Musings on horticultural therapy and the soothing effects of plants and nature
Making mason bee B&Bs is a lot easier than it looks. As I told my most recent class at Ann’s Place, all it takes is a series of tubes that about between 1/4 and 3/8 inch in diameter. I was able to forage the tubes from a stand of invasive bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) and cut […]
The bark of some trees can only be appreciated when the forest is absent of green vegetation. For texture it is hard to beat river birch (Betula nigra) with its flaking sheets of gray, brown, salmon, peach orange or lavender bark. A close second is the American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) with its patchy white and […]
In writing A Therapist’s Garden, I wanted to give readers some horticultural therapy activities that they could practice. And in every chapter (or month) I have done that with both a craft and an outing. The ones for March concern food. Coming out of Winter in New England with enough food used to be critical […]
Creating a new class for my clients at Ann’s Place is exciting and scary at the same time. My latest class is a Spring mash up of St. Patrick’s Day and creating a mason bee B&B. The St.Patrick’s Day exercise is growing shamrocks, which can be defined as wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), white clover (Trifolium […]
Forcing branches to flower in late Winter may be the poor man’s bouquet but it doesn’t make it any less lovely. I recently clipped some forsythia and flowering quince (Chaenomeles) for Juana and she arranged them next to some flowers we had purchased the week before.Those flowers are now in the compost heap while the […]
In writing A Therapist’s Garden I am grateful to my early readers and, in particular, those with much more serious writing chops who read my book and offered up some kind early words about its content. Here they are and some of their books: Florence Williams @florence999: Her book, The Nature Fix, takes readers around […]
Visiting my daughter Sarah and grandson Charlie a few days ago, Juana, Charlotte and I take advantage of the splendid day we are presented with and travel to a local wildlife sanctuary in Ipswich. The first thing I spot is an artistically stacked wood pile that has a massive branch cutting through it. I don’t […]
The grasshead I created a few weeks ago with my HT class needs a shave every couple of days. It shows the rigorous growth of early Spring grass as well as my misplacement of seeds. I was hoping for a solid head of “hair” but instead have crafted a more Neanderthal look combined with male-pattern […]
My class on microgreens is the largest of the Winter with 25 clients. They all seem excited about shaking off the Winter chill and getting their hands into the soil. “Though it seems early, we are just a bit more than a month from the equinox,” I start out. “So if you have a south […]
Strong winds blow off one of the plastic panes covering the cold frame. Luckily nothing shattered so I am able to easily replace it. But upon close inspection, I discover that I am not the only one who is lucky. There is digging in the soil and the tops of all the carrots (Daucus carota […]