Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

It’s Friday!  I think I may have heard you exclaim in glee from here…maybe that’s just my imagination.  The weekend is approaching and you are eagerly anticipating being outdoors in the garden.  Have you planned out your chores and tasks yet?  If not here are a few things that I need to do in my garden that you may need…

We’re still in the middle of winter and the weather outside is bitter cold as I’m writing this post but that doesn’t mean gardening should be out of your mind. Now is the perfect time to get your garden plan together for 2016 so that you can maximize your yields and minimize your workload! Today I’ll walk you through my…

I love a nice Japanese maple! Who doesn’t? There are Japanese maples  with variegated leaves, ones with deep burgundy colors, others with interesting shaped leaves that are highly dissected and many other kinds. The fall color on a Japanese is almost always guaranteed to be something special.  Their highly ornamental nature makes them very popular trees in the landscape. Last summer I gathered…

What posts stood out to me this week? Read on! I was struck by the beautiful setting in Rob’s post at Our French Garden in the Beautiful Dordogne. The rest of the post is great too but you know what they say about first impressions! This week was Carol’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day which is always worth a look at…

This week marked the return of warm temperatures to Tennessee. Last Sunday was beautiful, the kind of day you can wear short sleeve shirts and start thinking about grilling out. Monday was even better then the rains came but the warmth was still there. This weekend brings us to a little cold front that tagged along with the rains or…

Yesterday in a walk around the yard we discovered some signs of the spring to come. Daffodils are sprouting up all over, the verbena is greening up and some sedum sprouts are peaking from their winter slumber. Maybe it’s early, but the temperatures have felt like spring. Historically our worst winter weather tends to happen in February and March but…

This post may be a little late as Christmas has past us by over a week ago, but why not share some gifts that should make gardening easier and more fun over 2008?For those who enjoy wildlife, birds, and the outdoors bird feeders are a necessity. We already had three bird feeders but one was slowly breaking down over the…

The leaf show hasn’t begun in the south just yet so now is a great opportunity to look at some common leaves before the color changes begin! For a list of Native trees to the United States and information on how to propagate them go to this page: United States Native Tree Propagation List Redbuds Red Buds (Cercis canadensis) are…

It’s been a few weeks since I last mentioned a notable weed but I can tell you that doesn’t mean the weeds haven’t been growing!  Ragweed and Johnson Grass are coming up in force with the warm weather and so is the weed I’m about to talk about today – pokeweed!  Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is a very prolific weed in…

It’s time to show you the construction phase of the vertical garden arbor that I’m building for Lowe’s Creative Ideas! In the previous post I listed the materials and dug the holes for the project so if you’re just now finding this project you may want to start with part 1 of this gutter garden project! Working on the Gutters…

Arborvitae is a very nice plant for the home landscape. Also called Thuja occidentalis, arborvitae is an extremely versatile evergreen tree in the landscape. It can be used as a foundation planting, privacy screen, or even as a windbreak. These columnar evergreens tend to evoke a formal mood in the garden. There are cultivars that range from 2 feet in…

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…

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…

It’s the week of the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show 2017 (Plant a Forest:  Gardening for the Future)! As a harbinger of spring the Nashville Lawn and Garden show happens every year at the Nashville Fairgrounds. It starts this Thursday (March 2nd) and continues through Sunday (March 5th). At the show you can expect to find live gardens, free lectures,…

Do you say “Do you feel lucky, punk?” when you stare down weeds while wielding a bottle of herbicide? Do you cringe when you hear crabgrass? Then don’t forget that this coming Wednesday July 29th is Worst Weed Wednesday where you get to rant all you want about the worst possible garden invaders to your yard! For more details check…

My daughters from 2009 – Ages 2 and 4 My kids are kind of strange.  Of course I know what you’re thinking, all kids are a little weird.  They have their quirks, their unique traits that will eventually turn them in to unique adults. That’s not the kind of weird I’m talking about.  While visiting family over the Christmas season…

This past weekend the weather was perfect for what else? Gardening! I spent most of my time outdoors getting the garden ready for the growing season. There’s always a lot to do in the spring to prepare the garden for a great year. The most frustrating thing about this weekend was my riding mower battery. When I went to start…

Columbia, TN which is just down the road from us is currently having it’s annual Mule Day festival. It began on Tuesday and continues through this Sunday. It’s basically a festival with arts and crafts, bluegrass music, clogging, and several mule related events. There’s even a parade! I feel bad for the band members who have to March behind the…