Weekend Reading 9/8/23

This week: A surprising thief costs an Australian greenhouse thousands of dollars in plants, a guide to xeriscape design for Phoenicians, subverting HOA garden rules, an new indoor flower show in the UK and unsettling boxwood woes.

Claude the koala unmasked as prolific plant thief in Australia, BBC

Staff at an Australian nursery are recovering and protecting their seedling tables after a furry thief named Claude ate nearly $4,000 worth of plants. 🐨

City of Phoenix teams up with ASU students for xeriscape design guide, ABC15 Arizona

The City of Phoenix teamed up with Arizona State University landscaping architecture students to create a free xeriscape (landscaping or gardening with little need for irrigation) design guide for all Arizonans to use to help teach residents to practice more sustainable landscaping.

Homeowner subverts HOA with clever ‘workaround’ to their neighborhood’s harsh garden rules, Yahoo! News

Facing harsh HOA rules on in-ground gardening, a clever homeowner finds a way to subvert the regulations and grow all the veggies her family needs without repercussions.

RHS plans indoor flower show after ‘gardening boom’ in cities, The Guardian

The Royal Horticultural Society is planning the UK’s first entirely indoor flower show, aimed at people in urban areas with little to no outdoor space. The group, which also organizes the Chelsea flower show in the the Royal Hospital gardens, aims to reach a new generation of gardeners who may have been put off from horticulture by a lack of opportunity by hosting the indoor show at an abandoned rail station.

Boxwood woes continue, Dayton Daily News

Pamela Corle-Bennett sets the record straight on boxwoods after seeing a lot of misinformation on social media about boxwood problems and treatment.