Time to buy inexpensive plants

I go to Target or Wallmart or even Home Depot or Orchard Supply at the change of each season to see what they have in their plant sale or clearance sections.  This is a great time to get some very nice plants at a bargain.  I have gotten 5 gallon Azaleas, Camelias and Purple Princess Flower plants at these places for as little as five or six dollars.  It just takes some looking and patience.

Hostas

I have had bad luck with my Hostas.  It is one of the only plants I can't seem to keep for very long.  I keep the snails and slugs away good enough, but for some reason they either don't come back the following year, or they are tiny and weak.  Does anyone have any Hosta tips out there?

The Chinese Hackberry Tree or Celtis

A wonderful choice for a tree lawn or any other small space that needs a shade tree is the Hackberry.  My Hackberry tree in my backyard lawn is structurally very beautiful and a relatively fast grower.

The Hackberry doesn't have large invasive root systems that will dig into your water/sewer lines or push up a sidewalk, or even come up through your lawn.  It is a moderately sized deciduous tree that is very functional and nicely shaped.  

Dogs are not a lawn's best friend

I do dog rescue and I love to garden... obviously, sometimes there is a conflict of interest here.  How many yellow spots and dead shrubs do I really want to patch and replace?

Well, if you feed your dog a small can of tomato juice with their food each day, it will neutralize their urine so that it is not as toxic to your plants.  This will greatly reduce your losses and time spent replacing valuable plants... not to mention patch up your relationship with your beloved pet.

Vegetable Gardening to Compliment Discerning Eyes

I have never been very keen on vegetable gardening, as I prefer the beauty and aesthetics of flower gardening.  I have come up with a solution to this dilemma, however, in introducing the vegetable plants in and among my ornamental flowers and shrubs.  

Lettuce or cabbage plants can be placed as an ornamental border plant... I mean why use the ornamental cabbage from the nursery when you can use something edible and make an annual border out of it?  

Also, the comely tomato plants can be placed, not in those plain utilitarian tomato cages, but in the decorative shaped spheres and obelisks used to house topiaries and decorative vines.  

Strawberry pots are actually quite lovely with strawberries flowing out the little pocket holes on the sides and planting a nice herb bush like Rosemary in the top, and it can be as formal or casual as you want.  If you trim (or buy) the Rosemary into a topiary, it's more formal and obviously the freeform version is a more casual display.  Incidentally, the best time to buy a formal Rosemary topiary is Christmastime.   

Corn can be planted as alternating with a large Hollyhock.  Every other plant being a Hollyhock will diminish the utilitarian agricultural look of the corn stalk.

I plant my grapes along the fence and train them up over the gate arbor, just like I do with my Clematis or Mandevilla, so I can reach up and grab a bunch of sweet grapes to munch on while I garden in the Summer.  

Get creative and start eating your landscaping.  It's healthy and delicious.  

Bulbs are a wonderfully colorful and sometimes inexpensive permanent display

Daffodil bulbs provide a wonderfully colorful array every Spring and just a small clump of 20 to 30 bulbs can naturalize into waves of hundreds of yellow, cream and/or white blooms in the years to come.  A small investment in money and time now (Fall is the appropriate time to plant Daffodil bulbs) will really pay off in the long run.

A few low plantings over the bulbs will provide a welcome cover for the dying Daffodil bulbs as they fade.  Don't cut the fading leaves, as they provide nutrients to the bulb for the next year of growth.