Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

We’ve had an unusual visitor here in Spring Hill, TN.  A snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) flew in with the arctic air that’s been hanging over our state.  I had heard rumors of the visiting bird through the Nashville news stations (OK that’s a little more than a rumor) and set out today to investigate. My two girls and their grandma…

To find out the winner of the $100 Gift Card from the Home Depot watch the video!  I pulled in an unbiased assistant in to draw the names.My apologies for the camera quality, my video camera is getting a little older. 😉

After the daffodils and hyacinths have completed their performance the tulips take center stage in the front sidewalk garden. This time of year the front sidewalk garden is full of two kinds of tulips ‘Negrita’ and ‘Shirley’. These were both impulse purchases at a box store in the fall of 2007 and have really gone beyond my expectations. I planted…

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…

Our president gave us his State of the Union address for 2010 this week and informed us of his plans and his thoughts so I thought why not do the same for my garden? It’s been a while since I’ve addressed the garden as a whole entity as usually I just discuss its parts or its plants. Let me start…

Our unusually spring like fall weather has encouraged quite a few plants to either continue blooming longer than usual or bloom at a very unusual time!  I went out this morning and took a few pictures of what’s blooming in our Tennessee garden as a result of those 70 degree days we’ve had. Three different varieties of Achillea millifolium are…

July is a prime time to propagate plants from the garden. Summertime plants generally have plenty of good growth that is at the ideal stage (softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings) and have plenty of time to make enough roots to overwinter well. Plus the summer heat helps cuttings to root fast. Whether you are just wanting more plants for your gardening,…

A few weeks ago an email came in my box asking me a question about propagating irises. I answered the question then received a picture of the questioning gardener’s garden. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. Climbing roses mixed with many varieties of perennials create a living painting in Ennio’s backyard. And did I mention that…

If there is one shrub I would recommend to every home gardener for spring color, it’s the ‘Onondaga’ Viburnum (Viburnum sargentii ‘Onondaga’). This spring our ‘Onondaga’ viburnum is just beginning to put on it’s seasonal show, and it’s awesome! In the spring its most notable feature is the beautiful flowers; which is a lacecap style that are white with hints…

Recently my mom had her bathroom remodeled. In the process she replaced on of her bathroom vanities and I thought that it might make a good workstation for my many DIY and Garden projects. I’m very pleased with the result which now will provide a clean solid work top, cabinet space, a pegboard area for tools, and best of all…

You can feel it in the air can’t you? The coolness of an approaching autumn. The each passing day is getting noticeably shorter. We’re beginning that transitional period from the hot summer growing season to the fall growing season and that can mean a lot of changes in the garden. The vegetable garden may still be going full speed ahead…

Through my YouTube channel I’ve been doing an end of the month tour of our garden each month. This July was a rough month for us personally and resulted in less time in the garden. Overall I’m happy with the garden this year and the produce we are getting. The tomatoes and peppers are the prime crop right now and…

I’ve talked a lot about raised beds over the years here and there’s no doubt that I’m a fan but are raised beds perfect for everybody?  Does everyone need a raised bed? Should you used raised beds in your garden? Anyone could utilize raised beds to have a great garden, but you don’t have to have raised beds for an…

I thought the deer were gone but I was wrong. After a house was built behind the woods that skirts the edge of our property I thought the deer had left but when I returned home last weekend from my trip I discovered that the deer made a return.While they could easily make it into my vegetable garden they haven’t…

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…

I hope when you read this post that the rains are coming down in a delightful shower to water your garden, because they certainly aren’t here! It’s dry, extremely dry. Working in the ground is like cutting through a brick. Fortunately we’ve planted plants over the years that can tolerate these dry drought conditions. Autumn sage is one of those…

Wilted ‘Oranges and Lemons’ Gaillardia As most of you already know the weather here has been abysmal. Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 90’s frequently with little rain to cool things off or water the plants. In most cases I’ve let the plants fend for themselves. Many are drought resistant/tolerant and should come out OK in the end…

Here is a small diagram of my intended raised bed vegetable garden layout. It will have 4 larger beds. Two of them will be 6 feet long and the other two will be 8 feet long. Each of these will connect to each other through the middle bed that is 4′ x 4′ square. Having several beds should allow me…