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The Winter-Interest Secret Most Gardeners Forget: or How to Attract Birds
Winter interest is the Holy Grail for us gardeners, and we spend an inordinate amount of time planning out which cool foliage plant or winter bloomer we’ll tuck in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for that year-round interest too – but there is another source of excitement during the darker months – birds!…
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An Old Stereotype, or a Shining Example? My Tribute to Older Gardeners
I keep hearing it around the internet – an indignant exhaustion with the stereotype of gardeners as elderly ladies, puttering about their rose gardens with flowered gloves on. Maybe the sensitivity comes from the fact that most gardeners are in the over-40 crowd, and don’t want to be prematurely aged by their passion. I can…
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Garden Q&A: Snow-Loading on Arborvitae
A timely question from Jennifer about sprawling Arborvitae: I have several 8-10 ft arborvitae that are bent over to various degrees from the weight of the heavy snowfall. Will these branches bounce back on their own or should I try to tie them to the main trunk to straighten them back up?
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Yay! It’s Christmastime!
Christmas is my very favorite time of year! I begin singing Christmas carols in July, and by September it’s all I can do not to annoy people with the minutiae of my Christmas plans. Creative and homemade is where it’s at – I love Christmas cookies, making wreaths, planting paperwhites, and everything else that happens…
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The Enabled Garden; Gardening For Those With a Disability
I read an inspiring post by Fern over at Life On The Balcony this week with some tips for how to enjoy container gardening with physical limitations. She covers some great ways of training your plants to suit your needs, reducing watering, and choosing tools to make gardening easier. Fern makes an excellent point; containers…
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Garden Q&A; Why Transplant Into Larger Pots in Stages?
An excellent question posted by Fern of Life on the Balcony, a fun blog which shares her adventures in container gardening: Why is it better to transplant a plant into a series of progressively larger pots? I’ve seen that recommended in books, but they never say why it’s better than a small plant potted in…
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World’s First Blue Rose is Created
Suntory, a Japanese Whiskey Distiller, has used genetic engineering to create the impossible – the world’s first blue rose. Blue roses have a number of legends and meanings attributed to them – they are said to grant the owner youth, to show hope against unattainable love, and to signify a sense of fantasy if given…
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Switzerland Places Ban on Humiliation of Plants
If it means I don’t have to look at any more poodled junipers, I’m all for it: Switzerland places ban on humiliation of plants. Fans of Plant Amnesty’s horrible pruning gallery will doubtless be disappointed to find that Switzerland, at least, won’t be contributing photos anytime soon. A law’s been amended to state that vegetation…
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Welcome to North Coast Gardening, A Site Dedicated to Gardening in the Coastal Pacific Northwest
Welcome to North Coast Gardening! I’m a landscaper in the Redwoods of way Northern California, near Oregon – an area us locals call the North Coast. I’ve been doing Landscape Design, Garden Coaching, and Landscape Maintenance for twelve years at the start of this site, I love gardening and reading, and I am a total…