Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

I managed to plant all the plants for my new winter garden on what was a warm December day. With temperatures in the 50’s it was somewhat pleasant, which is about the best you can expected from December in Tennessee. You’re probably wondering which plan I decided to go with, the Symmetrical Plan or the Asymmetrical Plan. The answer was…

One of the most beautiful trees we have in the Spring is the Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia. In the fall it produces seed pods which you can gather and plant to grow more red buckeye trees. Last year the squirrels beat me to it but not this year! Here’s a short video of me gathering and planting red buckeye seeds….

One of the most valuable resources you can have as a gardener is compost. I can tell you from experience that you can never have enough compost to meet all of your needs. Compost is essential for good soil building. As materials break down into smaller components through composting they turn into usable elements that plants can use for growth….

The herb garden will be a new experience for me. In the past I have used pots for the herbs, this year I’ll see what I can do with the in-ground Herb Garden I have planned (Herb Garden Layout). Most of the plants will be from seed but not all! Here is what we decided on for the herb garden:Basil…

Among the many chores I mentioned in my last post was the toppling of several large trees. There were three trees in that were dead and needed removal. At some point recently one of the branches of the trees fell and speared the ground below to a depth of 6-8 inches. To keep the trees in such a state in…

As previously mentioned in my 2009 garden project list I am working on a self sowing garden. I mentioned the advantages to a self sowing garden earlier in the week and my own personal reasons for wanting to plant it and now it’s time for the next step…seeds. But first, what are self sowing plants? Since plants generally reproduce from…

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 would like to thank all those who posted an entry for the EcoSmart bug killer giveaway!  All the names were dropped in a hat (actually a Halloween candy bag), mixed, and one name was drawn by my oldest daughter.  The name that was chosen was Stacyjo! Congratulations to Stacy.  All you need to do is go to the EcoSmart…

Ninebark (Physocarpus) is a beautiful garden shrub that grows up to around 10 ft tall in the right location. Many varieties of ninebark have been developed for gardeners including ‘Diabolo’™/’Diablo’™ and ‘Coppertina’™ and can be a great addition to add a nice copper color to your garden foliage. Ninebark can also be very easy to propagate more of from cuttings….

Here’s a topic I’m a huge fan of: PLANT PROPAGATION!  I’ve talked about it repeatedly and those of you who have followed Growing The Home Garden over the years have seen some of my plant propagation experiments.  I thought for today’s Friday Five post I would highlight the various common forms of plant propagation.  I highly encourage those of you…

If you are like me, you may have never given your wheelbarrow much thought. It really is a gardener’s best friend. This garden companion is with you in all seasons and through all manner of tasks. The poor little guy is taken for granted yet never complains and always does the job. Often it isn’t until the morning after that…

Recently I was given the opportunity to check out Nancy Ondra’s latest book called Five-Plant Gardens. Nancy Ondra writes the blog Hayefield and has written several other books including The Perennial Care Manual.  She is definitely what I consider and expert on perennial plants! This latest book isn’t about the care of the plants it’s about how to go about…

My thoughts on gardening in 2020 2020 has been a crazy year so far hasn’t it? On the positive side it has introduced a host of new gardeners to the fun of home gardening. People these days are looking for ways to spend their time at home and maybe participate in a healthy activity that can offset some expenses with…

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…

I did several little things in the garden this week that weren’t worthy of individual posts but when grouped together give me a little something to talk about.  Planted seeds for rudbeckia ‘Cappuccino’, gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’, Verbena bonariensis, mixed heucheras, Panicum virgatum. Constructed a suspended staking system out of fallen poplar branches for our sugar snap peas.  I’ll go into…

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan for the genus Prunus so you won’t be flabbergasted when I tell you that I like this little ornamental dwarf peach called ‘Bonfire’ (Prunus persica). I bought it last year for my wife who wanted a peach tree. Unfortunately at the time I didn’t realize that it was merely ornamental and not…

Several years ago I used to watch a cartoon called Earthworm Jim. (Yes I’ll admit I watched cartoons in college!) It was based on a video game that I never played but I guess was somewhat popular at the time.  In the cartoon Earthworm Jim was a space traveling superhero worm valiantly ridding the universe of bad guys like Professor…