Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

This morning I walked out to get the newspaper through a soft drizzling rain and stood outside overlooking the backyard. Much needed and greatly welcomed, the rain felt fantastic. I observed the backyard and could almost, almost see the grass greening back up before my eyes for the cool season ahead. I’m looking forward to the dormant fescue making it’s…

Not to be confused with any other Dave’s top ten list. This is a list of the top ten chores that I need to to in my yard and garden from now until the middle of fall. They aren’t in any particular order and I will accomplish them in a similar fashion!1. Clean up the garden beds. Each bed has…

A few months ago I was sent some Muck Boots from the Muck Boot company to try out. Disclaimer: They sent me the boots for free but everything I say in this post is my own opinion. Also I’ve used affiliate links in this post to Tractor Supply if you would like to find a pair of Muck Boots for…

Here is Part Two of my weekly series of posts about gardening on a budget, Thrifty Gardening Tips.One of the best ways to get plants and other garden paraphernalia is through other gardeners that you know. Those who garden are generous people and always seem to want to encourage others in gardening endeavors. Often all you have to do is…

Ahh, watermelon! The pure and sweet taste of summer. What summer in the south would be complete without this large juicy fruit in its predominant role as the picnic desert of choice?So here today I will show you the wonderful watermelon I have grown.The vine rests in our raised bed vegetable garden.In fact the watermelon vine is the only thing…

The first step to recovery is recognizing that you have a problem. We sure do, its our drainage! We sit below the road in our cul-de-sac and while drainage is generally good for our house, our driveway pools water near the garage. It’s mostly just an annoyance. When its rained heavily you have to step through a mud puddle to…

It’s just about time to start seeds indoors for peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes here in TN so I thought I would share a quick post on how I make my seed starting medium (mix).  Seed starting mixes can be bought with the same ingredients as what I’m about to share with you but when you mix it yourself you can…

You hear a lot of us garden bloggers always talking about what to do in the vegetable garden, but what about what not to do? We all make mistakes.  We all do things that can be categorized under “OOPS”.  I’m going to share one of those “OOPS” moments with you today that quite frankly I’m disgusted with myself for doing….

How big is a moonflower bloom? Let me show you! If you use the lens cap of my camera as an indicator this moonflower bloom on our arbor is roughly 6-8 inches in diameter! Below the moonflower is a purple sweet potato vine. I think the dark foliage and bright white blooms look great together. Perhaps this year I’ll attempt…

I began the first part of cleaning up the vegetable garden and preparing it for winter today. The summer garden went much longer last year and we had tomatoes until the end of the October. Unfortunately that’s not the case this year. The few tomatoes that were left on the vines were not worth waiting for them to ripen. Besides…

It’s important for kids to have a place to play outdoors.  My kids are outside with me all the time but they don’t always want to garden so to help them have a safe place to play and explore I put together this children’s patio and mini-garden for Lowe’s Creative Ideas.  It’s a simple project that can easily be accomplished…

Several months ago now my youngest daughter and I journeyed up to Clay and Limestone to visit Gail. While there Gail gifted us with a bounty of planting presents like a group of junipers, her famously practically perfect pink phlox, several St. John’s Worts, golden ragworts, and a couple other plants that have now found a place in our garden….

Here are two more updates for the Garden Blogger Fall Color Project! I want to take a second to thank everyone who has submitted a post so far. I’ve seen so many interesting places with fantastic colors and scenery that I never would have been able to see in one season! If you haven’t submitted anything yet don’t worry about…

It’s a sure sign of fall when the goldenrod stands tall! These tall golden yellow plumes rise above most of the native grasses in our naturalized side yard. Unfortunately for this beautiful perennial flower it is commonly mistaken for a more insidious vegetative villain, ragweed. When you sneeze in the fall it isn’t goldenrod causing your problems. Ragweed is the…

This time of year you will probably notice in the fields a beautiful tall purple flowering plant dominating the scene. It’s likely that it is mixed with some beautiful golden rod (solidago) creating a wonderful purple and gold landscape. That tall purple flower is a native plant called ironweed. There are several different varieties of ironweed and all of them…

I’ve been saving seeds like mad this year.  Collecting the seeds from my own garden and using them for my nursery as well as for personal use is one easy way to make sure I have quality seed at a low cost!  Unfortunately the amount of seeds produced by plants this year will probably be fewer due to the drought…

This post is a little late in coming, especially since I actually received my Father’s Day present from my wife and children a couple weeks early. They gave me a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum). I always like unique plants in the garden and a Japanese maple adds some foliar interest with its delicately shaped and burgundy colored leaves. I have…

The other day I had a surprise. While washing dishes at the kitchen sink I looked over at a small yogurt cup on the counter top to see this: Several small seedlings had appeared from some tomato seeds I was soaking. I’m going to have to admit one of my major failings here to properly tell the story, sometimes…I forget…