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
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Going Vertical With Vines

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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…

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Early Spring Perennial Color

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Early Spring Perennial Color

Now that spring has officially arrived and the sun has returned, our gardens are beginning to brim with activity.  Bees are buzzing about visiting early flowers, foliage is emerging everywhere, and plants are awakening from winter dormancy.  Perennials in particular are a welcome sight for this gardener’s eyes, as they finally spring back to life and…

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Amazing Azaleas

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Amazing Azaleas

One tried and true shrub for our local gardens are Azaleas - spring flowering beauties that can be utilized in many locations the landscape.  These plants are brothers and sisters to Rhododendrons, offering us spectacular flowers on smaller growing plants that thrive in similar conditions.  There are hundreds of options out there, including…

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Japanese Maples for Spring Color

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Japanese Maples for Spring Color

Japanese Maples come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, growth habits and foliage types, offering the home gardener a myriad of choices to suit each individual’s taste.  All of these trees get outstanding autumn color, but gardeners should note their spring foliage tones as well…

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Bountiful Backyard Blueberries

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Bountiful Backyard Blueberries

One of my earliest memories in the garden as a child was devouring berries, of all kinds, that my parents grew in our garden.  Like growing most edibles, there is something a little extra satisfying about cultivating and then harvesting treats like blueberries and even sharing them with friends and neighbors…

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Pruning Your Laceleaf Japanese Maple

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Pruning Your Laceleaf Japanese Maple

One plant that simply must be present in every yard is a Laceleaf Japanese Maple.  You know the ones… the beautiful, manageable sized trees that have interesting leaves in stunning colors all throughout the year.  Laceleafs can be living art pieces when cared for properly and developed slowly into specimens that add character, texture, and color to any landscape.  Even over the dormant winter months, a properly grown Laceleaf can be a stunning focal point in the garden…

Latest post from “The Golfing Gardener”:

The Golfing Gardener

Trevor Cameron

Featured
Multiplication by Division with Perennials
Multiplication by Division with Perennials

I thought it might be fun to ride the wave of perennials that we started last week and continue on with another timely discussion, dividing and transplanting.  Think of it this way… how do you get more bang for your buck from these hardy garden treasures?  By dividing them of course!  It is super easy to do and you are simply…

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