Tag: insects

There are a couple of benefits to planting larger growing conifers before April. The first is that, knowing that garden centers stock up early for the spring planting season, informed gardeners buy early. This guarantees cream-of-the-crop selections before the general…

This week’s photo is for the outdoorsmen who read this column. Imagine nine men on Lake Powell fishing, and you’ll have the setting for our experience. The seven pound twins pictured were only the beginning to a successful catch. By…

Happy New Year, everyone! Like most small business owners in a soft economy, I sent the old year out with a robust kick in the pants and am actively preparing for a better 2011. Already the new spring look is…

Before I get into gardening I have to tell you that Yavapai Regional Medical Center is awesome! Lisa and I had to spend most of Wednesday at the hospital fixing her broken arm. (If you recall, I mentioned that she…

Every landscape should grow some herbs. The higher the elevation the sweeter, the more savory the herbs’ flavors, and most herbs are as easy to grow as they are easy to use. I just spent the week fishing with the…

Several studies of western gardens show that homeowners overwater their landscapes by 50 percent. My experiences at the garden center concur with that finding. I can say that 80% of my customers’ plant replacements are to replace plants killed by…

Finally! The monsoons have arrived over most of the state. Before cheering when you hear “50% chance of rain”, you need to remember what that forecast really means in the mountains of Arizona: The weatherman is telling you that half…

It is cool enough now that our gardens should shift from summer flowering plants that bloom only until Halloween to the fall varieties that will continue their bloom well past Thanksgiving. Fortunately, the first of the fall flowers were harvested…

It’s time to make out and start checking off items from that fall gardening to-do list. These are things I do every fall; my aim is to complete all ten items by the end of October. Today’s column lists these…

It’s no secret the local economy is in a slump, but for garden centers it’s not entirely bad news. Part of the fallout from the financial situation is that the increase in food prices has caused a surge of interest…