Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

There are many ways to grow tomatoes. In the past I generally used tomato cages to hold up my plants. One method I’ve been trying lately in my garden is trellising. When you trellis a tomato plant you create a structure that allows the tomato to get good sunlight and airflow around the plant. This get help out immensely if…

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…

Some plants just really know how to grow! Take this Ajuga reptans (Bugleweed) that I planted in my corner shade garden area last fall for instance. I had one plant that I divided into two and planted on either side of a large stepping stone. Those two plants have now become all those that you see in the picture below….

Despite the snow I still managed to get a couple small things done outside this weekend. The most notable and exciting was the planting of the ‘Yoshino ‘ Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis). It is the first plant I’ve been able to put in the ground on our property this year. I’ve been planning this one since we bought the house….

One of the best times to work out in the garden is the early morning before 7:30 AM. Anytime thereafter the temperature and humidity skyrockets, at least here in Tennessee. Early morning is also one of the best times for watering. It gives the plants water in the coolest part of the day when they can absorb the most since…

It occurred to me today that I’ve been writing this blog, The Home Garden for over two years. I completely missed the second year mark, which happened last week while I was totally immersed Fall Color Projects and the greenhouse project. Two years of blogging has past and has been a ton of fun. In two years I’ve published 858…

The fan shaped leaves of the ginkgo are one of my favorite trees to watch in the fall. The leaves turn a bright gold that really is quite magical to see! You know what though? The summer leaves look pretty awesome too! Ginkgo biloba backlit with the sun.

The first yellow crocus of the year has emerged from the front garden! Many more blooms to come!

Today I had an odd thing happen. I was working in the garage when all of a sudden something slammed into the wall above the garage door. How a bird could mistake a wall for open air I don’t really know. Of course many birds aren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. After all where else would the expression…

The weather this past weekend was perfect for outdoor gardening activities! Unfortunately we are still a good six weeks away from safe outdoor planting and many of the tasks on my long term spring agenda need to wait until the frosts are done, but there is always something that can be done! Garden preparation! By far the biggest job my…

About 6 weeks ago I was out limbing up a couple Yoshino cherry trees (Prunus x yedoensis) . I couldn’t let the clippings just go to waste so I thought I would try my hand at rooting a Yoshino cherry from the greenwood cuttings. Previously I’ve only managed to root one Yoshino Cherry from a hardwood cutting and it didn’t…

OK, maybe you didn’t, but what gardener doesn’t want to see flowers in bloom?  Here’s a quick look around at the blooms of my garden for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day hosted by Carol and May Dreams Gardens! The bees always love the coneflowers. Blackberry lily. Blackberry lily gets ts name from the seed clusters that resemble the compound fruit of…

Layering is a fantastic way to make more free plants with very little risk. Propagating a plant through layering usually involves pinning down a branch to make contact with the soil so that the branch can begin forming roots.  I’ve used layering to propagate more difficult to root plants like oak leaf hydrangeas.   Below you will find a short…

There are so many variations a person can make for a shade garden. Often there are similarities between plant selections or plant placement but the individual responsible for putting them together has a significant impact. Recently another Middle Tennessean sent me a picture of her shade garden. Rachel put together a very fine display of foliage and blooms that I…

The other day I was contacted by the folks at Workman Publishing. They had a new book that they wanted someone to look at so I said I’d be happy to check it out. The book is The Garden Primer: Second Edition by Barbara Damrosch. Some of you may be familiar with the original version of this gardening manual that…

This week has been eventful. I haven’t been able to post much about the garden due to the happenings here but I did want to catch everyone up on how things are growing.  Here’s a quick update on the garden. The beans are climbing the bamboo trellis I put together.  I gathered it up from a roadside where someone had…

Imagine my puzzlement when I glanced at one of my two spireas and saw empty branches. This was a plant that was flushing out with its reddish amber to golden leaves just a couple days ago. The leaves around the tips were completely intact but some of the stems were nearly naked. What caused this damage? Aphids! What do Aphids…

If you every wondered exactly why the beautyberry is called a beautyberry I’ll give you two words: “Beauty” and “berry!” These beautiful purple clusters of purple berries are well worth the wait each year for the autumn display. I’ve added several new beautyberries from cuttings to my garden this year and can’t wait until their display matches the first one…