21.07.2023 - 22:03 / awaytogarden.com

tips for the shade gardener, from ken druse

THE OTHER NIGHT I hosted an online class about shade gardening, featuring Ken Druse, whom I met in 1992-ish, almost exactly 30 years ago to the day, when I interviewed him on the publication of his book “The Natural Shade Garden.” In 2015, Ken wrote a whole new shade book appropriately called “The New Shade Garden,” so I guess you can tell that shade gardening has been a consistent theme of his work and his own gardening efforts, and it’s our topic today.

You all know Ken Druse, author and photographer of 20 garden books and a daring gardener and plant propagator. He spoke to me from his garden among the trees in New Jersey to talk about oh-so-carefully tucking small things in among tree roots, about creating a bit more light with artful pruning, some favorite plants and more.

Plus: Enter to win a copy of his 2015 book “The New Shade Garden” (affiliate link) by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.

Read along as you listen to the January 17, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

shade-garden tips with ken druse

Margaret Roach: Shade, shade, shade.

Ken Druse: We had fun with lots of people.

Margaret: Yeah, we should tell people. I guess we should maybe backtrack the history. We’ve both trotted around the country for decades giving garden lectures to garden clubs and botanical gardens and so forth. And that’s kind of vanished in these last two years, and so we’ve been learning to improvise, even at our advanced age [laughter]. And so we had a book club about your shade book.

Ken: A free book club.

Margaret: Yeah, it was fun.

Ken: It was fun. And how many

gardener how-to shade garden design ornamental plants radio podcasts annuals & perennials trees & shrubs Ken Druse state New Jersey