Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

A few years ago I drew a rough drawing of a garden area for my in-laws.  They had just built their new house and were excited to fill the landscaping in with something they would enjoy. What I came up with was a sitting garden. Essentially an area where they could go outside and relax while watching the garden or…

This could be a tense question for all those opinionated gardeners out there but which should you pick, native or exotic plants? There are definitely advantages to choosing native plants with tolerance to the climate being first and foremost. Natives are better for the indigenous wildlife as it provides the food and sustenance they are used to eating.Exotic plants are…

Last year I began to experiment with hybridizing.  I’m hoping that the plants I cross together result in something really nice but it takes a few years to get something from the crosses.  So far I’ve experimented with daylilies, echinacea, and irises.  Hostas are on my list but the deer keep getting to the flowers before they’ve had a chance…

In one of my last posts I mentioned receiving my free Arbor Day trees. Those trees have now been planted. While planting them I was pleasantly surprised by a couple things.1. The trees were marked very clearly with the color coding system. It was not just a thin little line above the roots indicating which tree they were, but rather…

As you know I’m a huge fan of plant propagation.  I would bet that many of you reading this are too, or if you not a huge fan you are at least interested!  It’s a fascinating area and can be an amazing benefit for growing your garden.  Just think of all the free plants you can make from cuttings, or…

Yesterday during a reprieve from the rain we went out to examine the state of the garden. The past two weeks I’ve been mostly concentrating on the greenhouse project and I felt it was time to see what I’ve been missing. The celosia I planted from seed this year did really well. It’s a virtually no maintenance annual unless you…

‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum seed heads persist through winter. This time of year the flowers are mostly faded and few things have retained enough foliage to be markedly interesting.  But those faded flowers have left something behind – seeds!  Seeds can do a few of very cool things: They sustain the plant species for the coming year as new plants are…

I wish I could say I had thousands of plants sitting in the backyard from my plant propagation experiments but unfortunately I’ve just been too busy to do much this year. That isn’t to say I’m not happy with what I’ve accomplished. Sometimes the uniqueness of the experience is much more valuable and satisfying than quantity produced.  What I’m especially…

It’s time for me to plan out my garden activities for February. There’s always something that needs done and for some reason I always seem to be able to create even more for myself! This list of things to do in the garden this February is specific to my garden but may have some relevance to yours as well. Things…

Here is Part 3 in The Home Garden’s series of posts about how to garden on a budget.One thing that drives me crazy about lawn mowing is when I see someone mowing their grass when it doesn’t need it. Imagine the scene: it hasn’t rained in two weeks, the grass hasn’t grown a centimeter, and someone is out riding in…

Since summer has now officially come and gone and I only started this site a week ago (give or take a day or two), I thought I would share an easy project that I did this summer from another old wooden palette. Originally I was going to turn it into a compost bin, but after using the palette laying on…

In the south it’s a necessity to get up early to get outside for gardening. Any delay into the mid-morning will result in unnecessary suffering due to the heat and humidity! This morning was already very humid before 8 AM. In the summer it is much worse and this morning’s humidity is just a sign of rain on it’s way….

What do winter blooms, buds, bark and branches all have in common?  You will have to look at the end of this post to find out.  See if you can guess!The Winter BloomsThe henbit in our area is beginning to show signs of blooming.  Masses of little tiny flowers will over take yards creating a purple carpet for spring.The lone…

There are probably a million things I could think of that need done around the yard and in our various gardens but here are a few that are bouncing around in my head at the moment. I’ve been distracted with the deer the last couple days and several things that need done haven’t been tackled yet.Dave’s Fall Garden To-Do ListBuild…

What’s not to like about moss? It’s green, soft, fuzzy, grows well in shade, and is as resilient as they come! While gathering rocks over the weekend I stumbled upon (not literally) loads of mossy cover rocks.  This little ground covering plant attaches itself and needs no soil.  It gathers its nutrients from the air and requires good moisture to…

Lately the birds have been returning to the feeders. These goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) all dressed in their winter coats after molting are partaking of a feast of niger seed, which is excellent for attracting finches.  Like all birds they seem to prefer the seed d’jour. Afterall who doesn’t like the fresh stuff?  Thistle, coreopsis, sunflower, service berry, birch, and alder…

Over the next several days I’ll be doing some minor changes to the site (emphasis on minor!) to help get better organized. I’ll just be making some posts that will house links to related posts to make things easier to find information. When I starting this blog I didn’t give a whole lot of thought on how to do things,…