For the Birds: Fall Fruiting Plants

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For the Birds: Fall Fruiting Plants

As we move into autumn, there is a way to bring more color, more interest, and more drama into your backyard. By planting fall-fruiting bushes you will have the double benefit of colorful berries and the colorful birds that the berries attract. Many bird species gorge on fall berries before they migrate south and many other species, like cardinals, nuthatches and blue jays stay for the winter and continue to feed off the berries in your garden. Want to attract more birds to your backyard? Start with these attractive, fall-fruiting favorites.

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Spongy Moth Invasion

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Spongy Moth Invasion

Spongy moths are incredibly destructive!

They defoliate trees and in some circumstances, that defoliation can kill the affected trees.

"Spongy moth populations rise and fall in cycles of roughly 10-15 years. Populations vary during the cycle, from years with few caterpillars and very minor damage, to years with large numbers of caterpillars and very noticeable leaf damage and tree defoliation. These population cycles are driven by predator-prey interactions, specifically the interactions between spongy moth, small mammals, and acorn production."

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Modern Accord Depot: Before and After

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Modern Accord Depot: Before and After

This was a really fun and interesting project for Victoria Gardens in partnership with Shawn McCloskey of Aurora Landscape Design. The owners of the Modern Accord Depot, Choreographer Chase Brock and Conductor Rob Berman already had renovated this historic Train Depot into a fun, colorful, modern structure, which is an arts residency space and luxury vacation rental. We transformed the outside space into a colorful garden with a rolling meadow feel.

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Why fall is the perfect time to plant: 

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Why fall is the perfect time to plant: 

At Victoria Gardens, we find the best growers, we take vigilant care of our plants, and we continue to stock fresh, healthy plants throughout the fall. We stay open later in the season than most nurseries (because of our busy landscaping division, we continue to plant until the ground temperatures fall below 41 degrees Fahrenheit), which means we will have a wide and healthy selection through mid-November. And, yes! We ourselves are planting right up until Thanksgiving*, weather permitting. Not only that, but our staff is helpful and knowledgeable, and we will always take your plants to the parking lot and help you load.

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Visit Our Unique Plant Nursery: Rosendale, NY

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Visit Our Unique Plant Nursery: Rosendale, NY

Sitting up on a hill, this unusual boutique nursery is set on a 375 million year old bedrock shelf that was under the ocean. The rock’s surface is covered with fossils of shells and other sea creatures. This bedrock is the magical setting for a nursery with vignettes of complementary plants that provide a visual sense how they will look in your own garden.

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Unexpected Fall Gardening Advice From The New York Times

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Unexpected Fall Gardening Advice From The New York Times

A new and interesting way to think about your gardening practice!

The times had a great article by Margaret Roach featuring Rebecca McMackin, the director of horticulture at the 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park. She makes a great point we love: Fall Planting makes time for spring weeding!

"And there’s a bonus: With the staff no longer on hose duty all spring and summer, they have more time for that all-important task that must not be postponed: weeding.

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World’s Worst Invasive Plants Sold at Many U.S. Garden Centers

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World’s Worst Invasive Plants Sold at Many U.S. Garden Centers

The best way to avoid invasives is to avoid fly-by-night growers and landscapers who lack any real plant knowledge. Some of Victoria’s growers have been in business for generations. And after 30+ years of garden design and maintenance, the Victoria Gardens’ crew know from personal experience whether plants stay, naturalize, or invade!

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Time to Fertilize!

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Time to Fertilize!

What do the 3 Numbers on Plant Food Mean?

The three numbers represent ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—in that order. For example, Rose-tone is a balanced 4-3-2 fertilizer includes 4 percent nitrogen, 3 percent phosphorus, 2 percent potassium. while Bone Meal’s ratio 4-12-0 is rich in phosphorus, which is highly beneficial for flowering plants and promote roots growth.

Fertilizers with a higher nitrogen (the first number) engorage leafy green growth.

Plant food with Potassium (the third number) can counter environmental stresses like heat, drought, bark damage, or garden pests.

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What does a multi-year landscaping project look like?

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What does a multi-year landscaping project look like?


At Victoria Gardens, we often work with clients for decades, doing the maintenance on a garden after the design and installation phase. But we also have clients who continue to develop and finetune their properties: adding pools, adding gardens, extending gardens, etc.

Your dream garden may not come into being overnight. You may not know exactly what you want all at once or budget restrictions may mean you need to break up a big dream into multiple phases.

We wanted to walk through what one of those muti-phase projects looks like.

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Heavenly Hydrangea

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Heavenly Hydrangea

To determine when to prune, you will need to determine what type of hydrangea you have. Hydrangea either blooms on "old" wood or "new" wood. Ask neighbors or a nearby nursery to help you with identification. Hydrangea that blooms on old wood (Macrophylla (“moptops”), oakleaf, and lace caps) should be pruned only after they bloom in the summer, before August to be safe, because next year's buds form on this year's growth.


Hydrangea that blooms on new growth (Annabelle, Limelight, Pee Gee, and other H.paniculata varieties) can be pruned to within 6-12 inches from the ground in the early spring. No matter which type you have, you can begin to reinvigorate plants by cutting 1/3 of the branches to the ground in the summer.

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