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There is almost nothing better than snagging a few delicious raspberries while strolling through my garden.  I grow red everbearing raspberries, (but there are a number of varieties that do very well here in Utah).  Everbearing produce two crops on the same canes, one in the fall of the first year, the second in the summer of the following year.

Our area is perfect for raspberries because they need a winter chill and a lingering springtime with slowly warming temperatures.  Which is why the famous Bear Lake Raspberries are so tasty.  However, you don’t have to live in Bear Lake Valley to grow delicious berries.  (Even in warmer zones, light shade and heavy mulch will keep the ground cooler.  Rich, slightly acidic soil around pH 6-6.5 is ideal.)

To get started, plant the bare-root stock in the spring.  Set red and yellow raspberries 2.5-3 feet apart, in rows spaced 6-10 feet apart.  Plant black and purple raspberries in slightly raised mounds 2-3 feet apart in rows 6-8 feet apart (they will develop into clumps of canes).  Mulch plantings to discourage weed growth and keep the soil moist.  Water is needed most during flowering and fruiting.  Fertilize at bloom time.

Red and yellow raspberries are produced on erect plants with long straight canes; they can grow as freestanding shrubs, but are tidier and easier to manage if trained on trellis or hedgerow (pairs of parallel wires strung 3 feet and 5 feet above the ground along either side of a row of plants).

Summer-bearing varieties should produce three to five canes in the first year.  Don’t be shy about pulling out any canes that grow more than a foot away from the trellis or row.  In early spring cut the canes back to 4-5 feet tall.  When growth resumes, new canes will appear all around the parent plant and between the rows.  After the original canes bear fruit, cut them to the ground.  Select the best 5-12 new canes and tie them to the support (they will bear next summer); cut the remaining canes to the ground.  Everbearing red and yellow varieties fruit in the first autumn on the top of a cane, then again in the second summer on the lower two-thirds of the cane.  Cut off the upper portion of the cane after the first harvest; cut out the cane entirely after the second harvest.

Black and purple berries are produced on clump-forming plants with arcing canes.  No support is needed.  In the first summer, force branching by heading back new canes to 2-2.5 feet.  In early spring, remove all the weak or broken canes.  Leave 6-8 canes in each hill and shorten the side branches to 8-12 inches.  The side branches will bear fruit in late summer.  After harvesting, cut to the ground all canes that have fruited and cut back all new canes as described for the first summer’s growth.

Keeping your raspberries free of disease and small pests is really quite easy, be sure to stop by Western Garden Center to talk to one of our skilled gardeners to learn more about keeping your plants strong and healthy.

Oh, and don’t forget to let us know when you’re harvesting your yummy raspberries, we’d love a taste!

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A healthy lawn is the centerpiece of your landscaping and does a lot more than increase the value and beauty of your home.  Your lawn helps clean the air and encourages cooler temperatures around the house.

Although there are many who enjoy the benefits of instant grass (sod), planting will also yield a lush and healthy lawn.  Here are a few tips to help you get started, but we are always available to offer help and advice if you’d like to personally talk to one of our experienced gardeners:

  1. Area: The seed package will identify how many square feet a pound will cover.  To determine square feet, multiply the length by the width.  For triangular areas, multiply the base times the height and divide by two.  For circular areas use the radius and times by 3.14.  If the area you want to plant is irregular, break it down into rectangles, triangles, and circles and add them all together to get square feet.  One pound will typically cover 300 square feet.
  2. Preparation: Make sure you have 6-8″ of well-drained, fertile soil for healthy root growth.  You may need to add topsoil.  If so, till 2″ into the existing soil, rake away rocks and other debris, then cover with the remaining soil.  You will need to apply an All-Purpose fertilizer by raking it into the soil.  Once you’ve shaped where the grass will grow, roll the area with a half-full roller until the seed bed is firm and smooth.  Your final preparation for seed is to gently rake the surface to create small furrows for the seed to lodge into.
  3. Sowing: Using a spreader, spread half of the seed evenly over the entire seed-bed, walking in one direction.  Spread the second half, walking at a right angle to your first sowing. (Don’t attempt to do this in the wind.)
  4. Covering: Your grass seed will germinate best if lightly covered with a top dressing of peat moss—1/8″ to 1/4″, but no more.  Roll the seed and peat moss with an empty roller to ensure that the seed is in contact with moist soil to germinate evenly.
  5. Water: It’s important to keep the top layer of soil moist until the new grass is well established.  If it’s cool and not windy you might get away with once a day, but as the temperatures rise, or if there is a light wind, you might need four to five light waterings a day.  Spray a light misting for the first two weeks, coarser nozzles can be used after that.  Don’t allow the seed-bed to dry out during the first few weeks.

Follow these five steps and it won’t be long before you’re beautiful new lawn is growing strong and healthy.  If you have any questions, or need help picking the right seed or fertilizer, stop by Western Gardens and one of our gardeners will answer all your questions.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for daily tips and specials.

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If plans for your garden include a new tree, you might as well start out right.  Here are six steps to help make planting your new tree easy:

  1. Dig your hole twice as wide as the root ball, but not any deeper.  If you’re planting in the lawn, you might want to consider planting  a bit higher so the crown is slightly above the turf.  This will keep the tree from drowning in the water your lawn requires.
  2. Don’t worry too much about digging a perfectly shaped hole—it won’t impress the tree.
  3. Before placing the tree in the hole, fill the hole with water.  If it doesn’t drain in an hour, you need some further coaching—stop by and let one of our gardeners help determine the cause before planting.
  4. Remove the containers and position the tree in the hole.  Wire, fiber pots, and (true) burlap don’t need to be removed, but do cut away twine and any excess burlap or fiber (be careful to disturb the root ball as little as possible).
  5. Depending on your soil, you will want to amend the “refill mix” with fertilizer or compost.  Different soils absorb and release water differently, so make sure to check the soil water content (at root depth) physically or with a water meter.  Your new tree needs moist, not soggy or dry, soil at root depth.  As the tree matures, water deeper, but less frequently.  (Stop by and talk to one of our gardeners about the type of soil in your garden and they will help you determine the perfect “refill mix” for your tree.
  6. Fertilize when planting with WGC root starter.  Delay additional fertilizing for fall planted trees until the next spring to avoid stimulating excessive top growth.  Follow the instructions, more is not better, especially near new growth roots.

We have everything you need to keep your newly planted tree strong and healthy.  Feel free to stop by and let us help with all of your tree planting needs.  We have the perfect fertilizers and mulch to get your tree off to a good start.

But remember, always follow the current label instructions of any pesticide you might use.  Label changes do occur, so be aware that older instructions might sometimes need to be adjusted/disregarded so application conforms to the current pesticide container label.

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Until he retired, I had the same barber for about 30 years—since his retirement; I never seem to get the same haircut twice.  Fortunately as they say, the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is only a couple of weeks.  Is the same true for pruning the garden?  I don’t think so.  I believe there is some art to mastery of the pruning shears.

Pruning is important to keep plants healthy and thriving.  Depending on what you want to accomplish, there are a few pruning techniques you’ll need to master.

  1. Heading: Sometimes we want to “head” a plant in a certain direction (hence the name).  This technique is also great to control plant size or keep a plant symmetrical.  Remove the top growth back to a node (the place on the stem where leaves and branches emerge), without taking too much of the plant at a time.  Because heading only deals with the removal of a few branches at any given time, you can do this any time of the year.  This is how many people prune Forsythia.
  2. Renewal: Sometimes this is called thinning.  The goal is to cut out the old, unproductive branches to encourage new growth.  In renewal pruning, we remove the old branches and stems right down to the ground, however some gardeners cut back to lower nodes.  This is how I prune my Lilacs.
  3. Rejuvenation: My father pruned his Clematis this way and had the most healthy and beautiful-looking vines I’ve ever seen.  In rejuvenation pruning we cut all the stems to the ground.  Most people use this type of pruning on old neglected shrubs that re-grow quickly.  Many, like my dad, prune this way on shrubs that produce flowers on new growth, like his Clematis.  This type of pruning is usually done in late winter or early spring.
  4. Shearing: Like my haircut, hedges are sheared, meaning the top growth is removed down to a random point.  Without regard for stem re-emergence.  Common hedge plants respond well to shearing.  But be careful, there are some plants, like Forsythia, that don’t respond well to this technique and end up looking terrible when it’s done.

Before you start pruning, make sure you understand your goals—and make sure you have the right tool for the job.  If you have questions, any of our gardeners at Western Gardens are ready to offer advice and make sure you have just what you need.  Also, visit us on Facebook for daily updates and specials.

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Everyone loves tomatoes.  I think homegrown tomatoes are so popular because they taste so much better than anything  you can buy in the grocery store.  However there are some things you need to watch out for to make sure you have a bumper crop.  Here are just a few:

  1. Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that suck the liquid sap from the leaves.  They may be clear, white, green, red, or brown.  Use permethrin, neem oil, or malathion as needed.
  2. Fusarium Wilt turns the lower leaves yellow as they wilt and die.  IT spreads to the upper shoots and will eventually kill the whole plant.  If you slice the stem near the soil line lenghtwise and the internal tissue is dark brown/grey, there is nothing you can do but destroy the plant and fumigate the soil for next year.  There isn’t any chemical treatment you can apply.
  3. Tomato Leaf Roll affects older, lower leaves that roll upward until the margins touch or overlap.  The leaves feel leathery but remain green.  You won’t notice any other symptoms.  This is a temporary condition resulting from excessively wet soil.  Once the soil dries, the symptoms will gradually disappear.

Stop by Western Gardens and learn more about growing healthy and delicious tomatoes.  Also, visit us on Facebook for daily updates and specials.

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If you’re like me, once those delicious-looking vegetables start to grow, I can’t help myself, I want a taste.  However, as important as taste-testing is, there are some “rules of thumb” to help you determine the best time to harvest.  Most veggies are harvested right before they reach full maturity.  That’s when they tasted the best and have the most pleasant texture.  Here are a few examples.:

  1. Asparagus: Begin harvesting when the spears are 6-8 inches tall and about as thick as your pinkie.  Snap them off at ground level and new spears will start to grow.  My grandmother planted asparagus along the ditch beside the farmhouse.  There’s nothing better than fresh asparagus.
  2. Beans: Pick the beans before you see them start to bulge.  They should snap easily in two.  Make sure and check every day, it doesn’t take long for beans to go from delicious to tough.
  3. Carrots: Carrots are hard to judge for sure.  The top of the carrot will show at the soil line so you can gauge whether or not the diameter looks right, but you’ll have to test by pulling a couple to be sure.
  4. Tomatoes: Tomatoes are best when they are fully colored and slightly soft to the touch.  Gently twist and pull from the vine.
  5. Radishes: Because they mature quickly, as soon as you see the shoulders of the bulbs popping out of the soil line, it’s time to harvest.  If you wait too long, they will become tough and go to seed.

Although there are a lot of very popular vegetables we didn’t talk about, you can always stop by Western Gardens and talk to one of our expert gardeners.  We’re always happy to offer advice and recommendations that will help you yield a fruitful harvest and enjoy fresh vegetables at your dinner table all summer long.  You can also visit us on Facebook for daily updates and specials.

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Everyone enjoys fresh vegetables.  You might be surprised to know how much you can produce in a relatively small vegetable garden.  My father-in-law enjoys fresh carrots, chard, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, and even a few potatoes all summer—produced on a very small garden.  Here are a few pointers:

  1. Don’t bite off more than you can chew: Starting a new garden is a lot like starting a new exercise program.  At first you might be a little tired, sore, and tempted to quit.  If you’re new to gardening, start off with something small, no more than 8′ x 10′ or smaller.  You can always expand later.
  2. Pick a spot for your garden that gets a lot of sun all day: Once you’ve picked your spot, it’s time to get to work tilling the soil.  Rent, borrow, or even buy a small tiller to work up the soil and sod (that’s right, you don’t even have to remove the sod).  Digging out all the sod will create a recess in the soil, resulting in poor drainage.
  3. Determine the type of soil you’re working with: If it’s sandy (like mine) or has a lot of clay, you’ll need to bring in some topsoil to get you started right.  You can also use compost as a second choice.  (If you’re using compost, you’ll need to apply it in the spring and the fall for a couple of seasons before it will start to improve the soil.)

Now you’re ready to plant! Easy-to-grow crops like onions, peas, beets, rutabaga, and zucchini are a great place to start (especially for small gardens).  If you’d like advice on the best vegetables to start with in your garden, you can always stop by Western Gardens and talk to one of our helpful gardeners.  They are always ready to help you with pest control suggestions, fertilizer recommendations, and their opinions for the best time to plant.  Also, visit us on Facebook for daily updates and specials.

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This time of year a lot of folks come into the nursery with questions about which type of tomatoes would be the best to plant in their gardens.  Believe it or not, there are a lot of great tomato varieties that do very well in Utah—sometimes the choice is just a matter of personal preference.

The other day, someone asked about the best heirloom tomatoes for Utah.  We suggested that either Moonglow or Brandywine would be great.  Over the years I’ve experimenting with and found a couple that I really like.

One year I planted Early Girls and was eating tomatoes weeks before my neighbors.  There’s nothing as good as a sliced tomato alongside your favorite BBQ steak (especially when everyone else is still going to the grocery store for them).

Stop by Western Gardens and we’d be happy to share with you our personal favorites and help you decide.  When you stop by, mention the blog and take $5 off of any $20 purchase.

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