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

Clematis

, ,

Going Vertical With Vines

, ,
Going Vertical With Vines

Going vertical with climbing plants adds visual interest to any garden, providing nice foliage and often ideal seasonal flower power.  There are useful vines out there in all kinds of shapes and sizes; some for larger areas and others to use as smaller garden accents, or even as simple container specimens.  Whether you are trying to grow on a decorative trellis or obelisk, up a post, along a railing, over a large pergola or arbor, or even naturalize something along a fence line, vines may be exactly what you are looking for…

, ,

Untangling Clematis Pruning

, ,

In my new garden I have managed to find homes for 11 different clematis vines, so far anyway… When I picked out the various varieties, I wasn’t thinking about how I would have to prune them.  Rather, I was mostly looking for summer bloomers with flower color, with the exception…

Establishing Clematis In The Garden

Establishing Clematis In The Garden

Some say “tomayto” and some say “tomahto”, some say “CLEMatis” and some say “CleMAtis”. I say, who cares! No matter how you pronounce it, Clematis are the absolute queen of all vines and everyone that gardens should find a way to work in as many varieties as possible into their yards….

Latest post from “The Golfing Gardener”:

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…

Read More →