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Creating Interest in Garden Beds Through Plant Grouping

When designing garden beds—especially in smaller front-yard spaces—how plants are arranged can significantly impact the overall look and feel of the landscape. A common approach is to plant a single type of shrub or flower in a straight line, which can create boring and repetitive look. Instead, grouping a variety of plants in staggered or triangular patterns can help add visual interest and dimension to a space.

Related Videos:
Landscape Planning
Designing a New Landscape
Landscaping Principles

Understanding and Selecting Insecticides for Gardeners

• Cutting Back Evergreen Solomon’s Seal in the Spring
  
• Spring Azalea Care
  

Planting Onions

• Planting Native Azaleas
  
• Planting a Butterfly Garden
  

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This Week in the Garden

Easy and Quick Fern Dividing

If your fern is getting to big for its pot, or you want more ferns, it is easy and quick to divide it. Jill Maybry from Memphis Botanic Garden shows how to split a potted fern in half and put it in two pots.  >>Watch

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Garden Notes
Seeds or Cuttings?

If you are trying to decide if you want to propagate your plants with seeds or cuttings, there are some things you need to consider. Jill Maybry from Memphis Botanic Garden talks about some of the things she looks for when making that decision.  >>Watch

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Voles

Voles, or field mice, can be very destructive. There are 23 species of voles in the United States and they can be identified by a shorter tail then house mice. They like to eat roots and can cause damage to ornamentals and trees.

• Catch That Critter - How to Set Up a Havahart Live Animal Trap
  
• Fences to Keep the Critters Out of the Garden

Planting Colocasia, Coleus, Angelonia, and Begonias

Spring is the time to plant summer annuals. Last fall we planted Swiss chard, dianthus and pansies. We will be removing all of these plants, but we will be transplanting the dianthus and Swiss chard to other places. Both will continue to grow through the summer.  Continue reading the Article.

• Begonias and Full Sun
  
• Annual Flowers for Full Sun, Part-Shade, or Shade
  
• Saving Colocasia (Elephant Ears) for Next Year

Landscaping Principles

UT Horticultural Specialist Carol Reese talks about planning landscaping to benefit the user. She talks about foundation plantings and how they condemn an owner to a life of pruning. She also talks about landscape rooms and planning areas based on how they will be used.  >>Watch

• Low Maintenance Landscape Plants
  
• Landscape Plants to Avoid and What to Use Instead
  
• Landscape Planning
  
• Designing a New Landscape

Dirt Simple Cane Begonia Propagation

Cane begonias have tall, bamboo-like stems. With varieties such as "Down Home" and "Sophie Cecile," these plants offer a beautiful, easy-to-care-for addition to any home or garden. Cane begonias are not only visually appealing but also very simple to propagate.  Continuing reading the article or Watch.

• Propagating Begonias with Leaf Cuttings
• Propagating Ferns from Spores

Propagating Begonias with Leaf Cuttings

To propagate begonias from leaf cuttings, you will need a sharp pair of scissors, a pot filled with soil, and a healthy leaf from a plant. After cutting the leaf from the mother plant, cut the stem about an inch below the leaf, then press the stem (and leaf) into the soil until the leaf touches the surface.  >>Watch

• Dirt Simple Cane Begonia Propagation
• Propagating Sweet Potato Vines

13 Popular Tropical Houseplants

Tomato Varieties, Planting Tips, and Common Pests

Testing Home-Based Soil Test Kits

Guide to Rose Bush Pruning

Growing Squash

Understanding Fertilizer Calculations

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Looking for more garden info?

Viewer Questions

How do you kill Italian Arrum?

Italian arum is invasive and hard to get rid of. A combination of digging, herbicide and time will eventually kill it.  >>Watch

What plants grow in a shady, squirrel-infested yard?

Squirrels can be a pain and destroy your plants, but there are some they will leave alone. University of Memphis Director of Landscape Joellen Dimond lists plants that squirrels will avoid that grow in the shade. Many of them have beautiful blooms too.  >>Watch

How do you propagate a climbing rose from a cutting?

The best time to take a cutting off a rose is the fall. Joellen Dimond describes how to do it. While you can do that she prefers a different method that works in the spring and summer. She suggests layering, or burying part of a branch and letting roots grow on the buried section. She talks about how to do it.  >>Watch

Why did my 3-year-old dogwood die when I watered it during a drought?

When it is hot, trees are stressed. Joellen Dimond explains what happens and why watering may not have the usual effect. >>Watch

Why are my tomato leaves urling up?

This is herbicide damage. UT Extension Agent Chris Cooper talks about why it may have happened and what to do about it.  >>Watch

More Questions & Answers

• Is there a secret to getting watermelons to grow large?
• How can I protect my sunflowers from rabbits and birds?
• Is there one fruit tree spray for peaches and apples?
  
• How do I treat sclerotinia fungus (white mold) in my garden soil?
• What is this fungus growing on my Japanese maple?
• How do I get luffa sponge gourds to set fruit?
• Why do my beefsteak tomatoes only grow to baseball size?
• What is the most effective way to rotate crops in raised beds?

Other Questions and Answers