Takoma Gardener

Please Welcome (and contribute to) Sustainable-Gardening.com

Hey, readers, I'm taking my site about sustainable gardening live and you're practically the first to know!  Take a look at Sustainable-Gardening.com and send me your ideas, feedback, corrections (even typographical - especially typographical) using comments here or by email.  Here on About this Site I to explain the method to my madness.

YOU'RE INCLUDED

• If you're not already listed on my Sites and Blogs page, send me your URL and tell me where you're located (and even a little bit about you).  And naturally I'd appreciate your links back to the site so that Google will start to catch on and readers will find it.  (Are links becoming the currency of our era?  Hmm.)
• I'm looking for relevant blog posts on each subject to expand the conversation (there's that Hillary word again).  I could take the time to surf all your blogs, but it's not gonna happen, so please send them along.  If you've written about the topics I cover or any of the plants I'm writing about, I want to know.  Here's an example of what I'd like to see - only using more great links from you guys. (No surprise, it's the page about lawns.) Let's show off the great gardenwriting going on in the blogosphere.
• Send your favorite links and books, too.

NEWSLETTER, BLOG, COMBINATION THEREOF?
Tell me what you think.  As a reader of a gardening site would you (or would beginning gardeners) sign up for a monthly newsletter by the webmaster?  All the experts are insisting that sites have newsletters but on the other hand, I could bring this blog into the site and people can subscribe to its feed.  I'd love your ideas.

SUSAN'S PROMOTING WEED&FEED!
Yes, that's my darkest fear.  I'll try to monitor those Google ads but let me know if one gets by me.

Garden Bloggers to Watch? I'm Watching

Stuart Robinson, the outstanding Australian gardenblogger, has named "14 Garden Bloggers to Watch," based on their entrepreneurship and innovations.  "These are the true movers in our category and I can't wait to see what they come up with next,"  he says.

Well, I like to keep up with what on-line gardenwriters are up to, too, and I do it by reading Stuart's Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas coz I know he's keeping up.  So thanks, Stuart, for drawing attention to some cool stuff that some cool people are up to.  Here's what I learned from the list:

• Now I finally know where those "Green Thumb Sunday" buttons all over the blogosphere came from.  I still don't know what it is, though, and I especially don't understand the pay-per-post feature that Stuart complains of.  I read the link; I still don't get it.  Use third-grade language, please.
• I'll pass Katrina's Little Gardeners on to my friends who teach gardening to kids, and check out Mr. Brown Thumb for myself - they're both new to me.
• Toronto's Beth Lawrence has a great-looking site and she does podcasts.  Hmm, maybe I can interest her in doing a little gardening video.
• To Marc at Veggie Garden Info and Kenny at Veggie Gardening Tips I have one question:  Where the hell are you?  This has to be my pet peeve about blogs, especially gardening blogs.  It matters where you are.  Why hide such an important bit of information?
• Here's another puzzler:  How can Doug Welch have low traffic and still have 1,500 subscribers to his feed?  Don't they count as traffic?  Okay, I'm ignorant on this point, so enlighten me.
• I'm already a fan of Angela, Hanna, Carol, Kathy and Colleen and echo their inclusion on this list.
• And I won't pretend I wasn't tickled to be listed myself and all I have to say is Stuart, you're number one with me, too.  How can I forget your scooping me on the big GardenRant buy-out?  (The cleverest April Fool joke I've seen in decades.)

THE AUSSIE'S GOT ME MUSING

• Man, bloggers are SO on top of trends.  While publishers are begging their writers to start blogs and create platforms for themselves, bloggers are THERE, especially the bunch highlighted in this list.  They've got platform to spare, and I'm taking notes.

• Stuart's list is just the latest example of the amazing generosity shown by gardenbloggers to their peers.  Print garden writers tell me it's the same with them, so maybe it's something about gardening itself.  And if someday a researcher proves that playing with plants and dirt makes people nicer, I won't be surprised at all.

$$$, ANYONE?
Just mentioning Stuart's hilarious reference to a $1.3 million buy-out of GardenRant reminds me of a good idea I once had - to turn garden writing and coaching into a second career, however modest.  And in the year since my employer went out of business and I wrote that piece, nothing has turned out the way I thought it would, but opportunities keep popping up and I keep having fun.  Only thing is, maybe I'm having too much fun.

So for the record, this blogger is for hire as a writer or editor in any medium.  And as much as I'm enjoying the little media whirlwind around me this summer, maybe it's time I take a page from Jerry Maguire's football-playing client and start asking people to "Show me the money."

More Blogs than I Know What to Do With

It's been just over a year since I joined with Amy Stewart and Michele Owens to launch GardenRant, a venture I've called the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.  Elizabeth Licata joined us in January and it's  definitely been a case of the more the merrier.  We try to cover the larger issues involved in gardening, like global warming and pesticide use, plus the gardening media and anything fun that remotely relates to the topic.  And I do mean remotely, though in our own way we do stay on topic.

So how does a team blog relate to the individual blogs of the team members?  Good question, one we're all wondering about.  What to post where, when to cross-post - oy, the questions!

So here's how it's shaken out.  The posts with the broadest appeal I've published on the Rant, all basically on topic, and here at Takoma Gardener I've commented on my favorite plants from time to time, reported on my gardening projects, and gone off-topic at will, especially during the dead of winter.  So, I end up putting my best stuff on the Rant and poor 'ole Takoma Gardener gets whatever pops into my mind once or twice a week.  (Bad blogger!!)  And how are my friends and family supposed to follow my writing when so much of it is mixed in with three other Ranters and lots of guests?  Coz you know how it is with non-blog-readers - ya gotta make it easy for them or it just won't happen.

Finally, my point.  I've created a new feature in the right sidebar - "My GardenRant Articles." There you'll find links and brief descriptions of almost all of my articles on the Rant, plus links to articles by guest writers I've solicited and sometimes edited.  Sometimes heavily edited, between you and me, though thankfully sometimes not at all.

Anyhoo, for my personal support team, there it is - no more searching!  And for editors looking for an urban or ecogardening columnist or editor, take a look.

Now you'd think that having a personal blog and working on a team blog would be enough, but you'd be thinking wrong.  A year ago I started a blog for the DC Master Gardeners that's now morphed into DC Urban Gardener News, and I'm happy to report that it's now a team blog, too!  Seriously, yaaaay!  Not only does DC Urban Gardener president (and former Washington Post writer) Ed Bruske contribute frequently, but  we even have guests, lots of them, and the blog may be on its way to serving a real community service - the voice of green activism.  And just as importantly, it's waaay more fun as a team project.

And then there's Wild Wild Takoma, the "official blog" of Takoma Park's community wildlife habitat drive, and the news there isn't so bright - not another soul has contributed to it.  The drive to become certified as wildlife habitat community is a joint project of all sorts of groups, but apparently there's not a blogger in the bunch.  Well, the blog still earns us points toward certification, and because we're using the free services of Blogger, what the hell.  And as soon as the National Wildlife Federation awards us community certification - the first in the state, mind you - that blog is history.

That's it for blogs; now what about my websites? Well, there's DC Urban Gardeners, The Gardening Coach, and a new gardening information site I'm launching, finally, this month.  No link yet, but soon - maybe next week.  (Do they always take longer than we think they will?)

Photos:  Top, one of the best front-yard gardens in my neighborhood.  Bottom, proof that gardeners love July 4th parades is this gathering of gardening buddies at Takoma's parade this morning.  (And I must say, a fabulous one, with steel bands, lots of kids, our share of politicians, even political theater.  Gotta love it.)  On the left is Judy Tiger, premier gardening organizer in Washington, D.C.  In the center are Ed Bruske and his daughter Leila, whose idea it was to find a parade to watch.  Smart girl.  On the right is Kathy Jentz, editor/publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine.  Across the street from us was Mike Welsh, Takoma Park's City Gardener and a Maryland Master Gardener.

Finally, my 2-minute TV appearance

Retirement Living TV, hip to the YouTube world, is uploading its shows to their website.  So, as promised, here's their segment on "elderblogging," featuring Ronni Bennett, some other totally charming bloggers, and yours truly.

Environmental Leader - Moi?

I discovered via email this morning via email that I've been nominated for the Environmental Leader Award in Takoma Park, my hometown of choice - Yikes!  All because I write a modest little blog called Wild Wild Takoma, the official blog of our Community Wildlife Habitat project, and all too infrequently, at that.  Maybe they're including my columns in the local paper about butterfly gardening and organic lawn care and whatnot.  Or the serious schmoozing I do at all the local enviro-events.

The competition's pretty tough and I'm not holding my breath for the top honor but hey, I like the company I'm keeping and I promise to earn the nod by updating the blog TODAY.

Boomer Birthday Thoughts from a Gardener of a Certain Age

That's the euphemism, right -- woman of a certain age?  Okay, fine.  People in their late 50s, like the Takoma Gardener, will take any euphemism they can get.   

But the Boomer tag I really like.  It conjures up hippies and idealists and people who thought they could change the world.  Shit, people who really did change the world, though in less sweeping ways than we imagined in our most grandiose moments.  I know my friend Ronni at Time Goes By hates the term "Boomer," but isn't that because she missed it?  I'd hate it, too if, like my older sister, I'd been born a few years too early.

Ronni believes that Boomers are getting too much attention, and that's absolutely true.  Just this week, PBS is running a show about the Boomers that's TOTALLY INANE in its cheery generalizations.  So Ronni, I sympathize, but I'll always cherish my memories of the late '60s and early '70s, memories of being part of a group of kids who were passionate, who felt a bond with one another in our rejection of the repressive mentality of the '50s.  Funny thing, though.  While for us the term conjures up coolness of decades gone by, in the population at large it's become synonymous with OLD.  Good lord.

And where are my compatriots today?  Well, our lives aren't as radical as we thought they'd be, but dammit, they're not like our parents lives, so we've accomplished something.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
Yes, today's my birthday and it's a mighty fine one.  Early spring, 70°, and sunny.  Cherry blossoms blooming, not to mention sweeps of cheerful daffodils and other early bulbs.  And it's a day of total leisure for me, except for a thoroughly enjoyable initial visit with a new client whose garden will be transformed, I tell you, and all for the better!  Garden Coaching is such fun - if only it paid the utilities.

So here's some Birthday News from this Boomer Gardener.   I've worked my butt off for enough years that I can pretty much coast nowadays and just enjoy having a beautiful garden.  The tulips I planted last fall will do their thing.  The mulch I've ordered will arrive, laborers will be hired to put it where it belongs.  A little grass seed will be broadcast about and watered.  And that's it.  It's payback time.

BOOMER BLOGGING
I'm luckier than many people my age, and the only downside I'm experiencing has nothing to do with gardening and everything to do with sitting at this damn computer and typing.  You see, the hands are shot.  Once they've diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome (a return engagement after surgery a few years ago) AND arthritis, it's time to start thinking about accommodation.   So this very post is being brought to you via voice recognition software - Dragon Naturally Speaking.  I sure can't say I love it because it's frustrating as hell and there is no fricking customer support AT ALL, but it works for quadraplegics and it works for me, so God love it.  Yeah, I'm adopting an attitude of gratitude because really, what's the alternative?  After all, I have friends who, like Elizabeth Edwards, are fighting for their lives and I just feel lucky to be healthy, bum hands or not.

Prunettes - the Wonder Women of Gardening

"Prunettes" are what I would have named this team of DC-area lady pruners, who actually go by the name Yankee Clippers.  Yankees in D.C.?  Well, I guess that's because president Elizabeth Doyle started the company in New York way back in 1994.  Here's Elizabeth with one of her crew hard at work in an extremely overgrown garden.  (Growth happens!)  After leaving the business world, she taught herself the art of pruning and decided to create a female-friendly company, with work hours ending at 2 every afternoon so moms could be home for their kids after school.  Now she employs about 35 women, who work on their own loosey-goosey schedules as needed, but descend en masse in groups of 6-10 to transform the shrubs and small trees of the many Yankee Clipper clients.

Wanna be a Yankee Clipper?  Well, you don't even have to be a gardener.  In fact, the less you know, the better, because Elizabeth has her own style and likes to train with a clean slate. 

And what IS the Yankee Clipper style?  Leave the garden looking good, with even the cuts cleverly hidden.  (There's a technique for this; who knew?)  This is art, not plant butchery.  And prune for health.  That means NO SHEARING.  Learn how each plant grows so you can work with it, not against it. 

For more information I consulted the hand-out given by Mary Ellen Fernandez, pictured here practically hidden by the killer rose she's tackling, at a recent garden club talk.  And student of pruning that I am, I read it carefully and hyper-critically and to my amazement, agree with everything except the advice to prune spireas like forsythias - at the base.  Readers may remember this is my favorite shrub for sun and I have oodles of them, none of which have ever been hacked back so brutally, a treatment I'd bet my Felcos would kill the poor things.  But these ladies have probably pruned even more of them than I have so - drumroll - maybe I'm mistaken!  See how open-minded I can be?  As a last resort, of course.

And something else I learned from Mary Ellen is that even arthritic hands like her own can prune five hours a day if the pruning tool is a ratchet-type.  No Felcos!  I know; another shocker.  She swears by her Florian Ratchet-cut Pruner and on her recommendation I'll even provide the link.

But here's what I don't get.   How can these ladies, with no Olympic pentathletes or spring chickens in the bunch, do this really hard work for FIVE STRAIGHT HOURS?  Good Lord, I'd seriously considered applying for employment myself, thinking I know my pruning and I'm a hard worker, too.  But honestly, my version of hard physical labor begins when the sun comes up and ends about an hour later, especially in our summers.  Anyway, I'd have to unlearn everything I know, or think I know.

So I won't be joining these fine ladies in their mission to save and beautify the shrubs of the D.C. area after all.  Taking photos and chatting with the homeowner?  No problem, even in the heat.

The Yankee Clippers can be reached by email.

Welcome, Garden Centers

If you've found your way here via my guest article on Open Register, the blog of America's garden center association, welcome to the home of a loyal customer.   Do I suggest to readers or clients that they shop at Home Depot?  Not on your life.  In fact, I haul them to independent nurseries and show them the ropes.  Do I promote the excellent free talks and workshops offered by the Behnkes Nurseries?  Often enough to be boring, I'm afraid.  And I consult horticulturist Mitch Baker at another outstanding Maryland nursery, American Plant Food, for so many of my articles I may be wearing out my welcome with him (hope not - he's a star in my book).

So consider me a member of the family and take my suggested improvements in the friendly spirit in which they're offered.  Now if you're reading this, you clearly have a computer and surf the Web, so how about using it to more effectively reach your current and potential customers?

Moving on Up with Washington Home&Garden

I met the coolest woman recently - smart, honest, warm and real.  All that on first impression.  When she casually mentioned her job editing a local magazine I naturally (and innocently) asked "Which one?" and then had to suppress my squeals when she said "Washington Home and Garden".  Well then, need a garden writer?

Readers, long story short, I have an assignment for their August issue!  Wish I could tell you the subject but in the long-lead-time world of magazines and books, everything is kept under wraps (I'm learning).  But it's safe to say it will be outside of the world of plant swaps, folksy garden clubs and park clean-ups that are my usual haunts.  Oh, yeah.  Now it's luxury gardens of Greater Washington, D.C., here I come.

So friends, readers, lend me your ideas.  What would YOU write about for a decidedly upscale suburban readership, besides garden and plant profiles?    And does anybody know of a similar metro-area home&garden magazine that does a particularly good job?

Gravel+Slate = OUCH!

The latest Fine Gardening Magazine arrived and I jumped on it, as always. The story about paths and pavers grabbed my attention because I've been looking for good-looking, low-cost materials to recommend.  First, I finally learned what "Crab Orchard" is - the landscapers on HGTV swear by it - it's a type of sandstone, cheaper and easier to cut than, say, granite.  And I appreciate the good cost information about choices in paving materials, which range from 25 cents a square foot for gravel to $20 for that super-hard granite.  Composites like concrete and aggregate can be super-cheaper, too - as little as $1/sf.  As a fan of concrete pavers myself, I'll second the notion that they're worth a try and homemade, they cost about 50 cents each.  That's not counting the cost of the really cool things you can put in them - like marbles and tiles and real leaf impressions.  Hey, I think I'll throw a paver-making party as soon as it's warm enough to make a mess outdoors.  Wanna come?

Now I don't want to forget to tell you my gravel+slate story - the OUCH.  See how nice they look together in the cover story above?  Fine, just don't try walking barefoot on that combo because little rocks find their way on top of the hard, hard slate and DO NOT SINK IN when stepped on, and hurt like hell.  Seriously - don't try it at home.  I've seen this dangerous combination recommended a zillion times and it makes me wonder:  Am I the only barefoot gardener left??  Maybe it's just us Southerners, but I've gotta have that full garden experience of feet-on-grass and feet-on-dirt. Gardeners, am I alone?

Moving on, these are my other faves in the February issue:

• How to prune Japanese maples.  If you're a pruning geek like me, you'll love this article, with good illustrations and this quote: "The wise gardener learns to appreciate plants for their own attributes and remembers that a good pruner can only reveal beauty, not create it."  Damn right.

• A new pruning saw I absolutely MUST HAVE because it's so sharp it cuts "like a hot knife through butter".  The Product Review Department features the Silky Pocketboy 130, reportedly well worth the $26 it costs.  It's available here.

• A really cool article+photo spread about using straight lines and perfect geometric shapes in  lush, modern ways - very Pacific Northwest and gorgeous.

• Stephanie Cohen has gotta be the cutest garden writer on the planet - it's that smile, so big it makes her eyes disappear.  And it's not for nothing that she's called the High Priestess of Perennials, judging by the quality of her perennial update in this issue of FG.