The Garden Question

Are you ready to try something new? Then grasses and sedges could be your next garden adventure. You will find the opportunities for creating a rich layered interesting garden that serves more than an ornamental function. Developing the whole ecological package. Improving the soil and developing a more aesthetically functionating garden are in your future. We all need better solutions for suppress...

Sarah Roberts and her team have brought the New Perennial Movement to the south on a large scale. The new Entrance Garden’s large sweeps of grasses, perennials, native plants presented in a naturalistic style welcomes you to the Atlanta History Center . The garden has settled in and in this episode Sarah explains the details that makes it successful. It is a creation perfect for insects, small mam...

Jason Powell declares the queen of the garden to be antique roses. Who could argue with old garden roses that exudes excellent fragrance, shape, disease resistance, and low maintenance. We talk about how these fragrant flowering shrubs make a huge impact in your garden when pairing them with some surprise companion plantings. Jason and his wife Shelley partner with Jason’s Mom and Dad to produce h...

Mike and Judy Cunningham are harvesting the last summer crops at Country Gardens Farm . Fall gardening is just beginning. Mike takes a break to talk about his favorite time of the year in the garden. Some of the things you will discover in this episode are the best practices Mike implements for soils, plant selections, and timing. All important for a successful fall harvest. Mike and Judy Cunningh...

Color excites us more than any design element in the garden because it speaks emotionally to us. In this episode we will dissect and learn how color speaks to us in our garden. Dr. Laura Deeter received her PhD in horticulture from The Ohio State University where she is currently a Full Professor of Horticulture at Ohio State ATI in Wooster, OH . She teaches a multitude of horticulture classes inc...

Naturalistic planting design begins with understanding what roles certain plants play in nature. One of the most useful concepts in a plants’ survival strategy is learning how to classify it on the Grimes Triangle. This is a new concept for me. I don’t remember every hearing about this classification system or how it works.   We talk about this and more in this episode 071 – Success with Naturalis...

Whether rain drops are regularly falling in your garden this season or you’ve almost forgot what rain looks like, having a water drainage plan is more Important than a Planting Plan for a happy successful garden. In this episode Host Craig McManus talks about water drainage systems in the garden. What he has seen that works and what is seen that failed. Some principles and truths that every garden...

It’s hummingbird season. Are they swarming in your garden? In this episode Gail Woody reveals her tricks of the garden that attract hundreds of these wonderful creatures. She talks about her feeding strategies and nectar producing plants that make her garden a popular stop for hummingbirds on their migration journey to and from Central America.    Knowing the successful water attracting tactics. P...

In this episode Gail Woody will tell us how to attract more butterflies and then keep them coming to your garden. She has been studying these flying jewels for many years and regularly attracts up to 38 different species to her garden. Monarch butterflies make regular visits to her garden twice a year on their migration treks from Mexico to Canada. She raises and tags new monarchs each year helpin...

It’s no accident insects are a critical part of putting good food on your table. Becky Griffin knows pollinators count. Now she is counting the pollinators in the 2022 The Great Georgia Pollinator Census . Your state could be next. Being a self-confessed “Geeky Kid” with a great love for insects Becky wore out the bee book in her local library.  Now Becky is the coordinator of The Great Georgia Po...

In this episode Victoria Mininger shares with us how she helps her clients set up simple thriving gardens. Gardens that require less work when you find the right spot. For years Victoria and her husband Brian have owned Bear Creek Outdoor Living a residential construction company focusing on building patios, decks, pergolas and hardscapes. Incorporating edible and perennial gardens has become an e...

Have you got a shady location where nothing else will grow? Are you tired of mowing grass? Do you have problem  with soil erosion? How about a desire to avoid chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides? In this episode Annie Martin, moss landscape designer and Timber Press author of The Magical World of Moss Gardening , talks about how Native mosses can be an excellent horticultural alternati...

Dean Norton fell in love with the Mount Vernon Estate Gardens 53 years ago and never left. After receiving a degree in horticulture from Clemson University he began his horticultural career as the estate’s boxwood gardener.  The historical gardens of the first president of The United States George Washington became his responsibility in 1980.  His promotion to horticulturist allowed him to applyin...

It’s been over 200 years since he was born. People still absorb his parks and public gardens in more than 5,000 communities across the North American continent.   The goal is to “give the common man in this New World the same opportunity to experience creation as any king in his private preserve from the Old World.” Frederick Law Olmsted is prevalently pronounced the father of American landscape a...

In this episode Dan Miller talks about his vision and how he executes his creative garden ideas. Dan is the author of the New York Times best-selling book 48 Days To The Work You Love , No More Dreaded Mondays, Wisdom Meets Passion and An Understanding Heart.  He has been a guest on CBS' 'The Early Show,' MSNBC's 'Hardball with Chris Mathews, and the Dave Ramsey Show. Dan has spoken at the White H...

What can you do to improve your garden’s soil to reduce failures? In this episode 061 Sustainable Soil Success with Bryce Lane , we discover how understanding soils influences abundant plant growth. Bryce discovered his passion for plants, and telling others about them while working at a small Massachusetts garden center through high school and college. After earning his BS and MS degrees in Horti...

Melanie Deyton has made a life connecting people to plants through her family’s flower farm Melanie’s Garden . In this episode 060 we talk about successful Cut Flower Gardening. Overcoming the trials and the solutions of developing a whole new flower farm site. You will enjoy learning how Melanie’s practical experience will guide you to becoming a better Cut Flower Grower.  Having worked in the fl...

Lisa Bartlett is the Garden Manager for Smith-Gilbert Gardens . She is responsible the over 4,000 species collection of plants. This collection ranges from rare herbaceous perennials to rare and unusual trees. The largest collections of Bonsai in the Southeast are also held at the gardens. Lisa created the award-winning Butterfly Exhibit at Smith-Gilbert Gardens and follow up with the first Crevic...

Augustus Jenkins Farmer III is a renaissance plantsman. Born into a family of artists, musicians, and farmers, he fell in love with the natural world early in his childhood. Later he went on to pursue a formal education in Plant and Environmental Sciences at Clemson University and Botanical Garden Design at the University of Washington. For the last twenty years Jenks has led teams responsible for...

In this 057th episode with talk with Carol Reese about the Dangers Posed by the Native Purist Movement. Before your eyes pop out of your head take another sip and listen.   Carol Reese is a retired Extension Horticulture Specialist . She is a nationally-known speaker delightfully blending equal parts gardening knowledge, natural lore, and quirky humor. Her B.S. and M.S. in Horticulture are from Mi...

Jay Sifford’s passion for crafting immersive gardens that are full of magic and story guide his garden designs.   In this episode 056 Cornerstones of a Great Garden, we will discover how Mary Poppins inspires and nurtures a space where reality and fantasy collide.    Sifford explains how he uses psychological, philosophical and spiritual principles to create contemporary, Asian-inspired, and woodl...

Mississippi native Felder Rushing is an 11th-generation Southerner. After retiring from Mississippi State University as a consumer horticulturist he spends half his year in his celebrated Mississippi cottage garden and the other half in a small terrace herb garden in Lancashire, England.   Felder is a syndicated newspaper columnist, an online contributor for HGTV, and hosts a weekly NPR garden pro...

Trees aren’t just for beauty any more. They provide your community with measurable health, financial, and environmental values. Susan is a ISA Certified Arborist that is on a mission to balance the challenges facing your community's tree canopies.  Through her work with the Georgia Forestry Commission Urban Forests program Susan assists communities face the challenges in protecting, maintaining an...

Erica Glasener is a plant lover, horticulturist, writer, author and speaker. She is passionate about all things green and is currently the Community Involvement and Events Manager for Piedmont Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that supports Piedmont Park (over 200 acres) in Atlanta, GA.  She is fortunate to have traveled throughout the US and to have discovered wonderful gardens and gardeners as the...

When Southern Living The Grumpy Gardener speaks gardeners listen. For more than 40 years Steve Bender has strived to make gardening fun. His writings about southern gardens and his hands in the dirt experiences are sought after by beginning and expert gardeners.    Steve takes great joy in answering your garden questions every day at Southern Living Blog  and The Grumpy Gardener on Facebook . Stev...