Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

As you can see from the picture to the left that this tree has taken a beating. Last fall when the deer were out in force a buck decided to rut against several of my favorite trees. Coincidentally all the deer damaged trees were young trees that I had planted in the yard including two maples, a dogwood and one…

I was looking on Amazon at some of the bestselling garden tools recently and I noticed this little tool that I found interesting: A Leatherman Pruning tool. It’s a neat idea but as I pondered it I began to wonder exactly how useful it might be. Would it be able to replace my Swiss Army pocket knife I carry everywhere?…

Wouldn’t you know it. I had big plans for those delicious garden grown sweet potatoes. Last year they were the best things ever. Candy from the ground and I had little reason to think I wouldn’t have more of the same delicious tubers again this year. I even saved a sweet potato from last year and sprouted this year’s starts…

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…

It’s planting time in many areas of the country and many gardeners are just starting their first gardens.  Figuring out just what to do in the garden can get a little overwhelming for beginning gardeners so here are 5 essential garden chores that gardeners can do to maximize their success! 11 Things to Consider When Designing a Raised Bed Vegetable…

This post is a post I’ve been dreading.  Mainly because this year has been tough, probably the toughest I’ve ever had to live through.  My garden projects fell by the wayside.  My projects and ambitions just didn’t matter when compared to the situations that the course of life brought us through.  But we’re getting through things, day by day.  I…

Spring is officially here!  Spring’s arrival means it is really time to be thinking about the garden (as if we haven’t been since fall).  It’s always important to get the spring gardening season off to a great start.  Today let’s look at a few garden tasks that need done to help get your garden going. 5 Garden Preparation Chores and…

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about fall planting of vegetables. Even though it goes against our natural inclination to think about cool season vegetables in August it’s definitely time. Like with any task good preparation is important for success. My first step in preparing the garden for planting is to determine what I want to plant. Beets…

When you’re taking cuttings from a plant, one of the most important steps is choosing the right material. The type of cutting you select plays a huge role in whether or not it will root successfully. In this post, I’ll walk you through what I look for when taking cuttings from shrubs and perennials and share some practical tips to…

Why should you consider raised bed gardening for your vegetables? It’s a good question. The alternative is to put the garden in the ground which people have done for centuries with success. Why change a good thing? For the small home garden raised beds are a much better option. Below you will find some very good benefits of gardening in…

Time to gather your seeds! Get a good paper or clean plastic bag and head out to the garden. If you have more than one type of plant to gather seeds from you should grab some extra bags. After your perennials or annuals have finished for the fall, collect the dead heads on them to use next spring. Just cut…

Sometimes even getting the little things done in the garden can make you feel like you’ve accomplished something worthwhile. Today since I still couldn’t really get to work on the big garden chores I settled for getting a few little garden chores accomplished.By far the biggest garden task was really a fall yard maintenance one, overseeding the lawn. I overseed…

Every now and then I take a look around the Gardening Blogosphere to see if there are any new Tennessee Bloggers. And every now and then I find a few! Of course I have to thank Gail of Clay and Limestone for finding DP at Squarefoot Gardening. One of the great things about garden blogging is that each gardener has…

Thursday I got my new camera and of course I couldn’t wait to get outside and take a few pictures to test it! Let me just say that I am impressed with this Nikon D40. The pictures are much more clear and precise. The camera just functions better than our old Olympus. I’ll still use the old camera from for…

This winter has been cold and nothing if not unpredictable. Here in Tennessee we’re experiencing a warm day every now and then followed by extreme cold. Hopefully now that March has arrived and spring is close things will be shaping up very soon. With that in mind I put together a project that will help me to get a jump…

Last week I acquired three blueberry bushes in a secret deal from my local big blue box store. OK it really wasn’t a secret since they were offering them for half off to anyone. But what they don’t know is that those three blueberries bushes I bought for $15.00 (Total) might become 50 one day, that is if I can…

It’s been a long time.  Last year, or last mowing season, I had the misfortune of blowing up my mower.  Well I nearly blew up my mower. It was close, very close.  While mowing one fine spring day last May the blades ran over a nylon cord and got caught.  I did what any responsible power tool user does in…

I’m always trying to start something new, usually I bite off more than I can chew but in this case I’m taking our back ornamental garden at a casual pace. In other words I’m not pushing myself to get it done but just doing what I can when I can.  It fits a general long range goal I have at…