Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

After the storms last night it feels like we dodged the proverbial bullet. Storms blasted through Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and several other states bringing rain, lightning, hail, and tornadoes. It was not a restful evening by any means but we prepared for it. We used our closet under the stairs for a safety spot and stocked it with a…

Our current garden is still a work in progress, as every garden will ever be, but sometimes I like to think about what my next garden will be like.  We have no immediate plans to move but one day our growing family will need more room in the house (and with two girls probably more bathrooms!) When that day comes…

I’ve been planning my raised bed garden for a while now and now I’ve come to another phase. Figuring out how to plant the garden. I’m planning on using a technique called companion planting. Carol at May Dreams Gardens mentioned this a couple weeks ago although she called it Three Sisters gardening. It’s concept is pretty simple, plant plants that…

If you start seeds yourself rather than purchase plants one important step in the process is transplanting. Repotting and transplanting tomatoes and peppers allows them to grow larger root systems so that when you do plant them in the garden they are more established (upsizing). There are a few tips that I want to share with you when transplanting your…

(Time x (Knowledge + Experience) x Money )= Your GardenHow successful is your garden? I think you can tell just by observing the outcome, but there are elements that go into it that effect your desired outcome.Time to me is by far the most important. The amount of time spent planning, weeding, planting, propagating, or even researching play a huge…

I’m sure you’ve always been wondering “Where can I find a light post that can double as a bird feeder station and has a spot for hanging baskets too?”  You’ve come to the right place because I’m going to show you my latest project for Lowe’s Creative Ideas: a garden light post and bird feeder station with hanging baskets. The…

You’ve seen it before I’m sure.  A surprise plant or two coming up where you would least expect it.  A bird may have moved the seed around, or maybe it was caught can carried along on the wind. But have you ever had a whole garden just appear ready to go?  I have!  Now it’s not the perfect fall garden. …

Here is an inexpensive little project I’m working on that hopefully will work to hold a tomato plant. This homemade tomato cage is made from the pliable branches of a sycamore tree my neighbor limbed up. I offered to take the branches to dump in a pit in the backyard and mentioned I might use a few of the branches…

It’s that time of year again!  The end of the old and the beginning of the new.  It’s at this time of year that I like to review my project list to see how well I accomplished my goals.  Every year I come up with a list of projects I hope to complete in my garden then review it at the…

No matter where I go when I see seeds that are ripe I’m tempted to collect them. That was the case when walking around Knoxville last year and seeing some ripe magnolia seeds on some Sweetbay magnolia plants. Sweetbay magnolias have several names including: sweetbay magnolia, laurel magnolia, swamp magnolia, white bay magnolia, (simply) bay magnolia, or even beaver tree….

Yesterday I gave you a sneak peek at one of my favorite perennials that I decided to try and grow from seed this year, the heuchera! The seeds came from our corner shade garden which contains a small variety of heucheras like ‘Palace Purple’, ‘Mocha’, ‘Melting Fire’, ‘Fireworks’, and a heucherella named ‘Stoplight.’ Even in the winter they keep great…

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 December. This is how the…

Finally I braved the harsh August summer elements and trekked out to the garden shed to lay the brick floor down. I didn’t get finished but I did manage to get some important work done like leveling the crushed gravel underneath where the bricks will go. I took a board and a level and made sure that the gravel was…

It’s finally time to get the chore to end all chores done: cleaning up the vegetable garden.  After a year of intermittent neglect, frustration, summer heat, and family tragedy it is definitely time to put this year’s garden under wraps.  Mostly under wraps that is.  We actually have a crop of greens on the way to help feed the family…

This month’s Creative Ideas Project with Lowe’s and Growing The Home Garden is all about organization!  By using a $100 gift card donated by Lowe’s I’ve redone a part of my garage to make it more useful for our whole family – not just the gardener!  I think the main problem people have with organization is that they don’t have…

“There has been an awakening, have you felt it?” – Supreme Leader Snoke Yes, indeed we have. While Star Wars and Gardening are not necessarily tied together I felt that this quote is so appropriate for describing the spring garden. It is an awakening. The warmer weather and longer days combine to encourage plants to come alive again from dormancy….

Once your plants have rooted they need potted up or planted. In most cases I will pot up the newly rooted cuttings to help them grow stronger and more established root systems before planting in the garden. Potting up cuttings is a very simple process but there are a few small things to keep in mind. For information on growing…

It’s almost that time of year again: Fall Planting Season! When the weather cools off, the days become shorter, Pumpkin Spice is everywhere (OK that may not be the greatest thing), and it will be time to get your fall bulbs and rhizomes planted in the ground. Planting these plants in the fall allows their root systems to acclimate over…