Author Archive for Henry Homeyer
Henry Homeyer is a lifetime organic gardener living in Cornish Flat, N.H. He is the author of four gardening books including The Vermont Gardener's Companion. You may reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or by snail mail at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, N.H. 03746. Please include a SASE if you wish an answer to a question by mail.
Henry Homeyer: Putting away veggies for winter
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Like any industrious squirrel, I am getting food stored and ready for winter. Even if your vegetable garden is depleted, you can buy things in bulk from your local farm stand now to save for winter. Each type of veggie has its own requirements. Some like a cool […]
Henry Homeyer: the unfortunate gardener gets the worm
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC After decades of improving my garden soil, I have an infestation of Asian jumping worms. They can eat all the organic material in the soil, depleting it terribly. These foreign invaders multiply more quickly than our common worms, outcompeting them. Everything I have read about them says they […]
Henry Homeyer: Flowers fit for garden royalty
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Monarchs are on the move! It is time for their long trip to Mexico to spend the winter. And like marathon runners, they need to bulk up on calories before the event. You may have let a patch of milkweed grow on the edges of your property to […]
Henry Homeyer: The art of hedges and fences
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC While vacationing recently on the Maine coast I admired many nice gardens. Many of them had hedges or fences, more than I am used to seeing in rural New Hampshire. When settlers first arrived in New England they dug out stones left by the glaciers some 10,000 years […]
Henry Homeyer: DIY compost to build better soils
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Most gardeners do some composting. Some folks compost anything that once was part of a living plant, often mixing it with barnyard waste; they turn and aerate their piles and make terrific compost in record time. Others are lazy composters who just throw kitchen scraps or weeds in […]
Henry Homeyer: Do you deserve a medal?
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As I walked around the garden recently with my wife, Cindy Heath, she turned to me and said, “Anybody whose gardens looks great at this time of year deserves a medal.” I allowed that we did not deserve a medal. Wanna get the medal? Here are some tips […]
Henry Homeyer: Starting wildflowers from seed
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I recently visited the Nasami Farm in Whately, Mass. This is the plant production facility for the Native Plants Trust, formerly the New England Wildflower Society. I met with Alexis Doshas, their nursery manager. The 75–acre farm produces perennials, grasses and some woody plants – mainly from seed. […]
Henry Homeyer: Plan your visit to Bedrock Gardens in Lee, N.H.
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I recently visited Bedrock Garden in Lee, N.H., and came away feeling refreshed and enlightened. This 37-acre public garden was created on the premises of a 1700s farm that was purchased in 1980 by artist and garden designer Jill Nooney and her husband Bob Munger. Jill Nooney is […]
Henry Homeyer: Becoming a true plant collector
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I have always been a gardener – or at least for as far back as I can remember. More recently, say the last 20 years or so, I’ve been a plant collector. If I fall in love with a plant, I want to grow other plants related to […]
Henry Homeyer: The power of self-watering containers
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Recently I was at my local food coop and chatted with a friend about her gardens. She told me that she is having fabulous luck growing tomatoes, peppers and more in a bucket system she constructed. Her inspiration was a book by Vermont’s Ed Smith who has written […]
Henry Homeyer: Defending against invasives
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Since ancient times, explorers have brought back seeds and plants from exotic lands. Some, like the apple, have been a boon to the citizens of their adoptive home. Others, like the notorious Japanese knotweed (a.k.a. “bamboo”) have been more headache than boon. New England, with its cold climate, […]
Henry Homeyer: Vines, meet the trellis
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC The story of Jack and his bean stalk fame really appealed to me as a boy, and still does. I love climbing vines and grow many including those that are perennial or annual flowers, and some vegetables. Vines are a great way to save space and to get […]
Henry Homeyer: Keeping weeds at bay with mulch
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Mulch is commonly used to help suppress weeds and to hold in soil moisture in dry times. There are many different kinds of mulch and it is important to get the right kind, and to apply it properly if you wish to get the benefits of mulch. The […]
Henry Homeyer: A mid-summer night’s bloom
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Mid-summer is often a quiet time for flowers – many gardens have fewer dramatic blossoms than in the spring. I have made an effort to have plenty blooming now. It’s true that my Japanese primroses, peonies and Siberian iris have gone by. But I have many others, both […]
Henry Homeyer: It’s time to prune your trees and shrubs
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC By now your rhododendrons, lilacs and other spring bloomers have bloomed, and are ready to prune. By pruning now, you will not damage buds that will form later this summer and bloom next spring. This is also a good time to prune evergreens like pines and hemlocks if […]
Henry Homeyer: Here’s what you can do with a dead tree
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I kill plants (just like you probably do). Houseplants, annuals, flowers in the ground, and yes, even trees. Although some oaks live 400 years, most plants naturally have a much shorter life span. And although some […]
Henry Homeyer: Summer chores in your veggie garden
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC As the song goes, it’s “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy!” Well, not really. Yes, I’ve planted my 53 tomato plants, 200 onions and more, but there is still plenty to do. Let’s look at a few chores you might want to do this weekend. Your tomatoes need […]
Henry Homeyer: Answering your questions on peonies
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you don’t have a peony, I’m surprised. If you don’t have three, you should. They are blooming now, and this is a great time to buy them. Go to your local garden center or family-run plant nursery and buy some more, no matter how many you have. […]
Henry Homeyer: crafting your ‘no work’ garden
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I saw a friend recently who was bubbly and excited about her garden. “It’s full of color and stays that way all summer,” she exclaimed. “It is NO work! All I have to do is water it daily, and give it a little fertilizer every few weeks.” She […]
Henry Homeyer: The Art of Weeding
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC When you face a flower bed and can’t immediately tell what’s a weed and what’s a flower, you have a situation my wife, Cindy Heath, calls Code Red. It happens to the best of us at times, myself included. So what does a gardener do? My wife likes […]
