you recommend a few plants for ground cover that have ecological benefits, and will fill in around these shrubs? I live in south central Illinois.
Answer:
You are a step ahead of many gardeners by contemplating living mulch ground covers instead of an endless expanse of shredded bark or wood chips. …
Few nurseries take the time and trouble to grow native trees and shrubs from wild, locally collected seed. But, it’s the best way to produce genetically diverse, locally adapted plants. Join Kim Eierman in this EcoBeneficial interview as talks with Lisa Turoczi of Earth Tones Native Nursery, about propagating native shrubs from seed….
If you’re a beekeeper, an aspiring beekeeper, or just want to help honey bees, you’ll get some helpful tips in this EcoBeneficial interview. Kim Eierman talks with Kim Flottum, Editor of Bee Culture Magazine, and author of several great books on beekeeping, including The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden.
Subscribe on iTunes…
A published letter to the The Bedford Pound Ridge Record-Review about the ecological benefits of leaving leaves in place.
Question:
What are some native, deer-resistant flowering perennials for wet meadows in the Northeast?
Answer:
As you likely know, no plant is deer bomb-proof. In the absence of adequate forage, deer will browse just about anything. Young fawns and does may nibble on plants that make them sick, as they have not yet figured out the menu.
Here are some typically deer-resistant, native flowering perennials suitable for wet meadows or landscapes with moist to wet soils. Make sure that your deer get this list!…
Have you ever been to a garden center or nursery looking for a native plant, only to be told they don’t carry it. Then you search another nursery, another garden center, and another, and another – in an endless, futile search for a plant that is supposed to be indigenous to your area! If you are shopping for natives, you have likely had this experience.
On the other end of the spectrum, you may have seen non-native invasive plants proudly displayed at the local nursery –…