Tagged: Jim Sollecito

Jim talks about his trip to Washington, D.C. to see the White House Rose Garden and Michelle Obama's Kitchen Garden.  Listen to his tale about how he donated his pocket knife to the Secret Service.  Looks like no more mumbly peg for Jim until Santa brings him a new one. 

Fall is 'bulk up' time for deer.  You think they wreak havoc in spring and summer?  Fall is the peak of chow down time.  But you can do something to pull the plug on the gravy train in your back yard.  Jim has some ideas about how you can turn the herd around and keep them away from your plantings.

Jim says the best use for landscape fabric may be shower curtains or really unique high fashion ball gowns.  He won't sell it in his shop, and he says you should not use it in your landscape.  Learn why.

Why is it that a bird can fly through a tree canopy repeatedly without so much as a ding to a wing but a golf ball will find a limb every time?  No answer here, but Jim has some great tips for pruning your trees to enhance their appearance.  Careful pruning will add elegance to your landscape for years to come.

Question: which of the following is the most sensible statement?
A) best time to do your landscape chores is on a hot, sunny day at noon.
B) best time to water your plants is on a hot, sunny day at noon.
C) best way to keep your landscape verdant and thriving is to ignore it.
D) best way to keep plants thriving is to place them where the sun and other natural conditions will work to their advantage as they become established.
(correct answer is D, unless you are a mad dog or an Englishman and inclined to take song lyrics by Noël Coward  literally)

Bling is all about flash, sparkle, and  impact.  Bling has a place in the garden, too.  Here's Jim's list of 'look-at-ME!-plants.'  Add some visual noise-makers to your landscape.

The 'Dog Days' of summer.  Not much more to do in the garden, but the weeding goes on.  If your sidewalk or patio cracks are in a weedy pickle, put the gherkin to workin' on the problem.  You will relish the results.

Feeling cranky because it's too hot, sticky and uncomfortable to work outside?  Think of it this way: when is the last time you had to shovel sunshine?   To improve your disposition, jump into a cold shower, then go out and water those thirsty plants and trees.  Nothing to it - just add water.

What's white and black and red all over? A sunburned polar bear in a black bikini?  Okay, not so funny.  Global warming is no laughing matter.  But for all its negative effects, the extended growing season in this region may not be one.  Jim has some startling news.

It's fall, the time of year we start thinking about closing up the garden shed and moving inside.  Before you put away that shovel, plant a tree.  Fall is the ideal planting season for trees, shrubs and other hardy plants.  Their roots will respond well to the head-start on spring. 

Are you developing a chemical dependency as you manage your landscape?  After killing weeds with herbicides, do you try to kill them AGAIN with a second application?  Friend, it is time to enter rehab.  Jim has some tips to help you avoid putting your plantings in harms way in the first place.

When a breeze blows through the trees is the wind talking - or are the trees chit-chatting? Trees are tribal.  They protect one another from dings and nicks of lawnmowers, and, working together, manage the soil around their roots much more effectively than do man-made lawn chemicals.