Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

For a long time now I have denigrated my Bradford pear tree.  It’s smelly in the spring, although it looks nice.  It produces loads of inedible fruit that spawns offspring in my garden and everywhere else the birds decide to fly.  Bradford pear trees are generally weak trees that split because of their “V” shaped branch unions that cluster with more…

The people at EcoSMART have offered to give away a bundle package containing an eco friendly pesticide and several other of their environmentally friendly products. Included in the bundle is an organic weed killer, a fungicide, garden insect killer and an insect repellent. All you need to do to enter the drawing for the is to post in the comments…

I wish you could smell the garden right now.  If I could bring you the scents of my garden through this post I would.  What’s making my garden so fragrant?  A combination of two plants: Viburnum x burkwoodii ‘Mohawk’ and the irises! The combination of the two is bringing a honeysuckle like fragrance to the backyard.  I’m a huge fan…

Sunday was a bit of a catch-up day. Over the past few weeks I’ve had several chores that needed done in the garden but just haven’t had the time to get them accomplished. I finally made a dent in that to-do list. Here’s what was accomplished: Birdbath garden and pathway Transplanted: Birch, 2 dappled willows, redbud (these do not transplant…

Rooted Cuttings – Potted up Perhaps I should have titled this post “Here’s What I Potted Up Today” but rooting is more exciting don’t you think? Anyway this morning I potted several different kinds of cuttings that I’ve been propagating inside the house. This isn’t the end of the propagation process since they still need to grow stronger root systems…

I’ve been working on establishing my bird bath garden over the last couple days. I’ll show you the results soon but I thought I would show you the layout of the garden first. I’ve chosen plants that both the birds and the butterflies will enjoy for their diets. Of course the main reason I selected the plants was I liked…

Growing corn in the home garden is a little different from growing in the farm fields. Corn has a few traits that you need to understand before you plant so that you can get a successful crop of corn in the late summer and fall. Let’s talk about growing corn as it applies to a home gardener! Planting Corn in…

One of the tasks I accomplished last week on the greenhouse garden shed was to complete most of the siding on the backside. It was a complicated task due to many little cuts and some creative problem solving that was involved. One of the issues was with the “secret door.” I wanted the backdoor where my mower will enter the…

So the calendar says it’s spring.. Front Yard and Garden and I agree! Front yard and garden with Arbor I hope that wherever you are spring weather finds you soon! Patio Peach Tree Flowers in Bloom

Similar to the “Things to do List” in form my “Things I’ve Neglected List” contains the stuff I should have already accomplished but didn’t for some reason (Greenhouse shed construction). The garden chores that have be displaced by the aforementioned project still need to be accomplished and I really hope to when I get the time! Things I’ve Neglected (in…

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…

A Couple weeks ago a friend from Texas sent me a 5 tiered Greenstalk Vertical Planter. It’s an interesting concept for a planter that allows you to grow vertical and save on garden space. The planter came shipped with the 5 tiers, the top watering reservoir, a stand with wheels, a short drain tube for excess water, and of course…

Peppers are delicious! Whether you like hot peppers or sweet peppers both types can be propagated through cuttings to preserve over the winter. Propagating Pepper Plants To propagate peppers take 3 to 4 inch cuttings, treat with rooting hormone (although not necessary it may speed up the process), put in your rooting medium, and keep the medium damp until rooting…

A couple weeks ago I redid our self-sowing garden.  It was getting messy and too many weeds incorporated themselves into the garden.  I suppose they thought they could pass themselves off as desirable plants but their plans were foiled by May’s Lowe’s Creative Ideas Project!  The theme for this month was bulb plants.  Being one to never turn away from…

My last post about the brick floor only had a small portion of the garden shed covered with bricks. I’ve made a little progress since then and have complete exhausted my supply of free bricks. I’ve been looking for more but so far I’ve come up empty handed. I’m pleased with how it’s turning out at this point but really…

This year I’m determined to grow more out of my vegetable garden than the typical summer tomato!  In the past I’ve managed to sustain herbs like cilantro throughout the winter but haven’t been determined enough to nurture many vegetables other than spinach throughout the cold months. (It’s hard to get psyched up to run out in the cold for garden…

The other day I mentioned I had another daylily that was about to bloom called ‘Primal Scream’, well that daylily is screaming now! ‘Primal Scream’ has large orange blooms that have faint hints of reddish coloring in the outer edges of the petals and a more true orange color the further toward the center. I planted my ‘Primal Scream’ daylily…

When selecting seeds for the vegetable garden it always pays to be early – in this case I was not. Several of the selections I had planned on making were in fact sold out when I finally got around to ordering from Baker Creek. The early bird gets the worm is the old saying but maybe it should be the…