It pains me to see customers spending hundreds of dollars on new plants and simultaneously refusing to spend a few more on a bag or two of compost and a box of starter fertilizer. These two items are not unnecessary “add-ons” that the retailer is just trying to add to the sale, they are critical components of a successful transplanting process - or as I like to refer to them as “plant insurance”. Unless you have phenomenal soil, you should always add compost and starter fertilizers when you are planting new plants. Here is why…
And so, it begins again. Another gardening season is upon us and it is time to get off our proverbial butts and venture out into the cold abyss of our gardens to start the ritual of gardening once again. Up to this point I have to admit that I have been dragging my feet, but there is no turning back now…
This little northwest mist we just experienced reminds me that this is the time of year when all those little weed seeds that have been lying dormant in our soils suddenly get a notice from Mother Nature that it is time to wake up and start growing. There are 3 environmental signals that cause this response…
January is seed starting time and like a lot of things in life, it’s not always as easy as we professionals make it look, (nor I might add is it the kind of activity that you can walk away from for a week or two, like knitting). To be successful you have to show up on a consistent basis and pay attention to what is happening…
Last week I mentioned that August was a good time to plant all sorts of plants, but I failed to mention vegetables. It might seem hard to imagine that in the heat of August we would be planting vegetable crops that thrive in the cooler time of the year, but in reality this is the time to get them established…
I know it still doesn’t feel much like spring, but something magical happened this week - it actually got up to 50 degrees, and that is significant for two reasons. First, for us it feels almost comfortable to be outside working in the garden and second, when the mercury gets to 50 degrees it triggers all sorts of awakenings in the plant world. The switch gets turned on and there is no turning back. Spring has sprung!
As we head into the peak spring season and the temperatures continue to rise, more and more of our landscapes are popping with spring color. Another shrub all gardens should contain is a deciduous Azalea. Us gardeners have plenty of evergreen options to help with our Azalea and Rhododendron addictions, but a deciduous Azalea specimen offers…