Tom's new book is here!!!!
Tom’s (Green) Thumb:
Advice to grow on…in a (Mc)Nutt shell
By Tom McNutt
with Tammy McNutt Bundy
Introduction
“The only real mistake is the one we learn nothing from.”
This philosophy is true in life and in gardening. Mistakes happen. Some gardening mistakes are minor blunders, like planting a shade-loving flower in full sun, which is easily remedied by moving the plant. Others are more on the major mistake side of the spectrum, like putting the wrong chemical on a plant and watching and wondering as it withers and dies.
But no mistake is impossible to learn from. Just because your thumb may not have appeared too green in the past, there is no reason to assume it won’t green-up with a bit more knowledge. Luckily, we can learn from not only our mistakes, but also from the mistakes of others. To enjoy the comforts and crops of nature, we simply need to understand more about nature. After 50 years in the horticulture business, I have answered thousands of curious questioners seeking greener grass and a greater garden. They have high horticulture hopes even if their history might be less than thriving. It is from their questions that this book has been written. It is a true testament to the concept of trial and error–or should that be trowel and error?
Even as a so-called gardening expert, I have made gardening and landscaping mistakes that I have had to learn from. Of course, when your garden and grass is on television for the last 30 years and people recognize your house as the “Garden Guy’s” house, your mistakes might be more public and noticeable. But we learn from it all. Over the years, I have whittled the many questions and concerns I have received through call-in shows, viewer (snail) mail and email, and personal appearances into a list of gardening goofs that seem to be the basis of most mistakes in the garden as well as landscape. By looking at these top ten mistakes and how to correct and prevent them, we can all learn from each other’s horticultural history to keep from repeating the same mistakes in our own backyards.