Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

While we were away last weekend picking pecans I snapped some photos of the setting sun. Sometimes I think wintertime sunsets are trying to make up for the lack of color in the garden and elsewhere during this season.This picture was taken overlooking one of the fields near my wife’s grandmother’s home.

Trees serve as the backbone of the garden. Trees add structure and height, clean the air, filter water, prevent soil erosion, provide shade and can be a habitat for wildlife. If you have ever sat beneath a maple tree in the heat of summer and enjoyed the cool shade it provided you understand the value of that tree. To me…

A couple weeks ago a representative for DuPont contacted me and asked me to review one of their products. It was a weed control fabric (DuPont Garden O.N.E® Biodegradable Weed Control Fabric). I was skeptical about it at first (since weed control fabrics and myself don’t usually get along) but I said go ahead and send it and I’d take…

Talk about a great use of an old factory space. These two green roof gardeners took the roof of a bagel factory and turned it into a vegetable garden. It’s a very cool idea! Go take a look at the Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn!

Every home gardener wants their plants to thrive and do well. Often there are little, easy to do things that can greatly improve the chances of plants in your garden succeeding. Here we are going to talk about one thing you can do to help your tomato and pepper plants grow great: pruning off the lower leaves or as I…

The colors are out and some trees are spectacular! There are all sorts of colorful trees for the fall that just can’t be beat. The maples are some of my favorites. Here are some suggestions for trees with great fall color:Maples: Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum): beautiful yellow orange foliageRed Maple (Acer rubrum) red foliage (of course)Japanese Maples (Acer Palmatum).Sweet Gum…

Welcome to a quick garden tour of our garden in April of 2022! There’s lots of blooming going on around here in our Zone 7 Tennessee garden. The viburnums are their usual showstoppers with their prolific blooms but there are many other things to observe as well. Solomon’s Seal, hostas, heucheras, honesty (interesting that honesty and money plant are the…

One morning back in September there was a heavy dew that illuminated this web on one of our potted lemon trees. We thought it was pretty cool so we took a picture of it!

A few weeks ago I attempted my first ever leaf casting. We were putting some hand prints of the my children and nieces in concrete for my parents to add to their garden and had some leftover Portland cement to use. Conveniently my parents had a pile of sand in their backyard behind their shed (leftover from the patio/pavilion) that…

Ever been to the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show? Here’s the info for 2012: Gardens Past, Present & Future Will Be Celebrated March 1-4 at the 2012 Nashville Lawn & Garden Show Discussion of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello gardens among the many free presentations at the show Nashville, TN – The timeless appeal, importance and fun of gardening will be celebrated…

Red Spider Lily that is!  This Saturday I was mowing and passed by one of the garden beds on my riding mower when this bright red flower jumped out at me.  Did it really jump?  Nope but one day it wasn’t there and now here it is. Spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) are also called a variety of names like Naked…

Part 11 of The Home Garden’s weekly series about gardening on a budget (aka gardening cheap!)Layering is a fantastic way to increase your plants with very little risk and a high rate of success. It is a simple method of plant propagation where roots are encouraged to develop by covering stems and branches with soil or other mediums. There are…

I had a very productive weekend! It’s been a while since I spent so much time outdoors and despite the heat, the sun, the sweat, and big case of farmer’s tan a bunch of chores were accomplished. One surprise though was my potatoes. The potato bed was overrun with Bermuda grass as I mentioned the other day but even before…

Here is the view from one cold January morning in Tennessee. The thermometer read 8.7 degrees Fahrenheit at 7:00 AM this morning. I looked outside and the sky was showing this captivating display. Feathery white clouds are wisping around while the the peaking sun shines through the skeletal trees. Sometimes cold mornings make the best pictures!

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 mail.  April 15 is the…

I really like plants that decide to take the work away from the gardener and sow their own seeds! Of course even the best plant that self sows could technically become a weed if planted in the wrong place, but since most are easily moved I really don’t mind.  Today’s Seed Sowing Saturday post is all about the self sowing…

Even though I’ve been fairly quiet recently about my plant propagation efforts I’m still working on several things.  Many of my cuttings I do indoors and keep away from the cold winter weather.  Very soon I’ll go and take cuttings from the evergreens but for now here’s what I’ve rooted recently. Confirmed rooted: Japanese Dappled Willows (Salix integra) – I…

Yesterday I fought the wind and dug a few more holes in our front garage/sidewalk garden. Its not much to look at now all bedraggled from the frost. Our perennials have said “good night” and only a few small shrubs look of any account, but in this bed I planted 60 tulips. I didn’t use a special power drill with…