LATEST RANTS
The Madness of Sowing American Chestnut Seeds
Miss Goodwin gave our first grade class a choice of seeds to start in little milk cartons. Radishes had no appeal. Instinctively, or genetically, I went head-long toward BUSH beans. The first fragile bean shoots were prophetic. I became [...]
Let’s Have Gardening Without The Experts
If ever I'm struggling for ideas for what to write for GardenRant I look to the social media influencers for inspiration. Much as I loathe watching the age-old noble craft of gardening being corroded away by this cult of almost [...]
How to achieve screening *without* a hedge
Plants and trellises provide good screening between my back yard and my neighbors'. View from their yard. I recently ranted about the many problems with hedges, especially in small spaces and especially with single-species hedges. Now I'm happy [...]
Winter is coming
What does that mean for this gardener? As winter hoves over the horizon I dream about how I want it to be. My summer dream shrivelled up up in a heat wave. Will winter do better? It’s autumn now, full [...]
“One of my favorites: A blend of gossip, news, crusade and, yes, raw rant, it blows the cobwebs out of gardening’s mustier corners.”
– Washington Post gardening editor Adrian Higgins
I Read It. I Loved It. No Comment.
Fellow writers know the pain of setting out six to eight hundred carefully chosen words on a topic, story or opinion guaranteed to resonate, only to hear crickets in the comments. But do fellow readers share the [...]
High Atop Mount Mac, Salvisa
The rock gardens at Edinburgh BotanicGarden and Kew inspired me. Will Ingwersen’s 1977 publication of Manual of Alpine Plants educated me. A three-month job, pricking-out seedlings at Ingwersen’s Birch Farm Nursery, on the back of William [...]
The many reasons to hate hedges, especially in small spaces
Original landscaping shown in this 1938 photo. Since moving to Historic Greenbelt, Maryland, where evergreen hedges are ubiquitous - and usually in the way - I've become almost obsessed with how awful they are and [...]
GardenRant Voices
GardenRant is the home of independent garden-writing since 2006. It is the work of these highly opinionated gardeners:
GUEST RANTS
GardenRant welcomes “guest ranters” who want to take over our little piece of cyberspace for the day. Whether you’re in the plant industry or just an ordinary gardener with an axe to grind, you’re invited. Find out more here.
