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You are here: Home / Archives for Gardening Tips

15 Fast-Growing Trees to Transform Your Yard Quickly

Updated : March 23, 2025

2 Comments

Young trees planted in organized rows, sunny landscape.

If you’re the kind of person who wants to see results fast, then fast-growing trees might be exactly what your yard needs. Whether you’re looking to add privacy, shade, or just boost your property’s curb appeal without waiting a decade — this guide is for you. We’ll walk through everything you need to know: why… Click here to read more…

Mike’s Big Perennial Bed by the Month.

Updated : April 27, 2023

16 Comments

A few months back I did a really extensive post about My Big Perennial Bed with a listing and description of pretty much every plant in the bed. Now I’d like to show off the plants in the bed month by month as they bloom or just look really nice.

Over Wintering Rooted Cuttings.

Updated : January 15, 2023

28 Comments

Rooted cuttings of variegated weigela in bunches to harden off.

We stick our softwood cuttings in June in a bed of sand outdoors. In a matter of weeks they are fully rooted Using this Plant Propagation System. We can pull them from the bed and pot them in the summer but I don’t unless I absolutely need them because summer potting can be stressful for… Click here to read more…

Mike’s Big Perennial Garden

Updated : January 8, 2023

40 Comments

Mike's Big Perennial Bed.

At The Nursery I have this big bed that is really just a big pile of sand and gravel that I dug out to make a container area. Rather than haul the material away I just gave it some contour and landscaped it. Over the years I’ve had all kinds of really interesting plants in… Click here to read more…

The Right Way to Treat Your Flower Bulbs after they Bloom.

Updated : June 10, 2022

32 Comments

Flower bulb care after they bloom.

Me and the donkeys made a movie for you about caring for your flower bulbs after they bloom. It seems to be that the standard practice is to roll the tops into a ball, put a rubber band around them and wait for them to turn brown before you cut them off. But in my… Click here to read more…

Photos, Landscaping Ideas from My Butt Ugly Landscape. Worst Landscape Design Ever!

Updated : June 9, 2022

47 Comments

Ice Plant, Delosperma

A couple of years ago I posted a video and some photos of the landscaping around our house and one guy said something like, “It’s a good thing you know how to grow plants because your landscape design skills are terrible. So when I did an update I titled the post, “My Landscape Design Skills… Click here to read more…

Busting Gardening Myths!

Updated : May 1, 2022

18 Comments

One of Our Members, http://backyardgrowers.com/join, shared this article with the other members. It’s a great article about long held gardening beliefs that just flat out are not true. I’d love to display the article here but I just don’t have permission to do so so I am simply going to provide you with a link… Click here to read more…

My Landscape Design Skills Suck!

Updated : May 10, 2021

278 Comments

Mike McGroarty sucks at landscape design.

That’s what he told me. He said my landscape design skills totally suck. Or something to that effect. Last summer when I did a post about landscape lighting some helpful visitor to my website suggested that I stick to growing plants because I was a terrible landscape designer. So yesterday as I was walking into… Click here to read more…

Digging and storing bare root trees for later potting.

Updated : January 18, 2021

48 Comments

Bare Root Japanese Maple Trees about to be Heeled in.

These are rules for digging trees and other plants. Only dig trees or plants when they are dormant. Here in Ohio dormancy occurs usually right before Thanksgiving, after we’ve had at least on night with temps down around 28 degrees F. or lower. That’s when digging season begins, and for us it usually ends about… Click here to read more…

Let Amazon help you with weed control in your gardens.

Updated : January 11, 2021

39 Comments

Use Amazon boxes for weed control in the garden.

This is a great project for your children. Get them involved so they can see first hand how recycling works. Online buying is now bigger than ever and I really don’t see that changing anytime soon. The postmaster told me that package delivery within the post office is up six times over this time last… Click here to read more…

Storing bare root trees/plants over the winter.

Updated : January 11, 2021

24 Comments

Building an underground bunker for bare root plants.

Transplanting is a winter sport! Transplanting season typically begins around Thanksgiving in most northern states. It lasts all winter and ends in very early spring before plants leaf out. Usually around mid April in cold states, earlier in warmer states. Once plants make leaves in the spring, digging/transplanting is over. That means that if we… Click here to read more…

How to Stop Mulch from Washing Out of Your Beds

Updated : October 16, 2020

7 Comments

Decorative stone keeps the mulch was washing out of the landscape beds.

We were having a problem with our landscape that many people have. During a really heavy rain, a downpour, the rain water was coming rushing off the roof so fast that it was shooting right over the gutters and onto the landscape and washing the mulch right out of the bed on to the sidewalk… Click here to read more…

Teaching Weeping Japanese maples how to grow into beautiful trees.

Updated : August 25, 2020

23 Comments

Weeping plants, like Weeping Japanese maples, have no idea how to grow in an upright fashion. As you’ll see in this movie, if just left to grow on their own they would simply lay on the ground and grow in a horizontal fashion. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But that’s the beauty of a weeping plant…. Click here to read more…

A Different, Simple Landscape Design Idea.

Updated : June 23, 2020

42 Comments

Landscape Design

In 2018 we built a ranch home with a very simple, easy to care for landscape around the house. I added some Landscape Lighting to the Landscape so before I did the video about that, I did this video on the landscape design. I don’t mention it in the video but you can see a… Click here to read more…

How to Design Effective Landscape Lighting.

Updated : June 23, 2020

31 Comments

Landscape lighting, properly designed and installed can really enhance the appearance of your home at night and provide a level of security. On this page you’ll find a couple of videos and some still photos of the landscape around my house and and the lighting that I plan to install as well as some night… Click here to read more…

Can I use Well Composted Horse Manure in My Garden?

Updated : April 14, 2020

37 Comments

I get this question a lot, especially in The Members Area. And people always chime in with the same answer because it’s what they read “On the Internet”. They say; “No, you should never use horse manure in your garden because horses can’t digest weed seeds and you’ll have a garden full of weeds. And… Click here to read more…

Beautiful Snow Covered Plants.

Updated : February 15, 2020

7 Comments

Snow Covered Harry Lauder's Walking Stick.

There are some plants that are absolutely breathtaking when covered with fresh snow. I have a few favorites that I’ll share with you here. Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick is one of them! Weeping Nootka Cypress! When I share photos of this plant online I get two reactions. People love it or they hate it. But… Click here to read more…

Edging a bed with a Nursery spade. Not a Shovel!

Updated : March 9, 2025

35 Comments

This is the nursery spade I recommend. [Amazon] Questions, comments, mean things to say? Post them below and I’ll respond.

Gardening Things You Should Know for Spring.

Updated : April 9, 2025

43 Comments

Black-eyed Susan

Beautiful spring weather means a lot of things, but for gardeners it means that we finally get to get out and get our hands in the dirt. We all have projects on the clipboard, things we’d like to do in the yard this spring. In this post I am going to compile a list of… Click here to read more…

Turning Free Wood Chips into Amazing Compost/Growing Soil

Updated : January 19, 2020

30 Comments

Well rotted wood chips in a long low pile.

You know what they say right? Free? If something is free then it probably has no value. When it comes to gardeners nothing could be further than the truth. What could be valuable to a gardener? Both compost and mulch are like gold to a gardener. And they both can be quite costly if you… Click here to read more…

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Young trees planted in organized rows, sunny landscape.

15 Fast-Growing Trees to Transform Your Yard Quickly

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Hydrangea cuttings stuck close together.

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Mike’s Big Perennial Bed by the Month.

Posted On April 27, 2023 By Mike

$180.00 per Square Foot? Is it really possible?

Posted On March 28, 2023 By Mike

Rooted cuttings of variegated weigela in bunches to harden off.

Over Wintering Rooted Cuttings.

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

Mike's Big Perennial Bed.

Mike’s Big Perennial Garden

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

A Profound Thank You from Mike.

Posted On September 1, 2022 By Mike

Recent Posts

Finnegan keeping the sun off his head.

An Old Guy, Two Donkeys, a Puppy and a Hammock. What could possibly go wrong?

… Read Full Article

This upside down donkey is a hoot!

An Upside Down Donkey and Cute Puppy.

You can see more of the donkeys here. And more silly donkey stuff here. Questions, comments, mean things to say? Post them below and I will respond. Until then, by any and all means stay inspired! … Read Full Article

'Rockin Raspberry' Bee Balm.

‘Rockin Raspberry’ Bee Balm.

Wow! I planted four of these 'Rockin Raspberry' Bee Balm in the perennial garden at the nursery last summer and look at them now. They are in bloom right now, end of June here in northern, Ohio and every person that sees them asks about them. This beauty … Read Full Article

'Bubblegum Blast' Bee Balm.

‘Bubblegum Blast’ Bee Balm

This beautiful Bee Balm is part of the 'Sugar Buzz' series. I planted these in my perennial bed last summer and this year they are beautiful and blooming like crazy! They grow from 16" to 24" tall, are hardy from zone 4 through zone 8. They love full sun … Read Full Article

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

'Blue Angel'hosta is by far one of my favorite blue hostas. A big hosta like this in a perennial bed covers a lot of area and that keeps a ton of weeds at bay! These giant heart shaped leaves are very slug resistant. We have this plant in full sun. With … Read Full Article

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