All Entries in the "Henry Homeyer’s Notes from the Garden" Category
Henry Homeyer: October blooming trees, shrubs and flowers
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Summer has faded and gone. Autumn’s bright foliage does compensate, somewhat, for the dearth of flowers, but a few of my trees, shrubs, and several perennials bloom in October. I treasure them, let’s take a look. Starting in early September, but varying greatly from year to year, my […]
Henry Homeyer: the art of Japanese pruning
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC A few weeks ago I traveled to Shin Boku Nursery in Wentworth, NH to attend an all-day workshop on Japanese pruning techniques. Many of the techniques are useful to any gardener. The workshop was organized and taught by Doug Roth, the publisher of Sukiya Living magazine, a journal […]
Henry Homeyer: Prepping for the great indoors
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Most of us bring our houseplants outside for the summer. Now is the time to bring them in, or get them ready to make the move. It’s also the time to put herbs that you’ve had in the ground all summer into pots and get them ready for […]
Henry Homeyer: plant now, blossom later
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Now is the time to buy your bulbs for spring blossoms. Winters in New England are long, cold and snowy, so by March I’m ready for spring. Most years I have bulb flowers pushing their way up through mushy snow and fallen leaves in early March, delighting me […]
Henry Homeyer: bedtime for the garden
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Big yellow school buses are on the road again; or at least a few of them. Tree leaves in the swamps are turning red. Frost and cold weather are sneaking up on us. This year I resolve to get my garden put to bed early so that I […]
Henry Homeyer: winter is coming, time to start blanching
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Like a conscientious squirrel, I put away food for the winter in August and September. I freeze and dehydrate lots of vegetables, and store some in my cool basement. Here are some tips on ways to save food for later. I grew about a dozen kale plants this […]
Henry Homeyer: Daffy the corgi’s most fitting flowers
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Daphne mezereum was the registered name of my corgi, Daffy, who passed away on Aug. 25 of this year. Born in 2006, Daffy was my constant companion who was always ready for an adventure or, especially, a meal or snack. When her back legs gave out, she figured […]
Henry Homeyer: Beauty of a glorious hydrangea
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC When I was a boy, I always took note of cemeteries as we drove by. I’d lost a beloved grandfather, the original Henry Homeyer, and my mother’s mom. I was taken with a shrub or small tree in cemeteries that I called either “the snowball bush” or the […]
Henry Homeyer: Re-wilding your lawn
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Tired of mowing your lawn, but afraid to stop? What would it look like, and what would the neighbors say? I was on a panel discussing “re-wilding” the lawn on New Hampshire Public Radio recently. Here are a few of the points we discussed. First, a lawn is […]
Henry Homeyer: 3 plants to vehemently avoid
A note from Henry: In a recent article about tomatoes, I mentioned garlic and onions in my sauce, but it has been pointed out to me that sauce with those ingredients needs to be cooked in a pressure cooker at 240 degrees for 10 minutes to avoid botulism. By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC […]
Henry Homeyer: tomatoes, your garden’s royal family
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC If I could only bring the seeds of one plant with me when exiled to a distant island, I would bring tomato seeds. Tomatoes are the center of much of my cuisine from soups and stews to sandwiches and salads. They are tasty raw or cooked, are healthy […]
Henry Homeyer: Perennials that love moisture
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I am lucky. Even though my property is relatively small – just over 2 acres – I have all the possible growing conditions a plant could want: wet, dry, sunny and shady. And I’m willing to try almost anything that will survive 20 or 25 below in winter. […]
Henry Homeyer: beyond the perennials, unique ways to make your garden your own
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC My garden is the place I go in times of sadness, worry or stress. It makes me feel better. I took a few moments one morning recently to really look at what was in my garden to see what made it so special. I saw that in addition […]
Henry Homeyer: A Midsummer Night’s Flowers, Shakespeare’s lesser known work
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC It is mid-summer now, and my garden is full of gorgeous flowers, some finishing up their display, others just beginning. Here are some I love and what I do to make them happy. The first flowers I see when I walk out my front door are poppies. Annual […]
Henry Homeyer: your humor may be dry, but your garden shouldn’t be
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC June, for most of us, was a very dry time. When weeds and established perennials started to droop, I knew it was time to water, and I did. But watering done well takes time. And watering done poorly wastes a lot of water, or doesn’t do the job. […]
Henry Homeyer: Roses are red and… easier to grow than you think
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC I love roses, but avoided planting any for a long time. They had a reputation for being fussy. I thought they would attract Japanese beetles, and carry black spot and other diseases. In recent years I have been enjoying growing roses and find that modern breeders have come […]
Henry Homeyer: first steps in designing your garden
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Let’s say you have just purchased a house and want to create beautiful gardens. How should you begin? I recently visited Gordon and Mary Hayward, both garden designers, at their home in Westminster West, Vermont. Their gardens are as nice as any private gardens I have seen, and […]
Henry Homeyer: warding against pests and diseases
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC My gardening grandfather came over from Germany around 1910. He was an organic gardener, perhaps because there were few chemicals sold to kill bugs and diseases back then. He gardened the old fashioned way: hen manure for fertilizer, hand picking to keep potato beetles under control, and a […]
Henry Homeyer: Tea at 10 feet, garden parties amid a pandemic
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC In these times, garden parties are few and far between. But if you practice social distancing (tea at 10 feet) and wear masks as needed, you can still share your garden with others. And despite all the hoopla about how people are gardening more, we all still have […]
Henry Homeyer: Everything’s coming up clovers
By Henry Homeyer ©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC Let’s face it: most of us do not have a lawn that looks like the grass on a major league infield, and I for one, don’t want one that does. Most professional ballfields are doctored weekly with chemicals: fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers, insecticides. They are cut very short, and […]
