New Southern Garden

This week, Nathan answers Cheryl's question about flowering annuals that the deer won't eat! She tried begonia, but they were munched on like lunch time at the Shoney's salad bar. Nathan talks about a long list of plants that the deer MIGHT not eat. After all, if they're hungry enough, right? From salvia, lantana, verbena, and dusty miller to alyssum, nasturtium, ageratum, and angelonia, there are surely plenty of annuals you can enjoy that the deer won't!

Do you feel cursed with clay soil? Many folks do. This week, Nathan assures you that you can grow great gardens in clay soil. He discusses preparing the bed to deal with water movement, digging appropriately in clay, and choosing the best plants for the space. With a little thought and attention, a clay-based soil CAN produce a wonder garden space. There is hope!

This week, Nathan talks about some of the easiest and more challenging fruits to grow in your home orchard! From blueberries to blackberries and apples to muscadines, Nathan gets you started on your fruity journey.

This week, Nathan goes to the water garden to help you plant some wonderful native plants directly into the muck! The southeast has some wonderful plants that thrive in the wettest conditions. Nathan talks about both plants that grow in the water and plants that grow along the banks and marginal areas. Fragrant white waterlily, American lotus, Pickerelweed, and buttonbush have no problem being nearly submerged, but beardtongue, blazing star, swamp milkweed, and cardinal flower love to be right on the edge of the pond. If you don't have a water garden, no problem, you can start one today with something as simple as a bucket!

This week, Nathan answers all the questions that have been burning through your March gardens! Do you have moles? Do you have voles? Is there a difference and what can you do about them? Nathan helps Lee Ann deal with those irritating mammals in the landscape. Invasive wisteria is taking over Joshua's garden, but Nathan has both organic and non-organic options to help control it. Lastly, Kaye wants to build an arbor near a water line but wonders if the vines planted by the arbor will do damage to the water pipes. Nathan gives two situations that might be a concern and recommends certain plants to grow over water lines and some that should be planted elsewhere. Be sure to send us your gardening questions for our April Q&A week episode!

If you're growing under shade, you might think that you are limited in what you can grow. Even though that's partially true, shade creates an opportunity to grow a unique group of plants that you rarely, if ever, see in sunny sites. This week, Nathan helps you turn your shade "crisis" into a wonderful opportunity! He talks about a number of blooming perennials that are outstanding in the shade, including barrenwort, lungwort, bleeding heart, brunnera, heuchera, astilbe, polemonium, and lamium. With a list like this, you'll quickly be able to brighten up even the darkest spots in your garden!

Is it still winter? Has spring started yet? Some days are hot. Some nights are cold. This week, Nathan talks about preparing your winter garden for spring. He walks you through several gardening tasks, discusses the best (and worst) time to perform them, and encourages you to do several that are timely right now! From planning and designing to weeding and feeding, Nathan helps you prepare your garden for spring!

This week, Nathan talks about pruning! As the growing season gets closer and closer, it's time to take a serious assessment of what might need to be pruned in your garden. Nathan hits on all the major points when it comes to pruning to get you pruning at the right time, using the right equipment, where to make a cut, and more!

Everybody loves new plants, right? This week, Nathan discusses some new plant varieties coming out in 2024 from Proven Winners, the same folks that brought us beloved plants like the Limelight Hydrangea! The plants he discusses includes: Let’s Dance Sky View Hydrangea, Let’s Dance Lovable Hydrangea, Pinky Winky Prime Hydrangea, Flavorette Honey-Apricot Rose, Rise Up Emberays Rose, Oso Easy Peasy Rose, Fizzy Mizzy Sweetspire (Itea), Wine and Spirits Reblooming Weigela, Luminary Prismatic Pink Tall Garden Phlox, Mega Millions Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), and Storm Cloud Bluster (Amsonia). Be sure to look out for some of these in your local garden center or plant nursery this year!

This week, Nathan answers your questions! Carol in Cleveland, Ga. is wondering if it's too early to plant vegetables. In short, yes and no. Nathan gives you the details on which veggies to grow now, which to grow later, and some cool things to try to get your veggies going sooner. Then Nathan gives some options for Jonathan who wants to know what awesome blooming vines to try in his landscape. Nathan talks about the top four native vines to literally getting you growing up!

This week, Nathan inspires you to improve your late-winter gardens by discussing plants that bloom this time of year! Look around in February or March. Do you have anything blooming? If not, be sure to incorporate these plants to help usher in a new spring season into your garden!

This week, Nathan brings a guest on to talk about choosing and working with a landscaper in your own garden. Ben Ross, with Ross Landscapes in North Georgia talks about the ins and outs of the landscape industry. If you are looking to hire a company to help with your projects, you might learn some helpful things here before you sign a contract!

This week, Nathan answers your gardening questions! Nancy asks if poppies can be grown in the south and if there are any perennial kinds. Even though the south isn't the best place to grow poppies year round, Nathan talks about five poppies that will work and when you should plant them. Larry is having trouble with his peach tree dropping its fruits. Yikes! Nathan givers three possible reasons for this and how you might help the tree keep those delicious fruits on until they're ready to harvest.

This week, Nathan continues the discussion on a simple four step process to getting your new (or rehabilitated) landscape going! He talks about the importance of designing your landscape before you even start digging. You don't have to be an artist to design a nice landscape! He gives you a few methods of designing your landscape even if you have no artistic skills. He concludes the program with the final step of installing your landscape. Sure it's hard work but it's great to see a dream coming to reality! He talks about the things you might need to do before you even start planting and then reminds you of how to dig the best hole for your new plant babies!

This week, Nathan tackles tips on starting a new landscape! He lays out four steps to creating the garden of your dreams: assessing the site, determining your goals, designing your space, and installing your landscape. Join New Southern Garden next week, to hear Part Two!

This week, Nathan helps you plan your 2024 vegetable garden by talking about the healthiest vegetables you could possibly grow. Of course, the whole point to growing vegetables is to eat them once they're harvestable. Why not grow the vegetables that are going to benefit your own health the best? Nathan opens up your favorite vegetables and exposes the essential compounds and vitamins that are hiding inside. At the same time, he weaves in the critical things these vegetables need to grow well in your garden.

This week, Nathan talks about his biggest failures and garden let-downs in 2023. He didn't get nearly all the things done he'd hoped to. But, he's making a change! Nathan shares with you four things you need to do to document, organize, and prioritize your garden dreams for 2024. To start, he encourages you to write down your biggest and smallest garden goals for 2024. Then, he talks about ways to prioritize those goals and make them more manageable. Lastly, he discusses the importance of timeliness in your garden goals and planning them out based on the seasons and months of the year. With a little planning, you can make your 2024 garden dreams a reality! Hopefully, even Nathan will be more successful this year...

This week is the last week of the month...and the year for that matter! That means that Nathan answers your gardening questions for the last time in 2023. Josh wants to learn about some good vines and ground covers that provide winter interest. Taylor needs some evergreen shrubs for the shade. Carrie is wanting to force some bulbs to bloom indoors. Nathan answers all of these questions and gives updates on what's happening in his own garden! Have a happy New Year gardening!

This week is all about edible onions! Nathan describes four main groups of onions- bulb onions, leeks, scallions, and garlic- talks about their unique characteristics, and discusses what they need to grow and grow well. Many of these wonderful garden plants can be grown overwinter in mild climates and can continue to be planted virtually all year long!

This week, Nathan talks about a strange practice of horticulture known as Hugelkultur. Many people in the permaculture and biodynamic gardening world are promoting this practice, but what is it and should you use it? Originating in Germany, "Hugelkultur" directly translates into English as "mound cultivation." Nathan talks about the murky history of Hugelkultur and talks about how to create a Hugelkultur mound. Then, he turns to what the science says about the details of this practice and tries to answer the question if we should be practicing Hugelkultur in our gardens and landscapes or not.