Q. My wife and I just moved to Rowayton (Ledge Road) and we’ve discovered what appears to be a few mole holes in our lawn. Is there a preferred/efficient method of mole removal in Rowayton? While the holes are on the lawn (and not in a garden bed) I figured …
Our Horticulture Chair, Carol Giunta, has the following gardening tips for November: Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation! Does this sound like a repeat of last month? It is! After researching good task ideas, you will do your yard the biggest favor by staying on top of leaf raking chores. Not only do diseases and …
Horticulture Chair Carol Giunta has suggested three terrific articles for your reading pleasure. Gardenista’s True Colors: 9 Best Shrubs for Fall Foliage has some old favorites and a few new ideas for the fall palette. Fine Gardening’s 10 Tips on Dividing Perennial Plants is a must read now as we clean up our …
Q. How do I prune my Hydrangeas and when is the best time of year to do it? A. Hydrangea pruning is a complicated matter! It depends… If you have the new hybrid reblooming Hydrangeas, you may cut them back in fall to the size and shape you desire. Examples: …
Tips from our Horticulture Chair, Carol Giunta: October’s Theme is Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation! Make next year’s garden healthier by giving it special care now! Even though we’re expected to get above average rainfall the first week in October, remember to continue watering plants until we have a hard frost as plants need …
Registration is full for the Gardeners’ Third Annual Carvathon at the Potting Shed. Parents and other volunteers will help carvers create cute or creepy pumpkins on Monday, October 26th or Tuesday, October 27th from 3:30 to 5 pm.
Tuesday night, October 13th, from 6 to 8:30 pm, we will spend an inspired evening with Terrian’s fabulous designer, Deb Herbertson! Many of you may remember the trip we took to see her create table decorations and terrariums a couple of years ago at the Westport Terrain store & restaurant. Both charming and …
Fairy World is the ultimate free-play space at The Potting Shed. There is nothing better than watching families step back and simply observe their children creating small shelters, teepees, kingdoms, etc… for our rarely-seen resident Rowayton fairy community. Each week the “building materials” are replenished and changed to suit the …
A couple of weeks ago, our gardening friend Nick Mancini filmed his weekly television program, Organic Gardening with Nick Mancini, at the Rowayton Gardeners’ Potting Shed Patch. The show is available on Public Access (Cablevision) Ch 88 on Friday nights at 9:30 pm, and you can see photos from our shoot by reading …
Carol Giunta reported today that the drought that’s developed over the summer is changing the ways in which we should nurture our lawns, plants, shrubs, and trees as fall begins. Her list of things to do is extensive and thoughtfully compiled.
Join us as we open our doors and lower our screen for Movie Night at the Potting Shed starting this fall! Bring a beverage & a blanket. Kindly let us know you are coming so that we can save you a chair. Upcoming films include (October 14th) Fed Up and (November 11th) Grey Gardens. …
In celebration of National Honey Month, the Gardeners held a “Sweet Evening” with Marina Marchese of Red Bee Honey in September. Attendees enjoyed a variety of specially selected honeys paired with gourmet cheeses, breads and delectable treats. Have a look at the amazing scene at the Potting Shed…
Every Saturday (10 am to noon) from September 12th to November 7th, our fabulous team of Rowayton Gardeners will host kids and parents for some amazing fall experiences and all are welcome to join us at the Potting Shed! Enjoy free nature-inspired crafts, garden art and harvest snacking for kids …
It’s hard to believe that our “Patch,” the spectacular organic vegetable, herb and flower garden next to the Potting Shed and Greenhouse, was just a vision last year at this time! Now it is full of color and crops and both kids and adults have a new place to gather, …
Take a look at this lovely Dirt Simple blog post on hydrangeas from landscape designer Deborah Silver! It’s timely and full of information about planting and caring for these gorgeous blooms. Thanks to Carol Giunta for passing it along. We are all reveling the blossoms that simply didn’t appear last …
A hearty group of Gardeners heeded the call of Bayley Beach Chair Lilly Langotsky and descended upon the berms at Bayley to “coax” their vegetation back into order. In just over an hour the area was spiffed up and all the weeds and cuttings were spirited out of sight by …
We all love to be outside in the summer – gardening, golfing, hiking, even just entertaining in our own back yards. WebMD has published a nifty bad bug slideshow that can be truly helpful in identifying what has bitten you and how to treat (or avoid) that bite. Click here …
The Gardeners “worksite crew” at the Community Center has been hard at work this summer despite the construction taking place for the new access road. Some plantings have been unavoidably disturbed, but all are being restored as the work progresses. Chair Phyllis Padro has kept up with the bulldozers and …
This summer the Rowayton Library and Rowayton Gardeners are collaborating once again to present a 6-week program from 3:30 to 4:30 pm on Thursdays in July and early August at the Potting Shed. We’re featuring 6 different heroes in keeping with the American Library Association “Heroes” theme, and they’ll have a fun …
Laura Tangley of the National Wildlife Federation considers native bees the “Wild Pollinator Champs. She says that they are unsung heroes, even though honey bees (imports from Europe) are getting lots of buzz: “…with all the attention being paid to honeybees, I wonder if we’re overlooking an even more important …
Rowayton Gardeners recently did a compost lesson for all four Kindergarten classes which featured our educational & fun puppet show.. The lessons also included planting butterfly, bee & bird attractors in our new veggie bed border, amending the soil with compost and checking out our compost area. Second graders had fun …
From Carol Giunta: Fertilize spring bulbs so they will bloom next year Direct sow summer annuals such as zinnias, cosmos and marigold to fill in any empty spots in your garden
On the evening of May 16th, a capacity crowd spent quality time with our favorite, local flower designer Adam Manjuck! For those of you who have never stopped into Flower & Flowers or worked with Adam, this was a chance not to be missed.
The Monarch butterfly is in grave danger, but in these 8 simple steps you can help reverse the trend and revitalize the species! Click here to read the entire article from our Greenpeace friends.
Garden Farm Art Camp is a new 6-part after-school program at the Rowayton Gardeners Potting Shed featuring Eco-Farm on Wheels and artists from the Rowayton Arts Center. Be sure to read on for more information and photos.
The Rowayton Gardeners’ Annual Spring Plant Sale fundraiser was held Saturday, May 2nd from 9 am to 1 pm at The Potting Shed (located behind the Rowayton Community Center at 33 Highland Avenue).
Friday, April 24th, was the date of our first annual Mother/Son Dirt Fest. “Annual?,” you say. “Absolutely!” say the 30 boys and mothers who attended two hours of terrific fun and food at the RG Potting Shed. Pictures speak louder than words – so take a look at the amazing …
Concern about native bee colony collapse has brought attention to the critical pollination role of all bees and their plight, and also spotlighted what people can do to help, says David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation. To create a yard that’s safe and attractive to native bees, it’s important to understand them …
Growing your own food successfully is a constant process of learning which techniques work best for you and your plants. Often simple bits of advice from other gardeners can help provide shortcuts to achieving success in your garden. Take a look at this wonderful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31l960Ggx0&feature=youtu.be
A national public health and environmental group, Beyond Pesticides, is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to stop the use of the country’s most popular herbicide, glyphosate, in the wake of an international ruling that it causes cancer in humans. The …
We have recently begun working with a local Norwalk organization called Grassroots Tennis (GRT). They are located only minutes from town and are a group dedicated to improving the lives of youths from broad socio-economic and cultural backgrounds with programs based on the ideals of tennis legend Arthur Ashe.
For all of us, becoming indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it. –Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of …
“Does the bleak, cold dullness of winter sometimes get you down? Then why not bring springtime into your home by forcing tree and shrub branches into bloom? Branches can be used as background for an arrangement or for an entire floral display, and you can prune your shrubs and trees …
As you pour over the seed catalogs this winter, keep pollinators in mind. Thanks to our Horticulture Chair Carol Giunta for letting us know about a nifty online guide specifically for our area entitled, Selecting Plants for Pollinators. For farmers, land managers and gardeners, the 24-page guide is most complete, …
The National Gardening Association says, “Everyone needs a little R and R, and for houseplants winter is the time to get it. Daylight is dramatically reduced, the air is dry, and temperatures are cool — not the perfect growing conditions. Follow these tips to keep your houseplants in shape through …
Thanks to Mary Verel for sharing this chuckle! If you know of a particularly good seed catalog or website, let our webmaster know and we will add it to the “Helpful Sites” page. Not that having more resources will solve this particular seasonal disorder!
Take a look at this list of 10 lovely New Year’s resolutions for us provided by the Gardener’s Supply Company. They’re simple and easy to accomplish…the best sort of planning for the future!
