How do you design a resilient landscape when our shared environment is under increasingly mounting stress? Here’s some of what I learned from landscape architect Lisa N. Cowan, PLA, SITES AP, at a Coastal Maine Botanic Garden class today. Landscape Design for the Long Run Resilient landscapes are designed from a holistic point of view ..read more

What plants could thrive in your garden? Carol visited Rockport, MA recently and shows tough-as-nails native groundcover and autumn-blooming perennials for your garden that also provide habitat to wildlife ..read more

IF YOU WANT MONARCHS, PLANT NATIVE MILKWEEDS ..read more

Plant Goldenrods and Asters to Support Pollinators in Late Summer According to the National Wildlife Federation, native asters like New England (Aster novae-angliae), New York (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii), smooth (Aster laevis), white wood (Aster divaricatus) and other woodland asters support the entire life cycles of over 110 species of butterflies and moths, so it you want ..read more

Top 5 reasons to include goldenrod in your butterfly garden: If you want butterflies and moths in your garden, you’ll want to include goldenrod because: 125 species of butterflies and moths lay their eggs on goldenrod in eastern MA, more than any other herbaceous perennial, and if you want to have butterflies, you must welcome ..read more

Check out our progress on the turf-to-habitat project in Seekonk, MA, like it if you like it and subscribe it you want to know more about native plant design and consulting in SE MA ..read more

WHY NOT TURN YOU LAWN INTO A CERTIFIED HABITAT GARDEN FOR BUTTERFLIES, BEES, BIRDS? We’re helping a homeowner in Seekonk, MA fulfill her dream of turning most of her lawn into pollinator habitat. Collaborating through the iterative design, installation, and maintenance phases, the client herself has gotten earth under her fingernails and dirtied the knees of her jeans every step of the way. In the 2020 season we designed and installed two crescent-shaped ornamental landscape beds for MA native trees, shrubs and perennials. In the spring of 2021 we’re expanding upon last year’s work by tying in ..read more

Pollinate New England Program in Wellesley Shows You How to Plan and Plant a Pollinator Garden The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission hosted a live Pollinate New England program (pre-Covid) on the importance of using native plants to support New England’s bees, insects and other pollinators. Watch this video of the program to learn the actual steps of creating a pollinator habitat garden. Learn how to design and create a pollinator garden You’ll learn how to attract native butterflies and moths, birds and bees to your garden and put the right native plants in the right places design the ..read more

What to do in your garden this winter? It’s learning and planning season! Garden-911 Boston owner Carol Lundeen estimates the age of a giant old growth northern red oak tree in Leyden, MA. The trunk of this Querus rubra measures over three of her arm lengths in circumference at chest height, or dbh (diameter at breast height). Since the actual age of trees cannot be determined without cutting the trunk and measuring its growth rings – or using a core boring tool, she used an arborist formula to estimate that this one grew to approximately 265 years old before its potential faced environmental ..read more

Nice sticky snow clings to colorful leaves of a native red maple tree, Acer rubrum, in a Sharon, MA garden. In landscape design, red maples work hard as structural elements, framing other features of the garden. As habitat, they’re provide shelter, food, and nesting nooks and crannies for wildlife. I am so thankful for our native trees, like this red maple in a Sharon, MA garden. Like most natives, they provide vivid horticultural value in color, form, and texture; provide habitat for wildlife; and intercept and absorb storm water to help mitigate flooding. Every square foot in your garden, a ..read more