Tag: Gardening
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A new post goes in and the old fence comes down
In the northwest, wood decays into the soil. Fence posts and entire fences biodegrade into the soil. I’ve seen this after just a couple of years in the ground. Pay a little more for pressure treated and the fence will last longer. Pay the extra, it’s worth it. I have a fence on the side…
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Propagating the Monkey Puzzle Tree
I’ve written about the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) before. This is a evergreen tree commonly found in the northwest. but it did not originate here. It is native to argentina and chila, specifically the andes. When we bought our home in the north of seattle, we found ourselves in the shadow of a 50…
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First day of Spring
Today is the first day of spring. Maybe that’s why I got up shortly after 5:00 a.m. It was 53 degrees and starting to get windy when I got up. Spent the morning outside and in the shop. I looked up to see a few Carmellia flowers on the tree. The rate this tree will…
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July: Mid-summer blooms from the Hydrangea, Wax begonia, and a Daphne.
How foolish of me to think I only had one bloom on the property. I overlooked a wax geranium in a large pot. They love the sun and this one really sprang to life after placing it here next to the driveway. Wax begonia can be overwintered. Overwintering involves taking plants that you know will…
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Mystery of the pumpkin seed, solved.
About two weeks ago I planted a bunch of pumpkin seeds. A special batch of seeds that I scraped out of a Halloween pumpkin in October of 2023. I left the seeds out to dry for several months then slid them into an envelope and marked it 1/2024. The envelope went into a drawer to…
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A bench with a view
Took out a large hydrangea to make room for a bench overlooking the front yard, trees, and darting birds. The bench has iron sides with slats cut and installed by the owner. Found it on Craigslist for $35 in Bellevue, Wa. I tightened each bolt on each slat and cleaned the wood with Murphys Oil…
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Stonecrop groundcover
This little succulent does well where you least expect it. Back a few years ago, along the well worn walkway leading up to the front door were several strands of this plant. I took some cuttings and replanted in pots. There was a time when almost all my cuttings and the original ground cover died…
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Speaking of trees
We had Northwest Arbiculture out to do some tree trimming. We removed one tree, conducted a diagnostic test on another, and trimmed a large Red alder that was listing precariously over the shed. This work has been on the calendar for two months. They sent out two guys who knew their stuff well. One of…