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

gardening advice

It's Show Time!

It's Show Time!

This week marks the beginning of the 33rd annual Northwest Flower and Garden Festival which will run February 15th to the 19th at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle (it should be the 34th but Covid shut it down in 2021).  This is a world class production that is sure to get you in the mood for the upcoming gardening season.  Every year I come away with some new ideas, a few new plant purchases, and an overall renewed excitement for gardening.  If you have yet to partake in this event, then you really should consider going this year…

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Recess Is Over, It’s Time For Action

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Recess Is Over, It’s Time For Action

After this last hard freeze, I am hoping that the worst is behind us and we can confidently get out into the garden and whip things back into shape.  While I realize February is still technically winter, it is also the beginning of spring for north westerners, and there is much to do before the actual spring season arrives.  Here are some timely tasks to consider…

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Gardening Classes Are Back In-House

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Gardening Classes Are Back In-House

Here at Sunnyside Nursery, we have been teaching classes for years.  This is not unique to our garden center.  No matter where you live in the Puget Sound region, you should be able to find a garden center nearby that offers gardening classes, many of them…

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A Few Tips For A Better Garden In 2023

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A Few Tips For A Better Garden In 2023

I know a few of you might find it incredibly hard to believe, but I actually spend a considerable amount of time researching my columns rather than just making s#%t up.  In truth, it is probably a combination of both.  We live in the information age where knowledge is all around us, literally at our finger tips.  The challenge of course is…

Regenerative Gardening: Saving The Planet One Garden At A Time

Regenerative Gardening: Saving The Planet One Garden At A Time

Have you heard of “regenerative agriculture”? I hadn’t until recently, but after a bit of research, I realized that this “new” movement is at its base just an expansion of organic gardening and farming principles that can be adapted from commercial agriculture to our very own backyards. Here are some components of this style of gardening that we should all take to heart…

Do You Suffer From "Hortitostrogenitis"?

Do You Suffer From "Hortitostrogenitis"?

I have this theory (I know, some of you are thinking, “OMG, what is he going to say next”), that gardeners possess a special “horticultural hormone” that I have dubbed “hortitostrogen”. This is a non-gender specific hormone that kicks in about this time of the year and causes my fingers to start twitching with an intense desire to go dig in the dirt. I wonder if any of you can relate…

Spring Is Fast Approaching - Time To Get Some Dirt Under Those Fingernails

Spring Is Fast Approaching - Time To Get Some Dirt Under Those Fingernails

Let’s face it, compared to other regions of our country, we have it pretty darn good when it comes to winter.  Occasional snow rarely sticks around for more than a week or two, night time lows are usually above freezing and the day temps can even get up into the 50’s.  Nothing stays dormant for very long, in fact we can have quite of variety of plants that actually bloom in our mild maritime winters.  Life is good if you are a gardener in the northwest….

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

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Rockin’ Out With Rhododendrons

For generations of gardeners, and certainly for me, Rhododendrons represent the arrival of spring in our local landscapes.  Everywhere you drive this time of year there is a stunning Rhododendron in full bloom to catch your eye.  These flowering beauties come in all sorts of…

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