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

hanging baskets

Going Vertical With Houseplants

Going Vertical With Houseplants

I thought it might be a nice change of pace to move indoors this week and talk about some of the outstanding tropical plants that we can grow in our homes.  As the rain pounds on the roof while I write this, a tropical destination does sound nice… perhaps with golf clubs in tow and my camera in hand to take a bazillion photos of all the cool plants I encounter…  Sorry, got distracted there for a moment.  As you consider which tropicals to cultivate indoors, keep in mind that many of them love to do one of two things…

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Happy Mother's Day

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Happy Mother's Day

As we head into May it is time for an extra special holiday, Mother’s Day - the day we celebrate Moms everywhere.  This day was set aside to honor perhaps the most important person in each of our lives in 1914, after years of…

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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…

Latest post from “The Golfing Gardener”:

The Golfing Gardener

Trevor Cameron

Featured
Calling All Chocolate Lovers
Calling All Chocolate Lovers

The silky sweetness of chocolate seems to be nearly universally adored by humans, especially as we near the sugary holiday of Halloween.  Plants are of course loved by all as well, right?  I am certainly not going to compare the two, although I might just have to…

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