Category: Garden Design

Colonial Williamsburg Arboretum / Conservation / Garden Design / Heirloom plants / Keystone Species / Native Trees / Planting Trees / Tree Identification / Trees

 by Rick Brown

The Compton Oak

  The former Colonial Williamsburg Garden Historian, Wesley Greene, had a discussion with Scott Hemler, Colonial Williamsburg’s nurseryman this year in August, about the origin of our famous Compton Oak. In this exchange, Greene raised questions about the “legend” of this tree and how it came to be planted on Nicholson Street in historic Williamsburg. So, at Green’s suggestion, I began an investigation to see if the Archives at the Rockefeller Library could provide any additional information about the time...

Birds / Colonial Williamsburg Arboretum / Conservation / Evergreen Shrubs / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Historic Trees / Native Trees / Ornamental Shrubs / Resource Protection / Wildlife Gardening

 by Rick Brown

The Bassett Trace Nature Trail 

              Colonial Williamsburg welcomes visitors to the natural beauty of one of the wilder, quieter portions of the historic area.     The Bassett Trace is named after Burwell Bassett, Martha Washington’s nephew and a Virginia legislator and congressman. In 1800, he purchased a white farmhouse near the trailhead.  In 1936, that farmhouse, now known as Bassett Hall, became the favorite home of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.  During the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, an...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Bulb Gardening / Carbon Garden / climate change / Compost / Conservation / Deer / Evergreen Perennials / Evergreen Shrubs / Evergreen trees / Ferns / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Larval Host Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Perennial Care / Phenology / Trees in Winter / Watering / Wildlife Gardening / Winter

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Winter in the Garden: To Do, To Do Less, and What to Avoid

  We can consider winter as the ‘weekend’ of the gardening year, both the last month and the first months of the year when we can enjoy a much-needed rest from the regular routine.  A period of rest and renewal restores energy to both the garden and the gardener.  It allows us time for reflection on the successes and challenges of seasons past and an opportunity to plan and prepare for the seasons to come. If winter is the weekend,...

Conservation / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Larval Host Plants / Native Trees / Soil Conservation / Tree Care / Tree Identification / Trees / Trees in Winter / Wildlife Gardening / Winter

 by Elizabeth McCoy

The Beauty and Promise of Trees in Winter

  There is a special beauty in the form and structure of a bare tree after it has dropped its annual crop of leaves.  Like the beauty of a classical statue, one can see the truth of its bones.  Leaves, for all of their movement and color, veil the beauty of branches and buds. Looking at a bare tree is a study in pure potential.     All of the tree’s life  draws inwards to the wood and roots as...

Animal repellant products / Carbon Garden / Conservation / Evergreen Shrubs / Flowering Shrubs / Fragrant Plants / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Holiday Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Permaculture / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Evergreen Camellias for Winter Flowers

    The first Camellia shrub usually chooses a stretch of damp, cool October days to burst into bloom.  I am always taken by surprise when its luminous white, spring-like blossoms unfold, because they look rather out of place beside the colorful leaves falling from nearby trees. Bright flowers in shades of white, pink, and red open on our evergreen Camellia shrubs each October and November while the rest of the garden fades, and as we begin preparing for winter’s...

Carbon Garden / Evergreen Perennials / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Heirloom plants / Hummingbird Gardening / Invasive Plants / Larval Host Plants / Native Plants / Nuisance Plants / Permaculture / Poisonous Plants / Sustainable Gardening / Trees / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Climbing Vines in Coastal Virginia

  Vines of all types love our Coastal Virginia climate.  Many different species thrive in summer’s heat and humidity, growing by inches each day.  They creep across the ground until they encounter something to climb.  Their tender, flexible tips reach up and out in search of a support, and then they climb. Benefits of Vines All vines in our area produce flowers and seeds.  While some flowers are bright and showy, like the bright orange trumpet creeper, others are nearly...

Birds / Carbon Garden / Conservation / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Hummingbird Gardening / Summer Color Plants / Sustainable Gardening / Water Wise / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

The Lantana ‘Stand’

    I never intended to create the Lantana stand.  Never in my wildest gardening dream did I expect it to get this huge.  There were no warning labels to prepare me for what it has become.  And it all began so innocently… In the beginning, there were only a lonely tea rose and  a few New Guinnea impatiens, I. hawkeri, growing in the neat round bed in the center of our new front yard.  We bought the house in...

Birds / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Hummingbird Gardening / Summer Color Plants / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

How to Create a Haven for Hummingbirds

  A friend showed me a video she had taken in her backyard of hummingbirds swarming around one of her feeders.  She loves hummingbirds and works hard to attract and care for them.  She plants containers filled with flowers she knows they like, and maintains multiple feeders kept stocked with sugar water.  She told me that she has several tiny feeders on stakes that she places among the flowers in her containers. There were so many tiny birds flying about...

Beneficial Insects / Bulb Gardening / Compost / Evergreen Shrubs / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Lepidoptera / Native Plants / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Late Summer in the Garden: To Do, To Do Less, and What to Avoid

  Autumn is like a second spring in our coastal Virginia climate.  We will enjoy another 90-100 frost-free days from August 1 until the end of our active growing season in early November.  Even then, there is still plenty to enjoy in our gardens and plenty to do during the colder months. We can plant seeds, plugs, and bulbs in August that will continue producing flowers, root crops, herbs, and leafy greens in the months ahead.  With so much time...

Bulb Gardening / climate change / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Geophytes / Native Plants / Native Trees / Perennial Care / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening / Water Wise / Watering / Weather / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Making a Resilient Drought-Tolerant Garden Part II: Techniques and Strategies

  Enthusiastic gardeners begin planning, planting, and preparing for the season to come at the first hint of spring.   Some of us may still be planting daffodils in December or January and watch for the first snowdrops to appear as the last bulbs go into the ground.  There is very little break during winter.   We are always watching the progress of our gardens and exploring sustainable gardening practices.  And our hearts remain filled with hope for the seasons to come....