Tennessee Gardening

Growing in Tennessee is about as good as it gets; good climate, long growing season and, if you practice Lasagna Gardening, easy to create good growing conditions.

I have been working on these gardens for over twelve years and I am amazed at the way they grow without a lot of attention once they are established. Dave and I carved our gardens out of a heavily wooded lot. We dealt with trees that blocked our lake view, created a hazard to our house and too much shade. Over the years we cut back the over growth and planted smaller, more beautiful trees and shrubs.    

I am a wild gardener. I like plants that grow as they were intended not pruned into odd shapes. My favortie term for a plant is "fluffy" not hard pruned. I am at odds with myself when it comes to what makes my gardens both beautiful and as an asset to the property for resale. I know when a buyer looks at our property they will see my "fluffy" gardens as a nightmare of upkeep not the beautiful, blooming, season spanning gardens that I see.

Now I have come to terms with what I have to do in case we have to sell our home. I am neatening up my wild gardens: pruning, edging, relocating and generally making it look just like all the other gardens on the street. I began with an overall assement of the front and side gardens: too many large trees, too many large shrubs and way too many vines and groundcovers.

After the ice storm of 2015 & 2016 there were very large pine trees with broken limbs and shakey tops. I marked theirteen trees to be taken out, including some that were too close to the house. When the trees came down, and stumps ground ou,t we were exposed to the street on the main side. I got busy and made a new garden with new trees and lots of shrubs.

So far I have not touched the front gardens with all the overgrowth but it is in my sights and will be getting around to it soon.