Gardening

April Gardening To-Do List

March 30, 2016 by Western Gardens

Welcome gardening friends, thanks for stopping by!

If you’re excited to work in your yard or garden, but not sure where to start now that Spring is here, then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve put together a list for you of things to do throughout the month.

You may not need to do everything on this list. For example, if you don’t have shade trees to fertilize or seedlings to harden off, skip over those items on the list. Just pick what applies to your yard and plan out when you will do it all throughout the month!

April Gardening To-Do List

➺Plant all trees and shrubs

➺Fertilize lawns with a pre-emergent fertilizer to prevent weed seeds from germinating (if not done in March), repeat in 6 weeks if you had a difficult weed problem last year.

➺Fertilize lawns with a regular fertilizer if you plan to seed your lawn/bare patches
in your lawn (if not done in March), repeat every 6 weeks. See Westerns 4 step program for the season.

➺Fertilize trees and shrubs

➺Thin Out seedlings you began indoors

➺Harden Off Seedlings by moving them to a cool place like a garage for two
or three days before planting them outside

➺Fertilize seedlings with a root starter during/after transplant

➺Aerate Lawn if not done in the Fall. If you have a new lawn of 2 years or less, no need to aerate.

➺Water Lawn only if needed, or to water in fertilize, water early in the day or at night

➺Remove or Spray Weeds when they first appear

➺Seed Bare Patches in Lawn do NOT use a pre-emergent fertilizer, OR you can plan to lay seed in September if you have already used a pre-emergent. Not sure how? See our article on Seeding Bare Patches in a Lawn!

➺Spurge & Crabgrass Control if not already done

➺Drain Snow Blower Gas and run it until it quits

➺Lay Sod any time you can find it, you can plant it

➺Deep Soak Trees & Shrubs if rainfall is inadequate

➺Harden Off Tender Annuals before planting outside

➺Spray Fruit Trees for fungus and pests with Fertilome Fruit Tree Spray AFTER the
flowers have fallen off

➺Do a Second Planting of lettuce & radish

➺Transplant kohlrabi, lettuce, onions, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc

➺Plant Outside
Until May 1st: kohlrabi, lettuce, parsnips, potatoes, rhubarb, asparagus, cabbage, spinach, turnips
Until May 15th: onions & peas
Until June 15th: carrots & endive
Until July 1st: cauliflower, parsley, swiss chard
Until July 15th: beets & broccoli
Until Sept 1st: radishes

Be sure to check out our May Gardening To-Do List!

*This list is not exhaustive. If we have overlooked something you’d like to see on this list, tell us in a comment below!

History of Western Gardens

March 22, 2016 by Western Gardens

History of Western Gardens

Western Garden Centers (commonly known as Western Gardens to our customers) was established at the downtown location in 1957 by S.W. Clayton and Dwight Walton, who had previously managed the Porter-Walton Company, which began is 1905. We are the uninterrupted retail continuation of this original Porter-Walton Company. Today Western Gardens is owned and managed by three Utah gardeners (including S.W.’s son and grandson!) with the goal of being the preferred garden shop for Wasatch Front gardeners.

Our West Valley store opened in 1962, and in 1972 moved to 3033 West 3500 South. In November of 2000 we moved the West Valley Western Garden Center to 4050 West 4100 South, where we’re still gardening today.

Western Gardens in Sandy was opened in the Spring of 1979 at 9201 South 1300 East. The greenhouses there were previously used by a grower, and we converted the site to retail use. Our current building went up at the same location in 2007.

When we rebuilt the Sandy store in 2007, we added a wedding venue called Atrium Weddings. In 2011, we renovated our historic downtown location to create a second reception center called Ivy House Weddings. These beautiful facilities continue to grow in serving the wedding and event community with wonderful gathering places for families and businesses.

Western Gardens provides trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, gardening supplies, organic solutions and plant material for the urban garden and gardener. Our goal is to be the best customer to our suppliers (most of which are local Utah companies), create the most enjoyable workspace for our amazing staff, and offer the best products at the best prices for our wonderful customers. We are the Utah garden experts. We are Western Gardens, for what grows here.

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!

Tips For Picking Ripe Cantaloupe

September 27, 2012 by Becky

If you’re like me, you can use some tips for picking ripe cantaloupe, because it can be hard to tell when it’s ready to eat!

I used to think I didn’t like cantaloupe very much. And I guess I didn’t really. My problem was that I was eating bland, dry, flavorless cantaloupe that I bought on sale somewhere. I learned my lesson and discovered how to choose or pick a cantaloupe that is ripe and ready to eat. Now when I’m either picking fruit at the store or from my own garden, there are some simple tips to help you spend your money and time wisely.

Follow these simple tips to choose a melon that is ripe and ready to eat.

LOOK – Cantaloupe should be a nice golden yellow color. Don’t pick cantaloupe that are greenish. They are not ready! Don’t worry about rough spots that may be on the outside of your cantaloupe. They don’t mean anything as to the ripeness.
FEEL – You should be able to feel the edges of the outer skin. A smooth skin means it is not ripe. The flower end (the end not attached to the vine) is soft. You should be able to press it gently in. If it springs back out after pressing, your cantaloupe is ready.
SMELL – Place that blossom end or the “button” of the cantaloupe just under your nose and take a whiff. A strong sweet aroma indicates the cantaloupe is ready. Sometimes you will smell the strong aroma without smelling the button. If it doesn’t have a scent, don’t pick it or don’t buy it. It is not sweet.

Now when I eat cantaloupe, it is like a little slice of heaven. Fresh from my garden, picked right off the vine. It is heavy, fragrant, so very juicy, and still warm from sitting in the sun in my happy little weed-filled corner of the world. This is what makes me love to garden. And what makes me love to eat!

Perfection!