The Garden Question

Josh Fuder’s search to identify the old apple trees growing at his newly purchase home ignited a path to discovering and recovering lost apple varieties of Georgia.

In this episode 042 Saving Heritage Apples we look into why lost apple varieties are important. How they are being discovered and saved to benefit future generations.

Josh is a University of Georgia Extension agent in Cherokee County Georgia. He is part of a team that has preserved nearly 140 different apple varieties at the newly planted Heritage Apple Orchard located at the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center.

YouTube: “Farm Monitor” Site of a New Apple Orchard

 YouTube: History of Apple Industry in GA

 UGA Research News Article

 Georgia Magazine Article: Preserving Georgia’s Heritage Apples for Future Generations

Pearce Butcher has always known that she is an artist who loves nature and science.

In this episode 041 Creating Beautiful Spaces for Functional Outdoor Living, we dissect Landscape Design as a unique combination of art, science, and problem-solving.

Pearce loves the challenge of looking at a space, listening to the concerns and dreams of the homeowner, and coming up with beautiful solutions. 

She composes absolutely stunning landscape designs for her clients at Pearce B Designs. Be inspired by her extraordinary designs on Instagram @ Pearce B Designs.

Pearce is a double major in Earth and Environmental Science and Art from Furman University. At George Washington University she earned a Landscape Certificate while studying at the U.S. National Arboretum. 

Have you ever thought about how you could make your landscape beds more interesting and productive?

Well maybe harvesting tomatoes among your hydrangeas or picking broccoli from around the Azaleas. How about growing squash and zucchini with your Zinnias. These are all foods, plus many more, you can grow in your landscape beds this next season.

Our conversation today is with Brie Arthur a well-known leader in the national Foodscape movement.

Brie is a bestselling author and a celebrated speaker that is well known for her lively information packed presentations.

With more than a decade of experience as a grower and propagator she now shares her expertise as a correspondent on the Emmy award winning PBS Television show “Growing a Greener World”.

You can follow Brie’s exciting garden journey through her website, BrieGrows.com and on her YouTube channel, Brie the Plant Lady. 

This is episode 040 Foodscaping Revolution with Brie Arthur on The Garden Question Podcast.

Staci L. Catron has one of the coolest jobs ever. She gets to live gardening in the past, in the present, and influence gardens of the future.

As the Director of the Cherokee Garden Library within the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center she manages the development, preservation, and interpretations of a 33,000-item growing collection.

Everything from garden and landscape relate rare books, contemporary volumes, manuscripts, photographs, landscape architectural drawings, periodicals, seed catalogs, and ephemera.

She curates numerous exhibitions, lectures regularly regarding rare garden books and historic landscapes, and is published in many newsletters, journals, and books.

Her latest award-winning book co-authored with Mary Ann Eaddy is titled: Seeking Eden: A Collection of Georgia’s Historic Gardens with photographs by James R. Lockhart.

Catron holds a B.A. in History and Latin, as well as a Master of Heritage Preservation from Agnes Scott College; a Master of Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University; and a Primary Teacher Certification. 

Russell Camp knows what healthy garden plants love in a mulch.

In our 38th episode “Mulch Mulch Baby” we discuss the benefits and detriments of some of the most common and exotic mulches available.

He talks about time saving techniques that will give your garden a quick easy year-round visual pop along with providing a lot of good stuff for the soil.

Russel oversees the horticultural assets for over 54 different school campuses on 1,501 acres of land, including 88 acres of natural grass athletic fields, 23 acres of synthetic turf, and numerous irrigation systems for The State of Georgia’s Henry County Schools. They install over 10,000 bales of pine straw mulch each year.

He also shares his successful landscape knowledge as an Adjunct Horticulture Instructor at Southern Crescent Technical College.

Russell holds a Horticulture degree from ABAC Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College  and a Business Management degree from Bellevue University .

He is a Georgia Certified Landscape Professional holding certification number one.

He is also a passionate home gardener enjoying landscape gardening, container gardening, vegetable gardening, and house plants.

Instagram: @gardencoach

Jim Frederick is passionate about adding new garden drama and engagement through outdoor lighting every season.

In our discussion we discover his outdoor lighting techniques that add new visual dimensions and security to your garden space.

We also explore how to avoid the most common and frustrating installation mistakes.

Jim shares his 25 years of experience in designing, building, and distributing in the outdoor living arena. He holds a bachelor degree from Penn State University in Landscape Contracting.

 As the National Sales Manager for Tru-Scapes Landscape Lighting he finds great joy helping the hardscape contractor succeed in his business and installations.

Tru-Scapes provides key products such as accent and path lights for your outdoor space. Developing unique groundbreaking products for your outdoor experience is always at the top of their mind. You can find them at your local Belgard distributor.  

Fresh squeezed orange juice off his own tree is Charles Daniel’s dream come true.

In this episode 036 Charles shares his successful backyard and greenhouse citrus growing experience.

As a bonus he also reveals his secrets for growing and harvesting olives, avocados, and pomegranates.

You will probably remember Charles from episode 029 - Why Camellias Work in Your Garden.

This lawyer, banker, and successful business owner “retired” to his new passion for gardening.

In addition to his own garden, he oversees some of the most unique and interesting gardens in Savannah, Georgia area. In these gardens you will often find many unique fruit bearing plants.

Charles is a University of Georgia Certified Plant Professional and a Georgia Certified Landscape Professional.

In this episode we talk with Jordan Daneker about the little things that bring your outdoor spaces to life.

He walks us through the process on how he discovers and builds the perfect outdoor space for you and your family.

We explore the artful details used to put together plants, pools, pavilions, hardscapes, lighting and more to yield a unique and quality environment.

Jordan’s obsession and passion started as a part time job in 2008 and now he is on a mission “To Get North Carolina Outside”. He is a partner in a landscape company Evolve Design + Build located in Currituck, North Carolina. You can find him on both Facebook and Instagram.

He is a licensed North Carolina landscape and general contractor. He holds designations from Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI) for concrete pavers and The National Concrete Masonry

Association (NCMA) for segmented retaining walls.

In this episode we will talk with Landscape Architect Bruce Holliday about his landscape design philosophy and how you can enhance your property’s value.

Bruce has seen just about everything in his many years as a Landscape Architect where he has designed and installed landscape plant material, hardscapes, lighting, and irrigation for residential and commercial projects.

At Pike Family Nurseries he supervised 12 landscape designers that produced more than 2,500 landscape plans annually as Director of the Pike Design Group.

You will probably remember Bruce’s distinct voice from his appearances on “The Lawn and Garden Show with Walter Reeves” Saturday mornings on Atlanta’s WSB radio.

Bruce earned his landscape architecture degree from the University of Georgia. 

I’m excited for you to hear his can’t miss strategies that add value every time they’re applied.

We are at the beginning of Christmas season and it is time to display the Christmas Tree.

Dr. Mel Koelling knows Christmas Trees.

He and his wife Laurie have grown thousands of trees every year at Tannenbaum Farms in central Michigan.

A nationally recognized expert in the Christmas Tree industry, Dr. Koelling taught and served in the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University for over 35 years.

Tannenbaum Farms was purchased in 1977 as an extension of Dr. Koelling's professional interests and as a way to establish a college fund for his children. The first planting in 1978 covered three acres. Today, plantings cover approximately 100 acres of the 180-acre farm.

I was introduced to Dr. Koelling through the fine folks at The National Christmas Tree Promotion Board. Their campaign It’s Christmas Keep It Real touch me.

Christmas trees what a wonderful idea for an episode.

It can take over 8 years to grow your tree so there is not really an off season on a Christmas Tree farm. 

We will hear right from the grower himself how to select and care for your live tree.

We will also discover the story behind the first Christmas Tree and how the tradition grew.