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Waterwise Gardening - a book review

Waterwise Gardening: Everything You Need To Know About Efficient Watering to Grow a Healthy Yard by Richard Restuccia Published by Rizzoli, 2025 I would guess that watering is the major issue that most gardeners grapple with, especially novice gardeners. I know from working at the nursery that the majority of questions and issues we get stem from either watering too much or not watering enough.  Many people in our area have sprinkler systems and I'm sure that can be a good thing if used properly but I feel that they primarily keep the lawns green but fall short for landscape plants. Especially when it comes to trees and larger plants, the timing and amounts are not satisfactory for many plants. I often hear people say that their sprinklers are set to come on every day - yikes! And there are those who did not water because it "rained" when it actually drizzled.  The best thing to do in this situation is to have a xeric garden but that would mean sacrificing favorite plant...

November HIghlights





I didn't think there was much left to see in the garden but there is. The morning started out with a bit of fog and this beautiful sunrise -


And there are quite a number of colorful trees still going strong and some just beginning to change colors. Some of the first trees I planted were two Japanese maples that are next to the deck. These were unnamed varieties but are nice but quite different in fall color. They both change color very late in the season compared to the other maples in the garden. The one on the right side is redder in color...



 while the one on the left is more orange and gold -



The "Lion's Head" Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira') was already planted here when we arrived. I ended up moving it and put it in a large pot. It looks a bit ragged last year but improved this year with more watering. And the color this year is dramatically improved -

Lion's Head Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira')


 The Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum), also next to our back deck, is also more colorful this year -

Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)


The Perisan Parrotia (Ironwood) continues to hold its leaves and I would say it has been the prettiest tree in the garden this fall. The colors are just spectacular.

Persian Parrotia (Ironwood)

 That is about it for the trees. Most of the others have already lost all their leaves. I will highlight some colorful shrubs in the next post.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. The flowering season is over, and most leafs are gone, but there is always something happening in the garden. Is autumn much different here then in Alabama?

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    Replies
    1. It was very similar. The winters in north Alabama were also similar to here. The major difference are the temperature fluctuations. They tend to lower and rise here on a steady scale while in Alabama it was not unusual to have 60 degree days followed by 20 degree ones.

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  2. A beautiful sunrise photo. These trees still look gorgeous.

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