Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

One of my goals this “offseason” (as if there ever really is!) is to maintain a constant supply of fresh basil from November to April. I could do this by simply planting a sequential crop of basil seeds every couple months. This will work but I have an easier way! Basil is one of those nifty plants that grows roots…

You’ve probably noticed that there’s a lot of talk these days about self-sufficiency.  People are striving to reduce their impact on the environment by improving how things work.  Self-sufficiency is a great goal to have for your garden as well.  Not only does being self-sufficient help the environment but it makes a cheaper and healthier garden.  Today for the Friday Fives…

Large cocoon on ninebark For several months I’ve been watching this strange cocoon attached to my ninebark.  I was curious what might come from it, and a little apprehensive too, then yesterday I found a second one on a viburnum.  What if it was something that would chow down on my garden?  What if it was some dangerous?  What if…

For many years now viburnums have been one of my favorite shrubs in my garden. For the most part viburnums grow without issue, add beauty to the landscape, and provide sustainable for wildlife. What strikes me as confusing is why they aren’t more popular in the home garden? When in bloom viburnum flowers rival hydrangeas for impact. The rest of…

Over the last couple weeks the weather has been much warmer than it should be, but now we’re getting back to a much more normal December weather pattern.  There was even the mention of snow in the forecast for next week.  We’ll see.  I won’t count my chickens but a little snow would make a nice scenery change!  For now…

Today we worked a little more on the greenhouse project and managed to get another milestone accomplished: the bracing. Unfortunately due to the end of daylight savings time darkness descended too quickly for me to snap some good photos. Besides braces aren’t very interesting, just functional. We put braces on the joists that connect them to the rafters, braces on…

It’s not the greenhouse, at least not today or tomorrow. Over the last couple years (yes I said years) my father and I have been working on a project in his backyard. It began as a patio in the middle of their yard where they could enjoy their backyard spaces and gradually grew into a patio covered with a pavilion…

The greenhouse shed project is coming along nicely. As I’ve mentioned before I’m not rushing things along but striving to do things as perfectly as possible. I’m very pleased with the results so far. Side to side and front to back, the greenhouse is almost exactly the same measurement. The greatest difference is about 1/4″ between the longest sides. I…

Kids in the garden are funny creatures. Although your kids may be too young to do many of the garden chores that need done it’s important to get them out there not only to learn but to get fresh air. Gardening is an invaluable educational tool because children can learn how to do things, procedures, why things are done a…

The gardening adventure is full of ups and downs. Of excitement and disappointments, of frustration and elation. It wouldn’t be exciting any other way I suppose but those low periods sure can be low. Take for instance the deer infultration this week. The vegetable garden is my main concern – I want to eat food from this garden – it…

One of my favorite shrubs is the Japanese dappled willow otherwise known as Salix integra. This was the first plant I experimented with for making cuttings. Maybe it was this shrub that launched my plant propagation obsession. My in-laws planted a few of these ‘Hakuro Nishiki’ dappled willows in their garden several years ago and I began taking cuttings from…

Things are going well with the vegetable garden remodel even though the pictures may not fully illustrate it (see the layout to get an idea as to what it will look like). Right now it looks kind of like a war zone complete with with bunkers, foxholes, and fencing but soon it will come together.  You have to start somewhere! …

Can you believe I reached the end of my stone? I emptied the truck the day I brought the stones home but only yesterday did I finished my stone projects. Please keep in mind that finished is a relative word since many of my projects are ongoing. You might remember a little while back I added a few stones to…

It’s January and my garden is a mess.  That’s OK because it’s January!  My garden could be the perfect mixture of evergreen conifers and winter color landscape plantings specifically designed to brighten the gloomiest winter day, but it’s not.  I would love that, but my garden was never put together for the winter color.  I’m gradually adding plants for that…

This post is a little late in coming, especially since I actually received my Father’s Day present from my wife and children a couple weeks early. They gave me a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum). I always like unique plants in the garden and a Japanese maple adds some foliar interest with its delicately shaped and burgundy colored leaves. I have…

Once your seeds have grown big enough to plant out in the garden it’s time to find a way to get them into the garden.  Direct sowed seeds have a big advantage in this area as they have grown from the start in the great outdoors are are already well adapted to the weather.  Seedlings grown indoors aren’t so lucky. …

Every gardener has an enemy, a nemesis, an evil villain that lurks in the garden that the garden would love to eradicate. I’ve had an invader this year that has been more aggressive than ever before – Bermuda grass. Once it gets a foothold in the garden it is extremely hard to hold back, let alone eliminate.  Recently I attempted…

Today I did a few garden related things just to get outside – nothing major – nothing terribly exciting. Just a few little things as an excuse to breathe some fresh (and rather cold) air. The weather forecast calls for snow flurries over night but little or no accumulation – at least in our area. Butterfly Bush Cuttings I took…