Photo taken by Autumn Pinette
Welcome to my blog. I’m so pleased you’ve found me and I hope you’ll visit often and leave comments on posts you find interesting and provocative.
I am a landscape designer and garden coach based in Stamford, CT (zone 6). I am also an Accredited Organic Landcare Professional, which means you’ll find lots of posts about sustainable garden design, organics, creating habitat gardens and, of course, native plants.
While I have been designing gardens for many years, I launched my own business called Roberts & Roberts Landscape and Garden Design in 2008. I’m a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and sit on both the international Advocvacy Committe and Sustainability Committee. I am also a founding member of the Connecticut chapter of APLD and an active volunteer within the chapter.
I am also proud to be a member of Garden Writers of America. My articles have appeared in regional, state and local publications such as Connecticut Gardener, the Home & Gardens section of Hersam Acorn newspapers, Landscape and Hardscape Design and Minuteman newspapers. I have been featured in Businessweek.com, The Little Green Book of Big Marketing Tips & Tactics for Landscape Professionals and Lowes for Pros magazine.
In addition to writing this blog, I am also a member of an acclaimed group of international garden and landscape designers, The Garden Designers Roundtable, who blog monthly about various garden design topics. If you haven’t checked out the GDRT blog yet, I invite you to do so. Redaing the team’s different perspectives on the same topic is really fascinating.
My interest in creating eco-friendly, sustainable gardens also lead to an invitation to join an esteemed group of biologists, landscape designers, professors, book authors and more from all over North America who share the belief that a healthy environment and healthy planet begins in our own gardens. You can find my posts, along with those of my fellow team members, at Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens.
I additon to writing about garden desgin, I also teach garden design classes through the Greenwich Adult and Continuing Education program.
I’ve been a professional landscape designer for about 10 years but I’ve been gardening for almost as long as I can remember. I grew up in Hoosick Falls, NY and I guess I started my love of gardening with my first transplants from my grandmother’s garden. I started a shade garden in the back of our house with a few Lillies of the Valley ( Convallaria majalis) I took from her garden. Lillies of the valley are still one of my favorite flowers and they grow happily in my current garden.
I am married and have two teenage sons who, no matter how hard I try to get them excited about landscaping and gardening, still see any garden-related activity as a chore. Fortunately I am blessed with a supportive husband who enjoys working in our gardens. Our home sits on approximately one acre of land so we are never short of ‘projects’. He’s always willing to humor me and move trees, shrubs or perennials to ‘new homes’ in our yard since I am always experimenting. I view my gardens as a work in progress – I always wonder ‘What if I…’
With this blog I hope to expose readers to lots of new possibilities…new plants, new garden products, new knowledge, new ideas. I am really looking forward to hearing your comments since the best way to grow is to open ourselves to new ideas.
Happy Gardening,
Debbie
Hi Debbie,
Just found your blog, very informative and fun to read. I love to garden in between my other motherly duties. It’s a break from all those chores that never end in the house. Look forward to some good gardening articles. TFS.
Monika
Hi Monika,
I’m so happy you found my blog and I hope you’ll stop back often. I’m glad to hear you don’t view gardening as another ‘chore’. Sometimes even the unglamorous jobs like weeding can be a welcome respite from the craziness of taking care of kids and running a house.
Hello! I’m a beginner in garden / landscape design. I attend landscape design courses, and had two lessons already. I find your blog very useful for me, so I subscribed
Thank you.
Nadezhda,
I hope you’ll continue to enjoy your landscape design courses. They are a lot of fun and can also be challenging and thought-provoking. Good luck.
Was happy to read about the crepe myrtle protection. We have a beautiful red crepe myrtle that did not bloom this year. We have had the tree for four years. I guess we’ll have to work harder at finding ways to keep it in good shape during the winter. The blooms are worth it.
Now, if someone could just tell me what to do with my phlox.
It doesn’t die, it blooms but it is ugly. The bottom leaves turn brown. I have several plants. I’ve purchased mold-resistant but still have this problem. Help.
Janet,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
I’m sorry to hear your crepe myrtle didn’t bloom this year. Mine didn’t either. You didn’t mention what zone you live in but I’m assuming it’s probably near the colder edge of the crepe myrtle growing zones. while I’m excited to get flowers I must say the fall color was quite a show. Almost worth having just for that.
Powdery mildew can be a big probelm with phlox – one of the reasons I don’t grow it in my own garden and usually don’t use it in my designs for clients (unless they specifically ask for it).
Here are a few tips I have heard from ‘experts’ who swear they work:
-Spray your phlox periodically with compost tea. Start as soon as the leaves get large and spray every few weeks.
- Spray your phlox periodically with ‘Wilt-Pruf.
- Spray your phlox twice/week with a mixture of 1 part milk and nine parts water.
Remember to give your phlox lots of breathing room in your garden, powderl mildew can be aggravted by close quarters.
I hope these suggestions will work for you next year. And please let me know how they work.
Teen boys in my house did enjoy burning down the ornamental grasses in late winter. Keep the hose handy!
Marcia,
Thanks for the heads up about the grasses! Luckily my boys are only interested in my plants as targets for lacrosse or golf balls. That’s bad enough.
No, it wasn’t vandalism; it was their contribution to garden cleanup!
Dear Debbie,
I just discovered your site and I look forward to reading many of the back posts. I too am a garden designer and coach. as a second career. Though I have little formal training in design, I have been gardening and designing for others for many years.
I also use my family garden as a place to try out plants and see how they behave in Zone 5b/6 in Central Ohio. It helps to see how a plant really performs beyond the hype.
On a plant post, I noticed you planted Sea Oats last summer. I would caution you and others to be sure to deadhead your sea oats located in perennial beds, and promptly weed any seedlings out in the spring, as they will take over a bed if not kept under control. They do not play nicely with others!
Hi, Debbie -
I came upon your blog when I did a Google search for a Debbie Reynolds associated with the Imaging Expo in July.
At first glance I knew I was on the wrong site, but I continued to read your blog. Very nice by the way! Its rather gloomy today in Chicago, and so I think it was your banner at the top that really lured me in. As I read thru your blog I felt the gloom of the day lift – “thanks”! Good luck with your new business – I know you’ll enjoy it. I’ve owned my business for 15 years now and everyday I’m still loving it.
I will visit your site often…as I do love in my spare time designing gardens.
I live in Texas and just purchased a very young eastern red bud tree. Can you tell me if they are a fast grower and how soon will it be full grown.
Thank you.
Hi Vera,
Congratulations on buying an eastern redbud for your garden, I’m sure you’ll gets years of enjoyment from it.
Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is considered to be a medium growth rate tree, meaning on average it will grow about 13″ – 24″ per year. At maturity, the typical eastern redbud is approx. 25′ tall. It should be anywhere from 7′ – 10′ when it is 10 years old. But keep in mind that your site conditions will greatly influence your tree’s individual growth rate so please use this information as a guide only. Sorry I can’t be more definitive but such is the nature of gardening.
Debbie, I recently read your article from January 2010 about using native plants. I have a wooded area behind my place that I’d like my kids to be able to play in. I recently removed all the vines with thornes on them but would like to green it up a bit so that it’s a bit less scary to the kids. I see lots of native ground covers in the forests nearby (Haddam area). If I were to rake out the leaves this summer do you think I could sew some seed for native ground cover that might take hold? If so, what plant would you recommend.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi, Debbie -I came upon your blog when I did a Google search for a Debbie Reynolds associated with the Imaging Expo in July.At first glance I knew I was on the wrong site, but I continued to read your blog. Very nice by the way! Its rather gloomy today in Chicago, and so I think it was your banner at the top that really lured me in. As I read thru your blog I felt the gloom of the day lift – “thanks”! Good luck with your new business – I know you’ll enjoy it. I’ve owned my business for 15 years now and everyday I’m still loving it.I will visit your site often…as I do love in my spare time designing gardens.
+1
Hi Debbie,
I was just enjoying your blog and appreciating your book reviews!
I wanted to invite you to check out our website. It is a social network for gardeners that we launched last Spring. As we get closer to a new Spring season it is really starting to take off.
One of our innovative features is what we call a Glog, a garden log where you can track all of your garden activities online. What’s cool about it is you are also sharing this info with other people and you can learn from each other.
I invite you to check out the site and let me know if you start a glog! We are also looking for bloggers like yourself to share our story. Let me know if you would like more information.
Thank you for your time!
Happy Gardening!
Stacie Shepp
Community Outreach
YourGardenShow.com
So glad I found your site. I love reading information and
stories from other gardeners. I am a long time gardener
but new on the computer. A new sourse of pleasure for me
Judy,
So glad you found me and my blog. Welcome to the world of garden blogs – there are so many special ones to enjoy.
Your blog is a great resource. We are new to CT and living on a property with wetlands. I was reading about blueberries as a hedge. Do you think it’s possible to grow them at the edge of the wetland? Would we need a deer fence to protect the bushes? Rather than installing fencing I am looking for natural boundaries to keep the kids in the yard and the animals in the wetlands. Curious to know hear your experience and wisdom.
Hi Sherry, Welcome to CT. Yes, I think a living fence of blueberries would work, especially on the edge of a wetland. Having said that, please check with local authorities and make sure you are planting in an approved area. Wetlands are highly protected in many CT communities and there may be some regulations governing where & what you can plant. As far as a deer fence, blueberries are not reliably deer-resistant so it might be prudent to have some type of deer-fencing near the blueberries.
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Really enjoyed your post on dry shade plants. Now the challenge is to find them. Any suggestions? Our zip code is 11940.
Greg, I wish I could be more helpful but I’m not familiar with the nurseries in your area. I’d do a web serach for independent garden centers and your zip code and see what comes up. The plants I mentioned should not be too difficult to find locally, but the inventory at many garden centers may be light right now since we’re nearing the end of the season. But, if you’re not picky, you can probably get some good deals startng in September when garden centers typically start clearance sales and the weather is perfect for fall planting. Good luck!