Blog

May 24, 2014 by Becky

Have you ever wondered how to water your lawn correctly? Think you’re watering too much? Not enough? Not at the right time of day? Or maybe you’ve never even thought about it! We’ve put together some pointers for you to cut out the guessing and save you water and money this summer! Because who doesn’t want to go green and save some green?!

Climate and soil and sprinklers are different everywhere you go. When people ask us how long to water their lawn, it would be great to have a tidy, pat answer to give. But because there is so much variation even within the same area, the answer usually starts with, “It depends.” It depends on how well your soil drains, how much water your sprinklers put out, what time of day you water, and even how long your grass is! Even though there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for everyone, it isn’t hard to determine how much water to give your grass.

How Much Water Does My Lawn Need?
Lawns in the Salt Lake area need about 2 inches of water per week (not per watering). An easy way to see how much water your lawn is getting in a watering cycle is to place some straight-sided containers around your lawn. Empty tuna cans work great. Check them after the watering cycle and measure how much water is in them.

How Often Should I Water My Lawn?
If your lawn is planted in loam or clay soil, it’s best to water twice a week with one inch applied at each watering. Sandy and gravel soils won’t hold an inch of water in one watering, so they need to be watered a little more often (every other day works well with about 0.6″ applied each time).

When Should I water My Lawn?
Early Morning is the best time to water. Watering in the evening or late at night is not a good time because the lawn remains wet overnight and is more susceptible to fungus, and makes snails and slugs harder to control. Never water during the heat of the day—most of that water will just evaporate.

What Else Can I do to Save Water?
Set your lawnmower height as high as you can stand it. The longer the grass, the more shaded the soil will be, and the more moisture it will retain. Shorter grass doesn’t shade the soil as well and the heat of the summer sun will evaporate all the moisture you just worked to get in there.

For more specific questions about your lawn or soil type, stop by one of our locations (Salt Lake, Sandy or West Valley) and talk to one of our helpful plant pros!

May 20, 2014 by Becky

Stuffed bell peppers are a summertime must! If you have bell peppers in your garden this year, be sure to save this recipe for stuffed peppers! Unlike many stuffed pepper recipes, this one is meatless, so it’s a great vegetarian option. If your garden gives you small bell peppers, this would be a great side dish for brunch!

Bite of Delight is sharing this recipe with us today, because it’s too good not to spread around a little more! The wild rice is a great mix of sweet and savory, and the egg helps tie it all together. It cooks until the egg is just set, so the yolk is nice and runny, making a great sauce for the rice. This is an easy weeknight dish, but fancy enough to make for company!

Fresh Peach Mint Lemonade

Ingredients

4 cups water
½ cup sugar
4 medium peaches, quartered
2 Tbsp mint leaves
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)

Instructions

Add water and sugar to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add mint and peaches to sugar/water mix, reduce heat to med-low and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour into a blender jar and remove the center of the lid, if possible (to allow steam to escape).
Place a towel over the lid and blend on low for 25-30 seconds, or until smooth.
Pour through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer into a pitcher. Discard the solids.
Whisk in lemon juice and cool in fridge for at least 3 hours.

https://westerngardens.com/stuffed-bell-peppers/

May 17, 2014 by Becky

Raised garden beds have become very popular in recent years, and for good reason. Growing more food in less space with less work sounds too good to be true, but it’s not! If you are thinking about taking the plunge and building raised beds for your garden, we’ve included links to 12 different tutorials for raised beds.

Why Raised Beds?

Less Compacted Soil. Roots (and worms!) need air space in the soil to grow, so if you’re stepping in your garden beds, you are compacting the soil and destroying that important air space! For more information about compost and soil amending, see this blog post all about it.

Deeper Soil. The deeper the roots can grow, the healthier your plants will be and the better your harvest. It is often suggested to line the bottom of your garden box with cardboard or black weed barrier cloth, but this will prevent your roots from growing as deep as they want. Try it without and see how your garden grows!

Weed Control. Your veggies will be further from the grass and weeds in your yard, but you will also be able to plant more densely…crowding out weeds that would otherwise grow.

Grow More in Less Space (with less work!) Traditionally, our gardens have always had narrow rows for plants and wide rows for walkways. There is no real reason to design your garden this way, except maybe because it’s how your grandparents gardened. If you have wider rows for your plants, you can fit much more than if you were to plant single rows. Utilize your space more efficiently and you can grow more in your garden than ever before!

Here is a great link to another good article about raised garden beds and on how to build a raised garden bed.

Check out these great tutorials for raised garden beds!

Garden Box Collage

Rectangle Garden Boxes | Vinyl Garden Boxes

U-Shaped Garden Box | Narrow Garden Box

Long Garden Boxes | Cinder Block Garden Box

Garden Box with Brick Border | Tall Garden Box

Rolling Casters Patio Box | Painted Garden Box with Cage

Raised Garden Boxes | Vertical Pallet Planter

Let us know what kind of raised beds you have in your garden, or what you plan to try!

Happy Gardening!

May 13, 2014 by Becky

Zucchini chips are a healthy, delicious snack, and a simple way to use up some of that end of season zucchini when you have used what you can and your plants are still giving! It takes only a few minutes to prepare, and then has some hands-off time in the oven. Doesn’t get much simpler!

Wash and dry your zucchini, then slice thinly, about 1/8 ” thick. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment and lightly spray with olive oil. Place zucchini slices close together (but not touching) and lightly spray with olive oil.

Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. The zucchini will shrink as it dehydrates and the flavor will intensify, so don’t over-season your rounds. If you under-season them, you can always add more when they are done.

DIY Tabletop Terra Cotta Fire Pit

Ingredients

Terra Cotta Pot (visit Western Gardens for the largest selection of sizes and designs)
Aluminum Foil
Charcoal
Charcoal Lighter Fluid
Lighter

Instructions

Line terra cotta pot with aluminum foil.
Fill pot with charcoal.
Drizzle lighter fluid on top of charcoal.
Stand to the side and light charcoal.
When charcoal begins to turn white, start roasting!
If you have a chimney-style charcoal starter, you can use that to start your briquettes. Transfer to your terra cotta fire pit when they begin to turn white.

https://westerngardens.com/zucchini-chips/

May 10, 2014 by Becky

Companion planting can help your garden flourish in ways it never has before. You can have healthier plants and a better harvest (and even control some garden pests!) by choosing with care which plants go together and which plants to keep apart. Companion planting isn’t difficult once you have a few basics down. This is, however, a very broad subject, so we’ll cover the basics here to get you started! Through companion planting you can:

enhance the flavor of your harvest (plants like herbs can enhance the flavor of nearby plants)
increase your yield (some plants help others grow better)
improve nitrogen (some plants can make nitrogen available to other plants)
repel pests (the biochemicals of certain plants can repel insect and other pests)
attract good guys (beneficial insects are attracted to or like to inhabit certain plants)
divert pests (certain plants attract pests, which can keep them away from your garden)

Companion Plants

{The list looks small, just click on it to enlarge!}

Other highly beneficial plants to consider for your garden:

catmint: deters ants
chamomile: helps keep nearby plants healthy
foxglove: lends strength and longer life to nearby plants
lavender: attracts bees and deters caterpillars, mice, ticks & rabbits
marigolds: deter pests
marjoram: repels insect pests, attracts bees
mint: repels insects pests, attracts beneficial insects
nettles: a weed, but it excretes nutrients into the soil and protects against aphids, black fly & mildew
pennyroyal: deters ants & burrowing insects
soybeans: nourishes and reconditions soil, and deters corn pests
tansy: repels pests
tarragon: beneficial to nearby plants
yarrow: good for veggies & herbs, attracts beneficial bugs

One of our favorite combinations for the garden is one of our favorite combinations for the kitchen…tomatoes and basil! Basil will add subtle flavor to tomatoes, makes it more disease resistant, and repel aphids, fruit flies & house flies, and it will attract bees! If you missed last week’s recipe for
bruschetta, a simple but amazing combination of tomatoes and basil, be sure to pin it so you can make it this summer! We will keep bringing you weekly garden-fresh recipes to give some kitchen inspiration for all those delicious fruits and veggies!

Happy planting!

May 6, 2014 by Becky

One of our favorite ways to use tomatoes is in this simple, fresh & delicious bruschetta recipe. It goes together fast and is beautiful enough to serve to guests. This is a great way to use tomatoes when you have more than you can share with your neighbors (one of the best problems to have!).

Toasting the bread in a hot griddle with butter adds even more flavor, and makes them brown beautifully. This can be done with baguette (used here) for an appetizer size, or french bread for a main dish.

DIY Solar Lantern

Ingredients

empty small-mouth mason jar or other small decorative jar
inexpensive solar yard light
canning jar ring (optional)
hot glue

Instructions

Remove the lid/ring from your small jar.
Remove the solar light unit from the inexpensive solar light. Recycle the rest of the solar light or reserve for another project.
Place the solar light unit (with solar cells facing up) on/into the top of the jar opening. Secure with hot glue.
If desired, place a canning ring on top of the jar (around the solar light) and secure with hot glue.
Place solar lights in your yard, they look great sitting on the porch or hanging from a shepherd's hook!

https://westerngardens.com/bruschetta/

One of the best parts about this bruschetta is its versatility. If you like more salt, add more salt. If you want more basil, add more! You can adapt it to whatever your taste may be, and the wonderful flavors of the tomatoes and basil will always shine through.

May 3, 2014 by Becky

Flower pots are an easy, beautiful way to dress up your porch and yard. They add a great pop of color and a lot of interest, and you can try something new without a commitment to your landscape. We’ve put together a few tips to make your planters really stand out and look their best this Spring!

Choose Your Pot

Pick something that will match its surroundings…or stand out and make a statement!

Prepare Your Pot

The first thing to add to your pot is a coffee filter. This will let water drain through the hole, but keep all that potting soil where it belongs…in the pot! This is especially helpful if your planters will be on a porch or patio, or other area you want to keep clean.
Add a couple of inches of small rocks over the coffee filter. This will help your soil drain better, which will keep your plants healthier.
If your pot is large and you worry that it will be too heavy when filled, try placing a smaller pot inside your large pot and upside down over the layer of rocks.
Once your rocks (and smaller inverted pot, if necessary) are in place, add some potting soil. Fill the pot about 2/3 full. This way you can set each of the plants in the pot without digging individual holes…you will fill soil in between the plants once they are all in place.

Add some Drama!

The three types of plants for your pot are “Thrillers, Fillers & Spillers.”
When you remove the plants from their containers, gently tear the roots away from the soil so they will begin to grow into the soil, instead of circling their root ball.
Thrillers add height and dimension. Place in the center of your pot. Grasses are a great choice for a center plant, anything from Purple Fountain Grass to Dracaena Spikes.
Fillers add rich color and interest. Place around your “thriller” plant. Choose your favorite flowers…the possibilities are endless!
Spillers add a special, dramatic touch as they begin to cascade over the side of your pot. They stay beautiful all season long. Sweet Potato Vines and Creeping Jenny are always popular!

Make it Odd

Use odd numbers when you are adding plants to your pot. One of those basic design principles…odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye. Add them in 1’s, 3’s or 5’s.

Keep it Happy

Be sure to give your flowers pot the water they need, but don’t over-water! Feel the soil…if it’s still nice and moist, don’t water. If the soil is just barely moist, it’s time for water. {A good rule of thumb is to stick to your finger in the soil about two inches to feel how moist it is. Let the soil become just moist between waterings, but don’t let it dry out.} Plants in full sun will need water more frequently than plants in full shade. You will figure out quickly how often to water your pots, then just make it part of your gardening routine!

Check out our video, Mike will show you how to put it all together!

Flower pots are a gorgeous addition to any yard. We would love to see yours! Email your pictures to [email protected] for a chance to be featured on our Instagram account! {Or use the hashtag #westerngardencenter} Be sure to follow us @western_gardens if you aren’t already!

April 29, 2014 by Becky

Looking for a fresh, colorful side dish for your Mother’s Day brunch this year? Try this fruity pasta salad! It’s versatile, flavorful, and easy to put together…perfect for busy moms and grandmas (and dads too)!

You can use any combination of soft fruits in this salad. Here we used strawberries, pineapple, grapes, kiwi and mandarin oranges.

Peaches, nectarines, grapefruit, plums, all kinds of berries, bananas…add whatever combination sounds good!

Strawberry Mango Salsa

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup mango, diced (about 1 mango)
1/8 cup red onion, diced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp honey
juice from 1 lime

Instructions

In a small bowl combine honey and lime juice.
In a large bowl combine strawberries, mangoes, onions and cilantro.
Toss with honey-lime mix.
Chill until ready to serve.

https://westerngardens.com/fruity-pasta-salad/

April 22, 2014 by Becky

If you are in a salad rut, including roasted vegetables is a great way to add color, texture, flavor and dimension…with minimal effort! Roasting vegetables is not just easy to do, but it also brings out a wonderful flavor that is surprisingly delicious when paired with fresh lettuce and a cooked egg.

…

April 18, 2014 by Becky

Edible flowers are a fun addition to a summer salad, are gorgeous when candied, and make beverages more beautiful. They are easy to use and add a special flare to your dish!

Some of the flowers on our list may surprise you. You might already have them growing in your yard without even realizing the culinary excitement that awaits! There are a few things to remember when cooking with flowers:

use flowers that are grown organically
make sure the flowers you want to eat are edible, as some flowers can make you sick
eat flowers in moderation, they can cause digestive or allergy problems if overused
if you know you are allergic to a certain plant, avoid eating its flower
eat the edible parts (usually just the petals) of edible flowers–remove pistils and stamens
Do not use non-edible flowers as a garnish, guests may reasonably assume that if a flower is in their food, they can eat it

Top Ten Edible Flower Picks

Borage is an annual herb (also known as starflower). Borage flowers are usually blue, but can also appear pink or white. They have a faint cucumber taste and are well-suited to salads, beverages and desserts.

Chrysanthemums have a mild flavor. Sprinkle the petals over a salad for a beautiful presentation.

Daylilies are slightly sweet with a mild vegetable flavor and work well for garnishes, desserts, or even deep frying! Use only the orange daylily.

Lavender has a sweet floral flavor and lends itself well to both sweet and savory dishes. Use it in desserts or stews, or simply use it as a beautiful garnish.

Nasturtiums are one of the most commonly used edible flowers. They have a sweet, peppery flavor. Beautiful as a garnish, in a salad, or even on an open-faced sandwich.

Pansies can be eaten whole (including violas and johnny-jump-ups). They have a sweet flavor and are good for use in salads, drinks and desserts.

Dianthus has a clove-like flavor and adds lovely color to a salad. Beautiful in an ice ring for a party, or freeze petals in individual ice cubes.

Roses are a staple in many yards, and perhaps soon in many kitchens! All varieties are edible. The flavor varies between types and colors, but they are generally fruity, with deep colors having a more pronounced flavor. Great for salads, garnishes, beverages, and many other culinary uses.

Scented Geraniums are ideal in desserts, drinks, and even frozen in ice. Flavor generally corresponds with variety. The Citronelle variety may not be edible.

Squash is possibly the most surprising member of our list. They can be eaten raw, sauteed in butter, or even deep fried! This is a great way to prevent waste if your plants produce more than you (and all of your neighbors!) can use.

*Please note: this list is not exhaustive. Many flowers are edible. This list contains our ten favorites. If you want to eat a flower that does not appear on this list, make sure to reference a reputable source to ensure its safety. Some flowers can make you sick.

We are developing recipes for flowers and will begin posting when they are in season. If you have a favorite flower recipe or idea that you would like to share, leave it in a comment! We just might feature you in an upcoming post!