General Gardening
Ben Smith
Compost and Fertilizer - A Boring But Necessary ...

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…

Compost and Fertilizer - A Boring But Necessary Topic
Summer Gardening
Ben Smith
The Secrets Of Proper Summer Watering

Summer watering is inevitable in the northwest if we want to keep our landscapes green and healthy…

The Secrets Of Proper Summer Watering

annuals

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Don't Be Annoyed, Fill That Void!

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Don't Be Annoyed, Fill That Void!

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a brash statement: “perfection in the garden is fleeting”.  Yes, it is sadly true… Earlier this spring I was congratulating myself on how nicely all of my many perennials (probably too many if I am honest with myself) were knitting themselves together and gradually obliterating any bare, visible soil.  That is still happening, to be sure, but along the way some of my early bloomers have “gone over” and it is time to take another look at what I can plop in and around them to keep things looking colorful and interesting…

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Here's How To Have The Best-Looking Containers

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Here's How To Have The Best-Looking Containers

May is, without a doubt, the primary month for planting up our containers.  In the garden center you will find an endless supply of annuals and perennials ready to be creatively combined, for what will hopefully be a summer-long display of blooms.  But to be successful (as in “over the top” successful) with our pots, we need to pay attention to a few details.  Here are my thoughts on “growing in” containers…

Get Some Color In Your Garden, For Pete's Sake

Get Some Color In Your Garden, For Pete's Sake

May is high season in the garden center, when all levels of gardeners venture out for their annual spring ritual of adding some color to their yards.  Whatever level of gardener we might happen to be, I think it is safe to say that we all get the same rush of endorphins whenever we interject colorful plants into our gardens.  It is a feel-good kind of activity…

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March Madness (In The Garden!)

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March Madness (In The Garden!)

I know it is still bloody cold outside, but Mother Nature waits for no one.  Think of March as the fourth quarter in the game of gardening and it is time to score some points.  Here is a game plan that will help you win and go on to a victory over that evil opponent, Winter…

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Planting Containers In The 'Shoulder Season'

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Planting Containers In The 'Shoulder Season'

September and October can be tricky times of the year when it comes to our container plantings. Depending on our level of care, some of our pots may have…

4 Great Reasons To Visit The Garden Center In August

4 Great Reasons To Visit The Garden Center In August

I was in the nursery the other weekend looking for some ideas for my next column, when it occurred to me: “What is it that draws shoppers into the garden center this time of year?”. Considering that there is nary a shy bone in my body, I thought, why not ask a few customers why they were there. This is what I found out…

May Is Annual Planting Month

May Is Annual Planting Month

Before I launch into my diatribe on the glories of annuals, I probably should make sure everyone understands the difference between annuals and perennials… Annuals are plants that grow, bloom, set seed, and die all in one season. Perennials, on the other hand, grow, bloom, set seed, go dormant, and then return the following season twice as big. Where as annuals will bloom all summer long, perennials, for the most part, only bloom for 5 to 6 weeks….

Give These "Annual" Vines A Spot In Your Garden This Summer

Give These "Annual" Vines A Spot In Your Garden This Summer

I am inclined to think that when most gardeners discuss vines, monsters like wisteria, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, and even clematis, are probably the ones that come to mind. But there are true annuals, like sweet peas, scarlet runner beans and the many tropical vines that grow just fine in our summers, that can add a blast of color and even some privacy when grown on a trellis. Here are a few to try this summer…

Latest post from Trevor Cameron,  “The Golfing Gardener”:

Featured
Explore the World of Itoh Peonies

During the months of May and June one of the all-time favorite plants of local gardeners, the peony, is bursting into bloom.  There are many excellent peonies available to utilize in our landscapes; including herbaceous cottage types in all sorts of colors (and varying fragrances) and larger growing tree peonies too.  I would never scold anyone for growing either of these types (since I do as well), but I want to bring attention to another fabulous peony option… what is known as the intersectional or Itoh Peony.

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