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Hellebore Pruning: How-To and A Cautionary Tale
There are two schools of thought on pruning Lenten rose, or Helleborus orientalis. One side says to prune off the old foliage to the very base just as the Hellebore is starting to flower. The bloom spikes start coming up in the center of the plant, and the old foliage lays down obediently: If you…
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Fiskars PowerGear Lopper: Video Review In Which The Buddleja Gets It
Ever since a Buddleja gave me a six-month long sinus infection a couple years back, I’ve taken every possible opportunity to convince people to kill the darn things. After all, they’re invasive in my county as well as in parts of Oregon and Washington, and yeah – if you’ve ever stood beneath one and tried…
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Monday Miscellany: Multiple Fruit Trees in One Hole, Succulent Planters and Curing the Common Cold
I’ve been reading about this new trend of planting multiple trees in one hole, and my initial reaction was suspicion – overplanting goes against everything I know about tree health. But when I read about this technique from a few fruit tree dealers that I thought were credible, my suspicion turned to confusion. Could this…
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Fiskars PowerGear Pruning Shear: Rolling Handle Pruners That Don’t Kill Your Pocketbook
One of my most popular posts has been a Hand Pruner Showdown in which I compared and contrasted Felcos, Coronas, and Bahcos. One of the first comments on that post was a Fiskars fan, saying essentially – “OMG! Try the Fiskars pruners – they’re inexpensive AND ergonomic”. And so they are! Now that I’ve tried…
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Monday Miscellany: No-Mow Lawns, A Hardy Tropical, and a Wicked Bugs Excerpt
Folks like the Lawn Reform Coalition have been keeping up the good work suggesting lower-care versions of lawn that require less in the way of water, gas-powered mowing, and unsustainable fertilizers. Recently they featured a post about a low-care fescue grass good for the Pacific Northwest. The fescue cultivars they mention are especially good because…
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Fiskars Cuts + More Scissors: For Gardeners Who Enjoy a Cocktail
Even in winter, at a certain hour of the evening I feel drawn to the garden to check on things and putter about, snipping a few stems of chard and some herbs for dinner, watering this, weeding that. There’s very little that could improve a peaceful half hour of puttering in the garden. You know…
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Ferns for Every Garden
As we settle more deeply into winter, I’ve been really noticing the beauty of all the ferns in the landscapes I care for. They’re low-care, often have great winter interest, and seem to go with just about every type of plant or style of planting. The neat thing about ferns is they look great both…
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Monday Miscellany: Plants You Can’t Kill, Sprays That CAN Kill, and Assorted Other, Um, Miscellany
I’ll start out with the depressing bit: Despite the fact that many gardeners have a relationship of convenience with Roundup, and an “it’s not so bad” attitude about the harmful effects it has on the environment and on human health, scientists are continually discovering new ways Roundup is screwing with our bodies and our environment.
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Cheap Soil Testing: How and Why To Do It
One of the best things about writing for this site is that occasionally, other gardeners will write in with their excellent garden tips. This was the case with Kathy Ormiston, a landscape designer and landscape gardener in the San Francisco Bay Area (south bay region). Kathy was kind enough to share a tip about an…
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Monday Miscellany: DIY Awesomeness, New Contributors at Gardening Gone Wild, and Garden Trends for 2011
This week, Jenny over at J. Petersen Garden Design blew me away with her DIY projects. First, she showed us how to create a cinderblock wall that doesn’t suck. Cinderblocks can look so stark and industrial if not softened by plantings, paint, or other embellishments of some kind. Here, Jenny shows us how to create…
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Plants to Love: Spanish Shawl (Heterocentron elegans)
This sweet little groundcover looks simple and refined when not in bloom, like a larger-leaved, deeper-green version of Baby’s Tears. But once it comes into bloom, it is a serious showstopper, with red hairy bracts holding disproportionately large fuchsia blooms. It flowers during the entire growing season, spring to fall, and the cheery red bracts…