Tag: gardens

Garden Site Selection

Shawn Banks: Extension Blog Contributor
Johnston County Extension Agent/Educator
North Carolina State University
shawn_banks@ncsu.edu

As an extension agent one question I often get asked by new gardeners is, “Where do I put a vegetable garden in my yard?” That leads to a lot more questions, but let’s answer the where question first. There are four basic considerations when selecting a garden site.

narrow strip of garden vegetables in a backyard area

The first thing to consider is the need for direct or full sunlight. Most vegetables need a minimum of six to eight hours in order to produce a crop.… Continue reading this article “Garden Site Selection”

Prepping Your Garden for The Next Growing Season

William H. McCaleb, Blog Contributor
Program Assistant for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Halifax County, VA. and Master Gardener

For gardeners in the eastern U.S., last year was a better than normal gardening season. Better than normal yield, better than normal precipitation, and in our case in Virginia cooler than normal which yielded excellent spring cool season crops as well as early summer crops.

But all good things must come to an end; that being the result of several heavy frosts.  … Continue reading this article “Prepping Your Garden for The Next Growing Season”

Neon for your garden

Was wandering through Target on Monday for the first time in months.

Helloooo!? The 80’s called and wants its neon crap back.

Didn’t care for it then and certainly don’t care for it now. Though there is the increased safety factor of being highly visible at all times, whether in sunglasses or underwear.

But never mind my lack of style.

It made me think about a few plants that, if the light is right, certainly display that glowing, saturated color, found in the “Astro-Brite” pack of copy paper usually reserved for yard sales and such.… Continue reading this article “Neon for your garden”

High-end WOW (Why oh why)

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to speak to the Portland Garden Club and see some absolutely gorgeous private gardens.  But alas…even in the midst of such botanical riches I still managed to find something to make me shudder.

Now I have nothing against garden remodels – or boxwood hedges (though I generally find them unimaginative).  But here’s a good example of shrub salvaging gone horribly wrong:


Deadwood boxwood

And again

It will take a long time for these boxwoods to fill in. … Continue reading this article “High-end WOW (Why oh why)”

Podcast #8 – Water Works

We’ve finally gotten our summer here in the Pacific NW and it’s been pretty hot for a few weeks. The plants weren’t really prepared for this, so we’ve had to irrigate quite a bit to keep all that lush foliage happy. So the topic of this podcast is Water Works – focusing on how water moves in the soil and through plants.

One of the more interesting tidbits I found this week is a recent USDA study on growing more potatoes with less water.… Continue reading this article “Podcast #8 – Water Works”

Podcast #6 – Garden Hocus Pocus

Forgive my tardy posting – I spent yesterday traveling from Indianapolis back to Seattle.  I was in Indianapolis for the Garden Writers Association annual meeting and gave a talk on “evidence based garden information.”  It was encouraging to see how many garden writers DO want reliable sources of good gardening science.  And I got to meet Joseph Tychonievich, a frequent commenter on this blog and a PhD student at Michigan State.

Anyway, on to this week’s podcast.… Continue reading this article “Podcast #6 – Garden Hocus Pocus”

Podcast #5 – Selling Sustainability

Everyone (including me) hates how the word “sustainability” has been overused and misused. Yet there are some good concepts associated with the word that can help gardeners make rational decisions about products and practices. This week’s podcast deconstructs sustainability into specific actions that gardeners can easily follow:

  • Discovering and nurturing the natural processes that keep your gardens and landscapes healthy and functional
  • Choosing plants and products wisely to conserve natural resources
  • Creating gardens and landscapes that don’t require constant inputs of packaged fertilizers and pesticides

The podcast illustrates each of these points. … Continue reading this article “Podcast #5 – Selling Sustainability”

Podcast #4 – Going Native

Another one in the can! This week the podcast focuses on native plants; I’ve got an interesting research item about using mixtures of native grasses for lawns.  You’ll also hear why sometimes native plants might not be the best choice, whether the goal is attracting fruit-eating birds or creating a sustainable urban landscape.

And you will love this week’s interview with Lacia Bailey – Seattle gardener and urban dairy goat maven. Once again I enlisted my son Jack to capture the moment on film:


“I’ll bet that camera is edible, too!”… Continue reading this article “Podcast #4 – Going Native”

Podcast #2 – Garden Concoctions

I’m getting my feet under me with podcasting – it’s becoming more fun and less scary.  The theme for this one is “Garden Concoctions,” so the Plants in the News and Myth Busting segments are along those lines.

My interview this week is with Maurice Skagen, owner and designer of Soos Creek Botanical Gardens.  This 23 acre plant collection has been carefully cultivated over the last 30 years and just recently opened to the public.… Continue reading this article “Podcast #2 – Garden Concoctions”

Podcasts are here!

Today marks a grand experiment…I’ve made the leap into podcasting. Each episode is less than 30 minutes and contains (among other things) an outdoor interview with someone who does something interesting with gardens and landscapes. This week’s podcast features Seattle landscape designer Richard Greenberg, who took me on a tour of a garden he’s been working on for 20 years:


Linda with Richard Greenberg

The nice thing about having the blog host the podcasts is that I can include some photos from my interview sites. … Continue reading this article “Podcasts are here!”