Articles written by Georgene A. Bramlage
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Birches (Betula spp.) – Landscape Trends
Unique bark coloration and texture, graceful growth forms, and attractive foliage make birches desirable landscape ornamentals. Birches highlight landscapes worldwide.
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Correct Spacing for Landscape Trees and Shrubs
Planting trees and shrubs too close to each other and to structures is a common landscaping mistake. Here are suitable planting distances for 25 familiar species.
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How to Research and Plan Safe Comfortable Steps
Safe comfortable steps are tough DIY projects. They are labor-intensive and time-consuming undertakings.Good measuring and planning lead to impressive finished projects.
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2010 Fleuroselect Gold Medal Winners
Fleuroselect 2010 winners belong to three native North American flowering plants. They display qualities like compactness, long flowering seasons, and vivacious colors.
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Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden
The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden (Springfield, MA), a tribute to Theodor Seuss Geisel, features interpretations of his well-known and loved characters.
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Four Salad Recipes Using Local Garden Vegetables
Collect and use recipes that highlight local garden fresh vegetables. This is a dependable way to stretch budgets, ensure healthy meals, and guard against meal malaise.
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Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) – New Trends
Recent trends in breeding and selection for Rose-of-Sharon Hibiscus include plant size choices, larger sterile flowers, and vividly colored long-lasting flowers.
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Five Simple Recipes for Garden Fresh Corn
Simple corn-based vegetable recipes are quick to prepare from garden fresh summer ingredients. Ingredients include onions, zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, and basil.
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Museum of Garden History – London
The Museum of Garden History, St Mary-at-Lambeth Church - London, reopened in November 2008 with a new name, The Garden Museum, and modernized interior exhibit spaces.
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Lilacs: A Gardener's Encyclopedia – A Review
Lilacs: A Gardener' s Encyclopedia by Fr. John L. Fiala (1988) was revised and updated by Freek Vrugtman (2008). Contains in-depth information about the genus Syringa.
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Using Natural Organic Fertilizers and Pesticides
Using natural non-synthetic fertilizers and pesticides improves garden landscape soil environments and helps produce healthy vigorous plants, while not harming humans
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Emily Dickinson Museum Landscape Renovation
Reconstructed mid-19th century landscape features unite Poet Emily Dickinson's home The Homestead and her brother Austin's adjacent home The Evergreens in Amherst, MA.
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How to Prune and Care for Hydrangeas
Pruning hydrangeas correctly at proper times produces large, eye-catching flowers. Hydrangea plant structure and bud formation determine pruning methods.
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'Venus' & 'Hartlage Wine' Calycanthus Cultivars
'Venus' & 'Hartlage Wine' (Calycanthus spp.) are new hybrid cultivars, large, shade-loving shrubs excellent as specimen plants in many landscape garden designs.
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Carolina Spicebush in Hedges and Natural Gardens
Carolina spicebush or sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) and its cultivars are large, hardy, shade-loving shrubs at home in hedges, mixed shrub beds and natural gardens.
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Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia) Shrubs and Trees
Landscape gardeners have numerous crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia) hybrids and cultivars from which to choose. Options suit most southwest and southern landscape settings.
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Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia) Species & Cultivars
Crapemyrtles (Lagerstroemia) are summer-bloomers in southern U.S. landscape gardens. Grown for over two hundred years, these plants are often called "southern lilacs."
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Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia) Dwarf Shrubs
Easy-to-grow crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia) dwarf shrubs are newcomers to landscape gardens. Heat tolerant, pest-resistant and summer flowering, they ensure design novelty.
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Pruning Deciduous Spring-flowering Shrubs
Skillful early summer pruning practices for spring-flowering deciduous shrubs are essential for DIY landscape gardeners. Proper pruning promotes healthy, vigorous shrubs.
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Mulching Garden Landscape Shrubs and Trees
Mulching practices that improve and support shrub and tree health are essential for DIY landscape gardeners who want to create good-looking but money-wise projects.
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Low-Maintenance Shrubs for Foundation Plantings
Low-maintenance small evergreen shrubs are first-rate selections for DIY landscape foundation plantings. They enrich the looks of shady front yard landscapes.
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Roanoke, VA Illustrates Urban Beautification
Roanoke, a mid-size city in southwestern VA, demonstrates urban beautification. Its Parks Division oversees design, planting and maintenance of city parks and plazas.
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Book Review - Armitage's Native Plants
Armitage's Native Plants for North American Gardens is a treasure trove of information for gardeners wanting to design landscapes with native flowering plants and ferns.
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Simple Homemade Garden Fresh Summer Salsa
Simple tomato, tomatillo and fruit salsa recipes are quick to prepare from garden fresh summer ingredients. Salsas include onions, cilantro, parsley, and basil.
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Memorial and Meditation Garden Landscapes
Modern low-maintenance plants surrounding walkway and patio edges in memorial and meditation garden designs convey intimacy. Choosing suitable garden plants is crucial.
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Low-Maintenance Plants for DIY Landscape Gardens
Low-maintenance plants are top choices for DIY landscape gardeners in designing a feasible landscape. They are no-nonsense picks for memorial and meditation gardens.
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Deer-resistant Loropetalums
The 2009 Southern Living™ Plant Collection features three dwarf deer-resistant Loropetalum cultivars for low-maintenance southern landscape gardens.
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Eastern Skunk Cabbage in Bog and Water Gardens
Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), Virginia Native Plant Society 2009 Wildflower of the Year, is an early blooming native plant at home in bog and water gardens.
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All-America Selections® Flowers and Vegetables
Nearly 200 public gardens and college campuses at 55 locations across North America display All-America Selections® flower and vegetable introductions grown from seeds.
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Yellow-Foliage Plants Echo Color of the Year
Yellow-foliage evergreen plants are attention-getters and liven up winter landscape gardens. They mimic sunshine and echo PANTONE® 2009 Color of the Year 14-0848 "Mimosa"
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Public Gardens Display Fleuroselect Winners
Forty-nine public gardens in Europe, Asia, Canada and the U.S.A. are first to display new Fleuroselect Gold Medal plant introductions chosen for special merit.
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Winter Berries in Southern Garden Landscapes
Trees and shrubs that produce colorful berries bring winter beauty to landscape gardens. They may also provide winter shelter as well as food for fruit-eating birds.
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Flowering Plants for Southern Garden Landscapes
Athens Select™ Plants and Southern Living™ Plant Collections team up in 2009 to bring flowering plants to gardeners in warm and humid southern landscapes.
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Last Minute Gift Ideas for Landscape Gardeners
Last minute and unique gift ideas are as close as local garden centers, hardware and big box stores. Avant-garde presents include standard as well as contemporary gloves.
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Gingerbread for Christmas
Gingerbread is a winter and Christmas tradition handed down from medieval bakers. They treasured dried spices introduced by crusaders from organized trade routes.
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Gingerbread Recipes for Christmas and Winter
Gingerbread is a winter and Christmas tradition in many cultures. Here is a sampling of recipes that includes modern cutout cookies, German lebkuchen and Polish piernik.
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White House Christmas Tree
"A Red, White and Blue Christmas" is the 2008 White House Christmas Tree and Decorating theme presented by Laura Bush, December 3 at a White House Holiday Press Preview.
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Planting Trees and Shrubs – Installation
Trees and shrubs need acceptable backfill, mulch, staking and pruning for good growth. New planting guides stress backfill and mulch depths to ensure good establishment.
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Planting Trees and Shrubs - Preparation
Trees and shrubs reach consumers in ways that may result in root defects. Inspect roots and correct problems to ensure proper establishment, stress new planting guides.
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The Pohutukawa, New Zealand's Christmas Tree
Red-flowered pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), a native New Zealand tree belonging to the Myrtle plant family, is a N. Z. symbol. Pohutukawa is useful for landscaping.
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How to Create Holiday Decorations
Inexpensive holiday decorating ideas, with flowers and supplies to create them, are as close as local supermarkets. Floral associates usually have regional ideas.
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How to Create Simple Centerpieces
Make inexpensive Christmas and holiday centerpieces in ten quick and simple steps. Achieve a country holiday look by using garden, dried or silk materials, and flowers.
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How to Make a Simple Gift Bow in Ten Steps
Learn how to make a ribbon bow with streamers suitable for corsages, wreaths and decorative projects. The function and purpose of the bow, determines the ribbon width.
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Japanese Karesansui-style Gardens
The Japanese karesansui-style contemplative viewing garden at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston, MA combines Japanese, New England and MFA elements and traditions.
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Morikami Japanese Gardens
The Morikami Gardens in Del Ray Beach, FL are a living textbook They demonstrate periods of Japanese garden history and design from the 8th to the 20th century.
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Japanese-style Landscape Gardens
A Japanese-style garden may be appropriate for small spaces. Consider how water, rocks and gravel, and plants influence and contribute to a Japanese-inspired landscape.
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Historic Tulip Poplar Succumbs
Root disease and old age commanded removal, in mid-June 2008, of a 19th century tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) at Monticello, Virginia home of Thomas Jefferson.
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Hydrangea paniculata
The old-fashioned panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora'), a traditional feature of Northeast American garden landscapes, makes a comeback in new forms.
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American Orchid Society
The American Orchid Society (AOS) Visitors Center and Botanical Garden in Delray Beach, FL offers visitors thriving plants to see and appreciate each day of the year.
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Oaks - Shade Trees for Sizable Areas
Landscape designs for large areas need trees like oaks (Quercus spp.) that are in proportion to the design and relatively maintenance-free. Oaks provide color and shade.
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Landscape Garden Chores
Disease and pest damages, mechanical injuries, and moisture and heat stresses initially appear trivial. Inspection keeps minor maintenance from becoming renovation.
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Spring-blooming Bulbs Design Ideas
Planted together Narcissus (daffodil) bulbs and specialty (minor) bulbs lead to pest-resistant, perennial and naturalized landscape garden designs.
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Hydrangeas for American Gardens
Hydrangeas for American Gardens by respected plantsman Michael A. Dirr is the first book to deal specifically with hydrangeas in North American landscape gardens.
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2008 Catalogs of Spring-blooming Bulbs
Independent garden centers, discount big-box stores and internet / mail order catalog vendors market spring-blooming bulbs. Which source is best for landscape gardens?
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Pest-proof Spring-blooming Bulbs
All daffodils are deer and garden-pest resistant. Daffodils planted with minor pest-resident bulbs create stunning and hardy spring displays in garden landscapes.
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Spring-blooming Bulb Designs Now
Midsummer is a good time to plan pest-free spring-blooming bulb gardens. Design combinations for all garden styles - containers, small patio gardens, or large spaces.
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Barberry Shrubs (Berberis spp.)
Barberry shrubs are exceptional choices for low physical barrier landscape hedges. Described are barberry characteristics, cultivation details and nine selections.
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Garden Landscape Hedges
Landscape garden hedges can be formal or informal. They provide shelter, privacy and barriers. They should complement landscape designs for which they are planned.
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Deer-resistant Landscape Trees
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) readily select small trees as available food sources. Native deer-resistant plants ensure success in built landscapes.
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Deer-resistant Flowering Shrubs
Appetites of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) include ornamental landscape plants. Choosing native deer-resistant shrubs equals landscape success.
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Eastern Redbud Trees in Landscapes
Eastern redbud trees and cultivars enrich landscape gardens with varieties of form, silhouettes and unusual seasonal color. Site selection is essential for good display.
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Common Landscape Design Problems
An outline and checklist to avoid common problems in the landscape design process. Using this list avoids frustrating and often costly problems.
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Spring-blooming Asian Witchhazels
Winter/spring-blooming Asian witchhazels - Hamamelis xintermedia, H. japonica and H. mollis - exhibit potential in garden landscapes as focal points and in shrub borders.
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VA Spiderwort in Natural Gardens
Virginia spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana), Virginia Native Plant Society 2008 Wildflower of the Year, is a long-blooming herbaceous perennial for native plant gardens
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Five Invasive Trees of Virginia
Descriptions and photos of five nonnative (alien) invasive tree species of Virginia. Focus on history, importance in built landscapes and, control and management.
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Construct a Wave® Petunia Tree
Trees of hardware and steel pipe show off Wave® petunias and other annuals like ivy-leaf geraniums. These handyman garden projects generate creative landscape displays.
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Weeds in Garden Landscapes
Weeds in garden landscapes are plants growing where they do not belong. Here are tips for effective removal and control strategies that can minimize maintenance.
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Wave® Petunia Landscape Designs
Wave® petunias solve many garden landscape color and design problems. Plant them in containers or garden plots, alone or with other ornamental plants. Photos included.
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Wave® Petunias Design Solutions
Wave® petunias provide inexpensive and eye-catching design solutions. Develop and complete a project in one weekend using these planning tips. Photos provided.
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Wave® Petunias in Built Landscapes
What are Wave® petunias? Wave® petunias solve garden landscape color and design needs. Growing and maintaining Wave® petunias is easy with no deadheading needed. Photos.
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Landscapes of Love
Five historic landscapes symbolize five extraordinary couples. Historic landscapes and landscape gardens chronicle the fashions and trends of the times that shaped them.
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Cold Climate Broadleaf Evergreens
Choice of broadleaf evergreens for northern garden landscapes is limited since they lack winter survival adaptations. Description and images are included.
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Massachusetts Bridge of Flowers
The Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, MA, dedicated in 1929, adapted the idea of a New England garden by using a relic trolley bridge. Well worth the visit.
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Up-to-the-minute Echinacea Hybrids
Echinacea (coneflower) hybrids are up-to-the-minute plant breakthroughs. American plant breeders work to bring bright flower and plant color to landscape garden designs.
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Echinacea Selections in Landscapes
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) selections and cultivars can enhance prairie and meadow gardens. These native N.A. plants tolerate some shade and moist soil.
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White House Christmas Tree - 2007
White House Christmas trees and themes, role of the National Christmas Tree Association in providing the official tree and simulated holiday White House tours.
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How to Have a Safe Christmas Tree
Fresh-cut and suitably watered Christmas trees are safe trees. Here are suggestions for
Christmas tree care, display, longevity and advisability of tree preservatives.
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Crabapple Tree Diseases
Crabapple diseases ruin landscape designs. Bacteria and fungi cause the majority of crabapple diseases. Awareness and proper environments lead to healthy crabapples.
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Holiday Gifts: Landscape Gardeners
Meaningful, useful and out-of-the-ordinary holiday gifts for gardeners are hard to find. Here are four categories that fit the bill for landscape gardener holiday gifts.
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Landscape Maintenance Mistakes
Landscape maintenance mistakes abound in both residential and public landscapes. What are some of these landscape maintenance errors and how do they happen? Photographs.
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Garden Art and Artifacts
Juried regional fine arts and designer craft shows overflow with garden arts and artifacts destined to become tomorrow's antiques.
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Landscape Garden Color
Landscape gardens with coordinated color present unified appearances and pleasing public images. Using color in the garden landscape calls for basic guiding principles.
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Colonial Homes and Revival Gardens
The House of the Seven Gables Historic Neighborhood and complimentary Colonial Revival Gardens result from foresight and actions of antiquarians Emmerton and Chandler.
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The House of the Seven Gables
The Turner House (House of the Seven Gables - Salem, MA), made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne, overlooks an early 20th Century Colonial Revival Garden
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Historic Garden Landscapes
Here is a garden travel guide for late summer. These ten historic garden landscape articles can help to plan a day outing 0r a lengthy trip or act as a virtual excursion.
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Orléans Embrace (Review)
Orléans Embrace (with) The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré: A review as tribute to the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, August 29th, 2005.
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A Simple Lawn Fertilization System
Lawn care advice and tips from a leading expert on turf grass management can generate a stress-free guide to easy, effective, and inexpensive lawn care and landscaping.
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House of Flying Daggers (Review)
House of Flying Daggers (2005 - USA) Film Review - a love story folded into a Chinese martial arts or wuxia film set in meadows, deciduous forests and bamboo groves.
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Rodzina
Rodzina is a fictional story about a twelve-year-old Polish orphan girl and her journey from Chicago across the United States on an orphan train in 1881.
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Hollister House Gardens – Rural CT
Hollister House Gardens (Washington, CT) demonstrate how garden designs furnished with plants matched to regional- and micro-climates allow garden landscapes to thrive.
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Lawn Irrigation-Watering Basics
Maintenance and upkeep of lawn grasses require water. Most lawn grasses possess specific water requirements. Lawn irrigation is challenging and may be tricky.
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Roanoke Valley Kid-Tested Fun
Kids from preschool to middle school and their parents can find plenty of activities for summer fun in the Roanoke Valley. Here are six kid-tested things to see and do.
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Beacon Hill of Boston MA
Visitors grasp the distinct quality of the Beacon Hill area during walking tours. Stable populations, historic architecture and urban horticulture add up to a community.
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Beacon Hill Public Garden Spaces
Residents of Beacon Hill's North Slope (Boston, MA) and civic and government groups work to transform derelict spaces and passageways into neighborhood garden spaces.
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Memorial Day - 2007
Memorial Day is observed in the U.S.A. on the last Monday of May. Corn Poppies enliven summer gardens while symbolizing remembrance. These articles offer design ideas.
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Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill
Beacon Hill (Boston, MA) residents fashion hidden backyard gardens. Garden retreats come into being from small pieces of degraded urban soil and shaded settings.
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Historic Landscapes
Twentieth century New England garden landscapes show diversity that demonstrates society's expanding financial and social bases. Here are four such historic designs.
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Historic Landscapes and Gardens
Historic and traditional garden landscapes in New England range from colonial times to modern times. Here is a survey of selected 19th century landscape styles.
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Historic Gardens and Landscapes
Historic and traditional garden landscapes in New England range from colonial times to modern times. Here is a survey of selected 17th to18th century landscape styles.
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Arbor Day - 2007
Arbor Day, observed in most of the U.S. A. on the last Friday of April, is the classic time to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. These articles offer celebratory ideas.
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