Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Last year I came up with a layout for our vegetable garden that I later decided wasn’t as effective as I hoped. This year I made a better raised bed layout that focused more on the convenience of the gardener and it is working great! The central path makes getting around a breeze and the smaller paths around each bed…

This afternoon my daughter and I were out in the garden doing a few tasks that needed tackled: we planted potatoes and filled in a raised bed with soil. We brought a bucket of water with us and stuck newspapers in the wet water before laying them over the grass clippings in the raised bed (you can see a picture…

You’ve probably heard a lot over the last couple years about the Monarch butterflies and their need for support from gardeners like you and me. Hopefully you’ve heard about what these beautiful creatures need to survive and thrive. The main component to their survival is having adequate food sources for all stages of development. That doesn’t just mean the larval…

You hear about it all the time crape myrtles being unceremoniously chopped off before they can become what they should be. This pruning method is best known as crape murder. The result of crape murder is a plant that ends up with lollipop like flowering tops with branches that flop all around in the slightest breeze. Can you tell I’m…

Today while at my in-law’s house I made a few cuttings from one of their viburnums. I’m not entirely positive about the variety but I believe it is a Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum.  Viburnums are beautiful flowering shrubs in the spring that have very few pest and disease problems. The fall color can be good too so you get a…

Since our yard was rather devoid of color and life this past season with the possible exceptions of the verbenas, mums, and asters I am making a strident attempt to improve the year round color situation. Our house was at one time a rental house that was not cared for very well inside or out. As you can imagine the…

Our garden sits precariously between zone 6b and 7.  We’re in a very borderline area with multiple micro-climates within the 1.3 acres of land we have around us.  We’re far enough into the warm season now that the frosts should not happen again until fall, but then we thought we were done with frosts over a month ago! This weekend…

I’m sure you’ve seen the commercial. The one where a couple is in an elevator, then elevator music happens and they recognize it as the theme song to Lexus commercials.  That’s when it dawns on the unsuspecting member of the couple that the other one is giving them a Lexus for Christmas.  Those commercials are driving me nuts.  I don’t…

For a look at what I think are 5 Essential Garden Tools go read my guest post on the Home Remodeling & Home Renovation (fixR) Blog!

I always enjoying seeing spider webs in the garden. It means there is some natural pest control happening! Anything interesting come out of your garden lately?

Below you will find six plants that are some of the easiest to care for and grow in the garden.  All are drought tolerant and are very seldom bothered very little by deer or rabbits (two of my greatest nemeses!) In addition to their drought tolerant and pest resistant properties these plants are very good at attracting beneficial insects like bees,…

Here you are, up close and personal with a purple bearded iris.This is just one of many irises we we’re given by my parents. They had quite a few that they divided last year and didn’t have places for them all. They are definitely dressing up the landscape!

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure to test out products from Troy-Bilt. Overall I’ve been very impressed with the quality and the power that they have produced for lawn equipment. Five years later years I still zip around and mow my 1.5 acre yard with the RZT (0 Turn Mower) and have really enjoyed that fact that I never…

When starting a new garden there are a million things you may be thinking about. While they may be important, or at least important to you, there are 3 key elements that are absolutely the most important things to consider when starting a new garden. I’m beginning the challenge to starting a brand new vegetable garden from scratch and these…

With the rise of gardening in America lots of people new to gardening are taking up trowels and digging in the dirt. Some people are just returning to gardening while others are trying for the first time. Here is just a little advice for those starting off to help you along. 1. Start Small. Don’t bite off more than you…

Today was a fantastic day to be outdoors, and of course for most of the time being outdoors means I’m planting something! Today I planted three azaleas into one of my gardens courtesy of Monrovia. Monrovia gave me an opportunity to try out these ‘Savannah Sunset’ azaleas in my garden. ‘Savannah Sunset’ is a part of Monrovia’s Bloom N’ Again…

The garden is coming alive now that February is in full swing.  The extra warm winter is supposed to become much more normal over the next week but that won’t stop our spring growth.  Yesterday I saw the ‘Okame’ cherries beginning to bloom.  Unfortunately I don’t have any here in our garden to show you but it won’t be long…

I came across a video today on Youtube that I thought was a fantastic demonstration of how to build a plant propagation cloner! This is a DIY project I would love to try when I have a bit more time. If you have tried something like this please let us know in the comments on how the project went, any…