Shows / MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
A WAY TO GARDEN is the horticultural incarnation of Margaret Roach
Episodes
MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDENA Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Nov 9, 2026 – The ‘Gardening for Nature’ Survey
It’s not news that more and more gardeners are trying their hand at landscaping with native plants in recent years—often by converting a piece of lawn to…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Nov 2, 2026 – Renee Kemmerer on Native ‘Weeds’
What’s in a name—specifically when it’s the common name of a plant that includes the word “weed”? When you hear of plants like jewelweed or pokeweed or…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 26, 2026 – The Art of Crevice Gardening
I’ve never had a rock garden, I confess, but a book about a modern and extreme form of the art caught my attention when it was published. It’s called “The…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 19, 2026 – Creative Use of Woody Plants at Stoneleigh
There’s power in numbers. That’s what the horticulture team at Stoneleigh, the historic estate turned native-focused public garden in Villanova, Pennsylvania…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 12, 2026 – Sam Jaffe on Extraordinary Caterpillars
“We’re so good at pretending the things around us are known and boring, or imagining that the worthwhile things are far away,” says Sam Jaffe, at the start of…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 5, 2026 – Nancy Lawson on Awe-Filled Gardens
One late-August day, Nancy Lawson—or “The Humane Gardener,” as she is perhaps better known—was making a video about a spicebush swallowtail butterfly when…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Hannah Fries’s ‘A Forest Language’ – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 28, 2026
In the introduction to her latest book “A Forest Language,” Hannah Fries acknowledges a fascination with the words we use to talk about trees – organisms she…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Bill Braun on Seed Saving – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 21, 2026
I look around the garden and I see it happening everywhere, on so many different plants: seed is forming. Seed is the start of most everything we grow, yet…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Exceptional Woody Plants from ‘Arnold Selects’ – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 14, 2026
What makes a tree or shrub exceptional – something worthy of introduction into the nursery trade, and eventually maybe making its way into your garden? There…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
JM Fortier on Vegetable Garden Wisdom – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 7, 2026
When I heard that today’s guest, who’s been a guiding force in educating organic farmers, was finally publishing a book specifically for gardeners … I…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Leslie Halleck on Home Greenhouses – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Aug 31, 2026
Is a greenhouse in your future? I’ve never had one, and I have always been not-so-secretly jealous of friends who do—whether to propagate their seedlings in…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Timothy Pakron on What’s Fresh From the Garden – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Aug 24, 2026
The opening pages of Timothy Pakron’s about-to-be-released cookbook aren’t pictures of plates of food, but rather gorgeous flower photos – some dreamy cosmos…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Marc Hachadourian on Water Lilies – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Aug 17, 2026
Rather than digging in, let’s wade in to our topic this week – because the subject is waterlilies. If you follow any botanical gardens on social media, you’ve…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Lane Selman on Radicchio – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Aug 10, 2026
When was the last time you made room in your vegetable garden for something a little out of the ordinary that you’d never grown or maybe even tasted…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
JJ Apodaca on Welcoming Amphibians – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Aug 3, 2026
I don’t recall who tipped me off to the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy’s email newsletter, but I am glad that I found it and signed up. Those of you who are…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Adam Wheeler on Pick of the Hydrangeas – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – July 27, 2026
Trigger warning: Today’s segment will include mention of irresistible hydrangeas and may prompt severe plant-shopping binges in susceptible individuals. You’ve…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
August Laska Talks Houseplants – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – July 20, 2026
Are you a follower of fashion—houseplant fashion, that is—seeking out the latest variety that everyone’s after, perhaps the “it” plant that’s been…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Craig LeHoullier on Tomato Troubles – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – July 13, 2026
I call the phenomenon tomato troubles: the yellow-spotted foliage that falls off, or the plant that produces all those misshapen fruits. And yes, the attack of…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Lea Johnson on Conservation Meeting Horticulture – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – July 6, 2026
Today’s guest is a plant ecologist whose work, she says, is driven by this question: “All of the wild diversity of life on earth is here, with us, right…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Doug Muller on Successions and Cover Crops – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – June 29, 2026
I know, it feels like we just planted the vegetable garden moments ago. But a close look around as summer really takes hold quickly reminds us that our work is…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Design Ideas from Madoo – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – June 22, 2026
The recently published book “Madoo: The Making of an American Garden,” reminded me of the power of certain key design strategies that can make all the…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Christin Geall on ‘Flora Culture’ – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – June 15, 2026
I’ve been digging into a diverse and compelling collection of essays in a recent book that’s centered on the subject of  flowers – everything from topics…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Elise Howard on Native-Plant Adventures – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – June 8, 2026
When today’s guest, Elise Howard, and I talked on the show in March, her new book “Plant This, Not That” was just out. The popular book offers basic guidelines…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Hummingbirds and Red Flowers – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – June 1, 2026
If you’ve ever posted a photo on the massive community science project called iNaturalist and wondered how such contributions get used in research ……
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Paul Bannick on Owls – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – May 25, 2026
Owls: They are birds we more often hear than see, exceptionally well-camouflaged creatures, many of whom move about in the hours of low light for an extra…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Jeff Epping on Gravel Gardens – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – May 18, 2026
The more that I see photographs of gravel gardens, and the more that I learn about this gardening style,  which besides its distinctive aesthetic appeal…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
The Wildr App, Guide to an Eco-Journey – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – May 11, 2026
Finding our way toward a more ecologically vibrant garden can sometimes feel a bit challenging, and I’m always looking for resources to guide me along the way…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Stephen Orr on Using Color – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – May 4, 2026
How confident are you about the use of color in your garden, and where do you draw your inspiration from for creating a pleasing palette? The topic of color is…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Sam Hoadley on Native Cultivars – A Way to Garden With Margaret Roach – April 27, 2026
If we’re shopping for native plants with the most ecological impact—ones with the most pollinator appeal, for example—then simply choosing by the prettiest…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Performance Plants of the High Line – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – April 20, 2026
Both gardeners and their plants have to be more resilient than ever these days in our changing climate, it seems. At the High Line in New York City, one of the…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Marlene Zuk on Outsider Animals – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – April 13, 2026
I’m privileged to observe a fascinating diversity of animals outside where I live, but the term “Outsider Animals” was new to me—and it’s the title of a recent…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Becca Rodomsky-Bish on Bird Gardens – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – April 6, 2026
I always say that birds taught me to garden, as I watched their behavior here at my place, and added more of the plants and features they seemed to like and…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Shaun McCoshum on Creating Habitat – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – March 30, 2026
We talk about pollinator gardens, and seek out the plants that provide that essential nourishment to bees and butterflies and moths, for example. But insects…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Ned Friedman on Wisdom in a Tree – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – March 23, 2026
I wish that when I was a college freshman, a course like Harvard’s seminar called “Tree” had been part of the curriculum, because since I learned about the…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Elise Howard’s ‘Plant This, Not That’ – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – March 16, 2026
You’ve seen and heard the list of no-no plants that were showy longtime nursery and garden standards, but have proven invasive and need to go. Yes, we…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Let’s Get Out and Botanize – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – March 9, 2026
When spring approaches and we get out into the garden again, it’s easy to get distracted by the to-do list, or just by the latest pretty thing that’s emerging…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Margaret Renkl on the Weedy Garden – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – March 2, 2026
Margaret Renkl’s newest book “The Weedy Garden: A Happy Habitat for Wild Friends,” is aimed at children, but it’s really for everyone, she says, and indeed we…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Joe Lamp’l on Seed-Starting Mixes – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Feb 23, 2026
When growing from seed, the long list of decisions starts with what turns out to be the simplest question of all: which variety of bean (or tomato, or zinnia…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Sarah Kleeger on Homegrown Spices – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Feb 16, 2026
What do you say we explore expanding our herb-gardening efforts to include some goodies to fill those jars in the spice rack, too? Most of us have probably…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Peace Seedlings on Rainbow of Peas – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Feb 9, 2026
“The dream has always been a rainbow of peas,” Dylana Kapuler said to me more than a decade ago, and that dream continues to fuel a passion for breeding…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Sam Hoadley on Goldenrods – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Feb 2, 2026
Goldenrods are powerhouses – keystone plants that serve as hosts for more than 100 species of butterflies and moths, and rich late-season sources of pollen and…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Don Tipping on Top Tomatoes – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Jan 26, 2026
IT WAS 1 degree Fahrenheit outside when I looked at my electronic weather station readout this morning – a perfect time for some winter-defying tactics like…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Reprise of Matt Mattus on Sweet Peas – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Jan 19, 2026
Every year when I get to the sweet pea listings in the seed catalogs, I think this is the year, the year I’ll organize some supports in the garden for them…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
James Young on Dye Plants – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Jan 12 2026
Until I met today’s guest, James Young, early in 2025, it hadn’t really registered in my brain that some of the familiar annuals I grow from seed…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Lane Selman on Must-Try Vegetable Seeds – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Jan 5, 2026
I’m letting myself be transported away from the winter scene outside my window, burying my nose not in the snow but instead in the spring-into-summer…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Julie Zickefoose on Bird-Feeding Season – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Dec 29, 2025
I put out my first bird feeder of the season around Thanksgiving or so each year and get the party started. But there’s more to feeding the birds than just…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Melissa Finley on Tree Care History and How-to – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Dec 22, 2025
The earliest references to people cultivating trees date back to 6000 B.C., and there are records of tree-care tactics in the Bible, too, and from ancient…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Uli Lorimer on Keystone Plants – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Dec. 15 2025
Not so many years ago, relative to the history of horticulture, even a now-ubiquitous phrase like “pollinator plant” wasn’t part of our everyday gardening…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Matt Mattus on Holiday Blooms – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Dec 8, 2025
If I say: quick, name a holiday flower, you might first answer poinsettia. But the poinsettia wasn’t always synonymous with this time of year, today’s guest…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Rob Moffitt on Unusual Houseplants – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Dec 1, 2025
I can’t imagine life without my admittedly oddball collection of houseplants, many of whom have been with me for several decades already. So I was delighted…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Jamie Hanson on Heritage Apples – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Nov 24, 2025
When I bought my place decades ago it was nestled in a tiny piece of former farmland with a little 1880s house and no garden. There were, however, five giant…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Joseph Tychonievich on Seed Sources – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Nov 17, 2025
Once upon a time the seed catalogs came out around the start of the New Year, but these days the very first ones may arrive by Thanksgiving, and their listings…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Eco Garden Care with Dan Wilder – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Nov 3, 2025
Besides their native-heavier plant palette and looser style, ecologically designed landscapes have another difference: The way we maintain them is not the same…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Paul Bannick on Woodpeckers – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 27, 2025
Today’s guest didn’t have to convince me to be wild about woodpeckers, because I already am—utterly so. These charismatic, hardworking birds make oversized…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Max Ferlauto on Leaf Removal’s Impact – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 20, 2025
Every gardener has certainly heard the rallying cry each recent autumn to “leave the leaves”, invoking us to go gentler with our cleanup to support a diversity…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Kevin West on Winter Squash – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 13, 2025
Kevin West begins his newest book, called “The Cook’s Garden,” like this:  “This is a book about flavor,” he writes. “It is a book about how to become a…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Gardener Sarah Owens on Sourdough – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Oct 6, 2025
Almost 10 years ago on this program, I talked about making sourdough starter with today’s guest, Sarah Owens, on the occasion of the publication her book…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Basil Camu on Privacy Screens – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 29, 2025
Most of us have something to hide – in our gardens, that is, some view of something we’d like to erase. It could be the telephone pole across the street that…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Leslie Needham on Design Tips – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 22, 2025
The “what plant goes where?” aspect of gardening is the hardest part for a lot of us. And as we increasingly shift our plant palette and gardening style to…
- MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN
Jenks Farmer on Transplanting and Watering Tips – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 15, 2025
In recent growing seasons, the “new normal” of a changing climate has sometimes been making me feel like my Northeastern garden has relocated farther to the…