Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

The next step to putting the arbor together after we set the posts was to assemble the top. The top section was made from 3 45″ 4″x4″ pieces set in a diamond position. The arbor top was designed to fit the 4″x4″ pieces into the notched ends of the posts and they would also go through the front and back…

Through a moment of lazy logic I decided to defy conventional perennial pruning practice. Decided is the wrong word…perhaps forgot to would be better! I even posted about the proper way to take care of mums including pruning several weeks ago when the mums were fading. Did I do what I said? Nope, sure didn’t. Now I think that I…

What a gift to be surrounded by all the wonderful scenery that Patientgardener is! Over in Malverns, England (in Worchestershire) the chestnut and beech trees are showing their autumnal changes. You even get a peak at some sweetgum trees which are another of my favorites for fall color. (I can forgive them for the seed balls in exchange for that…

Normally I’m a fan of Ipomoea, normally. I like the ornamental sweet potato vines, the heart shaped leaf morning glories with little blue flowers, and of course I love eating sweet potatoes but this three lobed morning glory has worn out its welcome. It started off inconspicuous enough, just a couple little leaves in the spring gradually twining through the…

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…

Even though it’s been a short week we have lots of fall color to share for the Thanksgiving edition of the Fall Color Project! I won’t be posting for the Fall Color Project on Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday so I thought I would highlight these posts a little early! What could be more perfect than fancy foliage, a…

I’m still actively working on my big garden project – the greenhouse – but I stopped for a minute the other day and took a picture from the greenhouse toward our house. It’s the middle of January and the landscape is still asleep – dormant – waiting for warmer weather to come along. It won’t be too long now before…

During these gray overcast days of a winter almost past, seeing the first daffodils of spring bloom in our yard is like watching the sun sprout from the earth. Our garden is behind most at this point but that’s OK because it means that there will be more blooms overlapping each other than usual! When did your first daffodil bloom…

Today please read my post about Getting Ready for Spring Gardening over at Complete Organizing Solutions. What kind of preparations are you making right now for spring gardening?

Let’s be real, foliage is more important than flowers!  Foliage is there 3 out of the four seasons and unless you have some fantastic re-blooming plant that blooms incessantly from spouting to leaf drop you aren’t going to have something interesting all the time – unless you plant with foliage.  Color, leaf texture, leaf shape, and leaf size all make…

I don’t have any pictures ready for this post although I did take some. I’m working to prepare my in-laws landscape for my brother-in-law’s wedding in July. Here’s just a quick list of some of the projects we’re working to complete.Weed the various gardens including a patio garden, a front yard sidewalk garden, a shady woodland garden and a raised…

While out of town this past weekend at my in-laws home I took the opportunity to take more cuttings from their pyracantha (Pyracantha augustifolia). It is a favorite of shrub for birds due to its bright orange berries and is has an appropriately named common name: Firethorn. Firethorn’s thorns are quite sharp and offer the plant good protection from would…

One of the locations in our yard that has the most fall color is the back tree line. We don’t have much in the way of mature trees throughout the rest of the yard but the back tree line makes up for it in the way of sassafras, walnut, maples and assorted other trees. One day this area will house…

Once all your prep work has been thoroughly completed gather up all your lists and get ready to design the plan for your edible landscape. When making an edible landscape plan it is important to keep all of your end goals in mind along with the time it will take to reach those goals. Purple Podded Pole Beans Time as…

It’s a good thing I took several pictures toward the end of last week since the rain and dreary weather has dampened much of the garden. Sunny days are ahead but until then all we have are a few photos of flowers from the gardens. That will just have to do! Up first we have some achillea. Also called yarrow…

Fall color is one of the main reasons I garden. If you followed this website for a while you may remember the Fall Color project I hosted where Garden Bloggers from all over posted about their fall color and we shared our autumn experiences. For me few trees have more outstanding fall color than the maple. Red maples and Sugar…

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…

Here’s a list of this year’s gardening events that you don’t want to miss! Click on the links for more informationNashville Lawn and Garden Show – March 5-8, 2009Bloom ‘n’ Garden Expo – April 3-5, 2009Perennial Plant Society Plant Sale – April 4, 2009Middle Tennessee Hosta Society – Annual Hosta Sale – May 9, 2009Middle Tennessee Spring Plant Swap –…