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The Impatient Gardener

ABOUT

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Thank you for stopping by my little corner of the internet. I’ve been blogging here since 2009, offering garden inspiration and information for everyday gardeners, as well as a bit of DIY (and hilarity often ensues). My goal is to provide inspiration and education to real-life gardeners like you.


Need to get in touch with me? Reach me by email.


I started gardening as a toddler, or so the photos in my parents’ albums would have me believe, but didn’t really pick it up again until after college. When I had filled an apartment patio so full of plants that walking on it was no longer an option, we found a house with enough room for a garden in southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5b. And it turned out there was room for several gardens! I’ve been battling weeds and deer there for nearly two decades, creating and recreating gardens around the 1.3-acre property and sharing the lessons and beauty I find there on this site. Along the line I became a master gardener and I love to continue to learn more about gardening every day.

The Impatient Gardener has been featured on Houzz, in Birds and Blooms magazine and on the Young House Love blog, as well as being named one of the top gardening blogs by Lawn Starter and one of Toolversed’s top 10 bloggers.

https://gardencomm.org/In addition to The Impatient Gardener, my work has been published in Luxury Magazine, SAILING Magazine, the Ozaukee Press and other publications. I’m a member of GardenComm, the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society, the Perennial Plant Association and other organizations.

I am also available to speak to groups on a variety of fun and interesting gardening topics (no boring topics may apply).

On occasion I work with carefully vetted companies whose products I like and use. To request a media kit, send me an email.

Mailing address:

P.O. Box 249, Port Washington, WI 53074

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About

The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Garden Comm award

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
Three years ago I planted 10 ‘Royal Raindrops’ Three years ago I planted 10 ‘Royal Raindrops’ crabapple whips and then (after a gin) cut them all off about 16 inches from the ground. And so began the training of the espalier Belgian fence (no, I don’t know why it’s called that, it’s just what that form of espalier is called). It is blooming fabulously this year and in need of a few more extensions of the framework to help guide the branches but I’m thrilled with the progress it has made in a relatively short time. Video update coming soon but I didn’t want to miss showing the blooms.
I still believe that the biggest game changer in a I still believe that the biggest game changer in a garden and the single best way to make a less-than-perfect garden look amazing is a fresh edge. Weeds? Who cares. Bare spots? Nobody will know. A fresh edge tidies even the most disheveled garden right up. And even though I have a ton of planting to do, I spent a good amount of time today working on edges because it’s just that good. I use my @troybilt gas edger to cut the edge and follow up with the @sneeboer half moon edger. By the way, I’d give up my lawn mower before I gave up that gas edger. I didn’t get all the beds done but I did do the ones I see the most from the house so I can stare out the window and just think, “Damn, that looks good.”
Great diagonals courtesy of Polygonatum (Solomon’s seal) in the shade garden. Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) and ‘Dawn’s Early Light’ playing rare backup roles as the Polygonatum is allowed to have its moment in the sun … er … shade.
I love the small flowers of Epimedium. I’m grate I love the small flowers of Epimedium. I’m grateful that they bloom early in the season because their delicate blooms would probably be overlooked if they bloomed later when they would have to compete with big, brash, attention-demanding flowers in the summer garden. They are great for dry shade but they really need moisture to get established before they will get on with things.
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