{"id":1725,"date":"2012-06-18T12:51:02","date_gmt":"2012-06-18T16:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/?p=1725"},"modified":"2012-06-18T12:51:02","modified_gmt":"2012-06-18T16:51:02","slug":"how-does-your-garden-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/2012\/06\/18\/how-does-your-garden-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Your Garden Grow?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simply put, I love this time of year, when the days are long, the air is sweet and there\u2019s no place I\u2019d rather be than puttering in my garden.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I chose my house in Princeton, N.J., which is set on little more than an acre, knowing the grounds would need a lot of work. In a word, it was a dump. Luckily, I enjoy a good challenge \u2013 and found a terrific advisor in a local landscaper named Polly Burlingham. By tackling a different part of the yard each spring, and working within a reasonable budget, we\u2019ve achieved a kind of garden nirvana.<\/p>\n

Like a lot of you, Polly runs a small business. Over the years, Polly\u2019s Green Gardens<\/a> has designed numerous intimate garden spaces and seasonal container gardens, including the urns at Drumthwacket, the N.J. governor\u2019s mansion, and the hanging baskets lining Nassau Street in downtown Princeton. I knew I\u2019d love working with her the minute I found out she\u2019s also from Indiana and, like me, adores that state\u2019s flower \u2013 the peony.<\/p>\n

Every year, when there\u2019s still a nip in the air, we walk the yard, plan \u2013 and dream. Knowing I\u2019ll soon see pink peonies and splashes of my favorite color, purple, makes those chilly rainy days pass in a flash.<\/p>\n

From the start, Polly convinced me of the importance of also incorporating deer-resistant, drought-tolerant native plants and shrubs into as natural-looking a setting as possible. With native plants (largely resistant to pests and diseases and requiring little or no irrigation or fertilizer), you help maintain a natural ecology, which is good for all of us. Plus, they attract wonderful songbirds and butterflies \u2013 and remind me of home.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since I have a lot of shade and a number of mature trees, it\u2019s been a real trick to introduce color. But over the last eight years, Polly\u2019s done a great job blending together ornamental grasses and green-on-green hostas and hellebores with blooming perennial borders.<\/p>\n

As you can see from the photos, the overall effect is one of peace and serenity, versus showy formality. Instead of high drama, I prefer elegant touches like my beloved osage-orange arbor.<\/p>\n

Whether you like growing prize tomatoes or purple hydrangeas, I hope it\u2019s a good year for your garden. The Farmers’ Almanac<\/a> is predicting unseasonably hot and dry weather for those of us out East, but I\u2019m hopeful I\u2019ll still be enjoying my backyard oasis come September.<\/p>\n

Let me know your greatest gardening challenge \u2013 and how you overcame it \u2013 by posting a comment or e-mailing me here<\/a>. I\u2019m also on Twitter<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simply put, I love this time of year, when the days are long, the air is sweet and there\u2019s no place I\u2019d rather be than puttering in my garden. I chose my house in Princeton, N.J., which is set on little more than an acre, knowing the grounds would need a lot of work. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1725"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1733,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1725\/revisions\/1733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timandrewsblog-asicentral.com\/timblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}