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…
If you are into “zonal denial” and enjoy pushing the boundaries, then perhaps a lemon or lime tree may be worth your time and effort. Make no mistake however, the Pacific Northwest is not Florida or California and you won’t be able to just plant a citrus tree in the backyard and in a few short years start harvesting your very own navel oranges. On the other hand, when planted in a container, Meyer lemons and seedless Bearss limes will do okay - provided you follow some simple procedures…
The Golfing Gardener
Trevor Cameron
I often tell gardeners in our region to rediscover their “Evergreen State”, which (in a play on words) simply means to show some gardening style with the structure, texture and color of conifers. Around here nature has the many shades of green covered, but how about some bold blues and bright yellows? When all of the deciduous shrubs and trees have…