Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

One major reason many of us garden is to enjoy seeing wildlife. I think it’s pretty rare to find a gardener who doesn’t also enjoy a little bird watching. Birds can be great to have around the garden as well. Kingsyard recently sent me a squirrel proof bird feeder and a bluebird house to put up in my garden. I…

It’s no secret I like salvia in the garden. It’s easy to grow and hardy here in Tennessee. Most importantly it never fails to produce great blooms. The foliage is nice but nothing spectacular, however today I saw something very interesting. It happens every now and then on various plants and is responsible for the creation of many variegated varieties,…

Here’s a list of this year’s gardening events that you don’t want to miss! Click on the links for more informationNashville Lawn and Garden Show – March 5-8, 2009Bloom ‘n’ Garden Expo – April 3-5, 2009Perennial Plant Society Plant Sale – April 4, 2009Middle Tennessee Hosta Society – Annual Hosta Sale – May 9, 2009Middle Tennessee Spring Plant Swap –…

Last weekend I pulled out the tomato plants (all but three) and did the yearly Bermuda grass removal. Bermuda grass is one of the two most frustrating parts of my vegetable garden, the other being the deer. Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) grows and spreads through rhizomes (under the soil) and stolons (above the soil). Any piece of the roots or…

Wednesday was full of randomness, although it wasn’t all gardening.  A little bird watching, a little gardening, and a little bit of house stuff all rolled together to make a Wednesday. The day started with a trip to the home improvement store.  Not for gardening stuff this time but for painting materials.  A bathroom in our house needs redone so…

One of the neatest perennials in our garden is ‘Husker’s Red’ penstemon (Penstemon digitalis).  ‘Husker’s Red’ has reddish foliage that adds color to the garden during the growing season but it also blooms prolifically for several weeks in the spring.  Ours are just now starting to fade so I thought I would take a picture to share with you.  The…

For while I thought the deer were gone.  Then this spring we saw the telltale signs of the whitetail deer.  The hoof prints, the nibbles and the um…other signs. Then came the sightings. A single doe came strolling through the backyard taking nibbles of various plants.  Fortunately most of the plants in our garden are deer resistant so the deer…

I’ve always thought that in order to have a garden with year round interest some plants need to be planted in every season. The plants you see in the nurseries are typically presented in their prime season (unless you are talking vegetables in which case they could be out several weeks before you should plant them!) and if you plant…

Fall is the perfect time to start preparing tree and shrub seeds that need a period of cold weather before they’ll sprout. When seed starting tree and shrub seeds I use two techniques that help to trigger better germination rates. The first technique is simply soaking the seeds. The second process is called stratification and mimics the natural cycle seeds…

It’s time for the Fall Color Project to officially begin with our first participant! When the fall colors peak in your area consider it your blogging duty to share the view!Joco was concerned a couple weeks ago that there would be very little fall color in the UK due to the unusual weather but thankfully for us and our leaf…

Last year I built two new wooden raised beds for my vegetable garden. After building them I needed a way to fill them up with soil. Since I already had a pile of wood chips in the front yard from a tree trimmer I thought why not use them? As the wood chips break down they nourish the soil and…

The rain today had a couple of small openings for some sunshine to come through. It always seems that March has the most rainbows, what do you think?

This time of year is always very special. The leaves are coming out on all the trees and the barren treeline in the backyard becomes a lush forest of greenery.  The treeline is filled with maples, tulip poplars, sassafras and small variety of other trees.

In the very back of our property we have a shady area.  It’s about the only shady area that has occured naturally in our landscape.  A mixture of walnut, sassafras, hackberry, and maple trees create a shade area that until recently was completely unusable!  It was a problem area in our landscape which I thought would make a great subject…

I hope when you read this post that the rains are coming down in a delightful shower to water your garden, because they certainly aren’t here! It’s dry, extremely dry. Working in the ground is like cutting through a brick. Fortunately we’ve planted plants over the years that can tolerate these dry drought conditions. Autumn sage is one of those…

This morning was one where the garden was draped in a fog.  Fog adds a touch of mystery to any scene. This sunrise picture was taken from our back deck.  A birch tree to the left is sporting its last few remaining leaves while the maple is clinging to the last of the fall colors. Our blue garden shed was…

This time of year I’m always overwhelmed by the massive amount of work that needs done in the garden. This blog sometimes helps me to keep organized when I put together a list of those garden things to do. 5 Fall Garden Chores I Need to Do in My Garden Clean up the vegetable garden. It’s overgrown from too many…

When you’re taking cuttings from a plant, one of the most important steps is choosing the right material. The type of cutting you select plays a huge role in whether or not it will root successfully. In this post, I’ll walk you through what I look for when taking cuttings from shrubs and perennials and share some practical tips to…