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

Container Gardening

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A Touch of the Tropics, The Sequel

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A Touch of the Tropics, The Sequel

We began our travels down the road to annuals last week, so I am not making any U-turns just yet as this week we will continue to talk color and tropical plants.  The vast majority of our landscapes are filled with…

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Hellebores - The Winter Jewel

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Hellebores - The Winter Jewel

One of my all-time favorite plants is the Hellebore, a magnificent evergreen perennial that goes back for millennia in gardens across the globe.  These plants thrive in our climate and should be utilized in every landscape without question. They make wonderful…

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Winter Interest with Evergreen Perennials

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Winter Interest with Evergreen Perennials

First off, let me apologize for using the word “winter” in the title as I sincerely hope that our actual “winter” is still many weeks away.  Having said that, as we head towards the holiday season, it is an ideal time for gardeners to look forward just a bit.  Frost will be coming soon, and Mother Nature will require...

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September Garden Projects

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September Garden Projects

Let me be transparent and state that, without a doubt, fall is my favorite time of the year.  As a local native, I like my weather partly cloudy with temperatures in the 65 to 70 degree range and hopefully some rain, but only from 10pm to 6am or so.  Is that too much to ask from Mother Nature?  Sounds perfect for outdoor projects in the fall - not too hot, not too cold, but just right for us gardeners...    

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Stylish Sedums and Succulents

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Stylish Sedums and Succulents

Hardy Sedums come to us from across the globe and have adapted perfectly to almost all arid, and even higher elevation, locales.  Modern Succulents, of all kinds, have been bred into a massive array of...

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Spring Into Container Gardens

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Spring Into Container Gardens

Now that the temperatures have risen and we are heading towards the warmth of summer, it is the ideal time to add colorful containers to our decks, patios, porches and landscapes.  For many gardeners like me, this involves rejuvenating existing ones by…

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It's Time To Change Out Our Containers

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It's Time To Change Out Our Containers

There should be no question in anyone’s mind that September is a month of change in the garden, where the jubilant floral displays of summer give way to tired, gone-to-seed perennials and parched foliage starting to show us glimmers of fall colors.  Even with…

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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…

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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…

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The Golfing Gardener

Trevor Cameron

Featured
Not Your Grandma’s Butterfly Bushes
Not Your Grandma’s Butterfly Bushes

As we inch towards the onset of summer, with the solstice on the horizon, June is another month full of garden temptations and color for our landscapes.  It is also pollinator month, and I urge everyone to do all that they can for our local pollinating friends.  We all need to welcome…

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