Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Several years ago I used to watch a cartoon called Earthworm Jim. (Yes I’ll admit I watched cartoons in college!) It was based on a video game that I never played but I guess was somewhat popular at the time.  In the cartoon Earthworm Jim was a space traveling superhero worm valiantly ridding the universe of bad guys like Professor…

While the winter is still in gear I thought it might be helpful to begin reviewing some of the toughest plants I have grown over the years. I’ve grown a lot of them (and killed a few of them along the way). In my garden it has to be a tough plant to survive over the years. Today I’m going…

As part of the Saturday6 team of bloggers I have the pleasure of getting to test and keep some very cool products. Last year if you recall I tested the RZT (0-Turn mower) which has greatly diminished my mowing time and a 4-cycle trimmer with cultivator attachments.  I’m still enjoying both of those products in the garden. This year I…

It’s a little hard to see the changes that have happened over the last two years but I was looking through the pictures back in 2008 and was amazed on how much has changed. A maple tree in the back is twice as large now, the vegetable garden has been redesigned and now has plants around the outside of it,…

Before I began building my greenhouse shed I did some research into what makes a good greenhouse. Among many important aspects like positioning (for ideal sun), materials, and passive heating I learned that a porous surface for flooring is essential. It makes sense, plants need water – plants will drip water, it has to go somewhere! In my greenhouse shed…

Last Saturday I was shopping at a nursery where I found a ‘Walker’s Low’ Catmint (Nepeta faassinii). I’ve talked about the benefits of Nepeta before so it may not be a surprise that I bought one. I planted the new perennial the other day in our front sidewalk garden. Catmint flowering near a witchhazel and lemon balm. Simply brushing the…

Join in for more Say Nothin’ Saturday’s with TC!

Today was beautiful. The sun was out and the temperature was in the low to mid 60’s. That’s what I call perfect garden weather! I didn’t have much time to garden but needed to do a little something and was able to spend about 30 minutes on a small project. Back in the fall I used my black tarp technique…

I love our Japanese dappled willow hedgeline but in reality it is way overdue for a pruning. In fact 2 of the shrubs were completely dead. That was mostly due to the ever changing conditions in the garden. As the nearby birch trees grew they shaded out the smaller shrub willows. With little sunlight the dappled willows had no chance…

The rains finally came! I know gardeners everywhere in Tennessee were excited to get this latest blast of precipitation. The front moved through yesterday in the late morning and continued to sprinkle intermittent showers upon us but it wasn’t until the nighttime hours that the real rains washed away the dust of August and September. The rain gauge picked up…

I put together a short slideshow of the greenhouse pictures I’ve taken since beginning the project. They start in August with pictures of the site and end with the greenhouse’s current state (in December 2009). I hope you enjoy the look back!

For a long time now I have denigrated my Bradford pear tree.  It’s smelly in the spring, although it looks nice.  It produces loads of inedible fruit that spawns offspring in my garden and everywhere else the birds decide to fly.  Bradford pear trees are generally weak trees that split because of their “V” shaped branch unions that cluster with more…

Each year I try to expand the vegetable garden a little bit more. The first year in our home I didn’t have time to put together a garden before the growing season started and we missed out on any vegetable garden. The “L” Shaped Raised Beds: The second year I put together a set of raised beds that were arranged…

Along the posts of the arbor project we added a little decoration. Welcome to Japanese Maple Leaf Decor 101: How to Stain an Arbor! First we put the initial coat of stain on the 4″x4″s then placed a leaf of a Japanese maple on the still slightly damp wood. Then we removed the leaf after a second coat of stain…

I’m definitely ready for warmer days ahead. How about you? ‘Forest Pansy’ Redbud Cercis canadensis Here’s just a quick picture from our ‘Forest Pansy’ redbud (Cercis canadensis) taken back in May. The purple foliage reverts to a greenish foliage in the summertime. These are usually propagated by grafting the ‘Forest Pansy’ scion onto seed grown root stock. I haven’t ventured…

Each year I’ve posted about the projects I hope to accomplish in the New Year. They aren’t resolutions, just goals or ideas. I may not even get half of the projects accomplished but I find that if I get some ideas before the garden season starts in earnest I can be pretty motivated to get it worked on before the…

There are many ways to grow tomatoes. In the past I generally used tomato cages to hold up my plants. One method I’ve been trying lately in my garden is trellising. When you trellis a tomato plant you create a structure that allows the tomato to get good sunlight and airflow around the plant. This get help out immensely if…

Our friend TC has his fall color post up and you don’t want to miss it! Pennsylvania fall colors are some of the best I’ve seen (OK I’m a little biased since I grew up there but you have to admit that Western PA is gorgeous in the fall!) TC takes us around with his both his camera phone and…