Since we’re all spending so much time at home these days, many folks are taking the opportunity to work on their landscaping. The great thing about gardening is that it’s not only a relaxing way to pass the time, but also yields results that make your life even more enjoyable! Whether you’re eating homegrown tomatoes from a backyard vegetable garden, relaxing on your porch and enjoying the fragrance of a tea olive or gardenia plant, or even mixing up a mojito with mint grown in a kitchen container garden, there’s one thing they all have in common: They need the right soil to grow and thrive. 

Soil is one of the most important components of gardening, but many amateur gardeners don’t know much about it. If you’re thinking “Dirt is dirt, right?” get ready to have your mind blown. These are some of the most important things to know about soil. 

Soil Guide for Gardeners

In-Ground vs. Container Gardening

Being planted in a container is a very different environment for plants than being planted in the ground. If you’re growing plants on your porch, patio, window boxes, or indoors, opt for potting soil. Potting soil mixes are formulated to address the unique challenges of growing plants in containers, especially drainage and root binding. Using the correct soil will help keep your plants healthy and happy, with correct moisture levels and plenty of room to grow strong roots.

If you’re planting in the ground, you may be tempted to just dig a hole, toss your plant in, and fill it back up; however, that usually won’t give you the results you’re hoping for. Instead, you’ll need to amend the soil to create a welcoming environment for your plant, with proper pH, nutrients, and drainage. 

Types of Soil and When to Use Them

As we just discussed, potting soil is a must for any container garden… But there are so many types of soil at your local garden center, so what are all of the other ones for? 

• Top soil is used to fill holes or level ground, and isn’t suitable for planting. 
• Garden soil is used to amend (or mix in with) your existing soil, and you should use it when planting anything in the ground. Depending on the pH, clay content, and other factors of your soil, you may need a garden soil with a high or low pH to make the ground hospitable to whatever you’re planting. Garden soil contains a blend of nutrients, organic matter, and soil to give plants a head start. 
• Raised bed soil is specifically designed for—you guessed it—raised planter beds, typically used for kitchen gardens to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Here in north Georgia, much of the native soil is composed of red clay, which is not the friendliest environment for plants. Clay retains water and is super dense, which leads to plants drowning or suffocating if the soil is not amended. Raised beds are an easy solution to allow north Georgia gardeners to grow strong, healthy plants without the extensive labor and cost of amending the entire area of ground. Simply fill your raised beds with raised bed soil and your garden will be set for success with properly draining and aerating soil. 

We’re open for curbside pickup, so give us a call to place your order today!

Good gardeners do everything for their gardens. You select and position your plants with care, water them, maybe even talk to them, and of course, take plenty of pictures of them. You also feed and nourish them with the right kind of fertilizer, but that can become expensive! Fertilizer can also be a pain to purchase in stores. Check out these DIY fertilizer ideas from Whispering Springs Nursery.

• Compost tea. Once your compost is fully finished, you can turn it into a tea-like mixture that your plants will love as much as you love real tea. Fill a five-gallon bucket about a third of the way with compost, and the rest of the way with water. After about three or four days of stirring as often as you can, strain it through cheesecloth or another fine strainer. Dilute the mixture until it looks like weak tea (about a 10:1 ratio of water to tea) and then use it on the soil.
• Grass clippings are rich in nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus. Make sure that your grass hasn’t been treated with herbicides before you use it! The process of making grass fertilizer is similar to compost tea, except that you’ll fill the bucket about two-thirds of the way with grass, and you’ll dilute the tea with equal parts water before you use it.
• Do you have a freshwater fish tank? Fertilizing is as easy as pouring the old water over your plants next time you clean the tank!

Whispering Springs Nursery in Jasper, GA is so much more than a nursery. We’re in the business of education and growth as much as selling plants, and we love to hear from you. Contact us or come down to visit us and let’s talk about your garden!

Are you tired of deer tearing through your garden? Deer are like locust, emerging from nowhere to chew leafy crops down to the root. And summer is high season for these furry fiends. They need extra nutrition in the warmer months since many does are be pregnant or nursing and young bucks need energy to grow their magnificent antlers. So how can you protect your landscape from hungry deer? Plant their least favorite foods!

6 Deer Resistant Plants for Georgia Gardens

1. Bear’s breeches. Towering like elegant centerpieces, this plant boasts light, attractive blooms and broad, glossy leaves. Bear’s breeches adds texture and height to the garden, it’s drought-tolerant, and deer find it unappealing to boot!
2. Butterfly weed. Butterflies may flock to this vibrant orange perennial, but deer prefer to keep their distance.
3. Caryopteris. Do you love unusual flowers with eye-catching texture? This cool-toned shrub will continue blooming long after other bushes have spent their blooms.
4. Chrysanthemum. A fall-blooming beauty that comes in a variety of dark, rich, and warm-hues, chrysanthemums put off a strong floral bouquet . . . and deer wrinkle their noses at their natural perfume.
5. Crocosmia. If you love tropical beauties, plant crocosmia. With its long, elegant arrays of tropical orange blooms, it’s a perennial eye-catcher that will remind you of the beach (and drive off deer).
6. Goldenrod. Do you need to fill bare places in the garden? Goldenrod is a good choice for adding depth to flowerbeds, filling vases, and encouraging deer to find a meal elsewhere.

At Whispering Springs Nursery, we specialize in deer resistant plants. For more tips on keeping deer out of the landscape, visit our gardening center in Jasper, GA.

Spring has finally arrived! We know we’re not the only ones excited to dig into a fresh year of gardening. Make sure you don’t miss anything on your spring landscaping checklist.

Early Spring Checklist

• Before you dig into spring planting, check your bulb beds to make sure things look good for bright, beautiful spring blooms.
• Check the pH of your soil and supplement flowerbeds with fertilizer, lime, or compost to ensure plants stay happy all summer.
• Prune fruit trees before buds appear on the branches. Remember: wait too long and you’ll stress the trees, leading to a low yield.
• Divide and replant perennials, making sure each new plant has at least three stems.
• Plant early spring vegetables like carrots, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes.
• Clean up the landscape. Remove winter debris, repair damaged beds, and take your lawn mower to be serviced before the first mow of the season.

Mid-Spring Checklist

• Plant fresh flowerbeds full of vibrant colors and eye-catching shapes.
• Put your planters away until fall. Leave the birdbaths out and full of water.
• Transplant seedlings for annuals.
• Take stock of your spring landscape. Write down any notes about how to improve the view next year. Trust us, you’ll forget what you wanted to fix by next spring!
• Apply mulch around flowerbeds to suppress summer weeds and help retain moisture.

Late Spring Checklist

• Deadhead spring-blossoming bulbs.
• Prune spring-blooming shrubs after they’ve spent their blossoms for the year.
• Take a break and plant a fairy garden inside the house.

Do you need fresh spring flowers and shrubs, new tools and garden ornaments, tips on seasonal landscape care, or professional insight on your landscape design? Visit Whispering Springs Nursery for landscaping solutions in Jasper.

Fairy gardens add a dash of whimsy to the landscape. They’re fun, simple to make, and brighten the yard even in the dead of winter. Ready to plant fresh enchantment? Make your own fairy garden with a little help from your friends at Whispering Springs Nursery.

How to Plant a Fairy Garden

We’re addicted to making these magical mini-landscapes. They’re a lovely addition to garden paths, porches, indoor spaces, or nestled into flowerbeds. Don’t worry if you’ve never planted a fairy garden before. This DIY garden project is as simple as it is stunning!

• Gather your supplies. There are plenty of fairy garden items available in Jasper. Whether you’re looking for ceramic pots, fairy houses, tiny furniture, fanciful accessories, or lush plants for your fairy garden, you’ll find what you need at Whispering Springs Nursery.
• Choose your spot. If you want a mobile fairy garden, look for ceramic and terra cotta pots, unique planters like wicker baskets or wheelbarrows, or empty spaces in your flower beds. If you’re planting your fairy garden directly in the ground, make sure the spot you choose has adequate sunlight and good drainage.
• Arrange your design. Before you get started, it’s a good idea to plan your layout to ensure everything fits together. That way you don’t have to rip up succulents because you ran out of room for the cottage.
• Plant your magic. Choose a potting soil that has adequate drainage. Plant large-root plants first, then arrange your hardscape items and fairy accessories. Voila! Your garden has been transported to a storybook world.

Time to spread some fairy dust! Visit Whispering Springs Nursery for fairy garden supplies and tips.

Choosing the right plant for your landscape is only the first step in cultivating a garden that’s worth another look. Garden maintenance may be less fun than landscape design, but it does just as much for the beauty as planting bright annuals and richly textured trees. Are your plants wilting under the hot summer sun? Keep your yard bold and beautiful with our top summer garden care tips.

Summer Garden Maintenance

• Do your homework. Can’t wait to plant new summer flowers or a fresh veggie garden? Before you dig in, do your research. Choose plants that don’t just look great together, but also have similar growing conditions. Test the soil before you plant and supplement it as necessary.
• Dig in. Nobody wants weeds in the garden, but nobody wants to pull them up either. Weeding is unavoidable if you want a thriving landscape. Go ahead and dig in (or pay the neighbor kids to do it for you). Trust us, it’ll be a lot harder to uproot them later if you let them grow.
• Deadhead. Maybe you went on vacation and your house sitter neglected the yard. Maybe you forgot to water for a week. But if your summer flowers look droopy, there’s a simple solution: deadhead. Remove spent blooms on your annuals and perennials and, with a little TLC, they may blossom again before summer ends.
• Water. We live in Georgia after all. If you can’t survive 10 minutes outdoors without running inside for some sweet tea, you should seriously consider how much water you give your plants. Invest in a soaker hose, which allows water to penetrate the roots more deeply. Check how much water your plants need during the summer to survive. Most garden plants need about 1 inch per week.

Need a burst of inspiration? Whispering Springs Nursery has a wide variety of summer plants that thrive in the mountainous region of Jasper. Stroll our nursery and talk to our staff about planting and maintaining summer gardens.

Soaker Hose