Tower Landscape and Design LLC
As an avid gardener, I always get excited when I see bulb plants starting to emerge and grow their characteristic long, slender green leaves. It’s a sure sign that vibrant flowers are on their way! But with so many different bulb varieties out there, identifying these plants by their foliage alone can be tricky. In … Read more
Mulch is a material used to cover soils surface. An agricultural practice such as mulching will help retain moisture in the soil, suppress or block weeds, keep the soil and plant roots cool, prevent frost heaving in winter, and make the garden bed and landscape look more attractive. Some types can also add nutrients to … Read more
Raised beds on pavement is a strategy for gardeners with limited growing space. Learn how to grow food in raised beds on paved surfaces such as concrete or asphalt. My first homestead on one-tenth of an acre was lacking in garden space. At the time, I was frustrated by this limitation. Now, however, I realize … Read more
Picea glauca ‘Skinny Blue Genes’, also known as the Black Hills white spruce, is a distinctly narrow cultivar of the native white spruce species. With its rich blue foliage and tightly compact form, this exceptional variety provides year-round beauty and versatility in the home landscape. Picea glauca is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the … Read more
Broom plants are small- to medium-sized shrubs with evergreen or deciduous foliage that grow quickly in a lax, bushy habit. Leaves are green and small, usually lanceolate. The two main species that share the common name broom are Cytisus and Genista. Both look very similar. The main difference is that Genistas are more tolerant of … Read more
Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable that’s renowned for its nutritional value, and it’s popular with gardeners because it is so easy to grow. It is a cut-and-come-again crop that produces for quite some time and is cold hardy too. If you want to grow Swiss chard in your garden, here’s everything you need … Read more
Flowering Dogwood Trees are among the most spectacular floweringtrees there are, and they are top choices for any garden. Grown as a lawnspecimen, planted as background trees for your garden, or grown along thefringes of wooded areas, their spring and early summer blooming is a fantasticseasonal highlight, and lasts for several weeks. Some have attractive … Read more
Pruning is an essential aspect of caring for roses. Unlike lower-maintenance shrubs such as hydrangea and forsythia, roses benefit from regular pruning to help keep them tidy and disease-free and encourage prolific blooms. If you’re growing roses for the first time, you’ve likely heard that pruning is essential to their care and may be worried … Read more
Runner beans are perennial, but we have mixed results with natural germination in spring. New shoots may emerge later in the spring than we had planned for, or may be damaged by bugs, or simply not emerge at all. For best results, we save seeds in the fall from the biggest pods and dry them … Read more
Every year at this time, I am surprised by the motley group of containers that has accumulated in my basement for safekeeping through winter. This year there are the amaryllis bulbs I’ve been growing for ten years, the shamrock (oxalis) that summered outdoors, and sheared-back pots of chives, rosemary, and sage. Even though the space … Read more