Garden Tip #72

What unites gardeners from all walks of life? A passionate loathing of slugs and snails. Perhaps if we understood these little slimy mollusks better – their lifecycle, their tastes – we\’d learn to appreciate them for the successful creatures they are. Or at least we could learn how to drive them out of our gardens with the latest science has to offer.
The BBC’s Science and Nature web site once had an in-depth article on snails and slugs that made fascinating reading. https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/features/291feature1.shtml

This interview with malacologist Mary Seddon may be interesting: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ntj9z

Slugs have memory and will return another night to finish off tasty seedlings until they are all gone.
A few plants slugs find distasteful: foxgloves, many species in the daisy family, Lavateras, hollyhocks, azaleas, Euphorbia, hardy Geraniums.

A long list of “Slug Resistant Plants” is given in a Seattle Times article by local writer Valerie Easton.

Garden Tip #121

Caring for a living Christmas tree takes more work, but the reward is the satisfaction of planting a beautiful, long-lived conifer. Here are some guidelines for easing the transition from nursery to your home, and finally into the garden:

Don’t keep the tree inside longer than seven days.
Keep it well watered, but not soaking wet. If the root ball is wrapped in burlap place it on top of gravel in a bucket so that it doesn’t sit in water.
Keep the room inside as cool as can be tolerated.
Gradually reintroduce the tree to cold temperatures by placing it in an unheated garage for a week or two.
When you’re ready to plant it (and the ground isn’t frozen) dig the hole the same depth as the root ball, and twice as wide. Don’t add anything to the soil. Remember to water it for at least the next two summers.

Garden Tip #65

If you feel cheated by the big, red, sour strawberries available in grocery stores late winter is the time to start your own little strawberry field. Starter plants are available in nurseries, but which variety to choose? If you want to harvest many berries at once for jam or pies buy “June-bearing” such as ‘Shuksan’ or ‘Rainier’; if you want lower maintenance plants that will provides a few berries throughout the summer buy “Day-neutral” such as ‘Tribute’ or ‘Tillicum.’

The experts all agree, you should cut off the first flush of flowers so that your plants will develop larger crowns and eventually more fruit. This means no fruit for the first year for June-bearing strawberries. Don’t scrimp on water, but good drainage is also essential. Applying a mulch will help keep the soil cool and moist and protect the ripening berries from soil fungus. But mulch will also give shelter to slugs, so take care to use an organic-acceptable iron phosphate bait (such as Sluggo) regularly.
While technically perennial, strawberry plants should be replaced every 2 to 3 years with newly purchased stock.
Recommended reading on growing strawberries, from Oregon State University, will get you off to a good start.

Stephen Wilhelm and James E. Sagen in their book, A History of the Strawberry: from ancient gardens to modern markets, investigate how the strawberry was named. The theory they give most credence to is that the runners are “strewed” from the mother plant. In ancient times one word used for “strew” was “straw,” and thus a strewing berry became strabery (sic) which eventually became strawberry in England.
If you want to use straw as the mulch for strawberries look in the yellow pages under “feed stores.”

Garden Tip #60

You need only take a walk through Washington Park Arboretum or peer into your own backyard to notice that May is the season of the rhododendron. It would seem that rhododendrons are native to the Northwest, the superb way they thrive both in the cultivated garden and wild forest floor. But those rhododendrons, which have become such a mainstay in Pacific Northwest flora, are relative newcomers to these parts and have been plucked by enchanted plant hunters from China and the Himalayas.

Jane Brown tells the dramatic and long history of the rhodies global travels in her recent book, Tales of the Rose Tree: Ravishing Rhododendrons and Their Travels Around the World, (Harper Collins, $36.75). In this accessible historical account, Ms. Brown tells of the legend & lore, as well as the botanical significance, of the rhododendron. She includes many fine illustrations and color plates of many notable representations of the rhododendron. In addition, she lists many of the best places to find rhododendrons, mainly in the UK, where she resides. Travel to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Wisley Garden or the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden for grand displays of this woody and lovely plant.

Or remain closer to home and visit The Rhododendron Species Foundation and Botanical Garden in Federal Way. Twenty-two acres encompass nearly 10,000 rhododendrons in all shapes, sizes, colors, and scents. From March through May, the Garden is open from 10:00 – 4:00 six days a week (closed on Thursdays). June through February, the Garden is open 11:00 – 4:00 five days a week (closed Thursdays and Fridays). Admission is $3.50 for adults and $2.50 for seniors and students. For additional information and directions, call: 253-927-6960.

Garden Tip #56

Owning a greenhouse can keep a gardener busy straight through winter. If you’re thinking of adding a greenhouse or already have one you may want to join the Hobby Greenhouse Association. For $28.00 a year members receive a quarterly magazine, a quarterly newsletter, and the opportunity to ask questions of the experts. To join send a check to HGA MEMBERSHIP, P. O. Box 404, Andover, MA, 01810, or join online at www.hobbygreenhouse.org/

Garden Tip #53

If you’re only familiar with the common primrose sold at grocery stores in January, take another look at these charming little perennials. With over 400 species found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, there are many worthwhile choices for the Pacific Northwest garden. Try nutmeg-scented Primula florindae (Himalayan cowslip) in a wet spot or late summer flowering Primula capitata in a shaded pocket in a rockery (add compost to the planting hole). To find the one best suited for your garden conditions check out the exhaustive reference book called Primula by John Richards (Timber Press, $39.95).

The American Primrose Society website has photos of some of the less common primroses, as well as articles on growing and propagating Primulas and other Primrose family members. Members receive a quarterly journal with color photos, participate in seed exchanges and show off their prize plants at the annual meeting. To join send $25.00 to Julia Haldorson, Treasurer, P.O. Box 210913, Auke Bay, Alaska 99821.

Garden Tip #51

In wintertime a gardener’s mailbox is overflowing with nursery catalogs. Ordering plants through the mail greatly increases the variety of plants to choose from, but also carries some risk. Is the company reputable? What if the plants are low quality? Lower that risk by reading customer opinions of the mail-order nursery in question. The free database at Garden Watchdog lists over 3,000 garden related vendors where customers can submit compliments, complaints or warnings. Businesses can respond to complaints to give their side of the story. This site can also be used to find all the nurseries that sell products in a certain category, like bulbs or hand tools.

Garden Tip #49

Graph paper and colored pencils are still the best tools for do-it-yourself garden design. While good software is available to help you draw professional looking plans, expect to pay at least $200.00 to $600.00. You may decide that the money is better spent paying someone to install the new patio. These books will help translate ideas into coherent designs on paper:

Gemma Nesbitt wrote Garden Graphics: How to Plan and Map Your Garden (Capability’s Books, $25.00) for gardeners who want a simple garden plan with meaningful graphics, instead of the abstract circles usually found in landscape designs. The bulk of the book has graphics representing common trees, shrubs and perennials, as well as paving, fencing and furniture.

For help with abstract circles for the professional look, Landscape Graphics by Grant Reid (Watson-Guptill Publications, $24.95) is the appropriate book.

A Handbook for Garden Designers by Rosemary Alexander (Ward Lock, Ltd. $29.95) is aimed at the beginning professional designer, but is very accessible to amateur gardeners who want to learn the design process and produce professional-looking plans. Topics include taking a site survey and inventory, developing a design and how to draw elevations.

Garden Tip #47

To find out which days in the lunar month are most favorable for planting root crops turn to the Old Farmer’s Almanac online at www.almanac.com The website is a condensed version of the printed edition with all the weather information a gardener could ever want, plus folksy gardening tips, frost dates and a manure guide. Check out the Growing Vegetables Chart to determine when to start seeds indoors or in the ground, when to fertilize and when to water through the growing season.

Garden Tip #45

New gardeners often focus on flowers and color in their first design effort, only to feel less than satisfied with the floral results. Experts advise us to think about plant form and leaf texture for a design that works no matter what the season. Two books demystify the “designing with foliage” concept:

Dramatic Effect with Architectural Plants by Noel Kingsbury (Overlook Press, $35.00)

The occasional black-and white-photos reinforce the lesson that architectural plants look good without distracting color. Kingsbury explains how shapes are used in the garden and how this design concept works for all garden styles from the Japanese look to Southwest themes. The last section of the book is a mini encyclopedia detailing all the suggested plants.

Foliage: Dramatic and Subtle Leaves for the Garden by David Joyce (Trafalgar Square, $35.00)
Joyce goes farther with classifying types of foliage shapes with poetic descriptions like, ‘Needles and Threads’ and ‘Eggs and Spoons’. A concise list of trees, shrubs, perennials and edibles is provided for each foliage shape. The color photos show off the plants in isolation so readers can focus on the shape and texture.