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PAS Garden Home: Kindred Spirits

This episode of P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home features a visit from South African garden designer Keith Kirsten, tips for making a house more energy efficient, spring vegetables and flowers and a synthetic shutter that will hold a coat of paint for 20 years.  

Spring Vegetables:
Granada Oakleaf Lettuce
Tom Thumb Bibb Lettuce
Kohlrabi
Cabbage
Strawberries
Chard

Spring Flowers:
Delphinium
Imperial Giant Larkspur
Laguna Sky Blue Lobelia


Friends in the Garden
South African garden designer Keith Kirsten visits the Garden Home Retreat in late winter when the garden’s bone work is most visible.  He shares information about gardening in South Africa and some of his favorite plants.     

Rick Skidmore with Timberlane Shutters showcase a traditional shutter made with a modern, synthetic material.  One of the issues with wooden shutters in maintenance.  They need to be painted periodically.  These synthetic shutters have an automotive grade paint finish that will last for about 20 years.

Phillip Rye, Air Infiltration Expert, explains how controlling air infiltration to your home can significantly reduce your energy use and costs.  To do this he suggests caulking around baseboards, using a water heater blanket, weather stripping around doors and windows, 12-inchs of cellulose attic insulation and inserting foam gaskets in your electrical outlets.

Virtual Makeover
Cindy in Atlanta has a brand new home that needs a little attention in the front yard.  In this Virtual Makeover she receives suggestions about how to add some panache to her shady landscape

Pets in the Garden
Appleyard Ducks
Ducks at the Garden Home Retreat play an important role in controlling insects.  They love to eat bugs, even more than their feed.  In addition to their pest control skills, they are a joy to have around the garden and they are extremely disease resistant.  In addition to the Appleyard ducks, White Indian Runner and Magpie ducks call the Garden Retreat Home.