Autumn Light Landscape Design

This hot, dry weather is hard on new plants - even those that were put in last year. Water them deeply and gently, either by pouring lots of water around their crowns, or by soaking the ground gently with a sprinkler or mist. Don't aim a hard stream of water at the ground, as that blasts mulch out of the way and compacts the soil. Take your time, and make sure that the top few inches of soil are damp when you're done - not just the surface.

Also, don't forget your established trees. They need water, too! Soak the ground around them, even beyond the dripline; surface roots for big trees can travel a long way away from the trunk. Preventing drought stress now will help them stay resilient later in the year.

(Photo: ferns and sweet woodruff after a rainfall)

Chestnuts used to be the most important trees of the Eastern forests. They fed wildlife, created habitat, and supported humans. One can still buy American chestnut saplings, but they aren't likely to live long enough to produce nuts - the blight is still here, still killing trees. But efforts are being made to breed resistant American chestnuts, using both crossbreeding and GMO. Neither are perfect. But with enough time and focused work, we will have chestnuts in our forests again.

The Demise and Potential Revival of the American Chestnut Before a disastrous blight, the American chestnut was a keystone species in eastern forests. Could genetic engineering help bring it back?

How to think about houseplant placement: