My Northern Garden

The Deck Garden Today

My sister sent me an updated photo of her deck garden. As you can see, even in this small space, they have herbs galore (parsley, three basil plants, and rosemary), and a couple of very nice looking tomatoes. The family has already had pesto a few times this summer. With the heat we’ve had the last couple of days, the…
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How to Build a Vegetable Garden Box for Your Deck

How to

My sister and her husband have a large, sunny backyard, but they prefer to leave that space open for pickup football games and other neighborhood fun. (They have four children of their own and lots of little visitors.) So, when they decided they wanted to grow some vegetables, the solution was to build a deck-side garden box. My brother-in-law, John,…
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Getting on the Baptisia Bandwagon

Plants

False indigo is a perennial heading up the popularity charts — and having planted several tufts of it in my re-designed front-yard bed, I can see why. Baptisia australis is a North American native (as far north as Iowa) that the Cherokee tribes used for dye and to cure tooth-aches. Its use as a dye is understandable when you see…
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Best Perennials for Northern Gardeners

Plants

Today I dropped in on the Perennial Festival at a local nursery. MSHS is participating in the event which includes several seminars each day, including one by horticulture editor, garden writer, and Bailey Nurseries production guru, Debbie Lonnee, on some of the best perennials for northern gardeners. Debbie knows all about the new plants available and pulled out her 15…
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Dealing with Eastern Tent Caterpillars

How to

Nearly every spring, I have to remove a nest or two of Eastern Tent Caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) from the apple trees in our yard. This year appears to be a good year for the caterpillars as I’ve pulled four nests out so far. Eastern tent caterpillars build their silky, web-like nests in the crotches of cherry and apple trees. The…
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