New to Memphis--need help!

16 years ago

Hello fellow gardeners,

I just moved to memphis about a month ago and am about to buy a house in the germantown area.

I discovered gardenweb several years ago while living in Knoxville and it was a great source of help and inspiration. As a result of your advice, I stopped killing my lawn yearly and moved to organic lawn care.

Now I am in a new place and I feel like I am back to square one. So here are my initial questions:

1. Can anyone give me some recommendations on nurseries in the area? I don't mind driving a little bit for better plants, prices, and/or guidance.

2. Mulch and compost. In Knoxville I could go to the city for my mulch and leave compost and to the monterrey mushroom company about 40 minutes away for high quality mushroom compost--they also delivered. Where can I go around here for those things?

3. Lawn--most lawns around here are dormant. I like my lawn on the greener side all year round. Is that possible? What are the proper types of lawns to plant in Memphis. I had fescue in Knoxville and finally learned to water properly, mow at the right height, and use cultural practices for weed control. Any recommendations on lawn varieties would be appreciated. Any thoughts on self-repairing lawns?

4. Plants--There are some birch trees on the house, a few bushes, but not much variety. Any thoughts on what I should consider growing?

I will be moving to my new house at the end of March so I will not have a lot of time to get things well established before the summer heat. I would like to have an action plan before then.

Thank you for all your responses. I look forward to posting my experiences as my new yard evolves.

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Comments (4)

misterbaby
16 years ago
Hi, lake home, and welcome to G'town and zone 7b. I'm a master gardener in the area, and would be happy to get you off on the right foot. My responses to your questions:

1. The best nurseries are MorGreens in Collierville, and Gardensovey in Arlington. The latter is a Gardenwatch Top 30 on Dave's Garden, and they have a nice website.

2. You can get mulch for $10 a scoop at the Frank Road Landfill in Collierville. There is no luxury of nearby mushroom farms. The best alternative is leaf mold available in Bartlett for $20 a scoop.

3. The only types of lawns in this area are Bermuda and Zoysia. Both self repair. You can overseed with winter rye for a green winter lawn.

4. You can take pix of your yard to the nursery and they will advise you on plant selection. Be sure to note sunlight availabilty for each area.

If I can be of assistance, shoot me an e-mail. Misterbaby.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardensovey Nursery
lake_home_tn
Original Author
16 years ago
Misterbaby,

Thank you for the response. I will be heading out to do some plant material shopping this weekend and Garedensovey will be one of my stops.

I will be heading to the lawn forum to see if I can get some advice on what I have to do to my lawn right now to whip it into shape for the summer.

Thanks again!
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ronnywil
16 years ago
Mulch Works is at the Agricenter on Germantown Rd at Walnut Grove. They have mulch and Pro-Mix soil. I have purchased the soil for raised beds and it's good. As for nurseries, MorGreen is good, Dan West on Hwy 64 is okay as is Digger Odell. Bayliss Greenhouses between Memphis and Millington is also a good place, friendly people there.

As for plants, Encore azaleas, hydrangeas, roses, butterfly bushes, crepe myrtles and camellias do well in this area. Japanese red maples, bradford pear, tulip poplar, magnolia and most fruit trees are good additions.
judydean
16 years ago
This weekend is the Spring Fling (Memphis Area Master Gardeners event) from 9 to 6 on Friday and 9 to 5 on Saturday at the Red Barn at the Agricenter (corner of Walnut Grove and Germantown Parkway). It's free and there will be over 50 vendors there who can give you good advice. You might stroll around and get an idea of what's good here. There will be speakers, but I don't have the schedule. You might go to www.memphisareamastergardeners.org/
Judy
BTW, I am not a master gardener so this isn't a commercial.
Hey, when I previewed this message prior to posting it, the words 'spring' and 'gardener' turned into links - what's that about? anybody know?