I love the springtime, I love gardening, and I love going to the garden center. One of my favorite nursery is the Natural Gardener in Austin. Besides the wonderful selection of plants, they have beautiful grounds with many demonstration gardens. I love taking my kids there and to make it extra fun for them, we [...]

Rooting cuttings is my favorite way to increase my plant collection. Some plants, like roses, are just hard to propagate any other way. Propagation by cuttings is very easy and requires little effort. You just have to be patient and wait for your cuttings to root…

Half potting soil and half perlite. This is my standard mix for both starting seeds and rooting cuttings, my other favorite way to propagate plants. If it doesn’t sprout or root in this medium (or via direct sowing), then it’s too much trouble and doesn’t belong in my garden. For my seed trays, I use [...]

These are about the easiest plants to prune. I just hack ‘em short and out of my path’s way. For the edible ones like rosemary and sage, I tie a small bunch together and hang them somewhere in the garage to dry. For the rest of the clippings, I use it as mulch especially around [...]

This is my $30 homemade propagation bed: no tools required. I purchased a medium duty storage shelf from Home Depot for about $25. It has 4-tiers but I only use 3 here. The shelvings are grated, necessary to avoid standing water on the shelves. It is easy to assemble/disassemble, a must since I only use [...]

Fall is the time to throw those wildflower seeds in the ground for the Spring bloom. It’s not too late!!! My faves are larkspur, poppies, and of course, the Texas bluebonnet.

Here’s something fun you can do with your kids that’s educational and results in something useful. Sprout seeds! To get started, get an economical, small seed sprouter tray so that your kids can take part in the action. I bought a Thompson and Morgan seed sprouter for about $10. The instructions are simple: Soak seeds [...]

We have two gardens, one on each side of the house: the higher maintenance vegetable garden is mostly cared for by my husband whereas I take care of the lower maintenance perennial/herb garden. We all take part in harvesting from both gardens.

Garden centers are wonderful sources of inspiration. They also have staffs of people manicuring the grounds. If you’re looking for low maintenance ideas, peruse commercial sites that do not frequently have landscapers ripping and planting new beds.

There are so many benefits to gardening and the earlier you can introduce it to your kids, the more likely they will develop a natural appreciation and connection with the environment. I have had my kids out in our garden since they were babies and as soon as they could walk, they were ready to [...]