Notes From the Lawn

Not all of us are concrete-jungle urbanites. For those with greenery surrounding the homestead, JESSICA FRANCIS KANE weeds through the trials, tribulations, and hard-earned joys of the modern gardener.

Timescape

We preserve old buildings, why not old landscapes? Transplanted horticulturalist JESSICA FRANCIS KANE discovers a mysterious garden outside time’s realm in Greenwich Village. (Notes From the Lawn | May 6, 2009)

Curb Your Dog’s Enthusiasm

New York City is a wonderland for dogs—to defecate on, and for their owners to look the other way. JESSICA FRANCIS KANE argues for a more civilized scenario, where dogs aren’t encouraged to kill plants. (Op-Ed | February 5, 2009)

Secret Gardens

Now a New Yorker, our resident green essayist JESSICA FRANCIS KANE brings her yardwork series to the big city, even if it means breaking into private plots. (Notes From the Lawn | October 11, 2007)

Leaving Charlottesville

Departing the (garden) lovers’ state for one that loves its cement and money more, our scribbler of the lillies JESSICA FRANCIS KANE realizes the crucial difference between caring about plants and caring for them. (Notes From the Lawn | August 14, 2007)

Catalog of Dreams

Our resident poet of the orange blossoms, JESSICA FRANCIS KANE discovers the literary charms of gardening catalogs: reading for aesthetic pleasure, also for planning the future. (Notes From the Lawn | April 11, 2007)

Tomato Mori

The botanical arts can be passed down, whispered along, or demonstrated with a spade. But who the teacher turns out to be can be a greater surprise than his secrets for growing tomatoes. Our resident gardener JESSICA FRANCIS KANE gets ready for the Fourth of July. (Notes From the Lawn | March 12, 2007)

Plain Air Dining

Americans love their cars—as chariots, mobile offices, and teenage make-out spots. But when did they become dining tables? JESSICA FRANCIS KANE reports on a disturbing trend in the heartland. (Notes From the Lawn | November 17, 2006)

Plantmanship

What sort of gardener looks forward to winter’s first frost? Our in-house green thumb JESSICA FRANCIS KANE doubts herself after seeing what an expert Virginia gardener—and her garden—looks like. (Notes From the Lawn | November 3, 2006)

The Heirloom Ficus

When a loved one’s houseplants are divided up, what you get isn’t a condition of your standing as a relative, but of your ability as a gardener. JESSICA FRANCIS KANE has a story of memory and maintenance, and the discovery of a special bond. (Notes From the Lawn | June 21, 2006)

Forced: A Flower Show

Gardeners love to commune with nature. Though not as much as they love to commune with ice cream and plasma screens and loud noises and personality quizzes. JESSICA FRANCIS KANE report from the middle of 33 indoor acres of plants. (Notes From the Lawn | April 3, 2006)

Landscaped Beyond all Recognition

We bemoan the rise of the McMansion, the slash-and-burn path of the strip mall—but the real problem may be lurking in the shrubbery. JESSICA FRANCIS KANE looks at where our yards are now. (Notes From the Lawn | February 21, 2006)

Raising the Stakes

Drooping flowers are no gardener’s friend. So how can you fix them? And, more to the point, how did these things ever get by without us? A few simple ways to make the world bend to our will. (Notes From the Lawn | October 6, 2005)

Magic Step

One person’s porch is another’s stomping ground; one person’s garden is another’s view. This week: How to share the world with your neighbors or, failing that, how to suffer their existence. (Notes From the Lawn | September 22, 2005)

Container Gardening

Even in urban decay, nature can find a way to thrive. This week: Making the case for making friends with your neighbors, both human and insect. (Notes From the Lawn | August 15, 2005)

The Weed Hound

We want gardening to seem so natural, something any of us, given a trowel, can do. But the autodidacts among us should realize that sometimes help is needed. This week: How a mail-order gardening tool saved a marriage. (Notes From the Lawn | August 1, 2005)

Insects and Expats

No matter how many ferns we arrange or seedlings we covet, many of us have a very complicated relationship with the landscape. This week: A London bumblebee needs no help, thank you. (Notes From the Lawn | July 19, 2005)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

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