When I planted my first window box, the only thing that grew was my embarrassment. But my experiments provided fodder for conversation with more knowledgeable neighbors. Before we knew it, a trend began, and our block’s window boxes helped us reach the finals in the Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest.

Window Box Gardening Tips

If you and your neighbors are ready to tackle window box gardening, keep a few things in mind:

• Safety first. Don’t take any chances—always fasten boxes securely so they cannot tip or slide off the sill (eye hooks and strong wire can do the trick).
• Choose the right container. Whenever possible, bigger is better. Boxes of terra-cotta and wood are more porous and therefore require more watering than plastic, cement, or metal. Be sure your box has drainage holes.
• Right plant, right place. Consider the amount of light, shade, wind, and heat in the location and choose accordingly. Drought-tolerant plants are a forgiving choice.
• Mix it up. Combine colors, textures, shapes, and heights. Don’t be afraid to mix perennials and annuals, or flowering plants with ones that provide gorgeous foliage.
• Be water wise. Even heavy rains may not reach your plants on a windowsill, so check daily that the soil is moist. Water thoroughly—mornings or evenings are best.
• Fertilize and “deadhead.” Containers leach nutrients quickly, so regularly add a liquid fertilizer like fish or kelp emulsion. Top dressing with a layer of compost also gives your plants a nutrient boost. Keep your plants looking tidy and flowering steadily by removing dead leaves and spent flowers.

For More Information

To learn more about the Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest, visit bbg.org/greenbridge/greenestblock.

Amsonia tabernaemontana (eastern bluestar)

Eastern bluestar is a robust herbaceous native perennial native to the Midwest. Multiple single stems emerging from a basal crown often branch near the top to form a dense, shrubby plant that grows to 3½ feet tall and 2 feet wide. Lance-shaped leaves of a rich medium green are whorled up long stems that terminate in compact panicles of striking ¾-inch, bright blue star-shaped flowers that offer up a showy display from late spring through early summer. Narrow beanlike pods will often form after flowering and can offer additional late-season interest. Autumn’s cool weather brings a sunny yellow foliage display from eastern bluestar; the rich brown color of the primary veins contrasts nicely with the golden willowlike leaves.

Once the flowers fail in summer, the plant can be cut back by a third or half to control shape. In shady conditions, eastern bluestar tends to flop, so pruning may be necessary to avoid staking. New shoots will emerge along the stems just below the cuts and will fill out in short order to create a dense, tidy mound. At the end of the season, the erect stems can be cut close to the ground or left standing for winter interest and to provide the crown with protection from extreme winter weather.

Eastern bluestar is tolerant of a variety of conditions. Though most at home in partial shade and rich organic soil with good moisture retention, it is also tolerant of drought once established and will thrive in full sun and lean soils. In the cultivated garden, eastern bluestar will benefit from a light spring mulch of well-composted manure or other organic matter. Take care in spring, as the new shoots can be a little late to emerge, and the tender tips nestled in the crown are easily damaged by foot traffic and disturbance.

Eastern bluestar can provide excellent habitat for beneficial fauna. The flowers provide an important nectar source and the foliage is a larval food for various butterflies. Hummingbirds, carpenter bees, hummingbird moths, and several other pollinators are also drawn to the plant. The foliage contains a milky sap, characteristic of many plants in the Apocynaceae, which tends to deter predation by deer and other mammalian herbivores.

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ is a handsome cultivar, reportedly discovered growing among seedlings of A. tabernaemontana at White Flower Farm, in Connecticut. ‘Blue Ice’ attains only 15 to 18 inches height and doesn’t require cutting back or staking. The flowers are the same size as those of A. tabernaemontana but are a slightly darker blue.

Today, Brooklyn is the New York City borough with the least amount of green. As its open space has dwindled, so has the presence of nature in our daily lives. This makes the prescience of BBG’s Native Flora Garden all the more impressive: The Garden’s founders understood the importance of connecting neighbors to the nature in their collective backyards.

Torrey’s mountain-mint on Kreischer Hill.

Brooklyn was not the only borough to convert marshes to macadam. New York City has lost more than 40 percent of its native flora—the forbs, ferns, grasses, vines, trees, and shrubs that are the wild, unplanted thread in the ecological fabric of the Big Apple. These local extinctions continue today.

I spent the summer of 2004 counting plants in Kreischer Hill, the historical name for a 100-plus-acre tract of land on the south shore of Staten Island. Less than 20 miles from Wall Street in Manhattan, this part of New York City felt half a world away.

Kreischer Hill was ecologically unique and botanically rich. In fact, a new natural community type was discovered on the site—a sandy barrens dominated by post oaks and blackjack oaks—which is now included in federal standards for vegetation classification. Also present on the property were 13 plant species considered rare in New York State and another 33 that were threatened in New York City.

The crowning glory of Kreischer Hill was the inconspicuous forb Torrey’s mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum torrei). The plant was formerly known in New York City only from historical records from the late 1800s. In 2003, Torrey’s mountain-mint was rediscovered after decades of fieldwork. With less than 20 known populations of it in the world, all of them in the eastern United States, the species was more imperiled than many plants on the federal endangered species list. And amazingly, one population graced a sleepy roadside in Staten Island.

That it persisted in such a public spot for decades says something else about Torrey’s mountain-mint: It’s not much to look at. It blends in well with the scruffy, “weedy” stuff you might see by the side of a road and not think twice about. Unless in a garden setting, humans barely notice individual plants or consider the fact that they are alive. This tendency is called “plant blindness,” and plant blindness has consequences.

About the same time that scientists rediscovered Torrey’s mountain-mint on Staten Island, New Yorkers were rallying on behalf of Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk in Manhattan, whose mate, Lola, had a nest on a tony apartment building across from Central Park. The management of the building found it messy and wanted to take the nest down. The public was having none of this, and there was a giant outcry, with plenty of media coverage and dozens of protestors carrying placards. The birds won. This outcome is wonderful for the flashier elements of nature, but what about organisms incapable of garnering any attention for themselves?

The site on Kreischer Hill where Torrey’s mountain-mint was rediscovered was city-owned land slated for development. Despite its rarity, there was no public outcry. Local conservation groups sued the city over the incomplete environmental assessment that had been done—and won—but development proceeded on a technicality. Bulldozers rolled in, 40 acres of wilderness were razed, and a strip mall was built. Today the mountain-mint lives in a sad, garbage-filled strip along a roadside. Its future is precarious.

This is how extinction happens. Dramatic events such as fires, hurricanes, and even oil spills have gross negative consequences, but extinction usually is not one of them. Most native plants and animals are lost to events that happen every day all around us. Red maple swamp forests are cut down for ball fields. Monocultures of turf lawn and impatiens replace the places where biodiversity once thrived. Plants rarely figure into land-use calculus when communities are searching for sites to insert parking lots, public works, and active recreational areas.

In the years since I saw Kreischer Hill torn up, the experience has made me wonder what it would take to help people notice their environment. What if we had more opportunities to connect to nature? What if everyone learned how to identify ten wildflowers in their neighborhood? What if a city’s annual budget accounted for ecosystem services like pollination and floodwater storage that come from the preservation of open space? How much richer would our daily lives be because of this ecological literacy?

Like the Torrey’s mountain-mint, such interactions are rare. While the face of Brooklyn has changed over the past 100 years, BBG’s Native Flora Garden is a reminder of our rich natural history and affords us a unique opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with our foliar neighbors.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s stewardship of natives began with the 1911 opening of the Local Flora section, designed by BBG’s first curator of plants, Norman Taylor. Taylor brought to the project a wealth of scholarly and field research on native plants, and he spent much time and effort seeking out species within a 100-mile radius of New York City that were “rare and difficult of cultivation.” Some examples listed in BBG’s records include wake-robin (Trillium species), goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), and may-apple (Podophyllum peltatum).

The garden was redesigned in 1931 by Henry K. Svenson. He envisioned a more organic woodland retreat, with plants arranged into communities, as they would be found in nature. This plan yielded one of the first ecologically themed native plant gardens of its kind in the United States. Native Flora Garden curator Uli Lorimer said of the design, “Few visitors realize that nearly every tree and shrub was intentionally planted in this garden. The natural aesthetic is carefully cultivated to give the illusion of wildness while giving the visitor an opportunity to learn about local plants, their habitats, and the web of relationships that lend regional character to the northeastern United States.”

The variety of plants found in today’s Native Flora Garden has been greatly enhanced and expanded in partnership with BBG’s Science department. Over the past two decades, through the New York Metropolitan Flora Project (NYMF), scientists at BBG have been mapping plant species distribution in every county within a 50-mile radius of New York City. NYMF currently provides distribution details for more than 3,000 native and nonnative species. Park and garden professionals use this project’s findings as a guide for conserving native species and remediating habitats in the city’s public spaces and gardens.

BBG’s Native Flora Garden. Photo by Rebecca Bullene.

“Yearly joint field trips into varied habitats bring in new species and add valuable cultural information about the plants found in the region,” said Lorimer. “This garden’s intimate relationship with NYMF underlies BBG’s ongoing and continued support of native plant conservation and biodiversity in the New York City area.”

As part of BBG’s celebration of native plants, this summer’s interpretive trail, Native New Yorkers: Know Your Neighbors in Nature, will draw attention to indigenous species throughout the Garden. Highlights of the trail include ideas for container plantings with natives, an area dedicated to native cultivars, a special children’s brochure, and a gallery exhibit that showcases the beauty of local plants. “I hope that as visitors explore this trail, they will come to appreciate why natives are important and maybe even recognize a native neighbor in their own backyard,” said director of Interpretation Sonal Bhatt.

In 2012, BBG’s commitment to display and preserve native plant communities will be strengthened as the Native Flora Garden undergoes a two-acre expansion, reintroducing two important ecosystems—a coastal plain meadow and a pine barrens habitat—whose sun-loving plant communities have been crowded out by the increasingly dense canopy of trees. Both habitats will be planted using as many wild-collected specimens as possible, which—particularly in the case of the pine barrens—will make them unique among public gardens in the region.

“Imagine how prescient our founders were to have planted the Native Flora Garden 100 years ago, before urbanization threatened numerous native species with local extinction,” said BBG president Scot Medbury. “This garden gives visitors uncommon access to the environmental heritage of a city that so many of us call home. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate this garden’s remarkable past while planning for its future.”

Bonsai can be translated from Japanese as “planted in a tray.” The translation doesn’t specify what is planted in the tray, just “planted in a tray.”

In fact, what is “planted” is not a plant at all. What is planted is essence, mood, and atmosphere. Bonsai is planting all of nature in a tray. It’s not just capturing what we see externally with our eyes but absorbing the spirit and vast, subtle nuances of nature. If one connects to bonsai through the heart, one can experience the essence of the natural world in a pot.

Limitless Moments in Time

The great Zen master Dogen Zenji (1200–53) once said that “the whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, even in one drop of water.” This imagery beautifully conveys how something as vast as the universe can be viewed in a single drop of dew. Similarly, bonsai seeks to transport the viewer’s heart to the core of nature.

Bonsai, although small in size, can show the astute viewer vast expanses of landscape and limitless moments in time—past, present, and future. Though the aura of bonsai is strong on its own, it is only able to fully communicate this enormity of time and space with the participation of the viewer. A quiet language of imagery and emotion together with the viewer’s own life experience and imagination is the mirror upon which the bonsai reflects nature, both seen and unseen.

Buson’s image of a camellia flower spilling rain as it falls from its stem puts into words what bonsai expresses without words: beautiful moments in time in the natural world. Bonsai can help us imagine the smell of wildflowers, the sounds of churning water in a river, and the feel of pine needles beneath our feet. Just as with haiku, bonsai encourages the viewer to conjure lovely small moments—say a foggy morning as a small insect lands on a rainladen camellia flower, creating just enough weight to finally make it drop. Bonsai allows us to be present in nature even in the middle of a bustling city. It is able to magnify nature’s spirit by helping the soul interpret and experience the mood of the landscape.

Respectfully Redirecting Growth

Bonsai can pull people in and strum their heartstrings, but they do not grow into shape by themselves; this takes human artistry. A bonsai artist must master many horticultural and specific bonsai techniques in order to design a bonsai, but most important, he or she must first consider how to work in harmony with the bonsai to bring out the best potential in the plant.

Countless shaping scenarios must all come together to make a believable design. At first this may seem overwhelming when attempting to style a bonsai. But having a clear understanding of the many different growing conditions a tree lives through in nature simplifies the choices made in the design process. Each “pre-bonsai” plant has inherent qualities in its form. The artist’s goal is to accentuate these features in such a way that the bonsai is comfortable in its shape. This then gives the bonsai tools to express an environmental mood.

A famous bonsai master visiting from Japan, Seiji Morimae, once told me, “Before asking what a bonsai should be, one should consider what the bonsai asks of the grower.” This should be understood on many levels. People may think bonsai is about control, but it is exactly the opposite: It is embracing no control. To design bonsai well, one must let go of the desire to control in order to be able to see the soul of the tree and let that be the guide.

Bonsai is not about restricting growth; it’s about redirecting growth. Special horticultural techniques are used to help redirect this growth, tailored to each individual bonsai. For example, shallow pots and customized potting soils are essential for a healthy root system. The bonsai root system consists only of very fine, fibrous roots. For these small roots to grow properly, the soil must be very fast draining and not too deep to prevent rot and allow for proper airflow. Soil ingredients must be mixed by hand to cater to the particular plant’s needs, and each tree has its own personal soil mix.

Bonsai roots are not allowed to become pot bound, which would put the tree’s health in jeopardy. Every one to three years it is taken out of its pot, and the roots are lightly and precisely trimmed and some soil replaced. This root pruning, because it’s done on the fibrous roots, doesn’t hurt the plant. In fact, it spurs roots to increase and ramify (branch out), and as a denser system develops, the tree absorbs water and nutrients more efficiently. This makes the tree believe the root system is much larger than it really is, which in turn helps the tree feel secure in its environment and fosters a mature and stable root system. And the denser the root system, the denser the leaf canopy.

A tree’s canopy is directly related to the root system, both in size and density. With ramified roots and branches, the treenaturally responds by growing smaller leaves. Where once one large leaf produced food there will be three or four smaller leaves producing food more efficiently. This kind of energy balancing is essential to bringing a bonsai to maturity, a process that takes place over decades of care.

As it responds to these techniques over time, the bonsai slowly matures. The roots and canopy become balanced, and the tree harmonizes with its environment. It is only when the bonsai has reached this equilibrium that a change in its growth habit begins: The tree starts to grow and mature almost like a tree out in the landscape. Though small in scale, the tree’s balance of energy has it believing it is 30 feet tall. Youthful growth subsides in both the branches and roots, and the leaves grow in proportion to its small size. The internodes shorten, and shoot elongation decreases.

This change in growth habit is a special time both for the bonsai and the grower. When these changes occur, it is a sign that the tree has reached a delicate balance and comfort. From this point forward the care routine changes, and everything done for the bonsai is to promote stability and maintain this balance.

Planted in a Tray

Maintaining the health and happiness of the tree is a grower’s first priority. Every bonsai is cared for individually with different techniques that depend on species, age, developmental phase, and individual growth habit. It can take a lifetime to learn to listen in their language and to perfect the care of mature trees.

In nature, trees depend on each other and their environment for survival. Bonsai depend solely on us. When we learn to depend on them as well, both the artist and tree can grow healthily. With a tree or bonsai as a guide, there’s no limit to the depths of understanding one can achieve. I have found no better teacher.

If a bonsai, a garden, a painting, or a person can show us the essence of life, it should be cherished and protected so that future generations may enjoy it. I am grateful to BBG that I have a small hand in that.

Found throughout the eastern United States and Canada, spring ephemerals thrive on the floor of rich, undisturbed woodlands. This verdant, moist environment is the ideal site for myrmecochory, seed dispersal by ants. The seeds of spring ephemerals bear fatty external appendages called eliaosomes. The insects, attracted to the elaiosomes, carry the booty back to their nests, where the lipid-rich food source is consumed by their young. The unharmed seeds are thrown into a midden, a rich, composting stew that stimulates germination. A single ant colony may collect as many as a thousand seeds over a season. While the volume is great, the distance is not; on average, a seed is carried just two meters from the parent plant. Because offspring remain so local (unlike plants dispersed by birds or wind), habitat fragmentation is a major threat to the survival of spring ephemerals. Once these plants are gone from the forest, it is rare that they return.

Of course, to have fruits, you need flowers. From a woodland walker’s vantage point, this is where spring ephemerals shine.

A Tour of Native Vernal Bloomers

One of the earliest flowers is rue anemone. Formerly named Anemonella thalictroides, the taxonomy has changed and it is now Thalictrum thalictroides— meaning meadow rue–like meadow rue. Silly Latin names aside, it is a lovely find during a walk in the woods. Diminutive in stature, its flowers are whorls of white petals above delicate, divided foliage.

White wake-robin (Trillium grandiflorum) takes seven long years to journey from seed to flower. Then one spring as we thrill to hear the robin’s call, the wait is over; the plant carpets the forest floor with flowers. Showy, three-petaled blossoms of white (turning pink with age) rise above the leaf litter on single stems, highlighted by three green leaflike bracts.

Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebells)

If your woodland rambles include floodplains, you may encounter colonies of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica). Soft magenta flower buds open as tubular blossoms of an enchanting sky blue. The color is so rare and so exquisite that you may find it difficult to stifle a “barbaric yawp” worthy of Walt Whitman.

Trout lily (Erythronium americanum) gained its fishy moniker from the resemblance of its fleshy, mottled leaves to brook trout. Intermittently presiding over these leaves are golden-yellow bell-shaped flowers. Large colonies may be over 100 years old, often older than the surrounding trees.

Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) has delicate small white blooms with pink venation that follow the sun. It only grows about six inches high, but that’s tall enough to be found by the insects it depends on for pollination. In fact, the solitary bee Andrena erigeniae makes spring beauty its exclusive goal. Trout lilies too have an andrenid specialist pollinator, the trout lily bee (Andrena erythronii).

Important Pollinators

Bumble bees (Bombus species) are vital to the success of many spring ephemerals. In fact, the reproductive success of Dutchman’s breeches utterly depends upon bumble bee queens, which feed their larvae the nectar and pollen produced by these and other wildflowers when early-spring food sources are scarce. The young bees emerge as workers that pollinate other plants later in the season. Some Bombus species even choose their nesting sites relative to the abundance of early-spring ephemerals.

There are other floral visitors that aid in pollination, including bee flies (especially Bombylius major), halictid bees (including green metallic bees), and muscid and syrphid flies. Less often, butterflies and skippers linger on the flowers. Despite their ubiquity and abundance, exotic honey bees (Apis mellifera) are not very effective pollinators. They may even disrupt ecological relationships between native insects and spring ephemerals.

Threats to Natives

In the best of times, spring ephemerals face a number of obstacles to pollination, including a short blooming season, pollinator sharing due to overlap in flowering times, and inclement weather that interrupts insect activity. Human activity, overpopulation of herbivores like deer, and other threats add to their fragility. Although secure throughout most of their ranges, spring ephemerals are declining in urbanized areas. As late-successional species, they may require as many as 20 years after a disturbance to reappear.

One of the biggest threats to our native spring wildflowers is posed by exotic plants. Lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) is also a spring ephemeral, but one that hails from Eurasia. It emerges earlier than our native vernal herbs, shielding them from much needed early April sunlight and competing for resources. Norway maple (Acer platanoides) is also a problem. In addition to its root toxins, its earlier leaf emergence allows less time for the wildflowers to complete their aboveground life cycle.

Invasive plants may do more than poison and compete for sunlight; they can also disrupt ecological relationships. For example, the native cut-leaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) is close kin to the exotic invasive garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). The food source for caterpillars of the rare West Virginia white butterfly is limited to native toothworts. Chemical cues induce the butterfly to mistakenly lay its eggs on garlic mustard. The unsuspecting larvae feed on the exotic leaves, and most die. Aggressive and prolific, garlic mustard muscles out the toothwort and makes it difficult for the butterfly to locate its vital host plant.

The beauty of spring ephemerals can be a detriment to their survival. People often pick the flowers or harvest wild plants, disturbing or killing the slow-growing rootstocks. To make matters worse, unscrupulous poachers commonly steal entire patches of bluebells, trilliums, and other spring ephemerals from the wild to feed the demand for them in the horticultural trade. The loss of these wildflowers is deeply felt within the woodland. Despite their seasonal presence, the species play a critical role in the forest ecosystem. They stabilize soils, contribute important nutrients, and sustain native bee populations.

To ensure their future in our forests, be careful to purchase native plants from reputable sources that state “nursery propagated” and not merely “nursery grown.” (Because of their exacting moisture requirements, seeds are harder to work with and are not recommended for beginners). If your garden grades into a woodland behind your home, choose nurseries closer to home to bolster conservation of local genetic ecotypes.

Caring for Spring Ephemerals

To enjoy these spring wildflowers in your garden, site them in well-drained acidic soil in dappled sunlight (not deep shade). Plant the rootstock of young plants two to three inches deep. Over time, they will grow as much as six inches into the soil. Be sure to handle the corms carefully, since root damage typically stunts the plants, requiring more time for them to establish. The soil must be kept moist throughout the spring. Corms can withstand summer drought but must have some moisture in fall for root growth. Roots and shoots begin to develop after 90 to 120 days of dormancy. Cold stops further growth until spring.

Annual maintenance requirements are few. To conserve moisture, mulch in the fall or very early spring using finely shredded leaves. (Larger leaves may create mats that prevent plants from emerging.) Fertilizer can be applied just as flower buds begin to appear to encourage a bigger and longer floral display. Older plants in your garden can be divided in early fall. Carefully dig the plants and cut the corm so that each small piece to be replanted has roots and new growth. Some spring ephemerals like trout lily grow obvious bulblike offsets that are easy to break off and plant. Place a wooden or metal marker next to spring growth to help locate plants after dieback.

Many gardeners have had at least one encounter with rats; the typical urban gardener has probably had many. There is only one species of rat in New York City—the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus). The Norway rat is a commensal rodent, meaning it lives in close association (literally, “shares the table”) with humans. Urban gardens are particularly hospitable to rats because they provide food, water, and safety.

Rats will burrow into any available earthen space within close proximity to food but prefer fresh, fertile soil to make their nests—a garden is prime real estate to them. A rat burrow can be anywhere from one to six feet deep and will have an entrance, an exit, and maybe even an escape hole. A typical burrow will house a family of approximately eight rats. By counting the burrow holes gardeners can estimate the number of rats living in their garden.

Gardeners are usually left up to their own devices when it comes to pest control. Some people want to maintain a pesticide-free environment; others are desperate to get a bad situation under control and will try any remedy. Rats can usually be managed effectively without relying on toxic pesticides. In fact, a good rat management program focuses primarily on prevention.

Knowing Rat Needs

Rats must eat one to two ounces of food a day and have daily access to water. Rats will eat everything that humans eat and many things that we would never eat. They are not vegetarian; like most mammals, rats (especially reproducing females) need animal protein, fat, and carbohydrates in their diet.

Rats will eat the vegetables and fruits in a garden, but if that is truly their only food source, they will eventually move on to a site that meets their animal protein and fat needs. A compost pile with only garden scraps will not sustain a rat colony. But if table scraps including meats, grains, oils, or other fats are added into the compost pile, it will become highly attractive to them. And the warmth generated by decomposing waste creates a hospitable rat environment in cold weather. Compost areas must be monitored carefully, and if possible, kept in hard plastic or metal containers with tight-fitting lids.

Bags of trash placed near a garden offer an all-you-can-eat buffet to a colony of rats. Like compost, trash should be kept only in sturdy cans with tight-fitting lids. Gardeners should always clean up after picnics and make sure food waste is removed at night.

Food intended for pigeons, cats, dogs, chickens, or rabbits placed in or near a garden may also end up feeding rats. Animal waste such as dog feces can also provide nourishment. Some gardeners feed feral cats in the belief that they will scare away rats. The reality is that most cats are quickly overwhelmed. A healthy breeding female rat can have litters of up to 12 pups several times a year, while the average cat may only take down a rat once every couple of days. In areas where lots of rats are present, it’s best to avoid feeding other animals.

For shelter, rats seek out areas where they feel protected from predators. Dense plantings, tall weeds, and piles of lumber, rocks, or other kinds of clutter provide safe harbor to a rat. Ivy and bushes close to the ground and around buildings are particularly attractive. Rats have very poor eyesight and use their whiskers (or vibrissae) to navigate their environment; as a result, they prefer to travel along straight lines and use curbs, walls, and foundations to get around. Gardeners battling a rat infestation can cut back vegetation at least 18 inches from building walls, remove ivy or other vines from sides of buildings and nearby trees, and trim back tree branches that touch or rub against buildings. Deprived of cover, rats will be less confident traversing these exposed zones and may move on to safer places.

A gardener can figure out where rats are traveling by looking along straight lines for the greasy rub marks that rats leave behind. These rub or smudge marks contain pheromones from the rat’s skin and fur that they use to communicate with other rats. Washing the rub marks away with vinegar or biodegradable soap can help interrupt their established pathways to food sources and home. Hardware cloth (half-inch mesh) can be installed along the base of walls or fences to deter burrowing. The cloth should extend 8 to 12 inches underground. Even though rats can burrow deeper than this, many rats are deterred from spending so much energy to create a nest.

Monitor for Rats

The early spring prior to planting is the best time to start watching for rats. Gardeners should carefully check garden areas before planting seeds as well as later when vegetables and flowers are actively growing. Look for burrow holes, smudge marks, signs of gnawing, worn pathways, and droppings, all of which indicate an active rat infestation. Check around the garden perimeter a few times each week for any new rat activity and take steps to stop it.

In short, think like a rat. Where do I like to live? What am I eating? What pathways do I travel between my food and nest? Recognizing how to make your space less hospitable can help you to devise a rodent-reducing plan.

Make a Rat Reduction Plan

• Move compost into rodent-resistant containers with tight-fitting lids.
• Store seed and pet food in rodent-proof containers.
• Remove fallen fruit or nuts.
• Remove all fecal matter (dogs, cats, rodents, birds) and/or food waste every day.
• Eliminate standing water and improve drainage, so water doesn’t pool or settle.
• Remove clutter from storage sheds and garages.
• Cut grass or weeds and trim back plants around buildings and walls.

More information can be found at the New York City Health Department’s Rat Information Portal at nyc.gov/rats. With dedication, gardeners can win the battle against rats by working to deny them the food, water, and shelter they need to survive.

Quarantine New Plants

Many infestations are initiated by bringing infected plants into the house. Be sure to carefully check nursery plants before purchasing them, and once you do, quarantine them in a separate area for one to two weeks before placing them near the rest of your houseplants. Similarly, examine houseplants summered outdoors before bringing them inside for winter, including the leaves, stems, and soil. At the very least, give them a good spray with the hose to dislodge unwelcome arthropods.

ID Your Pests

Knowing how to spot common houseplant pests will help you choose the right method to manage them. The most common indoor plant pests include the following:

Spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) are tiny mites almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but they leave telltale webbing, especially on the undersides of leaves and inner joints of plants. Spider mites injure plants by sucking nutrients from leaves. Attacked leaves will have yellow stippling. As the infestation gets worse, the leaves will turn completely yellow and brittle and eventually drop.

Mealybugs (Pseudococcus longispinus) are small cottony-white insects most often found attached to the plant at the stem joints or just under the soil where the roots and stem meet. The surface of plants infested with mealybugs may become covered with sticky drops called honeydew that turn moldy black. Leaves yellow and curl. Mealybugs are generally considered to be the most destructive houseplant pest.

Brown soft scale insects (Coccus hesperidum) look like waxy disklike bumps or scales on the stems or undersides of leaves. The female scale insect has a hard shell-like covering; males are smaller, softer, and harder to see. Like mealy bugs, scale insects slowly suck the sap from stems and produce honeydew that develops a sooty mold. The leaves of affected plants turn yellow and drop.

Aphids (superfamily Aphidoidea) are small pear-shaped insects with soft bodies that come in a variety of colors depending on the species. They can be seen on the undersides of leaves, on tender new growth, and on flower buds, usually clustered in groups. Like mealybugs and scale insects, they produce honeydew. Aphids reproduce rapidly, so infestations can occur quickly.

Fungus gnats (Bradysia species) are small, winged insects that resemble mosquitoes but do not bite. The translucent wormlike larvae can be found in soil, where they feed on fungi and decaying plant matter. Adult gnats don’t harm houseplants but are a nuisance as they fly around houseplants and windows.

Nontoxic Pest Management

Changes in cultural practices—adjusting light, temperature, humidity, or nitrogen levels—can arrest many houseplant pest infestations. For example, excessively moist soil may attract fungus gnats, and plants in hot, dry sites are prone to spider mites. Learn the best balance of conditions for your plants and keep it consistent.

Insecticidal soaps are made from a combination of oils and potassium salts diluted in water. They control pests including spider mites and aphids. Soap sprays work on contact and don’t have residual effects, but several treatments may be necessary to completely eradicate an infestation. There are many recipes available online to create your own insecticidal soap as well as many commercially available brands.

Diluted sprays of horticultural oils such as neem seed extract can control scale insects, aphids, and spider mites. These highly refined oils work by smothering adult insects and preventing eggs from hatching; usually more than one treatment is required to eradicate the pests.

While it may seem counterintuitive to bring critters indoors, a balance of organisms is crucial for long-term plant health. Biological pest control employs beneficial insects such as lady beetles and green lacewings to control pest populations. The naturally occurring soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (H-14 strain) is a commonly used microbial insecticide, sold as Gnatrol and Knock-Out Gnats and used to control fungus gnat larvae.

Systemic insecticides such as acephate control aphids and scales. These insecticides are sold as granules or slow-release stakes that are added to houseplant soil to be absorbed through a plant’s roots into the plant’s vascular system. It is harmless to plants; pests are dosed with the insecticide when they feed on the plants’ stems or leaves.

Mushrooms as we know them belong to one of two phyla within the kingdom Fungi: Basidiomycota and Ascomycota. The mushroom itself is actually the fruit, or reproductive body (like an apple), while the vegetative parts, mycelia (that white webbing sometimes seen in healthy garden soil), live beneath the surface year-round. We rarely see mushroom mycelia, yet they form vast underground networks integral to our forest and garden ecosystems. Saphrophytic fungi are super-efficient composters that play an important role in the decomposition of lignin and coarse woody debris. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with trees and herbaceous plants, helping them absorb more nutrients from the soil.

Traditionally, mushrooms are autumnal fare; their wild season in the Northeast begins around Labor Day and ends sometime around Thanksgiving (tasty exceptions include king boletes, Boletus edulis, in June and the elusive morel, Morchella esculenta, in May). The trick of the mushroom grower is to create an ideal environment for mycelia to establish, mimicking nature in order to coax the mushrooms into fruit. Can you do this in your apartment? Sure, although first-timers would do well to invest in a mushroom kit, basically a brick of sterilized sawdust that has already been colonized by mushroom mycelia. You can order kits online from a number of reputable sources, or you may be able to find them at a local farmers’ market (many farmers are now making and selling kits).

Unfortunately, mycologists have yet to discover a mushroom adapted to steam heat, so consider keeping your mushrooms near an open bathroom window or in the coolest corner of the apartment. Moisture is important. Your kit will come with a “humidity tent” (a plastic bag with holes in it that your block of sawdust will wear like a hat), but to create optimum fruiting conditions you’ll also need to spray your mushrooms three or more times a day. If you are rarely home, consider keeping your kit at work (this is easier in some professions than others), or placing it next to a humidifier.

You will boost your chances of success by choosing a mushroom well adapted to the environment you have to offer. The pink oyster (Pleurotus djamor) mushroom is a tropical cousin of the blue oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbinus)—both have a mild, fragrant shellfish flavor, yet pink oysters will fruit at temperatures up to 85°F, while blue oysters can withstand freezing but will not fruit over 55°F. Sweet, meaty shiitakes (Lentinula edodes) are the most forgiving for new cultivators.

If you’re feeling adventurous, try creating growing media from scratch (with sterilized barley, straw, or brewing waste) for more choice of varieties and scale. You can also go the outdoor route by inoculating fresh-cut logs with plugs of mushroom spawn, or mixing inoculated sawdust (along with some unfinished compost) into your garden beds, which simultaneously gives a natural boost to your plants (Stropharia rugosoannulata, the ”garden giant,“ is a good mushroom for this).

Can’t get enough? Paul Stamet’s book Cultivating Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms is a must-have for any serious mushroom grower, and a mushroom club like the New York Mycological Society (newyorkmyc.org) is a great way to meet other urban mycophiles and learn to ID fungi from experts while exploring the five boroughs and beyond.

A distinction should be made between plants that tolerate shade but otherwise thrive in the sun and vice-versa. Among sun lovers that can take some shade is Fothergilla gardenii (dwarf witch alder) with its fragrant bottlebrush flowers in spring and fine coppery foliage in fall. A good example of “vice-versa” is Hydrangea, a classic staple of the shrub border. Most species generally do well in partial shade; they flower best given bright morning light.

The process of choosing plants for shade often begins with the tried and true—ferns, hostas, and yews. Some people’s enthusiasm may be dampened for fear of repeating the very familiar, but there’s good reason for these plants’ ubiquity. They work. They can be seen surviving in some of the most difficult sites around the city and may be used to great practical and aesthetic advantage. In particular, Taxus x media ‘Hicksii’ (‘Hicksii’ yew) provides a rich deep green year-round screen or vertical accent and may be underplanted with the striking foliage combination of wide-spreading Hosta fortunei ‘June’ and upright, feathery Athyrium niponicum var. pictum ‘Burgundy Lace’ (Japanese painted fern) for a winning trio. If you’re sitting under a tree and feeling in the dark, try covering the ground with a tactile combination of Asarum europaeum (European ginger) with its glossy evergreen leaves elevated just a few inches above a velvety cushion of moss, both of which will endure dry periods once they’ve been established with ample moisture..

1. Ilex x aquipernyi ‘Meschick’ DRAGON LADY (holly cultivar)

   15 feet tall; 4 feet wide
   This columnar evergreen shrub has dense, deep green, glossy foliage that welcomes pruning; abundant red berries form on this female cultivar when pollinated by male I. x meservae holly. Prefers well-drained, ordinary soil, even sand. Zones 6 to 8.

2. Enkianthus campanulatus (redvein enkianthus)

   8 feet tall; 10 feet wide
   This deciduous shrub blooms with clusters of lovely pendulous, bell-shaped cream-colored flowers with red veins in May through June. Prefers well-drained, acidic soil. Zones 4 to 7.

3. Kerria japonica ‘Picta’ (Japanese kerria)

   5 feet tall; 3 feet wide
   Pale green stems hold attractive double-serrate, variegated leaves edged in white with single yellow flowers in spring through summer. May be trained on a fence, as in illustration. Zones 4 to 9.

4. Astilbe chinensis ‘Pumila’ (astilbe cultivar)

   15 inches tall and wide
   Distinctive dwarf with spreading foliage makes a fine groundcover; rosy-lilac bottle-brush-shaped flowers bloom in midsummer. Prefers moist soil. Zones 3 to 8.

5. Liriope spicata ‘Silver Dragon’ (variegated lilyturf cultivar)

   9 inches tall and widee
   Slender green leaves edged with silvery white provide a lush, clumping evergreen groundcover; spikes of lavender flowers rise on long stems in August through September. Zones 6 to 9.