Aider Maider 

Completed my internship at the botanical garden, I left a PhD to dedicate myself to professional gardening. After years of work, some spent with a great mentor, I have now the presumption to know how to cultivate plants: the epitome of a gardener.

Kittens!

Let’s give it a try: with the help of Macha the cat, I’ll trick the algorithm into talking about plants. Let's see...

Idon’t often use bulbous plants in my work: they occupy space for only a limited period, and unless planted randomly, they often disrupt the geometries and volumetric balance of the garden, especially when they ar…

Hey there, ever heard of allelopathy?

Allelopathic substances are phytotoxins produced by plants to hinder the development of other plants, providing a competitive advantage. These compounds are typically released into the soil through the roots or via the decomposition of fallen leaves.

For instance, walnut trees (genus Juglans) contain "…

Hey there, what’s your relationship with frost?

Let’s keep things oversimplified, as always.

When temperatures drop below zero, plants risk tissue freezing and dehydration. Deciduous species protect themselves through dormancy (reducing circulating sap and shedding vulnerable leaves), while some evergreens adapt by increasing osmotic conce…

Understanding frost threat

This thing of sharing photos of where you've been and what you've done is definitely social. And I'm unsocial. Whatever.

Hey there, let's dispel a common myth.

Properly executed pruning should create the best possible conditions for a plant to heal after cuts are made. As already mentioned (in some previous notes, I think) small cutting surfaces promote better healing, which is why orthogonal cuts are (almost always) preferable to oblique ones.

For branches…

Hey there,

some people rake leaves from flowerbeds to "clean up" (unbearable to hear!).

The soil thus exposed suffers the ravages of the elements: rain washes away its organic matter and compacts it, wind dries it out, and the sun "bakes" it. Unsurprisingly, the first weeds soon appear, as bare soil is a rarity in nature, except in specifi…

Can't complain about this almost wintry day

(directly from my window).

Hey there,

It seems these pruning tips don’t interest many people. That's fine: if you scholars take a more contemplative approach to the world, you’ll have fewer opportunities to cause damage :)

Anyway, how should you prune?

To simplify: imagine the cross-section of a tree trunk or branch. Diametrical growth occurs through a ring of undiff…

Hey there,

are you wondering how much to prune?

When it comes to trees, the structure of the plant should be established while it’s young. After that, maintenance pruning should never remove more than 20% of the crown.

Over-pruning can cause damage in two ways:

1 BTC = 100k $ 👏

Hey there,

Did you think that gardening was just about manipulating a few bulbs, trimming hedges and sticking a shovel here and there while wearing floral gloves?

Wrong, so very wrong!

Read on, and you'll understand why my soul is damned.

Gardening is a bloody carnage