Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

April is an amazing time of year to get in the garden. The weather is better, the soil is warming up, and the plants are coming alive from their winter rest. April is the time of year when gardeners need to be going full speed agead to prep their Zone 7 gardens before the heat of summer arrives. Here in…

The cobblestone patio is close to finished, very close, but not quite done yet. I had hoped to have the it done before my daughter’s third birthday (this past Wednesday) but Fay had other plans. The rains delayed my work for several days both while it was raining and afterward since I had to wait for the sun to dry…

Hopefully this will be the last time this year but there is a chance of a slight freeze tonight and tomorrow night (April 28 & 28)! The weather forecasters are predicting temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s for both nights. After that we should be in the clear.Protect those plants!If you are like me and have already planted some…

I did a post a while back on my front yard garden spots where I wrote about my mailbox garden and felt today that I needed to update what I’ve done since then. I really haven’t done much, as far as adding plants goes, but I can definitely tell you that a little mulch goes a long way toward making…

To put it simply: it’s darn cold outside! The frost pocket that is our backyard was down to 5.9 degrees F!

There are very few gardens I know of that don’t have some sort of wind chime.  Wind chimes add an extra audio element to the garden as well as a touch of whimsy.  There is quite a variety of wind chimes to choose from out there and it all depends on what you like.  Recently Windchimesonline.net sent me three bamboo…

This week marks the last week of voting on the Better Homes & Gardens and The Home Depot 48 Hour Challenge. It’s been a fun project from beginning to end and while it officially may end, the arbor has brought all kinds of new ideas for that area of our yard. I thought with this last post for the Challenge…

Rather than talk about useless resolutions for 2009 I thought I would discuss my project plans for the garden. I do have one goal that encompasses all things gardening and in my life that could be considered a resolution: to do all things better than I did the last time. That one statement covers pretty much any potential resolution in…

It’s not everyday I get to write about something this life changing! You may remember that a while back I made an offer for some land. That piece of land didn’t work out and I was pretty disappointed. Sometimes life has better plans and we just don’t realize it at the time. Recently we found another piece of land for…

Columbia, TN which is just down the road from us is currently having it’s annual Mule Day festival. It began on Tuesday and continues through this Sunday. It’s basically a festival with arts and crafts, bluegrass music, clogging, and several mule related events. There’s even a parade! I feel bad for the band members who have to March behind the…

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This ancient sentiment applies very well to the denizens of the garden. The tomato (tobacco) hornworm in the pictures is a being of great tomato destruction. This larval stage of the five-spotted hawkmoth is able to demolish whole tomato plants in a matter of days if not caught early. It feeds off…

I’ve been framed!  The greenhouse-shed almost is framed that is. The framing is coming along slower than I had hoped and as usual my goals prove to be loftier than time actually allows. I do this to myself all the time with projects, underestimating the actual amount of time necessary to complete it. My goal for Wednesday was to finish…

On Monday I posted about 5 Plants I Want in Every Garden.  In case you missed it the post was about plants that should I ever move I will plant again in the new garden.  As several of the commenters pointed out it’s hard to just pick five. With that in mind I’ll add four more to my list.  Neither this…

I’ve been looking back at my photo albums lately.  Looking back at old photos helps to get a perspective of where the garden is going by remembering where it’s been.  I can see how effective my efforts are at developing a garden, how much things have grown, and remember old plants I might not have anymore.  While perusing the photos…

Coming up on April 25, 2008 is Arbor Day. It’s a day to celebrate a unique feature of our planet the trees. The trees are so important to us. They serve as the planet’s lungs filtering the air we breathe, they provide us fruit and nuts to eat, paper to read and write with, drugs like aspirin and shade to…

You’ve seen them. In your cherry trees. If you haven’t yet then take a look, they are on their way. Tent Caterpillars can be devastating to the foliage of young trees especially those of the prunus genus. They may look all cute and cuddly up close but when allowed to let loose they feast like there is no tomorrow upon…

Over the years I’ve done several vegetable garden layouts for my garden. I’ve always tried to make improvements to the vegetable garden. My goal is to make it more efficient for growing yet still aesthetically pleasing and fun to be in. This year however isn’t just an adjustment, it’s a whole new garden! We moved into our new house in…