Things to Know About Using Woodchips and Leaves in the Garden
If you are a gardener you have probably heard people talking about how great woodchips are. That is probably because they are a very good resource for building up organic matter. Woodchips and leaves are also very easy to acquire and and best of all…
Compost Bins from Pallets
Compost bins are essential in the garden. They take the waste materials from the yard, garden, kitchen, or farm and turn it into usable soil. Good compost is worth its weight in gold to gardeners which is exactly why it is nicknamed “gardener’s gold.” One…
Overwintering Rosemary
Rosemary is a wonderful plant for gardening. I love it as a ornamental shrub as well as an edible herb. The problem is it CAN be finicky. Sometimes the winter cold is too tough for rosemary and it sadly dies over the winter. Fortunately there…
Maples, Oaks, and Invasives! Fall Color 2024
The historic dryness finally gave way to some rain on Halloween. About 0.83 inches came down that day give us a good soaking. We still need more rain, and regular rain but it definitely helps. I’ve been concerned about the lack rain and the fall…
Fall Color in Tennessee 2024 so far…
I have a fondness for fall color. I think we all do this time of year. We like seeing the transition of green to gold or red and oranges. There’s a little bit of a feeling of closure that begins to come to us through…
Fall 2024 Garden Tour
I find Garden Tours fun to put together. It’s an opportunity incessantly talk about plants, plans, and ideas and that is one of my favorite things to do! I put together a garden tour of our current garden on YouTube which you can watch down…
Fall is for Planting Garlic in the Garden
It’s October and the temperatures are getting cooler which makes it ideal for planting garlic! I just planted two raised beds full of garlic a few days ago. Garlic loves to start in cooler weather and this coming week we are predicted to have some…
Garden Tips for Before a Frost
As the first frost approaches, now is the time to take essential steps to protect your garden and set yourself up for success next spring. Below are a few simple garden tips that can help you save money and preserve your favorite plants while extending…
How to Grow Sweetbay Magnolia from Seeds
No matter where I go when I see seeds that are ripe I’m tempted to collect them. That was the case when walking around Knoxville last year and seeing some ripe magnolia seeds on some Sweetbay magnolia plants. Sweetbay magnolias have several names including: sweetbay…
Where are the Monarch Butterflies?
All summer I’ve been watching and waiting to see a flock of Monarch butterflies soaring through the air to lite upon our abundant field of milkweed. So far I’ve been disappointed. The Monarch butterflies on our property have only numbered one. I was mowing along…
Raised Bed Gardening
Designing a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden: 11 Things to Think About
Tips and suggestions for starting a raised bed vegetable garden.
More Information on Growing in Raised Beds
Growing Gardens with Plant Propagation
8 Popular Plant Propagation Posts!
Since so much of the garden right now is suffering from lack of adequate rainfall I thought it might be a good time to look back at a few past plant propagation posts. Some of these are favorites of mine and hopefully they will be…
How to Propagate Catmint from Cuttings (Nepeta faassinii)
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…
5 Shrubs to Propagate in Late Fall or Winter with Hardwood Cuttings
We’re entering the middle of November which means not only is that turkey get closer to being roasted but it’s also time for hardwood cuttings! There are quite a few plants that will easily grow from hardwood cuttings and are well worth trying for any…
Plant Propagation by Cuttings, Tips and Other Information
Propagating plants by cuttings is by far the most common way I propagate plants. When you take a cutting from a plant you are making an exact genetic duplicate of the original plant. Essentially it’s a clone. No you won’t see any George Lucas movies…
Some Good Plants to Propagate with Hardwood Cuttings
I thought I would take a moment to talk about hardwood cuttings. It is the beginning of winter and which is also a great time to go out and try to reproduce many of your favorite woody trees and shrubs in the garden. Many plants…
How to Propagate Rosemary from Cuttings
A few years ago I wrote post about propagating rosemary from cuttings placed in water. That method for propagating rosemary is a viable method for sure but you probably will have more success if you take your rosemary cuttings and stick them in soil instead….