TN Nursery Blog

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Bob Vila
Tall green bulrush stems with golden-brown flower clusters at the edge of a pond under a blue sky

5 min read

Bulrush vs Cattail: Tell Them Apart and Plant b...

Bulrush and cattail share pond edges and a confusing name. Learn the seed head, stem and leaf differences, and which one fits your water depth, wildlife goals and shoreline.

Young pawpaw tree with green leaves and pale green fruit growing in a home garden

6 min read

How to Grow Pawpaw Trees: Planting, Care and Fruit

How to grow pawpaw trees from a grower of 2 million a year: where to plant, why you need two trees, how to plant bare-root pawpaw, care tips and how...

Green pawpaw fruit hanging in clusters among large pawpaw tree leaves

5 min read

Pawpaw Fruit: What It Is, What It Tastes Like a...

Pawpaw fruit is the largest edible fruit native to North America, with custard-like flesh that tastes like banana, mango and melon. Learn what a pawpaw is, when it ripens, how...

Pink purple coneflowers with spiky orange centers growing in a sunny garden bed

5 min read

Coneflower Companion Plants: Native Partners fo...

Pair purple coneflower with native partners that love the same sun and soil. Here is the planting order, the spacing, a bloom calendar and two picks for the damp corner...

Winterberry holly shrub with bright red berries

5 min read

Winterberry Holly: Why It Has No Berries and Ho...

No berries on your winterberry holly? It usually needs a male plant nearby. See the 5 common causes, how to fix each, and how to plant this native shrub.

Red maple tree with dense red fall foliage against a blue sky

5 min read

How Fast Does a Red Maple Grow? Year-by-Year Ti...

Red maples grow about 1 to 2 feet a year. Follow a young nursery tree from planting to year 10, with what to expect and how to help it grow...

Tall goldenrod with bright yellow flower plumes and narrow leaves blooming at a meadow edge, visited by bees and a butterfly

5 min read

Goldenrod vs Ragweed: How to Tell Them Apart

Goldenrod gets blamed for fall sneezing, but ragweed is the real culprit. Use five simple checks to tell them apart, then grow goldenrod as a native feast for pollinators.

Moss phlox, Phlox subulata, in dense pink bloom cascading over a sunny stone wall

5 min read

Creeping Phlox vs Moss Phlox: Same Plant or Not?

Moss phlox and creeping phlox usually name the same sun-loving ground cover, Phlox subulata, but one woodland phlox shares the name. Here is how to tell them apart and plant...

Wild ginger with heart-shaped leaves and ferns covering the ground in a shaded woodland garden bed

5 min read

Native Ground Cover for Shade: Picks for Moist ...

Wild ginger, partridge berry, native ferns and Virginia creeper, matched to moist or dry shade, with the height, spread and growth rate you need to plan spacing and fill the...

Virginia creeper vine in red autumn color covering a wooden wall

5 min read

Virginia Creeper vs Poison Ivy: How to Tell The...

Five leaflets or three is only the start. Learn to tell Virginia creeper from poison ivy by leaf, vine, berry and fall color, then plant the native creeper on purpose...

A flowering black locust with white blossom clusters beside a feathery honey locust with long twisted pods at a field edge

6 min read

Black Locust vs Honey Locust: Spot the Differen...

Thorns, leaflets, flowers, pods and bark tell these two native locusts apart. Here is how to spot each one, which suits your yard, and how to plant either from bare...

Christmas fern with feathery green fronds growing in a shaded woodland garden beneath tall trees

5 min read

Are Ferns Perennials? Which Ferns Come Back, by...

Hardy ferns are perennials that return every spring. Here is which native ferns stay green, which die back, the USDA zones each is rated for, and how Boston fern differs.