If you were like most of us growing up, you went outside and played in the dirt. There was something fun and magical about being in the garden. Smelling the flowers, chasing the butterflies, defeating dragons, and pretending the garden was your kingdom.

Hands down, playing in the garden has always been a fun adventure for kids. Now, we’re going to show you how to give those little ones more fun as they make their very first garden. Below are Dickerson Landscaping and Lawn Care’s eight first time fun and kid-friendly home gardening tips. They will help you create fond memories with those little ones that will last a lifetime.

It looks like another Grey Leaf Spot infestation has begun this season in Tallahassee. We recently uncovered this while examining St. Augustine grass blades with leaf lesions. They had lost their green color, and the lawn looked thin and had a delicate appearance in spots. With the frequent warm rains we’ve been getting recently, it always creates this favorable environmental for this nuisance fungal disease to show up unannounced, grow, and spread.

The Dickerson Landscaping technicians started noticing that all too familiar oval and oblong-shaped grey leaf spots on the blades of grass. Our teams are finding more and more instances this season where the pathogenic organism Grey Leaf Spot is on the loose and devastating local St. Augustine grasses. So, we needed…

The Bee Balm is a fun and beautiful, summer ground cover plant that accents most small to medium sized Tallahassee gardens. As a dense herbaceous perennial, it will grow to a height of 12- to 36-inches tall. Its spread will range from 2- to 4-feet across, and before we forget, expect fast growth along with fragrant, attractive pink summer flowers.

The Monarda punctata, (the Bee Balm’s scientific name; pronounced: moe-NAR-duh punk-TAY-tuh), from the family of Labiatae, is a native perennial to eastern Canada, eastern United States, northeastern Mexico, and all of Florida. Other names it is commonly known by are Horsemint and Monarda named after the physician and botanist, Nicholas Monardes. An interesting homeopathic fact, the Bee Balm has also been used to create…

Are you planning a rock garden and need plant and shrub suggestions? If you want to make a striking statement, then the Agave gets right to the point. Literally! The tight rosette of stiff, sword-shaped leaves, each reaching up to 3 feet long and 2 inches wide, the effect will prove extremely dramatic. With its short trunk, the green toothed leaves have marginal bands of bright white and a sharp point on the tips.

The Agave angustifolia, (its scientific name; pronounced: uh-GAW-vee an-gus-tif-FOLE-ee-uh), from the family of Agavaceae, is a native to North America, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Other names it is known by are Century Plant and Variegated Caribbean Agave. It is, however, an invasive type shrub. But on the flip side…

In the world of landscaping, when a plant gets sowed, a sapling replaced, or a shrub introduced to fresh soil, each will genuinely thank you with growth, blooms, and beauty. When your landscaper transforms your yard into an oasis, grooms your lawn your neighbors envy or decorates your garden with ornaments of wonder, are you like most where a simple thank you doesn’t express your most profound gratitude. That’s where planting a thank you opens the door for you to show your appreciation.

Sowing, thanks has become a powerful and permanent form of thankful expression. Some will buy gifts to thank their landscaper while others tell everyone they know. Many love to send letters, or whip out their phone and video a thank you selfie. However, the quickest and easiest way to plant your thank you is…

During the past 30 years, we’ve seen a massive change towards homogenization and mechanization of farming. This change has focused more on using additives, synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and mass-production techniques. All of these changes do affect humanity’s health and introduces more risks and why more people are starting an organic vegetable garden.

New diseases are popping up and spreading rapidly amongst humans and animals. When you get and read through the World Health Organization reports it shows how the use of chemicals and other products on food, along with the manufacturing processes, are posing a real threat to humankind’s health.

The Adam’s needle yucca is a shrub found in various locations throughout the woods, ranch lands, some state parks, and is a slow-growing Florida native. Though the yucca can get bright green in color, and flower in the spring, the leaf texture is coarse to the touch. It does have pointed spines at the end of its leaves that are quite sharp and could injure a person if grabbed inappropriately.

The Yucca filamentosa, (its scientific name; pronounced: YUCK-kuh fill-luh-men-TOE-suh), from the family of Agavaceae, is a native Yucca shrub of Florida. It is not known to be an invasive type plant or have dangerous pests typically found on other shrubs other than earwigs. However, it does attract butterflies and is deer and rabbit-proof. The Adams’ Needle as it’s commonly referred too will grow from 3 to 4 feet tall and have a spread from 3-4 feet across.

When you’re trying to decide what type of background or massing plant to use, for your commercial or industrial landscape, that will highlight the forms and colors of companion plants; the low-growing Glossy Abelia dense shrub is ideally suited to get the job done.

The Abelia x grandiflora, (its scientific name; pronounced: uh-BEEL-ee-uh gran-dif-FLOR-uh), from the family of Caprifoliaceae, and though it is not a native of North America it is not known to be an invasive type plant. The Glossy Abelia has two other names: dwarf glossy abelia, and ‘Sherwoodii’ glossy abelia. It will grow 3-4 feet tall and have a spread from 4-6 feet across. The compact form of this shrub does compliment taller shrubs planted around it that have larger and coarse leaves.

Not long ago, a customer of ours asked about mushrooms growing in their yard. To most homeowners and commercial property owners, these umbrella shoots are an eyesore, a visual nuisance, and quite frankly look horrible to the landscape. Furthermore, due to some prolonged overdue rain, you may have notice mushrooms starting to pop up in your Tallahassee or Leon County yard too.

At first glance, you might think something got in your lawn, and you need to knock those toadstools down or pull them up, so they won’t spread, or your children and pets try to taste them. But before you reach for that umbrella shaped lawn fungi, did you know you might have uncovered something…

If the sight of hummingbirds and butterflies dancing in your yard brings joy and excitement, then Florida’s native grown Firebush is the shrub you’ll want in your garden or when used as a base plant for large commercial buildings. Besides the flower’s nectar butterflies and hummingbirds sip, the small, black, glossy fruits on the plant are a continuous feast for birds too.

The Hamelia patens, (its scientific name; pronounced: huh-MEE-lee-uh PAY-tenz), from the family of Rubiaceae, is a native semi-woody perennial shrub of Florida. The Firebush has two other names: Scarlet bush and Hummingbird bush. It does grow fast and will reach 12 feet tall and 8 feet across. Though it is a dense soft-stemmed shrub, it doesn’t need…