Jessica Damiano
Jessica Damiano is a master gardener and journalist with more than 20 years experience in radio, television, print and online media. She has worked on Newsday's interactive endeavors since 1994, and currently is Senior Editor overseeing ExploreLI.com and Newsday's Lifestyle and Entertainment coverage. Jessica enjoys toiling in her garden -- a never-finished work in progress -- and helping local gardeners solve their horticultural problems in her Garden Detective column, which appears every Sunday in Newsday. The Garden Detective blog was awarded a 2008 Press Club of Long Island Society of Professional Journalists Online Features Reporting Award. Jessica lives in Glen Head, NY, with her husband John, daughters Justine and Julia, mutt Maddie, and a whole bunch of perennials, vegetable plants and weeds.
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Jessica Damiano 11:58 AM Garden Detective: June chores
June has always been my favorite month, at least partially for self-centered reasons. My birthday ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 5/17/13 Don't plant impatiens, even in pots
DEAR JESSICA: We live in Cutchogue, where the deer eat everything in sight. So to ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 5/10/13 Garden Detective: Lucky bets for summer
All over the world, in cultures that sometimes seem to share little else in common, ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 4/19/13 Garden Detective: Tips for starting seeds
DEAR JESSICA: I am starting zinnia seeds indoors in seed-starter medium in clear plastic egg ... Read more »
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Home and Garden 4/12/13 Garden Detective: Bringing back a butterfly bush
DEAR JESSICA: Our gardener accidentally cut back our butterfly bush in the fall. How should ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 4/4/13 Garden Detective: Topping arborvitaes
DEAR JESSICA: I have about 70 arborvitaes on the edge of my property, ranging in ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 3/29/13 Garden Detective: April chores
The garden comes to life this month. ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 3/22/13 Garden Detective: Dog-friendly grasses
DEAR JESSICA: Our dogs constantly tear up our lawn when they play, so we need ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 3/14/13 Garden Detective: Plants to dress up cubicles
DEAR JESSICA: Do you have any suggestions for plants that would be suitable and manageable ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 3/8/13 Garden Detective: Spring ephemerals
If you planted bulbs last fall, it's almost time for their show. Late spring perennials ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 2/28/13 Now's the time to prune trees and shrubs
It's late winter, and you know what that means: It's time to prune your trees, ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 2/21/13 Garden Detective: March chores
After a cold and blizzardy February, what could the usually unpredictable March bring? ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 2/14/13 Growing your own tea
For the past five years, ever since seeing the Snapple iced tea commercial that shows ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 2/6/13 Make-your-own pretty pots
As I browsed through the myriad garden catalogs piling up on the horizontal filing cabinet ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 2/1/13 Adapting a tropical to the indoors
DEAR JESSICA: I have had this plant for 17 years. I brought it indoors around ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 1/24/13 Garden Detective: February chores
Are you getting cabin fever yet? There comes a time every year -- and that ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 1/17/13 Caring for a butterfly bush
DEAR JESSICA: I have Japanese red maple trees on my property. Some are an awful ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 1/11/13 Garden Detective: Turn kitchen scraps into plants
It's the dead of winter and there's nothing that can be grown outside, so naturally ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 1/3/13 Garden Detective: white pines now orange
DEAR JESSICA: I have noticed there are many white pine trees that have been affected ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 12/28/12 Garden Detective: January chores
In Roman mythology, Janus was a two-faced god who simultaneously looked at the past and ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 12/22/12 Garden Detective: prepping fig trees for winter
DEAR JESSICA: I grew up with a father who for years painstakingly prepped our fig ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 12/14/12 Rhododendron can bloom in December
DEAR JESSICA I am a regular reader of your column and monthly calendars in Newsday. ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 12/6/12 Garden Detective: Sip from a coffee plant
DEAR JESSICA: I have two 40-year-old coffee bean plants. Over the past several years I ... Read more »
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Jessica Damiano 11/30/12 Garden Detective: December chores
As the year winds down, it's time to reflect on the past, in our lives ... Read more »
