Carmen Johnston Gardens

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 away is a constant battle and it is not a one-solution fix, we are constantly working to keep them at bay. For more information and links to purchase these products, click here:  https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/garden/how-to-keep-deer-out-of-your-garden/

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 particular window box is that it is built to sit directly on a porch rail! It can fit two different size rails making it incredible versatile. It comes with pre-drilled drain holes and because the bottom of the box is cut out to sit on the rail, you don’t have to use as much soil to fill the box! Most important, the box is lightweight and easy to move around. I created this window box for areas that have a lot of shade so if you have a covered porch or balcony, this DIY will be perfect for you! Ingredients have all been linked in my Amazon store here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/carmenjohnstongardens?listId=IBYQGOA9CHG2 A window box Soil Hydrangeas Rosy maiden hair ferns Ruffle ferns Lemon button ferns Variegated ivy For full article click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/diy/hydrangea-window-or-railing-box-diy/

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 provided links in the DIY step-by-step instructions. Tablecloth Place setting, charger, dinner plate, and dessert plate Cloth napkin Napkin treatment, flower, napkin ring, etc. Table accents Flower vase and flowers All of these beautiful products linked here https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/diy/easter-table-scape-decor/

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 customizable to your space and personal style. Ingredients Large planter Potting soil Forsythia Branches Hanging painted eggs Moss covered stones Moss Easter accessories Lenten Roses Cyclamen Blue Diamond Delphinium Snow Cone Candytuft Scissors Clippers For more info and links to purchase, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/diy/spring-planter-an-easy-easter-diy/

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 ready for spring and summer. Lawn prep is essential to make sure you are able to enjoy a bright green and weed free yard for the rest of the year. A yard that is missing out on nutrients will not thrive during the warmer months. Here are three things to do to get your lawn spring and summer ready: Get your soil tested. This will tell you how much lime and other nutrients to put down and what type of fertilizer you need to use. The best way to get your soil tested is to send a sample to Cooperative Extension Service (CSREES). CSREES is normally affiliated with a state university. For more info, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/garden/get-your-lawn-trees-and-shrubs-ready-for-spring/

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 with Noell and Daniel Jett and family of Jett Set Farm House! @jettsetfarmhouse Noell and her husband built their dream home and have shared their DIY’s along the way. She has such an eye for interior design, and it was such a great experience to spend time with her and her family!  I just adored her children! While at her home in St. Augustine Florida, Noell shared with one of her own personality driven planters. “Two years ago, I was home in Missouri visiting my grandfather and he said, ‘Do you want to come pick my barn with me?’ And I said ‘Absolutely!’ So, we went outside, and he told me stories about everything in the barn and then just let me take whatever I wanted with me! So I overloaded my car and had stuff strapped to the top and drove it back to Florida with me and my four kids!” One of the things Noell brought home with her was an antique wooden tool box that we got to turn into a planter for Noell’s outdoor dining room table! You can make this planter along with us with any type of container- just make sure to find the one that fits you and your home! All of the ingredients below can be easily/quickly purchase on my Amazon store here (yes, plants and rustic container included!) Here is what you’ll need: Ingredients Personality driven container Large black trash bag Orchids 4” and 2” tropicals Ferns Fittonia Pink Allison Arrowhead Palms Ivy Rubber plant Moss For more info, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/diy/repurposed-farmhouse-planter-diy/

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 live plants to garden accessories, Amazon has got you covered! Check out my Amazon list here and have everything shipped to your doorstep. I hope this helps you get a jump on your spring garden. Ingredients Garden Bed Potting Soil Live Plants Seeds Cloche Jars Plant labels For more info, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/garden/amazon-vegetable-garden/

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 below I found at my local grocery store! I like to call them my supermarket solution flowers! Hydrangeas I adore hydrangeas! They come in several gorgeous hues like, pink, blue, and purple! To keep hydrangeas fresh, submerge completely underwater overnight in the sink, let them dry, and they will last for days! For more info and tips, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/celebrate/the-best-plants-and-flowers-to-buy-for-valentines-day/

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 have a chance to enter to win the grand prize of their dreams! This year, along with the home the prize includes a brand-new 2020 Honda PassportElite and $250,000 from Rocket Mortgage® by Quicken Loans! When I got to the HGTV Dream Home, I met the amazing Bryan Patrick Flynn! Brian gave me a tour of the Dream Home and showed me his three favorite details in the house! For more info, click here:  https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/home/hgtv-dream-home-tour-with-designer-brian-patrick-flynn/

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 school and make quite the dynamic duo! Collaborating with them on projects has been so wonderful! When my husband Tommy and I started house hunting we knew we wanted Couture House Interiors to work with us on this project as well! So, as we started looking at homes, we called them up to come along! Yes, you heard that right, I brought my interior designer along to house hunt! This is the first point I want to address, if you are calling an interior designer when you are ready to pick out throw pillows and tile- it’s too late! Andrea says many times, they are called in at the end of the building or renovation process and by then it is too late for them to work to their full potential. We love architects and have worked with some truly wonderful ones, but they approach a build or renovation from a very different angle. An interior designer has the design of your end goal in mind constantly to ensure that both form and function are considered in every decision to achieve your vision in the completed space. For more info, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/home/why-you-should-hire-an-interior-designer/

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 for countless daily tasks! As these devices become smarter, they are now being built to create an ease of access for your home! Things like smart security systems or thermostats help to regulate home safety and living costs. It is incredible to see these advancements in technology become part of our daily lives. In 2019, HGTV gave away their Smart Home to one lucky winner. The home, equipped with numerous smart devices, was a way to highlight the functionality of these systems and to help bring them into more common place use. Recently, I had the incredible opportunity of being invited to HGTV’s 2020 Dream Home that will also be given away to a deserving individual this year. The Dream Home is also equipped with so many smart devices including the new Delta Faucet! For more info and video, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/home/hgtv-dream-home-features-the-latest-in-home-technologies/

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 new technology called Canvas has been released that has truly changed the industry. Canvas uses a 3D scanner connected to an iPad that then scans an entire home into its software system. This software is very accurate and eliminates the possible inconsistencies of human error. It truly is changing how a designer, architect, realtor, or contractor works. For more information and our home and garden remodel journey, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/blog/

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 flowers. This group of ladies was so much fun to collaborate with and my team had such a blast! The arrangements turned out so well that I wanted to share a quick DIY with you so you can make your own at home! For more info and links to purchase, click here:  https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/garden/easy-diy-floral-arrangement/

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 process of progress, but we want to restore life into things that once were! We also believe that every home should have a name, it helps to endear it to us and give it greater personality! So, we want to share with you all where the inspiration for our home’s name came from, it’s previous owner Beatrice Dallas. For the full article and photos, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/personal/remodeling-a-home-and-preserving-its-history/

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 and perky. Houseplants can be a great addition to your home and with the below tips you can help keep them in tip-top shape! I'm giving you watering tips, "feeding" tips, how I make eggshell tea for calcium, and more. For full details and links to purchase click here:  https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/garden/how-to-care-for-your-houseplants/

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 tutorial I used fatsia, pothos, and maiden hair, rabbit’s foot, and autumn ferns. You want a larger plant, like the fatsia, a brighter plant, like the bright green pothos, and a softer plant like ferns to soften the edges. All of these plants are super easy to care for and can be found online or in your local garden center. I like combining a textural element that helps the container just pop and have extra character. For this project I chose sponge mushrooms. They are a brighter shade of green and have such a fun texture. Finally, you’ll need a five gallon bucket half full of water and a few medium Ziplock baggies. For all materials and plants to make this container garden, click on my Amazon store here. For full tutorial and more pictures click here.

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 or even on Amazon! I’ve linked my favorite houseplant care materials, the plants themselves, and pots here. Snake Plant or Mother-in-Law’s Tongue The infamous snake plant is a houseplant classic, with its tall dark leaves and sturdy structure. It is an incredibly hardy plant and is so simple to care for. It really only needs to be watered once a month or when the soil is completely dry. Do your best not to bend the leaves though, or they will snap! For more information, photos, and links to purchase plants and more - click here:  https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/garden/the-best-and-easiest-houseplants/

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 of these products in my Amazon store, along with handy zip ties, floral wire, and more here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/carmenjohnstongardens?listId=2PW6303F17W29 Shrink Wrap/Saran Wrap Buy shrink wrap online or at your local hardware store on large rolls. This is a great way to wrap stockings, ornaments, and more so they are safe from moths and dust.I use saran wrap for my wreaths and to cover open Tupperware containers or boxes to protect them from the storage elements. Light Reel Bags I love these handled bags as I use thousands of lights each year. It’s a great way to ensure that no lights are tangled and that when you go to put up your lights, they are in good working order and are neatly rolled. Pro tip: make sure wrap lights so that your plug is last so that when you go to test your lights, you won’t have to unwrap the entire string of lights to make sure they’re working. Read more and find links to products here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/celebrate/christmas-decoration-storage-tips-tricks-and-products/

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 cedar topiary copper pot or planter pinecone wreath, garland, or cuttings for a skirt floral wire dried orange slices cinnamon stick bundles *optional: ornaments, sliced and dried apples, or ribbon for cinnamon stick bundles The first step is height! To anchor this planter, I’m using an ivy topiary but you could use cedar or anything that’s about 3 to 5 feet tall to anchor both sides of a front door. Read more on my blog post here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/celebrate/quick-and-beautiful-holiday-planter-topiary-diy/

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 and Portuguese missionaries came to the Americas in the 16th century, they used the Passion Flower as a symbolic way to teach about the story of Jesus Christ. The 10 petals represent Jesus’ Faithful Apostles The five “anthers” are symbolic of the five Sacred Wounds Jesus suffered The circle of filaments in the center of the flower represent the Crown of Thorns. The three purple stigma represent the 3 nails holding Jesus to the cross. For more info, pictures, and links to all the materials, click here: https://www.carmenjohnstongardens.com/diy/the-meaning-of-the-passion-flower-a-truly-special-and-symbolic-gift/