which has been creating outdoor leisure space and curb appeal for the sophisticated home and business for the past 19 years in the Middle Tennessee and greater Nashville area. The business of landscape gardening is ever changing as people find themselves drawn to living outside whether it is on a new porch, deck or meditation garden. With these changes come a variety of choices that include container gardening, water features and a number of architectural elements and design choices.

With this in mind, Our Mission and Purpose is to help people see, discover, and experience their lawn and gardens as a world of imagination, infinite possibilities and healing. We do this by sharing our extensive knowledge, ideas and stories to help you realize your dreams for your outdoor spaces in a way that is sustainable now and into the future our children will inherit.

Layers of Color and Diversity by Teacup Gardener

It turns out, that landscaping is one of the better, if not the best ROI (Return On Investment). In the first place, a home that is for sale won’t have even one showing if the house does not have an enticing curb appeal. Curb appeal means that the house looks good from the street. The grass is mowed, the shrubs and trees are trimmed and colorful, and pretty flowers are planted in the beds.

An irrigation system is another way to be sure to receive excellent return on investment. Where I live, an irrigation system would be invaluable as we have had days and weeks and months of 90+degree weather. Any prospective homeowner would be relieved to know that an irrigation system was in place to water all of the landscape.  The irrigation system insures that the grass is green and the trees, shrubs, and flowers are thriving in the summer heat.

Spending money wisely so that homes increase in value, or in this real estate market, maintain their value, landscaping is an excellent choice. Whether it’s maintaining what is there or adding new plants, it just makes sense to spend money wisely on improving the areas around the outside of your house. Call Teacup Gardener today so that we can help you add value to your home.

Riotous Perennials

In the heat of summer it’s hard to know what kind of work to do in a perennial garden.  If the fall and spring work were done well, it should be a time to sit back and enjoy the riot of color.  But part of having a garden is being in the garden with all the sweet smells and sounds of the outdoors.

Dividing daylilies is the perfect task for this time of year.  The flower colors are still fresh in the mind.  Weedy or empty spots in the garden can be filled with the divisions.  Ordinary orange daylilies, attractive in their own right, should be kept in a separate garden bed so that they do  not take over more  interesting varieties of daylilies.

Daylilies Divided

The task is simple .  Just dig up the clumps that need moving.  Once they are out of the ground, separate them with a garden fork.  Examine the divisions for disease and/or insect damage.  Remove any damaged plant parts and   old flower parts.  Cut the leaves back to about 6-8″ to create a nice neat clump.

Now it’s time to reset the divisions. It is acceptable to leave the divisions out of the ground for a week or so, stored in a cool dry place.  This will help ensure no disease or insects are present. A mild bleach bath or sulfur dust will control problems if any are present.

Daylilies and Pond

At planting select a new part of the garden in need of color.  Dig nice holes arranged in a diamond or rick-rack pattern and set the divisions in the ground.  Fill in the holes, lightly mulch and water in the recent transplants.  Now the garden has grown and will be an even more pretty place to enjoy.

We are currently working on a design to create a 40′ long and 5′ deep rock garden in Old West Nashville.  The landscape design process can be complicated, especially  when we begin to visualize a future effect of the garden over time.  When the garden grows and matures the effect can be fabulous combining the best effects of the disparate elements blending together to create a pleasing aesthetic experience.   The rock garden is an unusual dilemma, especially when the rock is not naturally occurring on the site of the future hillside garden.  For more info on Rock Gardens click here.

The first thing to consider is the placement of the rocks and stones to create a naturalistic effect.  I pay close attention to the chance formation of stone on naturally occurring hillsides to become more acquainted with the basic fractals of the non-repeating patterns of stone.  I use these impressions when I calculate how much stone we need and the basic layout.  Once the stones begin to take shape on the slope, the detail stones can be installed and the chirt loving alpine perennials and shrubs can be placed creating an interesting blend of stones, plants, and slope.  This is the best solution for a sloping hillside that has a pleasing view from the comfort of the house and/or patio or along a busy street to enhance the curb appeal for the neighborhood.

Early bloomers are a real treat in a landscape that has been relatively brown or evergreen all winter.  I value Cornelian Cherry Dogwood because it blooms so early and so prolifically.  It’s  loaded with tiny yellow flowers that can stop traffic.  Many people are surprised to find out it is a dogwood because the flowers lack the showy white or pink bracts that are the well-known and easily recognizable dogwood flowers.

The early Spring flowering bulbs really let us know that Spring is here.  I have looked in the garden and found a few crocus in bloom. The daffodils are getting tall and the flowers are noticeable inside their protective green casings.  It won’t be long until they fill the garden with color and fragrance.

We furnish and install three types of mulch.  Shredded pine, pine straw, and hardwood mulch.  We highly recommend shredded pine and pine straw over hardwood mulch.  Here are a some reasons why we suggest a pine product for mulching:

1. Shredded pine and pine straw increase the acidity of the soil as they degrade.  This is highly desirable for evergreen and flowering plants such as azaleas, laurels, and rhododendrons.

2. Pine straw is a completely renewable form of mulch as it is harvested from the forest floors.

3. Shredded pine and pine straw, because of their acidic nature do not promote fungal growth as they degrade.

4. Shredded pine and hardwood mulch are both byproducts of the construction industry.

5. Hardwood mulch is an aggregate material that is very dense and prohibits weed growth.

6. Hardwood mulch may also inhibit water and nutrient flow to the plant roots.

Winter is here in the South and there is no changing it. We may be able to steal a few warm days every once in a while, but for the most part we will be cold for the next four to six weeks or so. Besides waiting for the daffodils to poke their heads through the ground, what is there to do in the garden on those nice days when a person just has to get outside.

Late winter is a great time to deadwood and cloud prune boxwoods. Deadwooding is a term used to describe trimming or snapping out all the dead internal branches of a boxwood so that new growth can form and keep an old boxwood full and lush. Cloud pruning is a term used to describe a pruning technique that lends a soft airy texture to boxwoods that also allows new growth to form on the inside of big old boxwoods.  Cloud pruning is a method of pruning each cluster of branches as a whole with the intent to round off the branch clusters.  This creates an overall appearance of a cloud with a nice natural lumpy puffy look when the pruning is completed as opposed to the mechanical human-made perfectly rounded look.

Pruning in late winter, before bud break encourages the boxwood to put on plenty of new growth in the Spring, both on the tips of the branches, but also on the older, established interior stems of a mature boxwood. Fresh green growth coupled with dark lush green growth is a beautiful sight to see on a well manicured landscape. It’s a real sign that spring has sprung.

This has been an especially frigid and cold winter.  I have heard that we are experiencing some of the coldest nighttime temperatures in five years. Winter is winter, but enough is enough! We need to find a way to warm up that winter air. An outdoor fireplace it just the right thing to do that. It’s perfect for heating that outdoor room that many of us refer to as a patio. Just imagine how much fun it would be to host a sledding party (if it really does snow) and warm up around that outdoor fireplace.

The added dimension of light and heat on the patio make it a destination in winter as well as spring and fall. Evenings are cool and days are shorter during those seasons and the outdoor fireplace makes the patio a desirable place to relax and enjoy family and friends.

-Beth

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas less than one month away, many families will be heading to a tree farm, nursery, or retail outlet to choose their Christmas tree. It is the focal point of the holiday decorations and it is loaded with traditions so it is an important purchase at the beginning of the holiday season.

I am often asked “What kind of tree should I choose?” and my response is always, “A fresh one!” It seems like a no brainer, but many trees are cut in the summer, put in storage, painted and then sold as fresh cut trees. That does not seem very fresh or sweet to me. I always buy from a local source who can tell me where the trees were grown and who grew them. Since I live in Nashville, I have learned to purchase a Frazier Fir. That’s the same kind of Christmas tree that the White House always use and they are beautiful and well shaped. Grown in North Carolina, they are soft , dark green, and full branched. They hold up well to the weight of the lights and all the decorations. They are very dark so a good decorating technique is to use white lights to light the trunk and interior of the tree and then use colored lights on the outer branches to electrify the child in each and every one of us.

If I still lived north of the Ohio River, my choice for a Christmas tree would be a White Pine. To me it is important to decorate a soft tree. If it is to be a family activity, little people quickly tire of being poked by the needles of a sharp tree.

It is very important to put a fresh cut at the bottom of the trunk on the tree no matter what kind of Christmas tree you choose. You can ask the tree retailer to make the fresh cut.  I then allow the tree to soak over night in a big pot of warm water in a freeze free environment. That allows the tree to soak up plenty of water before it comes in the house. Then, I never allow that tree to dry out once it comes in the house. This will keep the tree soft and supple throughout the holiday season.

Now comes the happy work of hanging the ornaments and making your Christmas tree the Happiest Christmas Tree while listening to Nat King Cole.