Tips & How To's

How to Plant a Spring Flower Bed

April 1, 2015 by Becky

Planting a Spring flower bed may seem like a daunting task if you’re new to gardening, but we have 10 easy tips and tricks to help you create a beautiful, inviting space in your yard.

1 -Lay Out Your Plants Before You Buy. Today’s planting actually started out on the floor in the nursery of Western Gardens. I laid out all of my plants on a cement square to help me decide how much I needed for the space to be planted. Once I had what I needed, it was easy to load up and head to the flower bed!

2- Clean Up Your Flower Beds. I always start every planting by cleaning up what’s already there. It seems simple, but it makes a big impact to just clear away old debris. 3- Add 2 Inches of Compost Over Top of the Flower Bed. No need to work it into the soil, the nutrients will work their way down to your plants’ roots. We could almost just stop here, at this point the bed already looks so much fresher and cleaner! The fun part is next though, so let’s get planting!

4- Use an Auger to Plant Bulbs. One of my favorite tools is a bulb planting auger. It’s an attachment that fits a standard-size drill, and it makes planting bulbs SO easy and fast! {You can pick one up at your nearest Western Gardens.} Just drill down about 6 inches, drop your bulbs in, and fill back in with soil! Bulb planting at its finest. And simplest.

5- Add Unique Plants like Veggies! I am always looking for ways to plant veggies in a landscape, so I took some along. Lettuce for some extra green, and some sugar snap peas to put on the trellis. It’s a great addition because it’s unique and beautiful, and who doesn’t want a sugar snap pea on their way out the door?

6- Incorporate Unique Elements that you might not always see in a flower bed. I found a trellis at Western Garden Center that went perfectly with the yellow front door and bistro table on the patio. Always try to find cool things to throw in a landscape, but never force it. If it doesn’t go with the flow, don’t try to make it work.

7- Adjust Flowers Prior To Digging. Before I dig any holes for my flowers, I lay them all out in the bed still in their containers. This is the time to make changes and play around with design. One important tip I always give is, take 10 steps back, take a deep breath, and look at what you are about to do. Adjust now before it’s too late!

If everything looks perfect, take your hand shovel, and dig into that bed! All the hard work is over now, so it is time to get everything into the ground. 8- Before the flowers go in the ground, gently tear part of the plants’ root systems…it will encourage the roots to grow into the surrounding soil instead of circling itself (like it’s been doing in the container). 9- Once all your flowers are planted, quickly give it a drink of water. If you’re planting when it’s hot outside, there’s a good chance those plants are in shock. Watering them right away will help them get established in their new home.

10- Don’t Be Afraid To Try Something New! We can’t wait to see those Sugar Snap Peas on that trellis! Now grab a lemonade, pull up a chair and enjoy your beautiful new flowers… and enjoy a sugar snap pea for me!

Plants in this post’s flower bed include: Sugar Snap Peas, Lettuce, Pansies, Prim Rose, Ornamental Cabbage, Ranunculus

{We are often asked what kind of compost we use in our own gardens. We recommend Bumper Crop all natural organic soil builder. It’s great for veggie gardens, flower beds, planter boxes, and pretty much anywhere else you want to put it!}

Roasted Artichoke

July 1, 2014 by Becky

If you want to impress your dinner guests, serve them this fabulous roasted artichoke! It may take a long time in the oven, but with only a couple of minutes of prep, it can be roasting while you prepare your meal, weed the garden or take a nap! And the flavor it develops from roasting is well worth the wait. As you may have noticed by now, roasting is one of our favorite ways to prepare veggies! If you like it steamed or boiled, try it roasted and you may never go back! We served this with a delicious garlic-cilantro-lime aioli that was made in the blender in about 30 seconds! Click here for this yummy recipe, you will love it!

Ingredients

https://westerngardens.com/roasted-artichoke/

To eat your artichoke, pull the leaves off, dip the part of the leaf that was attached to the artichoke in your sauce, put it in your mouth, close your teeth on the leaf, and pull outward. The soft, delicious part of the leaf will come off the more fibrous, woody part. Discard the leaf when you have eaten the soft part. Enjoy!

Deadhead Flowers

June 21, 2014 by Becky

You want your garden to always look it’s best, so don’t forget to deadhead your flowers when the blooms are spent! It’s easy, quick, and gives your plants a fresh look. It will also encourage more blooms on your flowers, so you get more bang for your planting buck.

Why Deadhead?

Plants want to ensure the survival of their species, so they produce seeds to grow the next generation. Flowers produce blooms, which will typically develop seeds. Once the plant has gone to seed, it will stop producing blooms because it has already done its job…it doesn’t need any more flowers. To get your flowers to keep producing beautiful blooms, remove the dead ones so they can’t produce seeds, and it will continue flowering in an effort to get those seeds! {THIS BEING SAID HOWEVER, most flower plants that are sold in stores are hybrids. They are bred by growers to develop different traits like color and hardiness. These flowers generally DO NOT produce seeds that should be replanted. Do not save seeds from hybrids, they will not produce a plant that is the same as the parent plant. Check with your local garden center if you aren’t sure about your particular plants.}

How Often?

How often you deadhead really depends on the size of your garden and how much you are in it. A small garden can go a couple of weeks in between deadheading, while some gardeners deadhead every day. You will quickly figure out how often you need and want to deadhead as you spend time in your garden.

How do I Deadhead a Flower?

It’s easy to deadhead flowers! You can pinch off the expired bloom between your thumb and forefinger, or go down to the first leaf below the flower and pinch it off there to hide the cut stem. If you don’t want to use your fingers, or the stem is too tough, use garden shears or even scissors for a nice, clean cut.

My 7 year old wanted to paint my nails sparkly green. Not sure if it’s coincidence or fate that I have a green thumb in these pictures!

As you deadhead flowers in your garden, you will notice more blooms and get more mileage out of your beautiful flowers. It only takes a few minutes to clear the dead flower heads away, but it will give you (and everyone else who sees your garden) more enjoyment as you spend time in your lovely space.

Happy Gardening!

How to cut Grape Tomatoes {Tip!}

June 17, 2014 by Becky

Today I have a great tip for you–how to cut grape tomatoes quickly and easily! {Plus a to-die-for recipe that just happens to need grape tomato halves!} With this simple method I can cut a dry pint of grape tomatoes in less than a minute!

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How to Water Your Lawn

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!

Raised Garden Beds

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!

Companion Planting 101

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!

How to Plant a Flower Pot

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 becky@westerngardens.com 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!

Edible Flowers

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!

Tips for Early Spring Gardening

April 11, 2014 by Becky

Haven’t started thinking about your garden yet for this year? Still deciding if you should start your very first garden? Looking for some inspiration? Now is a great time to start, and we want to make it easier by giving you a few tips we’ve learned over the years. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned gardener, you should find something helpful!

Start Small

If you have never planted a garden before, start small so you don’t overwhelm yourself and give up. Choose 3-5 of your favorite veggies or fruits. If you have more favorites than that, choose the produce that is the most expensive to buy at the store or farmer’s market!

Make it Easy

If you are starting your garden from seed, you want to avoid regular soil, which can carry diseases that your tiny seedling won’t be able to combat well. Use a seedling starter mix. We like to add some water to the mix before pulling it out of the bag! This way it stays evenly moist during the germination process.
Mike from our Sandy store demonstrated this on a great gardening segment for our local news channel. You can see him adding the water here before they pull any potting mixture out of the bag. We are working on getting a link to the actual video so we can show you his other great tips!

Protect

If you want to get your veggies outside and into the ground right now, just be sure to protect them from frost. A wall o’ water is a great way to protect individual plants, the wall of water surrounding the plant will insulate it from any cold nights that will hit. The average last frost date in Utah is May 15th, so a good rule of thumb is to protect your tender plants until about Mother’s Day.
Ever tried to fill a wall o’ water? It can be tricky! Check out our quick video tip to see a fast & easy way to do it. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great gardening tips!

Grow Boxes

If you are trying your hand at container gardening/grow boxes/raised beds, make sure they are the right size for you! You should be able to reach into the middle with your hand…so when you are building them, measure with the span of your arm. This is so when you are weeding, caring for your plants, and harvesting, you will be able to reach comfortably into the center of the bed.
If you are doing a vertical container garden, make your boxes a few inches smaller than this so you can reach the fruits & veggies that are growing up high.
Try to get 8-10 inches of soil in your grow box. The roots of your plants will be happier if they can get this far down into the soil.

Compost

Add a 2-3 inch layer of compost to your garden beds, the nutrients will seep down into your soil, and weeds will be kept at bay.

Pace Yourself

Try to do a little gardening every day, rather than saving it all for the weekend. Weekly gardening can seem overwhelming, but 15 minutes a day will keep the weeds down and spirits up!

There are as many good gardening ideas as there are gardeners. If you have a great tip you want to share with us, please leave us a comment! We might just feature you in an upcoming blog post!