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Susan Harris

Takoma Park, Maryland

Recent Activity

My favorite turf grass - sheep fescue

by Coalition member Thomas Christopher Enhancing biodiversity is fundamental to transforming lawns from the polluted green deserts that they now are into the sustainable, environmentally constructive landscape features we desire. For that reason, in my plantings I’ve avoided becoming too reliant on any one grass. Instead, I try to include... Continue reading

Posted Feb 10, 2014 at Lawn Reform Coalition

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Help make the Arboretum's Lawn Education Program a Good One!

I wrote a while back about a forthcoming lawn education program at the National Arboretum financed entirely by the turf industry. (Scroll down here to see the funders). Well, it’s now a reality, with the official ground-breaking event last week, and I’m more concerned than ever. Though I’m a big... Continue reading

Posted Nov 22, 2013 at Lawn Reform Coalition

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Plant ideas needed for biodiverse lawn

Biodiverse Lawn by Coalition Member Thomas Christopher Like other members of this group, I believe that the contemporary model of lawn has got to go. It does have its virtues, though we critics tend to overlook them. For example, traditional lawn provides a relatively inexpensive and easy way to maintain... Continue reading

Posted May 13, 2013 at Lawn Reform Coalition

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Help me Understand Edible Forest Gardening

Recently I've noticed a bumper crop of talks promoting something I'd never heard of before - forest gardening and the "food forests" or "edible forest gardens" that result from it. Turns out my initial assumption - that a forest garden... Continue reading

Posted May 29, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Crimes Against Horticulture, Pruning Division

I can't help but steal my post title from Billy Goodnick - the term is just too apt, in the case of these two juicy examples of bad pruning. On the left, the power company seems like the obvious culprit... Continue reading

Posted May 22, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Where Laundry is Garden Art

As reported here a few years back, a group called Project Laundry List is hard at work defending our Right to Dry. And since most of us grew up with indoor drying, they have to start with some public education... Continue reading

Posted May 15, 2012 at Garden Rant

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A Seed-Based Romance

LOVE this wedding story in today's New York Times! The bride, Dr. Amy Goldman, is chairwoman of the Seed Savers Exchange and the groom, Dr. Cary Fowler is head of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which helps run the famous... Continue reading

Posted May 13, 2012 at Garden Rant

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New Garden Ready for its Debut

Readers may be remember that I recently moved and downsized, especially in the size of the garden. Above is the "before" shot of my new front* yard - a lawn with a couple of oversized boxwoods and a few ungainly... Continue reading

Posted May 10, 2012 at Garden Rant

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In Praise of the Humble Catalpa

Guest post by Allen Bush Catalpas are seldom planted anymore. Mike Dirr notes these relics in his Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs: “Ever ask the local nursery for a catalpa? Chances are it has none to offer. Southern catalpa and... Continue reading

Posted May 8, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Oh Id sure love to when both your life and mine are back to normal. Is Ashville off your schedule? Hugs. S

Commented May 3, 2012 on 'Yard Crashers' at Ledge and Gardens at Ledge and Gardens

Love this!

Commented May 3, 2012 on 'Yard Crashers' at Ledge and Gardens at Ledge and Gardens

What kind of advice are Home Depot's "Certified Nursery Consultants" giving?

As an unabashed fan of independent garden centers, I enjoy scoffing at their Big Box competitors - the plants, the heavy-on-the-chemicals products, and worst of all, the gardening advice they give to unwitting customers. But guess what! According to this... Continue reading

Posted May 1, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Sunset's 40 (not 41) Gorgeous Paths

Over on the Sunset website I found a fabulous display of paths, a garden feature we just don't see enough of, imho. The collection is titled "41 Gorgeous Garden Paths" and indeed, 40 of them ARE gorgeous, like the one... Continue reading

Posted Apr 30, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Tell "Hippie Mulch" what you think of it

There's a new product in the works, and the makers have asked students at the University of St. Thomas ("one of the most highly renowned business schools in the globe," they tell me) to research "the best way to get... Continue reading

Posted Apr 24, 2012 at Garden Rant

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What I Learned from Margaret Roach's Garden

These days most of my blog reading is off-topic to gardening (sites like Apartment Therapy and Houzz) but I do listen to gardening podcasts and wish there were more good ones, like Margaret Roach's - she's the author of the... Continue reading

Posted Apr 17, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Turfgrass Infomercial at the National Arboretum?

Readers, please help me figure out how to react to this - a federal arboretum promoting lawns and instructing visitors in lawn care. Besides the stated intention of promoting lawn, my other cause for concern is who's behind this -... Continue reading

Posted Apr 16, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Thomas Rainer's 5 Myths about Native Plants

Part 2 of my summary of Thomas Rainer's talk about designing with native plants at the Lahr Native Plant Symposium. Part 1, covering design, is here. Thomas's myths about native plants: 1. That native plants are drought-tolerant, requiring less supplemental... Continue reading

Posted Apr 10, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Thomas Rainer on Contemporary Garden Design with Natives

Landscape architect Thomas Rainer (whose blog Grounded Design I've raved about) recently spoke to a rapt audience at the National Arboretum's Native Plant Symposium, addressing the big question - how to create a native-plant garden that looks like a garden.... Continue reading

Posted Apr 10, 2012 at Garden Rant

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It's come to this? Partisan Plants?

From Ball Publishing's Acres Online we received the following press release. Fox, MSNBC Launch Political Plant Brands Late-breaking news from Spring Trials … Two new plant brands are coming onto the market, and both are aimed at capitalizing on the... Continue reading

Posted Apr 3, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Leaf Magazine Dazzles

If you're not one of the 80,000 people already reading Leaf Magazine (after just one issue) then why the hell not? It's a free e-magazine, available right here. The new Spring 2012 issue, at 142 pages, is gorgeous and inspiring,... Continue reading

Posted Apr 3, 2012 at Garden Rant

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More on the sustainability of federal landscapes

I was pretty excited to report on new guidelines for sustainable federal properties, but wondered how enforceable these guidelines are and promised to try to find out more. I did. It's a bit discouraging. I talked with Ray Mims, the... Continue reading

Posted Mar 27, 2012 at Garden Rant

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D.C. Awash in Cherry Blossoms

Washington's new Martin Luther King Memorial sure looks better now than it did last fall when those cherry trees were bare and newly planted and leafless. Really, anything looks better with blooming cherry trees somewhere in view. Thanks to pal... Continue reading

Posted Mar 24, 2012 at Garden Rant

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What I was tempted to buy at the Philly Flower Show

When I attend the Philadelphia Flower Show I always arrive just as it opens and head straight for the displays and competitions (hopefully before the place gets insanely crowded). Then it's time to do some shopping! Here are the products... Continue reading

Posted Mar 20, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Philadelphia Flower Show goes Hawaiian

The largest and oldest flower show in the U.S., the Philly Flower Show is a always grand, but especially this year (to this visitor) because it brought the lushness of Hawaii to green-deprived Easterners. Starting with this 30-foot waterfall festooned... Continue reading

Posted Mar 13, 2012 at Garden Rant

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Beautiful No-Mow Yards Book Review

Book review by LRC member Susan Morrison In 2007, I designed my first no-lawn back yard. I would have welcomed advice on design strategies or plant options, but at the time, a book like that wasn’t even a gleam in a publisher’s eye. So you can imagine how thrilled I... Continue reading

Posted Mar 12, 2012 at Lawn Reform Coalition

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