Spring time is always interesting for hostas. They emerge from the soil with tight leaf buds designed to drill their way up to the surface and finally open up to become the foliage plants we all know and love. Our hostas are springing up all over our corner shade garden. Along with the heucheras, heucherellas, … Read more
Last year I set up a small greenhouse in my garage. It was a gift from my parents and has come in quite handy. I keep it in the garage next to one of the windows and have an old aquarium light set up for the top shelf. This little greenhouse is the perfect place … Read more
There are few trees that I know of that can rival the beauty of the Yoshino Cherry tree. I have a fondness for most plants in the prunus genus but the Yoshino is a special favorite of mine. It’s white blooms seem to glow in the sunlight and after they have fallen coat the ground … Read more
You may not now this but there is a divine influence on the gardening world. It is said that: When a gardener properly takes care of his lawn, allowing it to grow high, only cutting a third at a time, and takes care not to poison the earth with unnecessary fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that … Read more
I have to admit I’m lovin’ my lawn right now. This is our third spring in this home and the lawn is beginning to look very nice. It’s not perfect, in fact far from it. Weeds can be found within a few feet of anywhere you look but the fescue is taking over. Areas that … Read more
Everybody has a spot in their yard that needs definition. Whether it is a shared boundary line with the neighbors or just a border between garden rooms, people like to define their spaces. Another major project I tackled last weekend was the side border garden. As it’s creative name describes, it is on our side … Read more
This past weekend was a big work weekend for me. Not only did I tackled the paths on the garden but I had a couple other projects in mind to accomplish. One of which was our Birdbath Garden expansion. This project is also a small memorial garden for our cat Amber who passed away in … Read more
If you’re like me and planted your tomatoes from seed a few weeks ago you may start to notice the roots beginning to move beyond your original potting medium. I used the peat pellet system for starting our peppers and tomatoes and noticed recently that the roots are extending beyond the pellets. What does this … Read more
I’m glad you asked! I’ve been updating you on the status of the raised bed garden over the last several days but I have mostly written about the structure of the garden like the mulched paths. I haven’t really written about what is growing in there. It’s time to remedy the situation! The first picture … Read more
Today was another good work day in the vegetable garden. I managed to get all the mulch laid on the pathways and even added a few stepping stones in one section. I’ll add a few more every now and then and eventually I’ll have them around the whole garden. As I was working around the … Read more
Friday afternoon and evening I was in the yard and garden vigorously hauling compost from truck to the raised beds. Fortunately one yard of compost was all that was necessary to complete the filling of the beds. Saturday’s task will be mulch: mulch for the garden paths and for various other locations around the … Read more
I haven’t showed this little garden yet in its entirety. The garden is still incomplete and you really can’t see the effect I’m looking for yet but here’s a glimpse at our sedum garden in March. Between our driveway/garage area and the front sidewalk there was a small wedge of dirt. There used to be … Read more
Have you ever wondered why some plants are considered invasive? It’s usually because if the growing conditions are even slightly favorable they take over. Invasiveness can be due to a number of traits like rapid growth, prolific reseeding, and rooting vine habits. Euonymous fortunei is one such plant in which I have observed to have … Read more
As you might guess from the title I paid a visit yesterday to a fellow garden blogger’s garden to visit none other than Clay and Limestone’s Gail. She invited me up to collect a tree for our garden that she didn’t have a home for after her patio area remodel. The tree was a serviceberry. … Read more
Since I decided to remodel the raised bed vegetable garden this year a lot of work has been done. The beds have all been built for this year and all the grading I wanted to attempt is finished, for now. The fence will be something of an ongoing project but we’ve erected a temporary wire … Read more
We are told all the time about what you can do to be “greener.” Things ranging from changing the light bulbs in your home to setting the heat back a few degrees are common tips we hear but what about in the garden? There are several things we can do to enhance our environmental “greenness” … Read more
With all the nasty but necessary weather we’ve been having lately it’s been hard to get out in the garden to work. What’s a gardener to do? Talk about the seedlings growing inside! Today I’m going to give you an update on how I am growing heucheras from seed. The largest of my heuchera seedlings … Read more
Welcome to Tennessee where spring comes early, leaves again, comes back, leaves again and repeats that process until April! We really have about 4-8 different “Winters.” Somewhere along the way to springtime we are blessed with a bounty of blooms that brighten moods while the long awaited anticipation of the start of the gardening season … Read more
Isn’t this just a pretty tomato? This is one of the new varieties of vegetables I’m trying this year in the vegetable garden. Cherokee purple is an heirloom tomato that actually has a Tennessee origin. In 1990 man in Sevierville, TN named John Green sent a package with an unnamed tomato variety to Craig LeHoullier … Read more
As you can tell I love gardening. There’s nothing more satisfying than going out on a nice day to dig in the dirt, transplant plants, pick tomatoes, or propagate plants. That’s why when our local garden club took on a new project I was excited to offer my help. I was tempted to volunteer as … Read more
Last Father’s Day my present was a little Japanese Maple. It rested in it’s pot for a while and finally was planted in the fall when I had the perfect location for it, the Japanese Maple Garden next to our newly constructed patio. It’s a young garden bed with just a few plantings but in … Read more
The tomatoes are doing great! They have a strong healthy start in our seed starting area. I planted them a week and a half ago and many of the seedlings are now getting their true leaves. As the roots start to emerge from the peat pellets I’ll transplant them deeply into individual pots. Deep planting … Read more
I am the master of growing onions. For me they never seem to have any trouble and even multiply exponentially. I always have more than enough, and have plenty to share. Perhaps I should market my secret? It’s truly remarkable how little care needs to go into these onions using my method. Once they are … Read more
The weather this past weekend was perfect. No rain, lots of sun and warm temperatures have given all the plants the kick they need to break their dormancy. Hopefully they will remain safe from any heavy frosts. I’m looking forward to seeing the blooms on this Sargent Crab Apple (Malus sargentii). It was a just … Read more
Saturday was one of those days that you had to be outside. Sunny and in the 70’s the weather was nothing less than pure perfection. It was truely a spring weather day. The kind of day that you take in from dawn until dusk without ever wanting to come back inside. All days end but … Read more
Who is this hiding among the Bradford Pear Blossoms? I didn’t notice the lady beetle before I took the picture. It was only after I was perusing pictures from today’s beautiful weather that I noticed the little orange and black insect hiding among the blossoms.
My daughter and I recently did a little project. We took materials that were lying around the house and put together a mini-seed starting greenhouse. It was a simple and easy project to work on with my 3 and a half year old daughter. Read on to see what we did. Materials: Paper roll tubes, … Read more
Spring is saying “hello I’m coming” this weekend which means time to get into the garden and get a few things done before she arrives! Wet weather is expected on Sunday evening so Saturday is the day. I’ll be skipping the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show this year to work on my own edible landscape … Read more
If you live in an area with plenty of trees you are blessed with adequate building materials for trellises and posts. They may be rustic in appearance but they can function pretty good. Today I’ll show you my new trellis for my sugar snap peas. It’s made from 5 pieces of dead wood that fell … Read more
Last year I wrote a post called What is Your Gardening Niche? It was a little post about how every gardener has their one area either of expertise or interest (most likely both) that he or she just can’t get enough of. I remember several people decided to write their own posts based on it … Read more
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is indeed easy to propagate from hardwood cuttings. In fact taking hardwood cuttings may prove more reliable than from softwood cuttings. I’ll continue with both methods at the appropriate times of the year but the hardwood cuttings have not had any trouble with rotting or any other signs of problems. In … Read more
Today was a snow day. The kind of day that happens here in Tennessee on occasion where 6-8 inches of snow fall upon us and whiten up the landscape for a few hours. It melts fast which is good for those who need to travel but unfortunately not for those who attend school! This little … Read more
On Friday my daughter and I planted another set of seeds. These were all for the vegetable garden and they were all even in the same family, nightshade. We planted a several varieties of tomatoes and peppers in our peat pot system. We’re still waiting on a few more seeds to come in through the … Read more
