Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

If you start seeds yourself rather than purchase plants one important step in the process is transplanting. Repotting and transplanting tomatoes and peppers allows them to grow larger root systems so that when you do plant them in the garden they are more established (upsizing). There are a few tips that I want to share with you when transplanting your…

Last week I walked outside my front door on my way to get the morning newspaper the same as usual. Sometimes I’ll go out the back door to walk around the garden to the front yard and other days I come out the front door. There is little rhyme or reason to it, just however I feel like going. But…

The Nashville Lawn and Garden Show is coming up soon, here’s the info! Press Release: Tennessee’s Largest, Most Popular Gardening Event ! Thursday, March 3 – Sunday, March 6 at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Live Gardens + Thousands of Blooming Plants + Free Lectures Floral Design Gallery + 250 Exhibit Booths Tickets are available now for purchase online at www.nashvillelawnandgardenshow.com….

The dry season is well upon us. Here in Tennessee we haven’t seen a drop of rain in two weeks and even that was only .12 inches (at least in our garden). I’m not sure how long the plants can hang on without a good dose of liquid from the sky. And despite my repeated waterings the plants are suffering….

Last Father’s Day my present was a little Japanese Maple. It rested in it’s pot for a while and finally was planted in the fall when I had the perfect location for it, the Japanese Maple Garden next to our newly constructed patio. It’s a young garden bed with just a few plantings but in time it will grow as…

With all the nasty but necessary weather we’ve been having lately it’s been hard to get out in the garden to work. What’s a gardener to do? Talk about the seedlings growing inside! Today I’m going to give you an update on how I am growing heucheras from seed. The largest of my heuchera seedlings is still tiny but I’m…

I mostly use raised beds for my vegetables but the truth is almost any plant can do great in a raised bed. Herbs, flowers, and ornamentals can all thrive in raised beds.  What makes a raised bed an awesome growing method is the soil that it uses.  You can mix the perfect soil mixture for any plant you want to…

While there may be no official contest going I’m entering a very special tomato for the ugliest tomato of 2009. I remember Carol last year challenged folks to find a tomato uglier than one she had.  If I had managed to grow this monstrosity last year I might have beaten hers for I have never seen one such as this!…

This is a paid endorsement. I have been compensated and provided with products free of charge in return for my honest opinion. All opinions are 100% my own! If you’ve followed Growing the Home Garden for a while know then you might remember that I’ve worked with Troy-Bilt as a member of the Saturday6. Through Troy-Bilt I’ve had the opportunity…

Every garden has transitions.  From the house to the garden, from one garden area to another, even within an established area a garden be transitioning from the sun to the shade, from one color to another or from one type of planting to another.  Then there are seasonal transitions.  Spring takes over from winter, summer from spring, autumn from summer,…

Contrary to popular belief California does have fall color, and it’s pretty good too! Birches, maples, and crape myrtles all are displaying their fall show in Rebecca Sweet’s garden. The view of her ‘Forest Pansy’ Redbud really makes me wish the fall webworms hadn’t munched on mine. Take a trip to the Bay area of California to see what color…

Sometimes days in the garden can expose you to elements of nature that are a little more on the unpleasant side, kind of weird, or just plain gross. After our recent deluge of rain (does anyone even remember the word drought?) I made of pair of gross discoveries in my garden. All natural of course, but gross none the less….

I decided several years ago that I didn’t want to mess with chemicals in my garden.  It was an easy choice for me.  We had kids and I didn’t want to risk their exposure to dangerous substances.  I didn’t want to eat food covered in chemicals at the dinner table.  A tomato with a side of pesticide just wasn’t a…

Yesterday would have been my father’s 68th birthday.  He was a Halloween baby born back in 1943 but since July 6th, 2011 we’ve been without my dad.  I think about him in some way everyday and I definitely don’t need anything to remind me of how much he helped me through life, but to honor my dad in a small…

I’m sure you can understand why the January garden doesn’t get much picture time here. It’s not because it doesn’t look great – even though it doesn’t – it’s because it’s pretty darn cold! This winter has been one of the coldest we’ve had in a long time here in Tennessee and I like it much warmer. I remarked this…

This Garden Blogger fall Color Project Post is all about New Autumn, that is Autumn in New England and New York! If you travel to upstate New York to visit Kerri’s Garden at Colors of the Garden (a very appropriate name, don’t you think?) you will get a grand tour of the New York Countryside in October. Peak colors of…

When you are planning your gardens for 2010 and begin to think of what annuals to put in it give cosmos a look. It comes up easily from seed, blooms prolifically, seems to have few pest problems, attracts pollinators, and looks pretty darn good! The flowers in the above and below pictures are from the same plant just taken at…

One of the more confusing aspects of gardening is when to prune hydrangeas. The confusion is because the best time of year to prune hydrangeas differs depending on the type of hydrangea you have. Some hydrangeas bloom on the old wood from the previous season while others will bloom on new wood. Determining which hydrangea is which will help make…