With trepidation, I’m stepping into the chair of C.L. Fornari as I fill in for her this weekend as The Garden Lady. If you don’t know the show (it is new) it a call-in radio show that airs on AM 680 in Boston on Saturdays from 1pm – 3pm.
So this weekend (May 2nd, 2015), it will be me – answering calls live from gardeners in the area. I’d love to take some of your questions so please – if you have something you are dying to ask — leave a comment or email me or tweet or whatever…. and I will try to answer on air this weekend.
xx
-Rochelle
p.s. Please, please, please ask a question….don’t be fooled by my totally posed and poised picture and calm seeing words (fake!)….the more I think about this, the more I am completely freaking out… having a plan – some questions in the bag, so to say – will help me immensely – all I can think is – what the heck am I going to talk about for 2 straight hours!!! TX – R
You’re going to be great! Good luck!
Susan
(Carolyn from the Boston Flower & Garden Show – Hi, Rochelle!) I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of ripping up great patches of my not-so-lush lawn this year and replacing them with beds of perennials and ground covers. A lot of the pictures I’ve seen of this idea in magazines and online are from other regions of the country. Can you give some suggestions of plants that might work well in New England to give texture, color, year-round interest and some that are quick-spreading and low-water? THANKS!
Oh my goodness! How exciting – but yes terrifying at the same time! Two hours is a long time. I’m sure you will be wonderful! Here’s a question – I’m moving this spring. Can I dig up some of my perennial bulbs and take them with me? Two concerns are obviously time of year (early June hopefully) and moving from zone 7 to zone 5. So, can I dig them up? Then do I replant immediately? Store until fall/next spring? Help! Lisa
As a beginner gardener, about to start using raised beds, I would love to eat fresh all summer and wonder if this is possible. What order of planting my garden vegetables and herbs would you recommend for a continuous harvest from summer thru fall?
Thank you,
Miriam
Rochelle! Do you need more questions for tomorrow? I’m going to walk through my garden on Nantucket this afternoon, which has barely emerged after this brutal winter and write a list of questions. You can use them if need be. C.L. spoke at our Garden Festival last year – she was a hoot. I’ll email you later today.
Good luck on the show … here’s a question about moving a bird’s nest spruce …
In 2008, a landscaper planted a Japanese Maple (O’Burke) and a Bird’s Nest Spruce in an East-facing front-of-the-house bed. They were planted about 40 inches apart, on center. Now, the spruce is 20-inches tall and has a 36-inch radius. This puts the distance between the two at about 24-inches and thus the branches of the Maple, when in leaf, shadows about half of the spruce. The spruce does get sun from the south all day.
I’m thinking that the Spruce will need more light over all once the maple leafs out … it has smal very numerous leaves.
Should I try moving the spruce? I’m afraid the roots of the two are pretty well entangled after 7 years of growing together. Or .. should I thin out the maple. Alternately, do I just leave it alone?
I’m in Western NY and my zone is 5B.
I’m not certain that the radio station will come in for me here, but I wanted to ask the question anyway.
Niki
Here’s a common question that will be relevant to many listeners: how do I tell if “it” is really dead or just still dormant? Early spring is a confusing time. Is that deciduous shrub I planted last year a goner? How do I test to see if it’s going to rise again like Lazarus? What about non-woody perennials?
You won’t believe how fast 2 hours will go once you get into it. Just imagine sitting over tea (or wine) with a good gardening friend.
My Q: We’ve finished building our farmhouse and are ready to landscape. But the foundation was built on a raised pad of red clay fill dirt that is hard and inhospitable to plants. So how do I amend this “red death” that extends out surrounding our home for planting my roses, vines and other foundation plantings? Thanks!