Over the winter I spent some time building/inventing a few things that I needed to make the nursery run smoother and my life easier. Some of these are interesting, some are kind of boring, but here they are. Originally this was my “Famous Legless Potting Bench” but once I bought a frontend loader it was… Click here to read more…
Repairing Loose Root Balls on Tree Hydrangea.
This is one of our Semi Famous “Mondays with Mike” Segments that I do for our Backyard Growers. Last week I went to a wholesale nursery stock auction and pick up about two truck loads of nursery stock. I’m going to do a post about growing flowering Hydrangea shrubs into trees so I grabbed a… Click here to read more…
A 15th Anniversary and a 58th Birthday
An important message from Duston McGroarty (Mike’s son): I can’t believe it’s been 15 years (I guess time flies, right?). 15 years ago, this January, my Dad started FreePlants.com. He didn’t know it then but his life would never be the same. Over the course of the next 15 years he went on to change… Click here to read more…
Winter Tree and Shrub Transplanting Tips and Why Now is the Ideal Time .
I am going to talk to you about Winter Tree and Shrub Transplanting Tips and Why Now is the Ideal Time. Sounds crazy right? This isn’t gardening season, it’s winter. Spring is gardening season! Well . . . that’s sorta true. People really get confused about when to transplant what and how to go about… Click here to read more…
How I Advertise My Plants for Sale
Winter is getting closer and closer every week. We’re trying to button everything up before it’s too late. In this week’s “Mondays With Mike”, I share with you the results of our Fall/St. Patrick’s Day plant sale and also show you the ad I’m running for our sale next week. It’s very rare that I… Click here to read more…
How I Overwinter My Cuttings
We’ve been pushing hard to try and get all the cuttings stuck that we can before it gets too late in the season. In this week’s episode of “Mondays With Mike” I’ll show you how we plan to overwinter our cuttings. By adjusting the layout of my mist beds, I’m now confident the cuttings will… Click here to read more…
Adding A New Cutting Bed
This week I’m adding a new cutting bed at the nursery (since we completely filled up our other one). Plus, the donkeys make an another appearance…
Using the Mantis Tiller to Prepare a Landscape Planting Bed.
In this video: Pam McGroarty is painting signs for the donkey shed. Check them out. How to use a Mantis Rototiller to level and move soil in a landscaping bed. Some new plants that you’d probably like to meet. Most people think of a rototiller as a device used for loosing and digging up soil… Click here to read more…
Pruning Small Plants as You Grow them to Make them Nice and Full, not Lanky.
Mike McGroarty and Two Donkeys Teach You about Pruning Small Plants. This video is really important about pruning small plants as they need it. In this video I am really late getting these plants pruned, I would have been much better off to have pruned most of them at least four weeks ago. That’s how… Click here to read more…
How to Get Rid of and or Control Weeds.
Weeds are by far one of the biggest challenges that gardeners face. But it doesn’t have to be that way and I promise to show you how to get a handle on weeds and keep them under control forever with a few simple steps. What it takes to make a weed happy. Mike! Are you… Click here to read more…