Growing Greener
249 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 days ago - ★★★★★ - 64 ratingsYour weekly half-hour program about environmentally informed gardening. Each week we bring you a different expert, a leading voice on gardening in partnership with Nature. Our goal is to make your landscape healthier, more beautiful, more sustainable, and more fun.
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Episodes
Town Joins Gown in an Environmental Partnership
May 18, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBColleen Murphy-Dunning, director of the Urban Resources Initiative, describes how Yale University’s School of the Environment partnered with the New Haven community to design and implement a very successful program to enhance the urban ecosystem in a way that directly benefits residents while also educating students.
A Leading Expert and Veteran Grower Publishes His Introduction to Gardening with Native Plants
May 11, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBDirector of Horticulture at the Native Plant Trust in Framingham, Massachusetts, and former Curator of Native Flora at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Uli Lorimer has written a new book, The Northeast Native Plant Primer, 235 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden. An outstanding introduction to gardening with native plants, it is especially relevant for residents of the northeastern United States but has much to offer to gardeners in other regions of the country as well. In our conversation, we...
Chemical-Free Strategies for Weed Control
May 04, 2022 12:06 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBDr. Toni DiTommaso of Cornell University explains how familiarity with the ecology of weeds can help a gardener control their impact on the garden without resorting to toxic chemicals, and shares the web address of a free book-length guide to the subject
Enrich Your Soil With a Different Take on Composting
April 27, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBWith roots in traditional Korean agriculture, Bokashi composting has much to offer the contemporary gardener. Conway School graduate Boris Kerzner describes the process, explaining how you can pursue this process for recycling kitchen wastes – including meat scraps and dairy – to enrich your garden’s soil in just weeks.
Irrigation In A Time of Water Shortage
April 20, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBWater is a resource plants cannot do without, and maintaining the right level of moisture in your soil – not too little and not too much – is critical to gardening success. That’s why pioneering horticulturist Robert Kourik holds irrigation to be one of the gardener’s most powerful tools. Join him for details about the techniques he has found most precise and efficient, methods of irrigation that can reduce your water use by a half or more while also boosting your harvest of fruits and flo...
Succession in the Designed Landscape
April 13, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBFor 40 years, Larry Weaner, founder of Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, has been exploring the intersection of ecology with landscape and garden design, creating a style of planning, planting, and management that is founded in the natural dynamics of the site. One of the most powerful of these dynamics is succession, the inherent tendency of landscapes and their flora to evolve and change. By learning how to work with succession, how to channel and direct it down desirable paths, Larry ha...
Reconnecting People and Prairie
April 06, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBShare my discovery of a Nebraska treasure: the Prairie Plains Resource Institute. For more than 40 years this organization has been perfecting low-tech methods of wild grassland restoration while reconnecting people with the richness of their prairie heritage. Join us for a visit with executive director Amy Jones
Studying Climate Change with Henry David Thoreau
March 30, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBTo trace the impact of climate change on the plants and animals of Massachusetts, Dr. Richard Primack of Boston University turned to an unconventional source: the journals of 19th century philosopher Henry David Thoreau. In these documents, Dr. Primack discovered a wealth of relevant, closely observed data. Learn about this and Dr. Primack’s other intriguing discoveries in this week’s Growing Greener.
Garden Healthy With GardenFit
March 23, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBGardening can be a prime source of aches and pains, from a bad back to tendonitis – now “GardenFit,” the new public television series, combines inspiring visits to extraordinary gardens with professional advice on how to keep your gardening healthy. Join hosts Madeline Hooper and Jeff Hughes in their project to make your gardening more rewarding horticulturally and physically.
Seed Saving and Sharing with the Community Seed Network
March 16, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBJeanine Scheffert, co-chair of the Community Seed Network details the ways in which her organization can help gardeners to achieve success in seed saving and sharing and join a community of like-minded gardeners
The View from Federal Twist
March 09, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBJames Golden’s new book, “The View from Federal Twist: A New Way of Thinking About Gardens, Nature and Ourselves” delivers in full everything the title promises. In this conversation, the author discusses the birth and evolution of his remarkable garden, and how it changed him and his relationship to his landscape.
Attracting Beneficial Insects to Your Garden
March 02, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBHorticulturist Jessica Walliser is fascinated by the insects in our gardens, the vast majority of whom play positive roles in these domesticated ecosystems. We discuss the fruits of her studies and the new, updated edition of her award-winning book, “Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden, a Natural Approach to Pest Control.” Learn how your landscaping can bolster the work of these essential garden allies.
Benjamin Vogt Teaches a Better Way to Garden
February 23, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBIn 2017 Benjamin Vogt captivated the gardening world with his book, “A New Garden Ethic,” in which he explored the need to radically redesign our domestic landscapes to accommodate all the other creatures of North America. Since then this award-winning author, horticulturist, and educator has been promoting this message in the gardens he designs, his many articles and talks, and his on-line classes. Today we discuss these classes, and how they present an engaging and easy-to-master introdu...
Check Out the Rochester, Minnesota Seed Library
February 16, 2022 12:18 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBGardening can be the heart of a community, as the Rochester, Minnesota Seed Library demonstrates. Librarian Keri Ostby describes how the seed library brings together vegetable seeds for all the groups within the community, providing a source of superior fresh foods and for exploring mutual foodways. By encouraging seed saving the seed library also fosters the development of locally adapted strains of vegetables
The Unconventional, Chemical-Free Path To a Pollinator Meadow
February 09, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBAlina Harris of the Xerces Society discusses the ecological importance of invertebrates, and how you can use your mower more strategically to convert a field to a thriving pollinator meadow without herbicides
Gardening In A Land of Wildfire
February 02, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBBill Melvin of Ecoscape Environmental Design in Boulder, Colorado discusses appropriate management of the human landscape in a region where wildfire is endemic. What were the lessons for gardeners in the recent Marshall Fire, and how can they adapt their craft to better suit the dynamics of their local environment?
Designing the Naturalistic Garden
January 26, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBWhat is a naturalistic garden and how does it differ from a natural landscape? Duncan Brine is a principal with his wife Julia Brine of Garden Large, a garden design firm based in Pawling, New York. In our conversation, he discusses his concept of naturalistic gardening, the way it informs his design work, and how it has shaped the remarkable 6-acre garden he and Julia have created around their home.
Gardening With Wetland Natives
January 19, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBStruggling with a wet spot in your yard? Join John Courtney of Kind Earth Growers to learn how to turn this difficulty into an asset. John has more than 20 years of experience in growing native plants adapted to wet soils. From collecting seed in the wild to mixing special soil blends, he understands wetland natives special cultural needs, and savors their special beauty. Let John help you transform that wet spot into an ecological opportunity and beauty spot.
Sex in the Garden
January 12, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBThe flowers in your garden are not, as gardeners often think, aesthetic statements, they are invitations for sex. Ranging from plant incest to the brutality of dragonfly sex, Carol Reese, distinguished horticultural educator at the University of Tennessee, shares insights on the curious aspects of sexual relations between plants and the role that wildlife plays in promoting it.
Best of the Best: Garden-Tested Native Plants
January 05, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBSam Hoadley, Mount Cuba Center’s Director of Horticultural Research deliberately neglects his plants. His responsibility is to conduct the trials by which this renowned botanical garden in Hockessin, Delaware tests native plants to see which are garden stars – and attractive to pollinators – and which are garden and pollination duds. After selecting a popular genus, Sam and his crew collect all the types they find available in nurseries, establish them side-by-side in the test plots, and l...
Introduction to the Seed Savers Exchange
December 29, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBDr. Philip Kauth, Director of Preservation, describes the history and activities of the Seed Savers Exchange, and how this remarkable organization is preserving tens of thousands of vegetable and fruit varieties that otherwise would have been lost.
A Do-It-Yourself Native Plants Nursery
December 22, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBNative plants enthusiasts Kristen Nicholson, Britt Drews, and Jasmin Callahan were frustrated by the lack of nearby sources on biodiverse, locally adapted plants. So they started their own nursery, growing the plants from locally collected seeds. Today Blue Stem Natives is a horticultural phenomenon and a haven for ecological gardeners in southeastern Massachusetts.
GMO to the Rescue
December 15, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBDr. Jared Westbrook of the American Chestnut Foundation explores a controversial subject: the use of genetic engineering by his foundation to create blight-resistant American chestnut trees and return this once iconic species to the eastern woodlands
Sefra Alexandra and the Ecotype Project
December 08, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBHow to introduce Sefra Alexandra, “the Seed Huntress”? She’s an agroecological educator with a masters degree from Cornell University and she’s worked as an ethnobotanist all around the world, including in her home town of Southport, Connecticut. Sefra’s a “BOATanist” who plants seed-grown natives along riparian corridors by canoe, and she’s a member of The Explorers Club. Currently Sefra is also the coordinator of the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s program to restore pollinator ...
Eric Fleisher Breaks New Ground
December 01, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBEric Fleisher of F2 Environmental Design has been breaking new ground – literally – ever since he first began converting New York public landscapes to organic management 30 years ago. By building up and managing the soil, and treating the landscape as a holistic system, he eliminates the needs for chemical inputs and turns garden wastes into an environmental resource. In this way he has transformed landscapes all over the country, from the Harvard University campus to the Museum of Modern ...
Experiencing the Garden Through Haiku
November 24, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBBeing in the moment is a challenge in our busy, too-connected age, yet it is essential for appreciating and understanding the garden. Poet Susan Brearley shares her practice for mindfulness: the on-the-spot composition of garden haiku. Brearley, who has been teaching haiku workshops at the great Innisfree garden in Millbrook, New York, shares the basics of this classic Japanese poetic form, along with a look at the sensibility that traditionally informs it.
Greening Your Landscape Maintenance
November 17, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBDo you hate the noise and stink of gasoline-powered blowers and mowers rampaging through your neighborhood? Matthew Benzie of Indigenous Ingenuities in Doylestown, Pennsylvania is doing something about that. He’s switched his maintenance crew to zero-emission, quiet, battery-powered equipment transported on a bicycle-powered cart. He’s designing his landscapes for greener, sustainable maintenance too. Learn about this revolutionary rethinking of the landscape business on this week’s epis...
Green-Wood Cemetery: Space for the Living
November 10, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBBrooklyn’s famous cemetery builds on its heritage, becoming a community green space, an arboretum, and a center for environmental research
An Ecologically Smarter Garden Clean-up
November 03, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBMatthew Shepherd of the Xerces Society details ways to get the garden ready for winter without harming over-wintering insects and other foundational wildlife
Where Permaculture Goes Wrong
October 27, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MB“Food Forests” are a central concept of Permaculture – in our discussion of his must-have new book, Sustainable Food Gardens, Robert Kourik details where Permaculture goes wrong, and explains how his book corrects the food forest for the North American landscape.
Inviting Nature into the Built Environment
October 20, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBLooking to reconnect with nature? Try Brooklyn Bridge Park, six concrete shipping piers on New York’s East River transformed into a series of vibrant ecosystems rich with native wildlife. Director of Horticulture Rebecca McMackin describes how salvaged materials make this 85-acre, organically maintained landscape sustainable as well as beautiful.
Meeting the Threat of Asian Jumping Worms
October 13, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBDr. Josef Gorres of the University of Vermont discusses the environmental threat posed by invasive Asian Jumping Worms and the methods he is exploring for their control in our forests and gardens
Deer Outside the Garden
October 06, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBForest steward Adrian Ayres Fisher describes the profound impact that uncontrolled deer populations have on native woodlands and their ecology
Converting the Family Farm to Regenerative Agriculture
September 29, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBCarol Bouska describes the process she and her three sisters have followed in transforming the family farm in northeastern Iowa into a model of regenerative agriculture. They are sequestering carbon in the soil, reducing water pollution, and nurturing wildlife while also building community and reinforcing family ties.
Bee-Friendly Lawns
September 22, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBDr. Eric Watkins of the University of Minnesota discusses the university's program to create more sustainable lawns that support native bees and other pollinators
Ginny Stibolt and Climate-Wise Landscaping
September 15, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBGardener and writer Ginny Stibolt discusses “Climate-Wise Landscaping,” the book she co-authored with landscape architect Sue Reed, and how it can make your personal landscape more resilient and a force for positive environmental change
Stewarding the Soil
September 08, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBInnovative farmer Jesse Frost describes his focus on stewardship of the earth in his outstanding and useful new book, “The Living Soil Handbook”
Gardening with Wildfires
September 01, 2021 11:26 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBLos Angeles landscape Architect Greg Kochanowski discusses his study of landscape management in fire-adapted landscapes
Growing Roses Without Chemicals
August 24, 2021 16:40 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBInternationally renowned rosarian Stephen Scanniello teaches gardeners how to grow roses without all the chemical pesticides
The Environmental Cost of Plastic Nursery Pots and Promoting the Alternatives
August 18, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBEcological landscape designer and consultant Marie Chieppo discusses the report on plastic nursery pots she compiled for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, and the greener alternatives that she is promoting
Sculpting the Sun
August 11, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBArtist Robert Adzema talks about his unique sun sculptures and how sundials can fix us in time while serving as a bridge to connect the garden with the heavens
Forest Forensics and Roadside Ecology
August 04, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBEcologist Tom Wessels details how he reads the history of forested landscapes from visual clues – "Forest Forensics" – and describes his new book, New England's Roadside Ecology
Listening to Your Lawn Weeds
July 28, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBPaul Tukey, author of the classic guide, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, shares his prescription for listening to, and learning from, the weeds in your lawn
A Different Take on Invasive Species
July 21, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBAward-winning environmental journalist Fred Pearce discusses his book, The New Wild, and the positive role he believes that invasive species can play in our changing ecosystems
Organic Strategies for Weeds
July 14, 2021 11:15 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBNancy Dubrule-Clemente, founder of the pioneering, all-organic garden center and garden service, Natureworks, describes the. chemical-free methods she has developed for coping with weeds
Ready-to-plant, custom-designed wildlife gardens
July 07, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBMary Philips of the National Wildlife Federation details her organization's new program to supply ready-to-plant wildlife gardens, customized for your climate and your garden conditions
Dealing with Ticks
June 30, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBTwo experts, Dr. Thomas Mather, Director of the University of Rhode Island's Tick Encounter Resource Center, and Kathy Connolly, designer of native gardens and proprietor of Speaking of Landscapes, LLC, discuss ways to avoid tick bites and manage the landscape so it is less hospitable to these dangerous pests
Helia – An innovative native plant nursery
June 23, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBBased in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, Helia Native Plant Nursery collects its stock locally, preserving and enhancing local genetic variants, while also maintaining a living seed bank to help its plants evolve in response to climate change.
Mosquito Control Good and Bad
June 16, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBAimee Code, Pesticide Program Director for the Xerces Society, discusses the problems with many conventional mosquito control programs, and how the same goals can be achieved with less environmental impact
Amphibians Under Threat
June 09, 2021 10:00 - 29 minutes - 40.1 MBMark Mandica, Executive Director of The Amphibian Foundation, discusses the threats that are causing a worldwide decline of amphibians, and what gardeners can do to make their home landscapes more hospitable to these essential creatures