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The Dallas Garden School

Education and inspiration for the modern Texas gardener.

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Weekend Garden To-Do List

Happy Friday, DGS’ers! It’s hard to believe that May is already here. Many of you are already starting to harvest tomatoes, and it won’t be long until our gardens will be looking their absolute best in June (right before the heat hammer drops). Here’s what I’ve been working on and my plans for this weekend: Tomorrow morning, I’m hosting a “Backyard Flower Farm” class to share techniques used by professional growers to produce oodles and oodles of beautiful cut flowers. Whether you just want...

14 days ago • 1 min read

Growing cut flowers is magical. Learn pro techniques for farm-style production in a small space. If you've taken a class with me before, you know that part of my garden success formula is borrowing techniques from sustainable, commercial agriculture in order to achieve impressive results in the home garden. This Saturday, I will teach you how to create a mini flower farm in your own backyard by using professional growing methods. Whether you're growing them for yourself, to give away to...

16 days ago • 1 min read

My mini flower farm in full bloom. Two weeks ago, Debra Prinzing of Slow Flowers taught a wonderful class for us about how to create backyard destinations based on her book "Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways". (If you missed this incredibly inspiring class, you can get the replay here.) In response to the fact that 80 percent of cut flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from other countries and continents — devouring resources like jet fuel, packaging material, and water — Debra started...

18 days ago • 1 min read

Which one of the plants below is basil? Trick question. They all are! One of the things that I will be covering in tomorrow night's North Texas Herb Gardening class is all the different ways that you can utilize easy-to-grow herbs in your garden. Basil, for example, is just as pretty as it is tasty, and can be planted among your existing perennial flowers. There are more than 100 different cultivars of basil to choose from. Here's what else you will learn tomorrow: How to prepare soil for...

24 days ago • 1 min read

Basil 'Dark Purple Opal' Incorporating more herbs into our gardens not only enhances our cooking but also supports local ecosystems by attracting pollinators like bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. Here are three herbs that will level-up both your dishes and your pollinator garden: 1. Basil (Ocimum basilicum) Basil is a culinary favorite used in everything from Italian pesto to Thai dishes. It’s also a favorite of pollinators when allowed to bloom. I grow ‘Dark Purple Opal’ basil...

26 days ago • 1 min read

Creating Backyard Destinations with Debra Prinzing TONIGHT, Thursday, April 18, 6:00 pm Online, $19 Sign up here Debra Prinzing is the founder of Slow Flowers and the author of "Slow Flowers: Four Seasons of Locally Grown Bouquets from the Garden" and "Meadow and Farm and The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers". This class presents the ideas and inspiration behind her book “Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways" with photographer Bill Wright. Explore how people are...

30 days ago • 1 min read

Good morning! For the past two weeks, I've been consumed with the construction of my vegetable/cutting beds, and they are almost ready for planting. This is the first phase of completely transforming my new backyard, and because Mother Nature waits for no one, I was under the gun to get this part completed as soon as possible. There are now six 4'x 15' beds and one long 3' x 55' bed along the fence. Starting today, I will be amending the ground soil with expanded shale and compost. I hired a...

about 1 month ago • 2 min read

Do you suffer from pruning stress? You've probably been told that perennial gardens require occasional pruning to look their best. But then you're left wondering: How? What? Why? When? One of my goals is to remove all stress and fear from gardening. Old-school garden guys are always trying to scare people into action. "You HAVE to do this. You HAVE to do that." And the result is a whole slew of people paralyzed to try gardening because they're scared of screwing something up. The truth is...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Don't miss this bestselling class! Explore the beauty and sustainability of native and perennial flower gardens. Discover how to design, plant, and maintain a flower garden that thrives year after year whether your yard is sunny or shady. From selecting the right plants (that will survive winter!!) to creating a colorful, low-maintenance haven, this class equips you with the knowledge and skills to cultivate a garden that's both stunning and eco-friendly. "Native & Perennial Flower Gardens"...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Summer Bulbs for a Paradise Garden with Brent HeathSaturday, March 30, 10am-12pm Registration deadline approaching! Caladiums, Colocasia, and Cannas, Oh My! We tend to forget that the world of garden bulbs isn't just limited to just tulips and daffodils. Lucky for us, nationally-recognized bulb expert and co-owner of Brent and Becky's Bulbs will be with us this Saturday to share his wealth of knowledge about summer-blooming bulbs that we can use to turn our gardens into a tropical paradise....

about 2 months ago • 1 min read
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