Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

Have you ever had one of those days where you start on one project then move to another, then another? I do it a lot this time of year where I begin something finish then move immediately to another one. It’s a kind of flow where I just can’t stop doing something in the garden. I have to be careful…

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 below. To summarize the year so far we moved in November of 2023 to our…

I think one of the most important things to consider when planning out the gardens in your landscape is how it all fits together. One of the best ways I’ve tried to figure that out is by considering my vantage points. A vantage point is just a fancy way of saying a good place to look at the garden! My…

Last week I put together a daylily and iris bed to cultivate and divide more plants for my little plant nursery.  Daylilies and irises are great plants for any garden since they offer so much for so little.  They grow strong without too much attention, enjoy the sun, and are tolerant various soils – which is good since this area…

The weather in Tennessee is extremely volatile this time of year.  One day it could be in the 70’s (as it was today) and then the next day it could be a 40 degree high (as it is predicted for tomorrow!) This makes it a challenge to garden in the spring time.  There are a few things you can do…

It won’t be long at all before we can go wild and plant everything we want in Middle TN. I’ve been holding back my tomatoes until all signs of frost are gone in the forecast and it looks like this weekend will be the weekend for tomato planting! Just so you know the best way to plant a tomato is…

I’ve been saving seeds like mad this year.  Collecting the seeds from my own garden and using them for my nursery as well as for personal use is one easy way to make sure I have quality seed at a low cost!  Unfortunately the amount of seeds produced by plants this year will probably be fewer due to the drought…

Frost on the lawn This weekend brought forth a significant event, the first mowing of 2012.  It’s a momentous event that means the active growing season is moving ever closer!  I know many of you probably don’t enjoy mowing the lawn like I do.  It’s probably a little crazy, I’ll admit it, but when I’m out there mowing I get…

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…

The other day I went out to the garden and picked one of the best cantaloupes we’ve ever eaten. The taste of a store bought melon can never beat that of one that is homegrown!Cantaloupes are actually muskmelons (Cucumis melo ‘reticulatus’) that are given the name cantaloupe to sound more palatable. Musk just refers to the smell but if you…

This morning’s cool temperatures made it feel like my favorite season is well on its way.  Of course autumn is coming but the extra cool August temperatures we’re having have me hoping for an extended fall season.  Here’s a look at a few things from around the garden this morning! ‘Arizona Sun’ Gaillardia – Blanket Flower is a good native…

I took a few more red twig dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) cuttings yesterday. One of them did not even need rooting. You can see the mass of roots on the bottom of this little guy. The base of this stem was touching the ground which stimulated root growth. When this happens it is simple task to clip the branch with the…

I wrote in my last post about the plant benches I was working on for the garden shed and this weekend I was able to finish installing the coated wire shelf tops. Now I can add plants in to overwinter, hardwood cuttings for rooting over the winter, or maybe even start seeds in the early spring.Each shelf is covered with…

OK folks, I’m more than a little irritated at the moment. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that’s the case then several someones have really enjoyed what they have read here on The Home Garden. It’s not the idea of someone using my content to promote gardening, to teach someone something, or to display a…

I’d like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! And please, for the sake of this fellow and his friends here, take it easy on the turkey! I usually fill up on the sides anyway!

While the girls were at their grandparent’s house today I was able to get quite a bit done in the yard. Here’s the list of accomplishments in no particular order: Picked a handful of beans (this morning.) Mowed the yard with the riding mower, the trim mower and trimmed with the weedeater. Mowed a new pathway into our slope area…

The other day I took this photo of a pot my mom put together of pansies and violas. I’m not much of a potted plant person so most of my plants go in the ground but I thought this easy to put together arrangement of annuals was perfect. The larger pansies went in the center and were planted around with…

This afternoon I went outdoors in the beautiful 60 degree weather and harvested our potato crop.  Truth be told its a rather small harvest of potatoes but considering that I didn’t intentionally plant them I am quite pleased!  When you leave behind a few potatoes from the spring/early summer harvest they grow into a nice fall crop.  Growing potatoes is…