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

Winter Gardening

Give The Gift That Keeps On Giving, A Live Plant!

Give The Gift That Keeps On Giving, A Live Plant!

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t receive yet another email listing the “top 25 gifts for gardeners”, which invariably includes a whole host of garden gadgets… But if you are looking for a gift that will keep on giving year after year, then why not consider a winter blooming plant? Each year at the same time, they will come into bloom and decorate your garden at a time when the days are dark and long and the hope for another bright spring is still far off in the future. Here are some of my favorite winter blooming choices…

Winterizing The Garden - Part One

Winterizing The Garden - Part One

Just when you thought you were through with yard work for the season, some wise-acre nursery professional comes along and tells you to “Winterize your yard!” “Okay”, you say, “How do I winterize my yard?” Big mistake! Never use open-ended questions with nursery professionals, unless of course you have nothing but time and money…

How To Protect Our Gardens From Damaging Freezes

How To Protect Our Gardens From Damaging Freezes

Winters in the northwest can be unpredictable. As I look around my neighborhood, I can still see trees (like my neighbor’s corkscrew willow) that are green as grass and completely foliated, while next to them are maples that are fully denuded of all their summer leaves. My hostas have mushed down to nothing, but the roses are still blooming. Such is the nature of our Pacific Northwest falls/winters. You just never know when that hard “killing frost” is going to hit, but if you are not ready to deal with it, then you very well might suffer some serious losses. Here are some tips to manage the freezing events that will be coming our way…

Creating Winter Interest In Our Containers

Creating Winter Interest In Our Containers

I recently read an article on designing with foliage in the garden by a local author, Christina Salwitz.  Her main point is that while flowers are ephemeral, foliage can last all season and therefore should be the first consideration in any garden design - be it in the landscape or simply in our containers.  As we move into the fall and winter season…

More On The Big Freeze

Last week I pontificated on the ramifications of the recent winter storm.  We discussed frozen roots on container plants, broken limbs on trees and shrubs, disfigured evergreens, and frozen buds.  In retrospect, that all sounds very depressing, but please don’t despair - I am pretty sure the worst is behind us.  Here are a few more, hopefully uplifting, thoughts on what to look for in assessing the extent of winter damage in your garden….

Be Thankful For Snow

If you are like me, you went to bed last Sunday night with a light dusting of snow on the ground and woke up to 8 to 10 inches covering virtually everything in the garden.  Now, somewhere underneath that white stuff, are my blooming hellebores, snow drops, and budded daffodils.  You might ask: “Is all lost?”  Hardly!  Mother Nature is a lot more resilient than that and while my perennials may be bent, they are most likely not broken.  In fact, they are probably snug as a bug in a rug and once everything thaws out they will pop right back up again.  As it turns out, snow is much more beneficial for the garden than it is detrimental.  Here are some things to consider…

It may feel like the dead of winter, but the garden is wide awake

I have been rather neglectful lately.  What with all the rain and holiday activities, I haven’t taken much time to walk around my garden.  From a distance it looks like it is in a deep sleep and nothing of any significance is going on, but with closer inspection it is anything but snoozing.  I took a little tour this week and much to my surprise I found lots of activity.  You should do the same, for it will surely lift your spirits.  Here are some of my discoveries…

Latest post from Trevor Cameron,  “The Golfing Gardener”:

Featured
Crape Myrtles In Washington

Speaking as a self-proclaimed “plantaholic” who likes just about all things with foliage, fronds, or needles, one plant I started to salivate over in the 1990’s was Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia sp.).  For us in northern latitudes, these mythical plants were uncommon and were perceived as…

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