Gravel patios or “terraces” are an outdoor element used in home landscapes in Europe for many centuries. Elegant and natural, they are typically made of crushed indigenous stone, widely used for many years because it was a readily available and inexpensive material. The look is an easy surface tamped to flatten and harden the terrace […]
plants
Posted inBlog, Gardeners Corner
Winter Bloomers Give Offseason Interest to Your Garden
Are you looking for some color to liven up the gray winter landscape? By choosing winter-blooming plants, you will get the satisfaction of a few flowers when much of the country is under ice and snow. Some of your choices are available in specialty nurseries now and other choices, like the winter-blooming snow drops, are […]
Posted inFeatured, People & Places
Historical Plants of West Sound
West Sound, known as the Kitsap Peninsula and the Great Peninsula, has a rich agricultural and horticultural history. The glaciers left rich earthen deposits behind; the forest duff provided rich tilth and the two combined to make wonderful soils. Just the right amount of rainfall and mild summers added even more positives to what could […]
Posted inBlog, Featured, Gardeners Corner
Scientific Names of Plants Demystified
My father, Dean Kelley, was a pharmaceutical representative for a drug company. When he retired, he volunteered his time as a Master Gardener in Pierce County. One time he was complaining to me that the scientific names of plants were hard to learn. I tried to put it in perspective for him by countering that […]
Posted inBlog, Community News
WSU Kitsap Offers Farm Business Planning Course
WSU Kitsap County Extension will offer its popular Ag Entrepreneurship Course on starting and sustaining a profitable small farm or agricultural enterprise beginning Jan. 28. Community members are invited to sign up for this intensive, hands-on learning opportunity. The course features a full lineup of local guest speakers: bankers, accountants, attorneys and successful farm owners. […]
Posted inBlog, Featured, Gardeners Corner
Tips About Easy-Care Houseplants
During these sometimes gray winter months, we can still find plant pleasures indoors. Houseplants are the plants that keep on giving enjoyment all year long, whether it be with foliage or with cheerful and entrancing flowers. Here are a few easy-care, no-fail plants from which to choose: Hoya, Sansevieria, Maranta, Holiday Cacti and Oxalis. Check […]
Posted inFeatured, Garden
A Steep Slope Is Turned Into a Garden Paradise
When Rudell and Jay Hegnes moved into their Gig Harbor home in 2004, they faced a steep bank across their backyard and soggy clay soil that wouldn’t drain. Most homeowners would have considered the hill an obstacle in their landscaping plans. “We knew the steep bank could be an asset by adding top soil and […]
Posted inFeatured, Garden
A Boost of Winter Color and Fragrance
After taking down the Christmas lights and all the bling is gone, January looks cold, dark and gray. Depressing. Does it have to be this way? Not if you plant a garden that looks good even during the coldest days of the year. Winter is a time to celebrate a quiet place, when the garden […]
Posted inBlog, Gardeners Corner
Fallen Leaves, a Gift from Above
Fall brings a bounty not everyone is excited about: piles of fallen leaves. In my garden, this abundance feels like early Christmas. All that organic material is at my disposal, and the only cost is a bit of exercise! I hope you will share my enthusiasm after I talk about some of the ways you […]