Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Moss in the garden is a curious thing. Some people can’t stand it in their yards. They view it as a blemish in their finely manicured landscape where they think there should be grass. I think differently. Why replace the moss with anything else? It’s green year round, it grows in a trouble spot, and it prevents erosion.Moss thrives where…

Today I took the mower out for a final spin in the balmy 60 degree weather before closing shop over the winter. I’m sure the mower was appreciative of the action as it had rested in my garage for a month gathering dust. It was a good day. It was just the mower and me, man and machine, making the…

Every year one of the great performances in my garden is the performance of the poppies. These simple red flowers came in a free packet of seed several years ago and still keep on putting on powerful displays of red paper-like petals. With as easy as poppies are to grow and maintain (I do nothing other than spread the seeds…

It’s that time of the year here in Tennessee where if you haven’t already done so you might want to think about planting lettuce in your vegetable garden. Lettuce likes the cool air of early spring to start growing.  I planted three types of lettuce last week in our raised beds – all of which are heirlooms. How I Plant…

I just posted on the greenhouse shed page with a new report on the siding installation. The garden shed is shaping up! Adding the siding really changes the look for the better – much closer to what I’ve envisioned. There’s always more to do but progress is being made! I forgot to mention in the post but I also installed…

If you are tired of hauling your old newspapers to the dump or recycling there are a couple good uses of it for around the house. First its important to note that newspaper is biodegradable and most of the inks are soy based so there will be no harm to the environment. In fact the newspaper should add to the…

This summer has been a tricky one in which to garden in here in Tennessee.  June was the driest month I can remember and hotter than any June on record. July was strange too – extra moisture and cooler temperatures made up some of the lost ground caused by the spring drought. Having strange weather has mixed the gardening season…

It’s time to take a trip up to Washington and visit Tatyana.  She went on a visit to one of her favorite nurseries that has a heavy emphasis on Japanese maples!  Japanese maples can be one of the spectacular trees for fall color.  While throughout the year Japanese maple colors can range from variegated white and green to deep reds the fall…

It’s been rather hectic over the last couple weeks around here and I’m just now getting to my own Fall Color Project post! I figured a retrospective look back at the last few weeks would find the peak of the fall color season in my area. Way back on October 12, 2010 we had the first of the trees beginning…

It’s October and the temperatures are getting cooler which makes it ideal for planting garlic! I just planted two raised beds full of garlic a few days ago. Garlic loves to start in cooler weather and this coming week we are predicted to have some night temperatures in the 30 degree range. It should be perfect for the newly planted…

Melinda over at Elements in Time has issued a challenge to bloggers to grow one more thing than they did last year and talk about it each week! I’d probably talk about it anyway but this seemed like a good idea to see what others are doing in their gardens. Go over and check out what it’s all about!

I knew what I was going to do today. Weather permitting I would get outside and harvest our basil and not only make our dinner using it but make enough to have pesto a couple times during the winter. I planned ahead and we stopped by the grocery store to get more Parmesan cheese. We also picked up some milk,…

My garden is made up of a series of island garden beds. Each one is “designed” (I say that very loosely) to create the pathways that appear in between the gardens. To me a pathway is what really makes garden. A good path let’s you see everything there is to see, leads you down unexpected turns, and really enhances a…

This was a historic day. It was the first day I’ve ever seen a frog in my garden. I’ve seen a toad or two but never an actual frog! Amphibians are a good indicator of the heath of an environment. They are kind of like environmental canaries in a coal mine, if something is wrong they are one of the…

Today is a great day for fall color here in Tennessee. I went outside a few minutes ago and took some pictures for my Garden Blogger Fall Color Project Post which will come later this week. We also have a hat trick of fall color from several Tennessee bloggers!Peaceful and tranquil beauty grace the grounds of Gail’s Garden, the blogger…

I suppose it’s human nature to second guess oneself and lately I’ve been wondering if the vegetable garden layout I decided to make was designed the best way. It’s very functional and all the vegetables have been growing wonderfully (until a couple pests came along, but that isn’t related to the garden’s layout.) Aesthetically the layout works well and there…

Every year I like to create a list of projects that I hope to complete. I don’t know that it has ever been a truly realistic list. Which means I probably put more projects on the list than time will allow. Since we have a new house and a new garden we have a big list of potential projects that…

Here’s a picture of our eastern property line. Along the line we placed 4 Canadian hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) about 8 feet apart to create a border hedge and privacy screen. The hemlocks will eventually fill together and create a nice soft evergreen screen for that side of the house. I would like to make this area into a woodland corridor…