We are always struggling with deer eating our plants and getting into our beds! I love deer, don’t get me wrong, I love watching them and they are so graceful, but they eat so many of the plants we care for! We struggle with keeping them away all year long! I wanted to share with you a few tips and tricks to keep the deer away. Keeping the deer awa…

I am always on the hunt for really unique and interesting window boxes, container gardens, and containers! I came across this one that I wanted to share with you. Window boxes hold very special memories for me as I grew up having window boxes and I’ve always loved to be able to incorporate them in some way, shape, or form! The neat thing about this…

Easter is one of my favorite holidays and I want to share with you a few of my favorite things I love to incorporate in our Easter table scape. Below are some must haves for your tables cape! Now of course you won’t have each of these exact pieces, but these are some inspiration for your creation! For links to purchase my specific decorations, I’ve…

We are so excited Spring is just around the corner and it is time to spice up our containers! For this project, I am using a number of plants from my local garden center and some forsythia branches from my yard! To accessorize I am using hanging hand painted eggs, tiny moss baskets, moss covered stones, ribbon, and moss. This project is so customiz…

As you are getting your gardens ready for Spring and Summer you also need to prepare your lawn, trees, and shrubs for a season of growth. If your yard has seen a lot of severe weather over the winter, it will really need this pre-spring pick me up! I’ve narrowed down my yard to-do list to five main things to do to get your lawn, trees, and shrubs r…

If you have been part of the Carmen Johnston family for even a short time, you know I adore what I like to call “personality driven containers”. These are garden containers that embody parts of your personality, whether it’s your taste in design, something special to your family, or an incredible find at your favorite antique place! I got to visit …

Are you wanting to plant a spring garden but just don’t have the time to build a garden or round up your supplies? Time to turn to your amazon account! Amazon is such a wonderful resource as you can order almost anything! We talk to people all the time who are just swamped with life and don’t have the time to build a garden from the ground up. From…

Do you want to know what to get your special someone for Valentines Day? Well, you know I’m going to go with plants or flowers! They are some of my favorite gift ideas! I want to share with you a few of my favorite flowers to give this holiday! If you are looking for some gift ideas, here is a place to start! Also, quick tip, all the flowers listed…

Recently, I was invited to Hilton Head, South Carolina for an incredible tour of one of cable TV’s biggest and most successful giveaways, the HGTV Dream Home! Every year HGTV chooses a location of one of America’s hottest areas to live and builds a dream home worth over one million dollars! Then, in between December 30 and February 19 contestants h…

We are here to bust some myths about interior designers! Why do you need one? When do you need one? How will they completely change your home build or renovation? We are going to answer all those questions and more with the interior designers for our new home, Couture House Interiors. Andrea and Meredith from Couture were classmates at UGA’s design…

As our world becomes more and more technologically centered, tech that we once seen as futuristic has now become a part of our everyday routine! Over 100 million Amazon Alexa devices have been sold on top of millions of Google devices that are present in homes across the world. Phone features such as Siri are common-place now and are relied upon fo…

The design team at Couture House Interiors has been working so hard to put together the new interior floor plan for our home! Many designers or architects spend countless hours measuring every inch of a home in order to draft an “as built” floor plan so they can begin the process of moving walls to create a new layout for a renovation. Recently, a …

Every year for the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl the coach’s families are invited to Atlanta for a week of fun events and entertainment all over the city. This year we had the privilege of hosting the coach’s wives for a Christmas Eve event at the Governor’s Mansion to do a fun floral workshop! We made simple and fun floral centerpieces with easy to find …

We got a chance to sit down with Mrs. Beatrice, the original owner of our new home! She had so many memories to share and neat things about the house that we wanted to share with you all! We knew that we wanted an older home and not a newer home, because of the history that came along with it. Quite often older buildings are destroyed in the proces…

Ok, I have a confession to make…even as a landscape designer who works with thousands of plants a year, I still kill plants! Yup, even those of us with our hands in the dirt all week long still find a plant or two that end up dead. Sometimes there isn’t much you can do, but most of the time a little preventative medicine will keep your plant alive …

Find a great container garden, one with plenty of drainage, and that will accent both your plants and home well. Garden centers, home décor stores, and department stores are all great places to look, as well as online! Choose one with good drainage as this can mean life or death for your plants. Choose a selection of indoor plants. For this tutoria…

I love love love my houseplants!! Houseplants are such an incredible way to “green up” your space any time of the year. There are so many different kinds of houseplants depending on your home, lighting, and temperature. I wanted to share five of my favorite houseplants that can brighten up any room! These can be found at most local garden centers o…

I decorate lots of home for the holidays and I also tear down and store my client’s decorations for them. I’ve come up with some tried and true storage tips and tricks that will have you excited to make your trip to the attic or basement next year to find all of your decorations organized and in great working condition! As always, I’ve linked all o…

I love a quick and easy planter that doesn’t take too much time during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. This topiary can be assembled in 5 minutes and adds a festive touch indoors or outdoors. For all the materials for this DIY, click my Amazon store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/carmenjohnstongardens?listId=15Z3ZYJ4OXKZB Materials: ivy or ced…

At my old home, I used to have a Passion Flower growing on my chicken coop and it’s blooms were like no other! In the spirit of the holidays I wanted to share with you the beautiful story of the meaning behind the Passion Flower and the powerful symbolism associated with each element of this truly intricate and beautiful flower. When the Spanish an…

I use Amaryllis to anchor this planter. Shake off the dirt and and place 2 Amaryllis in the “back” of the planter. I choose one tall amaryllis that’s in bloom and one that is shorter and about to bloom so that this container garden will always have great color blooms. Remember my 3 T’s for container gardening, use something THICK, something TRAILIN…

www.carmenjohnstongardens.com

Cyclamen are my favorite indoor blooming plants for the cooler temperatures. With incredible upside-down blooms that last for around 8 weeks, cyclamen make a great holiday gift. Also, they thrive in colder weather so they look great in outdoor container gardens like the one I did on my previous blog post linked here. A few tips and tricks for keepi…

Create a wow moment for front porch visitors this holiday! If you can take just 10 minutes, I’ll show you how to create a festive container garden that lasts well beyond the holidays and can be adapted to your style and local greenhouse finds. phenomenal lavender (lavender will work just fine) red cyclamen silver branches potting soil green apples …

Looking for an easy teacher’s gift? Need a last-minute hostess gift? I’m sharing my 5 favorite plants to give as gifts as well as fun ways to dress them up for a personal and festive touch. Plants are always a welcome gift, especially if they are easy to care for, and the suggestions below are all “black thumb” friendly:) Instead of bath products a…

Recently I shared with you my easiest evergreen wreath, made using a faux wreath and clipped greens. Today, I want to show you how to elevate that wreath to use throughout the holiday season and into Christmas! Again, this is an easy DIY, taking only 10 minutes. You’ll need the wreath made in my previous wreath blog found here, some various shatter…

How to make an easy life Evergreen Wreath for the Holidays? The trick is: It's only "half alive". Listen to how I do this quickly for mailboxes, fireplaces mantles, and wreaths. For all the materials and a step by step video, see here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/diy/quick-evergreen-wreath-diy/ Thanks for tuning in!…

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and with all the stress the holidays can bring, I want to share a quick 10-minute Thanksgiving Centerpiece that will elevate your dinner table to new heights. The centerpiece as a whole might look complicated but once we break it down, you will have a whole new way to dress up for the holidays! Try using colors…

Lots of people ask me about herb gardens and I’m excited to share with you my tips and tricks for growing herbs. I love to use my herbs in the kitchen, in my tea, and in my hair as I’ll reveal in this post! To begin, I’d like to share my 10 Herb Garden Must-Do’s, in no particular order: 1. Plant each herb individually. A common mistake is to plant …

I am so excited to share with you some of my favorite cool weather plants! My first pick is called free fall pansy. It may look kind of leggy to you, but I love to use in container gardens because it will spill over the edge and really soften the edges. It also comes in a soft violet, but you know how much I love classic white florals! When you com…

It. Is. Time! Time to plant your favorite perennials. Perennials are those plants that come back year after year, rather than annuals that have to be re-planted each year. Fall is the best time to plant so many garden favorites because the cold season allows the plants to grow their roots in peace. Once a good root system has been established, the …

I'm walking you through how-to create a beautiful fall front porch that will last through November. Layering wicker, copper, pumpkins, and LOTS of plants, I'm going to tell you how I create gorgeous fall entryways step by step. Plant Inspiration Crepe Myrtle that are at least 6-10 feet tall Large Copper Pots Pumpkins of all shapes, sizes, and color…

Fall is here and so is our readiness for some fall cocktails! Herbs like sage, rosemary, and mint are perfect fall herbs to base your cocktails around. Use the liquor and wine you already have on hand and pair with seasonal fruits! Listen in as I show you how I craft my three fall favorite drinks: Hot Toddy, Cherry Mint Julep, and my Fall Sangria! …

I love love love ferns in all shapes and sizes and Lanie from Thunderwood Farms was the perfect person to share in my excitement for these beauties. Fall is the very best time to plant ferns because it gives the plants a chance to establish their roots before the leaf growth of spring and summer. Most ferns are evergreen and will stay beautiful thr…

This podcast was created at Nashville Voice Conference for Carmen Johnston Gardens and will feature weekly updates including interviews and how-to gardening tips.