Tomato season is upon us and, after deciding which tomatoes you’d like to grow, they need to be planted! For this project, we chose a Brandywine heirloom tomato to plant into a container, but the same steps work for planting tomatoes in the ground in a garden bed.
It’s April and tomatoes are here! We know you’re ready to get them planted since it’s sunny (wait… now it’s cold and raining…. wait! It’s sunny again! Wait…) ;) but your tomato plants won’t grow into incredibly prolific tomato producers if you don’t protect them until the night temperatures remain consistently above 50 degrees. Most of us at Swansons swear by protection tools so we can plant our warm-season vegetables earlier and encourage larger, stronger plants and better harvests. Here’s what we use and how to use them.
For many of us, the choice of which tomatoes to grow can be daunting. We've boiled down the tomato decision process into a few helpful questions and our suggestions: a secret (tomato) sauce, if you will, of how to make the right choice for your individual tomato needs. At the end of this post are a handy infographic and a link to our tomato variety list.
In this post, I’m repotting a very rootbound Marble Queen Pothos plant. I’ll walk you through all the steps for a successful repotting. These steps are essentially the same for all types of indoor and outdoor plants, so you can take these tips and use them for any potted plant.
No matter whether this is your first-ever vegetable garden or just the first time planting this year, if you take a little time to prepare before you plant, everything will go more smoothly and you’ll be more successful. Here are a few simple things to consider when starting a vegetable garden this spring.
The Pacific Northwest may be famous for its rainy climate, but those of us who live here know that we also experience dry summers. By choosing to plant drought-tolerant trees and shrubs, you can reduce water use and create lower-maintenance gardens. Here are 19 of our favorite drought-tolerant trees and shrubs for the Pacific Northwest.
I had the pleasure of attending the Edmonds Garden Tour this month and I came away filled with inspiration and excited to try out some new ideas in my garden. It may seem like “tour-worthy” gardens are unattainable, but the garden tour taught me that incorporating the fundamentals of good design and adding a dash of personality can really bring your garden to a new level. Here are seven of my favorite ideas from the tour.
Here are some of my favorite ideas that you can adapt to your own gardens. Enjoy!
Way up here in the land of tall conifers, dry shade is a common gardening challenge. I’ve had success with the following plants in the shade of conifers, and they also work well in deciduous woodlands or in the dry rain shadow of north-facing buildings and garden walls. As with any new plantings, they will require summer water for several dry seasons until they have established a root system capable of competing with existing tree roots.
Drought tolerant* or low water use* are terms we use often in Northwest gardening. You see them on many of our plant signs and information sheets at Swansons. More so each year, as we recognize the importance of saving water in the face of our region's growing population and potential effects of climate change. Also, we see ever more examples of how beautiful a well-designed, drought-tolerant garden can be! However, this doesn’t mean these plants don’t need water. Read on to learn the truth about helping these plants thrive.
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