Flora with Forsyth

  Tips for Pruning Grapevines ( Photos: Ms. Forsyth, Montpelier VT)  The Secret to Pruning Grapes Here’s the secret: grapevines produce fruit on one-year old wood. What the heck does that mean? When a bud sprouts in spring and grows into a new shoot within the larger grape plant, the shoot turns from green to brown by the end of the growing season, at which point it is considered one-year old wood. The following spring some of the buds on one-year-old wood will grow flowers (which develop into fruit), while the buds on older wood produce only leaves or shoots. The primary goal of pruning is to maximize the amount of one-year old wood on each grapevine without encouraging the plant to produce so many grape clusters that it lacks the energy and nutrients to fully ripen them. Left to its own devices, a grapevine grows to a dense mass of mostly older wood with relatively little “fruiting wood” each year. The dense growth leads to poor air circulation, which encourages fungal disea...

  Stone Walls: The Legacy of New England Farm Heritage  (photos: Ms. Forsyth, Montpelier, VT) Have you ever driven through your town and glanced into the woods, and thought... Where did those stone walls come from? To me--it is one of my absolute favorite "mysteries",that made me want to do some research over the years! They have a history that is unique to the agricultural past of our country, many of them have stood for well over 100 years!  Here is a poem I wrote about them a few years ago... A Legacy of Stone (N. Forsyth, 2013) A legacy, which lives on to this very day, Through the skeletons of stone based stockade, A labor of sweat and toil across the New England brae, Were how these fortifications were dutifully made.  From the till of their fields, Surfaced this bounty of rocks, Who’s main purpose was,  To protect the precious crops.  Who’s main purpose was, To divide the land among men, Who’s main purpose was, To bring the animals browsing to an end...

  MANY OF YOU KNOW, THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS TO CHOOSE FROM WHEN YOU ARE DECIDING TO BUILD YOUR OUTDOOR PATIO, WALKWAY, FIRE PIT, OR OTHERWISE EXTENSION OF YOUR INDOOR LIVING SPACE!  AS A LANDSCAPE DESIGNER, I TEND TO  VEER  TOWARDS USING MORE NATURAL STONE AND MATERIALS IN MY DESIGNS, VERSUS MANUFACTURED PAVERS AND WALL BLOCKS. THE REASON FOR THIS IS INHERENTLY WE FEEL MORE  COMFORTABLE  WITH THINGS THAT COME FROM NATURE! STONE, WOOD, AND OTHER NATURAL ELEMENTS SUBMERGED INTO OUR LIVES CREATE A SENSE OF WELLNESS, BALANCE, COMFORT AND WELL BEING AS OPPOSED TO MANUFACTURED MATERIALS.  TWO OF MY FAVORITE MATERIALS I USE IN MANY OF MY DESIGNS INCLUDE BLUESTONE AND GOSHEN STONE! ON MY HIKE AROUND VERMONT, I SAW THESE MATERIALS IN THEIR NATIVE HABITAT. I WAS SO INTERESTING TO SEE THE STONE JUTTING OUT OF THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, WHEN I NORMALLY SEE THEM ALL POLISHED, CUT AND READY TO BE USED IN LANDSCAPES! CHECK IT OUT...