Native plants and wildlife expert to speak in York on Tuesday, June 19

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

Douglas Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildife ecology at the University of Delaware, will be in York on Tuesday, June 19, to talk about “Bringing Nature Home.”

Presented by the York Audubon Society, Penn State Extension Master Gardeners, and the Garden Club of York, the program will be presented at St. Matthew Evangelical  Lutheran Church, 839 W. Market St.  There is a social hour beginning at 6 p.m. followed by Dr. Tallamy’s presentation at 7 p.m.

Tickets, at $5 each, are available by mailing checks made payable to: PSCE Program Fund and mailing to:  An Evening with Doug Tallamy, 112 Pleasant Acres Road, York, PA 17402.  Additional information is available at (717) 428-1320 or at priswald@comcast.net

Dr. Tallamy is the author of “Bringing Nature Home — How We Can Sustain Wildife with Native Plants.”

 

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Lower the lawn … or raise the mower?

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

Fertilizer, rain, and warm weather create a problem:  the grass grows faster that you can cut it.

That’s what happened to me.

Four days of rain after a healthy feeding sent my lawn into overdrive.  I had cut it the Friday before the wet weather moved in and then did Continue reading →

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City Garden Tour on Saturday, June 9

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

If you enjoy gardens, you’ll want to take part in the 2012 York City Garden Tour on Saturday, June 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A partnership of York City Recreation and Parks and the Garden Club of York, the tour focuses on 13 gardens in the city’s Springdale and Continue reading →

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Native plant sale is Saturday, May 19

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

This is a friendly reminder of the Native Plant Fest & Sale on Saturday, May 19, at the York County Annex on Pleasant Acres Road.

I’ve mentioned it before, but if you have not been to the event, put it on your calendar.  It is an opportunity to learn about and purchase plants indigenous to this area.

Not only do they look natural in your home setting, they take very Continue reading →

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Trip to the nursery is always more expensive than expected

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

Trying to avoid the weekend and pre-Mother’s Day crowd at the nursery, we arrived on a Wednesday afternoon.

First off, most people have their favorite nursery.  For whatever reason, they tend to go back to the same place year after year.  I know we do because of the friendly folks who run the place and their in-depth knowledge of the flowers.

Secondly, I know we’re probably tempting fate, but we’re actually Continue reading →

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Hively digs in at ForSight Vision

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

Hively Landscapes staffers work on cleaning up the Garden of the Senses area at ForSight Vision.

Hively Landscapes of Dover devoted a full day of community service on Friday, April 20, to improving the landscaping around ForSight Vision (formerly the York County Blind Center) at 1380 Spahn Ave., Spring Garden Township.

(A disclaimer here:  ForSight Vision is a media relations client of my company, The Newton Group.)

Hively selected ForSight Vision for the all-volunteer work by its team of 25 employees.  The Hively employees spent the day pruning, weeding, removing shrubbery, and mulching the area around the building.  A particular focus was the overgrown Garden of the Senses.  After the work, the Garden of the Senses once again provides an outdoor experience for individuals with vision impairments to enjoy the sounds, smells, and textures of a garden.

Ted Ventre, president of Hively Landscaping, said the volunteer work was part of a Day of Service organized by the Professional Landscape Network (PLANET), the national lawn and landscape association.

 

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The Return of the native plants

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

The Whirling Butterflies native plant has returned this year.

Last year we bought several variety of plants at the Native Plant sale at Pleasant Acres.

I was surprised by the number of vendors offering indigenous plants to this area and the beauty of the plants.

My plan, against the advice of the vendors, was to put the native plants in pots. I just find it easier to take care of all our plants when they are in large containers.

I was told the plants would probably not survive the winter in the pots. But — again — thanks to the very mild winter we had, the native plants are bursting forth in the pots.

I was particularly fascinated by a plant named Gaura lindhelmerl (that’s what’s on the tag), also known as “Whirling Butterflies.”

The plant grows 18 to 24 inches tall and produces white flowers that look like miniature orchids on airy, slender stems.

Continue reading →

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Upcoming events for gardeners

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

There are two events coming up of particular interest to gardeners.

On Saturday, April 28, the Garden Club of York will hold a Garden Faire and Plant Sales from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the plaza at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

A great time to shop for perennials, annuals, herbs, and other garden-related items.

On Saturday, May 19, the Native Plant sale will be held at Pleasant Acres from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All the plants are indigenous to this area.

All the native plants we bought there last year have broken through the ground and are ready for this coming season.

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The Smurf tree is in bloom

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

The "Smurf tree" is beginning to bloom.

When we bought our home many years ago, there was a cute, little flowering tree on the landscape island created in the lawn area.

It looked somewhat like a large version of a bonsai plant (if that’s not an oxymoron).

Over the years, we have tried to keep the tree trimmed to a mushroom-shaped and small size. I use a clipper and a tree trimmer to do so.

The tree has grown a bit from the way it looked more than 30 years ago, but it will never be mistaken for a sequoia.

Early on, our then-young children called it a “Smurf tree,” because of its size and shape — and the popularity of the little, blue people from the television show.

The name has stuck. The children are now adults and living out of town, but my wife and I still call it the “Smurf tree.”

Every year it breaks forth in small white flowers for a short period of time. It has begun to do so this past week — thanks, again, to the unusually mild winter weather.

I get a kick out of the “Smurf tree” because of the way it looks — and the memory it evokes.

It’s a tree that makes me smile.

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Why do we obsess over edging our lawns?

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Gordon Freireich

What is the point of edging our lawns?

For those of us who live in suburbia and our homes have sidewalks, edging the grass so it doesn’t encroach on the concrete has become somewhat of an obsession.

What’s the point of a razor-sharp edge between lawn and sidewalk? It is a perpetual effort to hold back nature. Even on these television shows that delve into “Life After People,” the vegitation always wins out. So, why we’re still here, our job is to fight the inevitable?

My house is on a corner property. That means 100 feet of sidewalk one side and another 150 feet on the other. Edging becomes a multi-hour project. Not only do I have to use the gas-powered edger on both side of the walk, but along the curb as well.

Then there’s the sweeping up. That takes at least two hours. No, I don’t have or use a blower to blast the edging clippings back on to the lawn. What’s the point? They just get caught in the newly cut edge.

Would it be so bad if all of us got together and swore off edging? Who are we to fight nature?

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