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

Houseplants: More Choices Than Ever

Houseplants: More Choices Than Ever

The year was 1970 and I was just about to graduate from college with a degree in plant science. One of my job options was to go to work in Leucadia or Encinitas, California for one of the many foliage companies where plants like Spider Plants, Boston Ivy, Snake Plants, Aglaonema, and Prayer Plants, to name just a few, were propagated by the millions. These plants were sold all over the country to customers much like myself, young and idealistic and wanting to make the world a more loving place to inhabit…

New Wintergreen Varieties Are A Holiday Hit

New Wintergreen Varieties Are A Holiday Hit

Now that the thrill of summer has passed and the warm colors of fall are fading with each passing storm, our eyes should be being drawn to attractive broadleaf plants like…

The Dreaded November To-Do List

The Dreaded November To-Do List

The recent freeze we experienced over this last weekend should have been a wakeup call for gardeners to take care of some chores before winter finally sets in…

Now Is The Time To Plant Bulbs

Now Is The Time To Plant Bulbs

I decided it would be fun to add a few varieties of bulbs to my garden… But instead of the packaged varieties that sit on our retail shelves, I elected to look at the “landscape” list which consists of varieties sold in units of 100’s and even a few of 250 each. By the time my wife and I narrowed down our choices, we had ordered no less than 2500 bulbs…

Gardening Is For The Birds

Gardening Is For The Birds

As much as I love plants and all of what the act of gardening encompasses, watching my feathered friends fliting about the yard is truly one of the joys and bonuses of laboring in the garden. Their brightly colored feathers, melodic songs, and sometimes gravity defying antics never get boring…

Fall & Winter Can Be Colorful Seasons Too!

Fall & Winter Can Be Colorful Seasons Too!

I just had the opportunity to sit through a class on plants for fall and winter interest… and it brought back home to me that there is no excuse for a drab garden in the fall, or even the winter, considering that there is a multitude of plants to choose from that will brighten our gardens over the next 5 to 6 months…

October In The Garden

October In The Garden

In my world, September always feels like a continuation of summer, whereas October puts me in the mood for fall. Shrubs and trees are starting to really color up, everywhere you look retailers are displaying mums and pumpkins (not to mention Halloween candy)…

Red Twig Dogwoods - A Shrub For All Seasons

It isn’t every day that a plant comes along that will grow just about anywhere and has some interesting feature every season of the year. But that’s just exactly what our northwest native Red Twig Dogwood does…

How To "Save" Those Summer Tropicals

How To "Save" Those Summer Tropicals

If you are like me, you are probably a bit conflicted this time of year. My summer containers, while looking a bit worn out, are still drawing droves of honey bees and hummingbirds (especially to my salvias) and the thought of ripping everything out and denying these delightful creatures their meals is almost more than I can bear…

Latest post from “The Golfing Gardener”:

The Golfing Gardener

Trevor Cameron

Featured
The Dilemma of Dormancy
The Dilemma of Dormancy

Winter may have just begun, but it has been a strange one for us thus far.  We were blessed with a few frosts last week, but really have had minimal cold weather invade our corner of the PNW.  No arctic blast came in November, just copious amounts of our signature liquid sunshine.  I know I speak for everyone when I…

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