A Way To Garden https://awaytogarden.com/ 'horticultural how-to and woo-woo' with margaret roach, head gardener Sat, 23 May 2026 14:01:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 9651199 the magic of owls, with paul bannick https://awaytogarden.com/the-magic-of-owls-with-paul-bannick/ https://awaytogarden.com/the-magic-of-owls-with-paul-bannick/#comments Sat, 23 May 2026 14:01:32 +0000 https://awaytogarden.com/?p=59071 OWLS: THEY ARE birds we more often hear than see, exceptionally well-camouflaged creatures,  many of whom move about in the hours of low light for an extra layer of stealth, making them seem even more mysterious. So what do you know about owls—besides perhaps the eerie sound of their voices? For wildlife photographer and writer Paul Bannick, owls have been the subject of much study and also the topic of several of his books, and he’s here today to tell us about these incredible animals who have commanded his attention, and should command more of ours. (Above, a great gray owl and owlets.) Paul Bannick is an award-winning author and wildlife photographer based in Seattle whose work focuses on the natural history of North America, with a particular emphasis on the conservation of birds and their habitats. He has written several previous books about owls—including “Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls” (affiliate link) and another about the great gray and one about the snowy owl, too, plus a book about woodpeckers. Plus: Comment in the box near the bottom of the page for a chance to win a copy of “Owl: A Year in the Lives […]

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]]> https://awaytogarden.com/the-magic-of-owls-with-paul-bannick/feed/ 2 59071 gravel-garden possibilities, with jeff epping https://awaytogarden.com/gravel-garden-possibilities-with-jeff-epping/ https://awaytogarden.com/gravel-garden-possibilities-with-jeff-epping/#comments Fri, 15 May 2026 18:16:43 +0000 https://awaytogarden.com/?p=59040 THE MORE THAT I SEE photographs of gravel gardens and the more that I learn about this gardening style, which besides its distinctive aesthetic appeal promises to be water-wise and weed-suppressing, the more I want to give it a try. So I was happy to get an early copy of “The Gravel Garden,” a book that’s due out in June, and be treated to virtual walks through 20 such landscapes in a range of sizes and styles. The book’s co-author, Jeff Epping, who has been making gravel gardens for clients since 2008 and converted his own Wisconsin front yard from lawn to gravel in 2017,  joined me to talk about what kinds of plants work in these resilient gardens and provide us with some design inspiration, too. Jeff is a longtime horticulturist and garden designer who for 28 years was director of horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisc. Jeff’s upcoming book is called “The Gravel Garden: Visionary, Drought-Defying Naturalistic Designs” (affiliate link), written in collaboration with Teresa Woodard. It takes us around the country and to the UK and Germany, too, to look at how various garden makers have interpreted the technique of gravel gardening, and I’m so […]

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]]> https://awaytogarden.com/gravel-garden-possibilities-with-jeff-epping/feed/ 311 59040 wildr: a new free app to guide us on our ecological journey https://awaytogarden.com/wildr-a-new-free-app-to-guide-us-on-our-ecological-journey/ https://awaytogarden.com/wildr-a-new-free-app-to-guide-us-on-our-ecological-journey/#comments Fri, 08 May 2026 19:59:44 +0000 https://awaytogarden.com/?p=59015 FINDING OUR WAY toward a more ecologically vibrant garden can sometimes feel a bit challenging, and I’m always looking for resources to guide me along the way, and to share with you. Last year I shared news about a New York-based sustainable landscaping firm called Plan It Wild that had developed a digital self-test to help us each evaluate the ecological health of our landscape, and an accompanying 12-step program to enhance it—both of them free to use. Now the same company, with an impressive group of collaborators that includes Doug Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park, the Wild Ones membership group, Audubon, Cornell Lab and more, has taken the next step. They just launched the beta version of an app described as a “personalized rewilding guide for every homeowner in America” to help us decide which actions to take and what plants to use to accomplish them. Joanna Hall, the CEO of Plan It Wild, a Westchester, NY-based landscaping firm focused on creating biodiversity-raising native habitats, and Bram Gunther, Plant It Wild’s  VP of Science & Development joined me to talk about the Wildr app, the new app they’ve developed to guide us as we enhance our home landscapes with an […]

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