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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Don't Be Annoyed, Fill That Void!

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Don't Be Annoyed, Fill That Void!

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a brash statement: “perfection in the garden is fleeting”.  Yes, it is sadly true… Earlier this spring I was congratulating myself on how nicely all of my many perennials (probably too many if I am honest with myself) were knitting themselves together and gradually obliterating any bare, visible soil.  That is still happening, to be sure, but along the way some of my early bloomers have “gone over” and it is time to take another look at what I can plop in and around them to keep things looking colorful and interesting…

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It's The Summer Of Love

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It's The Summer Of Love

I don’t know what it is about the months of July and August, but it seems like every year about this time I fall in love with my garden all over again.  For me, the spring season is more of a puppy love or infatuation, but the summer months are when true love really blossoms, both literally and figuratively.  It’s when my garden loves me back with all of its beauty and splendor…

Growing Citrus Can Be Fun

Growing Citrus Can Be Fun

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…

How To Keep Our Landscapes Thriving In This New Climate Paradigm

How To Keep Our Landscapes Thriving In This New Climate Paradigm

Last week I wrote about how to successfully plant in the dry summer months and I promised this week to discuss how to keep our landscapes thriving (not just surviving) as we shift to drier, hotter, and longer summers.  As a side note, don’t let this recent “rain event” lure you into complacency about watering.  At best, it only moistened the top ½ of the soil, which for the most part only keeps the dust down…

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How To Plant In Summer

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How To Plant In Summer

A few weeks back I was harping about why gardeners don’t bother with compost and fertilizer when they are planting.  This week I feel the need to talk about the importance of good planting practices.  No matter where you purchase your plant material, I can guarantee you they will croak if it they aren’t planted properly.  Here are some of my tips to help you succeed…

June Is Perennial Planting Month

June Is Perennial Planting Month

There is no shortage of things to do in the garden in the month of June.  Hedges need to be pruned, warm season veggies should be planted, spring-blooming plants (like Forsythia, Heather, and Rhodies) should be deadheaded, weeds of course need to be controlled, it’s time to start thinking about watering, and all those annuals we planted in May need to be fed.  But, one of the most important tasks for every gardener is to KEEP PLANTING.  There are always holes to fill in and beds to rejuvenate, and in June the best choices usually come from the perennial department of the garden center…

Compost and Fertilizer - A Boring But Necessary Topic

Compost and Fertilizer - A Boring But Necessary Topic

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…

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The Changing Garden, What A Difference A Couple Of Weeks Can Make

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The Changing Garden, What A Difference A Couple Of Weeks Can Make

A few weeks back I was lamenting the fact that there were still so many bare spots in my new garden that needed to be filled in, due to plant failures from this last winter…  No matter how good of a gardener we might be, some things thrive while others just whimper away into oblivion.  Isn’t that the nature of gardening?

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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…

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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