Your Garden: Taking care of pollinators

May 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: Taking care of pollinators

We’re in for sunny weather and people are planting. Some are putting in vegetable gardens, others are hitting the nurseries and plant sales for flowers and anything you can plant that kills the winter doldrums. If the forecast calls for ...

Your Garden: 100 years of community gardening

May 2023 Posted in Community, Events & Holidays, Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: 100 years of community gardening

By Mary Owen The Turner Community Garden and Flower Club will celebrate 100 years of gardening by hosting a flower show at the upcoming Marion County Lamb and Wool Show.  The annual show will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ...

Your Garden: OSU Gardener’s June Chores

May 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: OSU Gardener’s June Chores

[caption id="attachment_13711" align="alignright" width="295"] It’s berry-picking time! © barmalini / 123rf.com[/caption] Fruit Crops First week: Spray cherry trees for cherry fruit fly, as necessary, if fruit is ripening. Spray for codling moth in apple and pear trees as necessary. Continue use of ...

Your Garden: Slugging it out in the garden

May 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: Slugging it out in the garden

By Diane Hyde, OSU Linn County Master Gardener Temperatures are warming and there are sunny days to do some yard and garden cleanup. As we pick up wind-blown debris and pull up weeds clusters of slug eggs are found. Some species ...

Your Garden: Tomato Tip #1 – WAIT!

May 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: Tomato Tip #1 – WAIT!

Have you seen the tiny tomato plants in the garden stores? They are a tempting impulse buy for folks longing for sunshine and the taste of fresh home-grown tomatoes, especially plant addicts. But nights are still cold. They have no ...

Your Garden: TLC for Tools

May 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: TLC for Tools

If you neglected properly cleaning and storing your garden tools last year, it’s not too late. Halt corrosion, dry, splintery handles and dullness by taking a little time to care for these faithful gardening friends. Remove all soil from metal surfaces: ...

Your Garden: OSU Gardener’s May Chores

May 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: OSU Gardener’s May Chores

PLAN & PREPARE Prepare and prime irrigation system for summer.  Place pheromone traps in apple trees to detect presence of codling moth. Plan a control program of sprays, baits, or predators if found. If needed, fertilize rhododendrons and azaleas with acid-type fertilizer. If ...

Your Garden: How the Terrarium Changed the World

May 2023 Posted in Arts, Culture & History, Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: How the Terrarium Changed the World

By Gregg Harris Don’t you just love all the wonderful plants we have available to us today? It hasn’t always been like this. In the 1820s there was a 95% failure rate whenever you tried to transport a live plant across the ...

Birds, bees… and other pollinators – Sustainable Silverton partners with Oregon Garden for educational series

March 2023 Posted in Events & Holidays, Gardening, Outdoor Life | Comments Off on Birds, bees… and other pollinators – Sustainable Silverton partners with Oregon Garden for educational series

By Melissa Wagoner This spring Sustainable Silverton’s Urban Natural Resources Action Team is enlisting the help of local experts to hold an educational series about birds, bees and butterflies at The Oregon Garden. “It aligns with our mission statement and Action Team ...

Your Garden: Becoming a Gardener

March 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: Becoming a Gardener

Do you consider yourself a gardener? What kind of gardener are you? Are you a person who appreciates the visual, culinary or functional gardening that nature and plant people provide, or are you one of the plant people? Studies all around the world ...

Your Garden: A handy web tool to identify, learn about plants

March 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: A handy web tool to identify, learn about plants

By Diane Hyde, OSU Master Gardener Wondering what plants to add to your garden landscape?  There is an Oregon State University Botany and Plant Pathology website (and books) that lists all known Oregon plants. It is tied into the herbarium at ...

Your Garden: OSU Gardener’s April Chores

March 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: OSU Gardener’s April Chores

Planning Write in your garden journal throughout the growing season. Prepare garden soil for spring planting. Incorporate generous amounts of organic materials and other amendments, using the results of a soil analysis as a guide. Prepare raised beds in areas where cold soils ...

Your Garden: How Climate Change… Impacts a garden

March 2023 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Your Garden: How Climate Change… Impacts a garden

By Diane Hyde, OSU Master Gardener “Why hasn’t my tree recovered from last year’s heat wave?” For some damaged or traumatized trees and shrubs is takes years to die, just like a neglected cactus plant.  Our plant hardiness zones have changed. Our ...

Emerald ash borer – Pest threatens Oregon’s ash trees, ecosystems

August 2022 Posted in Gardening, News | Comments Off on Emerald ash borer – Pest threatens Oregon’s ash trees, ecosystems

By James Day The emerald ash borer (EAB), a forest pest that has been targeting ash trees in the United States since 2002, has been found in Oregon. An infestation discovered June 30 in Forest Grove means that concerns of state and ...

‘Citizen science’ – ODA enlists help to combat invasive pests

August 2022 Posted in Community, Gardening | Comments Off on ‘Citizen science’ – ODA enlists help to combat invasive pests

[caption id="attachment_11751" align="alignright" width="214"] The leaves of a tree of heaven.[/caption] By Melissa Wagoner When it comes to keeping invasive pests from spreading, Beth Myers-Shenai – a specialist in Noxious Weed Control for the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) – knows observation ...

Old-world goodies – Silverton Hills farm raises, preserves chestnut trees

June 2022 Posted in Gardening, Outdoor Life | Comments Off on Old-world goodies – Silverton Hills farm raises, preserves chestnut trees

By Brenna Wiegand Paul’la Allen used to accompany her husband Jack to the cemeteries where he conducted graveside services. [caption id="attachment_11581" align="alignright" width="335"] Paul’la Allen in her chestnut orchard atop the Silverton Hills. She and her husband, Jack, founded Shadow Mountain Ranch ...

‘Sudden Oak Death’ – Not so sudden… Not infecting oaks

May 2022 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on ‘Sudden Oak Death’ – Not so sudden… Not infecting oaks

By Melissa Wagoner The term Sudden Oak Death (SOD) is really a bit of a misnomer,  according to Sarah Navarro, the Regional Sudden Oak Death Pathologist for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). “Tanoak is the tree species most affected because it’s readily killed,” Navarro said. Noting that ...

What to plant for a fire-resistant landscape

May 2022 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on What to plant for a fire-resistant landscape

This is a good time to look at rearranging the landscape for future fire resistance in the urban/forest boundary. Fire-resistant plants often have supple leaves without waxy or resinous surfaces, are higher in moisture content, low in oils and/or they wear thick barks that do ...

ODA Kicks off Statewide Tree-of-Heaven Tally

May 2022 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on ODA Kicks off Statewide Tree-of-Heaven Tally

 The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Noxious Weed, and Insect Pest Prevention and Management programs are kicking off a six-month statewide tally of invasive tree-of-heaven locations thanks to funding from the U.S. Forest Service. To help with the tally join the iNaturalist project at https://www. inaturalist.org/projects/oregon-treeof-heaven-tally. There is a mobile app that makes ...

Working in soggy soil

May 2022 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Working in soggy soil

It’s been raining a lot lately. It’s not unusual for late spring, and we need the water for an expected dry summer that will eventually happen. The soil is soggy and cold, though. Seeds are slow to grow and, in some gardens, are simply ...

Some plants like to be in shade

May 2022 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Some plants like to be in shade

  Our sunny growing season is barely long enough for tomatoes to ripen, but there are plenty of things we can grow and enjoy while waiting for tomato time. Flowers usually require warmth of the sun to open and bear fruit. There are many plants that will ...

OSU Gardener’s June Chores

May 2022 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on OSU Gardener’s June Chores

First week: Spray cherry trees for cherry fruit fly and brown rot if fruit is ripening. Spray for codling moth and scab in apple and pear trees. Continue use of pheromone traps for insect pest detection. Apples and crabapples that are susceptible to scab disease ...

Not So Heaven Sent – The Invasive Nature of the ‘Tree of Heaven’

April 2022 Posted in Gardening | Comments Off on Not So Heaven Sent – The Invasive Nature of the ‘Tree of Heaven’

By Melissa Wagoner When Pam Russell and her husband purchased their home in Silverton in May 2021, they were excited to have a place of their own for the first time in 15 years. Newly retired empty-nesters, the couple thought they ...

Your Garden – Herbs

April 2022 Posted in Gardening, Outdoor Life | Comments Off on Your Garden – Herbs

Need a flavor boost in your cooking without adding salt? Try growing favorite herbs in your garden, a porch container or in a sunny window. Many herbs, like rosemary and thyme, are perennials that will thrive in our “Mediterranean” climate. ...

OSU Gardener’s May Chores

April 2022 Posted in Gardening, Outdoor Life | Comments Off on OSU Gardener’s May Chores

Oregon State University Extension Service encourages sustainable gardening practices. Always identify and monitor problems before acting. First, consider cultural controls; then physical, biological and chemical controls (which include insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, botanical insecticides, organic and synthetic pesticides). Always consider ...
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