top trees for the home garden, with dr. kim tripp

YOU NEVER KNOW who you’ll bump into at the public-radio station in tiny Sharon, Connecticut. The latest: Dr. Kim Tripp, a botanist who directed the gardens and science at the New York Botanical Garden when I was editorial director at Martha Stewart. She is an expert in woody plants who, as I did, chose to start over at midlife. We spent time together last week talking exceptional trees for the home garden, and also heard her second-act story—how at age 50 she took student loans and went to medical school, becoming an osteopathic physician who now practices across the street from Robin Hood Radio’s studios, where our conversation on my latest show took place.

Dr. Tripp, the voice of Robin Hood Radio’s newest program, “Your Health,” received her D.O. from the University of New England. In previous incarnations she has her BS and MS from Cornell; her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, where she also served as Curator of Conifers for the famed J.C. Raulston Arboretum, and did postdoctoral work at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. She knows from trees and shrubs—and that’s what we talked about:

q&a: great trees for gardens, with kim trippQ.What woody plants always got your recommendation—what did you try to encourage clients to plant when you were making gardens for people, while supporting yourself through medical school?

A. The first thing I always did, especially with a new client, was to walk around with them and say, “Let’s just see what’s growing here now–what’s out there and doing well,” and have a look at it and see if we like it or don’t. And we’d go from there.

I found a few plants in our region that no matter what the conditions, were always doing well—even with deer browse.

They were things like

deciduous garden home ornamental plants radio podcasts trees & shrubs Martha Stewart New York state North Carolina state Connecticut county Garden