Great Online Resources for Pacific Northwest Gardeners

It’s true, all of us, (including me!) have been guilty of waiting until the last minute to start gardening projects. And, yes, I have underestimated what it takes to take a project from dream to reality. Come springtime, the sun is out and I’m itching to get back into the garden – but my design isn’t completed, and now I’m crazy busy with work! I missed my window of opportunity and darn it all if my project won’t get finished now for months. I KNOW better..!

Each spring following the first sunny weekend, our office gets excited calls from folks anxious to design and build their new gardens, discuss landscaping projects and launch into creating their dream backyard…immediately. Guess what? While you might wait to call in spring – all that means is that your design project will begin in the spring, but it likely won’t be finished until much later in the year.

The reality is planning for your springtime projects should begin in winter – if not much earlier…Why wait when you can start now?

Whether you’re hoping to put in a new vegetable bed, renovate your ornamental shrub borders, design your perennials garden or create a new project from scratch, it’s important to jump into the planning phase as the icicles are dripping from the eaves. If you wait until the spring sunshine to start your planning, be ready to wait even longer to watch your garden grow. Don’t let winter get away from you. Jump into your project now – even as you finish mulching your garden beds and start checking off your Christmas shopping list.

I’ve put together a list of a few resources to help get your creative juices flowing. Go fetch a cup of tea, boot up your computer and settle into your chair to and begin your springtime planning today.

Enjoy the resources and the season,
Amy Harmon

Online Gardening Resources
UW Burke Museum Herbarium
biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php – Fantastic site with 1000′s of plants and images specific to the northwest. Excellent help for plant identification.

Great Plant Picks
www.greatplantpicks.org

King County Yard & Garden topics
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/stewardship/nw-yard-and-garden.aspx

Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides
http://www.pesticide.org/

Northwest Garden News
http://www.northwestgardennews.com/

Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture – Tree Care
http://pnwisa.org/tree-care-information/homeowner-articles-and-tips.html

Plant Native
www.plantnative.com – Includes a nice step by step plan for naturescaping.

Plant Amnesty
http://www.plantamnesty.org/ A fun & informative website, with tongue in cheek humor

Rainy Side Gardeners
http://www.rainyside.com/ – Maritime Pacific Northwest Gardening has a nice native plant section with photos.

Seattle Times- Plant Life
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/plantlife/ A selection of articles written by Valerie Easton, a Seattle freelance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/index.htm – Living with Wildlife

Washington Native Plant Society
http://www.wnps.org/ – A non profit organization for native plants.

Washington State University Extension
http://gardening.wsu.edu/

Washington State University Native Plants
gardening.wsu.edu/text/nwnative.htm – Identifying, Propagating, and Landscaping. Nice photos!

Pacific Northwest Native Wildlife Gardening.
www.tardigrade.org – Includes a listserv for gardening for wildlife (with native plants).

Washington State University website
www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/ -Puyallup site full of horticulture myths. Very informative!

USDA National plant database
plants.usda.gov – Lots of information and images on plants beyond the northwest.

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Green Thumb Company is a Bellingham based, full-service grounds maintenance company. We have a commitment to provide great landscaping services with outstanding customer satisfaction and have been serving Whatcom County customers in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden for more than 20 years.

If you would like to increase your home’s curb appeal or maintain your new or mature landscaping investment by developing a contract that is specific to your yard & landscaping needs as well as your budget, please give us a call at 360-671-LAWN (5296).

Spring blooming bulbs add seasonal color

After a long, wet Pacific Northwest winter, these early spring-blooming bulbs offer a welcome preview of the flowers and colors to follow.

Nothing signals the end of the winter season like seeing the first crocuses poking their heads through the last of the wet, dark soil. Few plants are as easy to grow, or as rewarding, as the early-blooming bulbs.

The only challenge is remembering to purchase and plant the bulbs during the excitement of the summer and fall gardening season, (it’s always hard for me to remember just how bleak the garden can look in late winter). Plan now for fall planting, and come spring you’ll be glad you did!

I’ve put together a selection of early-blooming bulbs that grow well in the area. Since many of these are small in size and statue, they look best planted in relatively large numbers. Don’t be intimidated by the thought of planting 100 or more bulbs; the tiny bulbs take just seconds to plant, especially if your soil is relatively loose. Simply make a slice in the soil with a trowel about 4 inches deep, wiggle it a little to make a hole, and, holding the soil back with the trowel, drop in the bulb. As you slide out the trowel, push any scattered soil back into the hole, then water the area to settle the soil.

 Scilla siberica ‘Spring Beauty’
Spring Beauty (Scilla)

Spring beauties are one of the earliest spring flowers to bloom. Flowering for a remarkably long time they bear clusters of bloom spikes that offer scented deep blue flowers. Exquisite when planted under spring flowering shrubs such as forsythia, azaleas, rhododendrons, and magnolias.

 ‘Golden Bowl’ Crocus
Crocus

Unlike snowdrops, crocus ring in the spring in a range of colors. Since the bright colors contrast with any remaining snow, they are wonderful planted in masses so you can enjoy a carpet of color from a distance. In the case of crocuses, more is definitely better! And like snowdrops, crocuses will multiply each year, especially if they are planted in the very well-drained soil they prefer.

Chionodoxa luciliae
Snow Glories (Chionodoxa)

Sometimes called Glory of the Snow, these beauties will blanket the ground with blue in early spring. Each bulb produces multiple star-shaped, sky-blue flowers. Just 4 to 5 inches in height, they look best planted in large drifts, and will multiply rapidly.

 

 

Muscari botryoides ‘Album’
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari)

Grape hyacinths aren’t true hyacinths, but instead are in the genus Muscari. However, if you look closely at these flowers, you’ll see the resemblance to hyacinths in the clusters of tiny flowers atop strap-like foliage. Grape hyacinths are so eager to multiply that they can become weedy–that is, if you consider a plant with such beautiful flowers a weed. Plant them where they can spread freely–in the lawn, under shrubs–rather than in a formal bed.

‘Blue Jacket’ Hyacinth

‘Jan Bos’ Hyacinth

 
Hyacinth

If the grape hyacinth above, with their diminutive stature and often muted colors, gently announce the arrival of spring, these two true hyacinths yell it from the rooftops! Not only are they extravagant in appearance, they are also wonderfully fragrant. Add these to the fact that hyacinths are very easy to grow, and there’s no reason not to include at least a few of these beauties in your garden. They are also excellent for forcing indoors, where you can enjoy their scent each time you pass by.

While there are hundreds of varieties of beautiful spring bulbs, I hope that this list can get you started thinking about planting some bulbs of your own this fall. Start looking now for your favorites when you are out and about town, check out the local gardening shops this spring for different varieties and ask your neighbors what it is, if they have something blooming that catches your eye.  Take notes and come fall, be ready to plant!

I hope you are loving all the bounty that spring brings us in Bellingham - my family and I sure am.

Enjoy the season ~  Amy Harmon

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Green Thumb Company is a Bellingham based, full-service grounds maintenance company. We have a commitment to provide great landscaping services with outstanding customer satisfaction and have been serving Whatcom County customers in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden for more than 20 years.

If you would like to increase your home’s curb appeal or maintain your new or mature landscaping investment by developing a  contract that is specific to your yard & landscaping needs as well as your budget, please give us a call at 360-671-LAWN (5296).

7 Life Lessons You Can Learn from Gardening

Gardening is an activity that can range from growing a colorful row of nasturtiums lining a window box to harvesting acres of raspberries. But the process of gardening, from planting a seed to watching a plant develop, is a joy that I’ve felt since I was little girl.

 The basic principle of gardening is change and growth, just like life. One rule of thumb that has been true since the beginning of time is that change is inevitable — nothing ever stays the same. I have gained a new way of seeing both myself and the world I live in from all the time I spend in the garden and over time, I’ve begun to realize that the life lessons I’ve learned from enjoying the process of gardening are as diverse as the variety of plants that exist!

Here are some of a few of my favorite lessons, fresh from the garden. Enjoy the season and may it bring peace and joy to you and your family.

~ Amy Harmon, Owner
Green Thumb Company

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It’s all about the dirt
You can wander into Bakerview Nursery or the Garden Spot and purchase any plant you desire, but if the soil you intend to place them in is not prepared well, or is not suited to what you intend to grow…your plants will suffer for it. This lesson holds true in so many other phases of life as well. The foundation of our general well being needs to be well-grounded, supported and rich with “the good stuff” in order for us to thrive. That foundation may depend on varying parts of our spirituality, family, physical health or financial well-being, and many other types of support, but that support is essential. In the end, our ability to grow is dependant on how we prepare and mix these foundations that allow us to thrive and grow strong – just like our plants.

Turn your face toward the sun if you want good energy
Most varieties of plants depend on sunlight to help them grow. Many plants like sunflowers, literally turn their petals and leaves toward the sun to gather the maximum energy to help process photosynthesis, the life-giving conversion of light to food. People are similar in some very literal ways, needing sunlight for health and for the production of that critical vitamin D in their systems (especially here in the Pacific Northwest!) Turning your face toward the sun can also be seen as a symbolic gesture as well. The sun represents optimism, a critical life-force for many people. Sunlight has been shown to improve moods in people just as it has shown to help plants grow. And whether it is physical or symbolic, the end result is the same…Sunlight is a positive thing*

*Of course, only in moderation and with a liberal dose of sunscreen.

It takes some weeding to make a garden grow
One of the most difficult concepts for beginning gardeners to understand is that individual plants require trimming, cutting and culling to thrive. Plants cannot grow well if they are choked out by other plants or allowed to extend themselves so far that their energy can’t be focused back toward producing blossoms, fruit or healthy stems and leaves. In people, the ability to weed out activities that don’t bring us pleasure or contentment, and trim back the fat or unkempt portions of our lives helps to contribute to our overall health and well being. A tree with branches that double back and crisscross over each other – effectively ceases its own growth and entangles its living branches. Similar to how we can allow too much in our lives to strangle our choices and choke out the pleasures of simplicity.

Long range planning
To make sure your garden is beautiful year round — and for many years to come, (instead of only looking good just as you’ve planted it), one must consider the future. Keep in mind that different plants bloom at various times of the year, and while one corner of the garden blooms merrily away, another might lie dormant. Other thoughts to consider might include each plant’s growth speed as well as what the mature height, width and average spread might be over several years. Life works that way too; a little planning ahead goes a long way to limiting potential growing pains, enjoying the beauty of the process and smoothing out the future.

Plant when the time is right, and enjoy the fruits of your labor
Effective gardeners develop a keen sense and understanding of the rhythms of the seasons… they are naturally intuitive to a seasonal clock of when to put certain plants in the ground. Plant too early and vegetables or flowering plants might freeze and die. Plant too late and the summer heat can kill off tender young shoots. One must always remember that it pays off (more than you think!) to harvest what you grow. Not just to enjoy the fruits of your labor, so to speak, but removing portions of the garden at certain times makes room for the next round of plants to flourish during their season. This is so true in many phases of life. We forget to take the time to enjoy that which we work so hard to create. Learning to indulge in a little bit of our resources each day is a healthy and positive way to reward ourselves for all our hard work. And it never hurts to awaken your senses to all the joys and pleasures around as you consider what your daily reward should be!

Surprises Can Be Perfectly Delightful
Sometimes something bizarre might surprise you in the garden. Maybe a wrong label was attached to a  seed packet or a pot was mismarked at the shop and you find a total unexpected plant growing in the middle of your yard. This has happened several times to me over the years and while at first I was disappointed when I didn’t get the plant I was anticipating – by the middle of the season, I found pleasure in the unexpected burst of color or foliage that appeared. Life works like that too. Although the life surprise might upset the balance or change the routine momentarily, it seems the unexpected always works itself out and more often than not, is welcomed – at least after the initial shock wears off.

Change is Good Thing
Sometimes a perennial will take a notion to seed itself smack dab in the middle of the yard instead of inside the boundaries of the bed. A short plant might get tucked behind a tall one or perhaps two brightly foliaged & budding plants fight for attention along the border. Feel confident in your ability to take action and change things! Dig up that short plant and bring it to the front. Move that bloomer to the other side of the garden where its hot orange flowers & chartreuse foliage don’t fight in competition against the explosive red petals and deeper brown leaves. It is okay to move things around, sometimes it’s essential to survival. Just as change is great in the garden, so it is with life. When I find I grow slightly irritated with where I currently am – I just gently remind myself it is okay to make changes to grow as a person and reposition!

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If you are in need of a residential or commercial yard clean up or grounds maintenance work, give us a call and tell us about your landscaping needs.  We would be happy to give you a  free estimate and work with you to give your landscaping the care it needs this season.

Our Garden and Winter Yard Clean Up services include pruning, leaf clean up, branch and debris clean up, mulching, hedge and shrub trimming, weed control, fertilizing, increasing curb appeal, yard waste removal, weeding, yard clean ups, spreading new beauty bark or gravel, planting and/or removal of plants, and much more. Remember to mulch now to protect your plants before it snows! Call Green Thumb Company at (360) 671-LAWN for a free estimate, or Request a Quote directly from our website.

Wintertime Tool Maintenance Checklist

Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey uses the common story of a woodcutter who is sawing for days on end but in the process of all that cutting, is becoming less and less productive. That woodcutter, like us gardeners, should always remember this very important fact: “the better a tool works for us, the less we have to work”!

Winter is a prime time to make sure our tools are working as hard as they can for us. A quick check over your gardening tools at the end of each season before you put them to rest for the winter will help increase their usefulness (and your happiness) for years! This winter time tool maintenance checklist is easy for anyone to follow and will help save you money in the long run, not to mention, making your job easier when springtime rolls back around. Just remember, you do not have to wait until the end of the season to protect your tool investment.

Every time you finish a job, take the following steps to preserve their longevity:

1. Rinse tools after each use, dry them thoroughly and apply a light coat of oil to all metal parts.
2. You can use a stiff-bristle brush to clean stubborn, hard-to-remove dirt.
3. A designated space or worktable where you can inspect your tools and perform any necessary maintenance helps to make this chore go quickly. Remember to cover the area with newspaper or plastic sheeting to both help protect the area and make it easier to clean up after you are done.

 Be sure to store your tools off the ground and somewhere away from the rain and snow – moisture is bad news for tools! Garages and basements that have direct outdoor access are great storage places – as long as they are dry. If you do not have a place to store your tools and equipment, you may want to consider building or purchasing a tool shed for this purpose.

Step 1. Blades
Before you store your equipment for the off-season, sharpen or replace blades on tools that dig or cut. Digging and cutting tools’ blades get worn down faster than any other tool surface used in the garden, but filing can easily sharpen any nicked or dull blades. Maintain the sharp edge of all cutting tools by honing them using a medium-grit sharpening stone. For faster cutting, wet the stone with water or with honing oil, depending on the type of stone you’re using.

Safety Alert! Wear heavy gloves when cleaning or sharpening sharp cutting tools. Wear goggles when using a wire brush to remove rust and dirt. Sharpen very dull hedge trimmer blades by moving a file away from and diagonally across the sharp edge, making sure you maintain the factory bevel. Then decrease the angle slightly and hone just the last 1/16” of the blade with a sharpening stone. If your trimmer has a serrated blade, do not attempt to sharpen it. Check to be sure that all blades for power equipment are balanced so they will not vibrate off during use and cause possible injury or damage. Most digging tools are not sold sharpened, so you should to sharpen them from the very start. The more you use your digging tools, the duller they get. File the working edge to a 45-degree bevel with a coarse file. Since a bow saw cuts in both directions, use a triangular file to sharpen both sides of each of the saw’s teeth to a 45- to 60-degree bevel. To keep track of where you are, file every other tooth starting at one end of the blade – then file the remaining teeth the same way, working from the opposite end. Always file toward the sharp edge and pay attention to what you are doing. This is not the time to multitask!

 Helpful Tip: Clamp a pair of boards on the blade and lock it in a bench vise so you will not have to keep changing the blade position in the vise. Once the blades have all been sharpened and before you store these tools for the off-season, use that wire brush to remove surface dirt or rust. Wipe the metal down with a light oil to protect it from rust, especially if you store your tools in a damp garage or shed.

 Step 2. Handles
Check your handles of each of your tools for any splinters, cracks or breaks. Smooth weathered, rough wooden handles with a medium-grit emery cloth – it will not tear as easily as sandpaper and it wraps around the handle easier. Tool handles should be smooth enough to slide your hand along without catching. If the wood is very rough, first sand across the grain in a “shoe-shine” fashion, then finish it up by sanding along with the grain. Of course, tools with fiberglass handles will not have these issues, so skip right past this step to number 3… 

Helpful Tip:
Wipe dry handles down with a heavy coat of linseed oil at the end of the season to rejuvenate and protect the wood over the winter months. Sometimes repairing a handle is not a safe option. In these cases, it may be worthwhile to replace the handle of a favorite, high quality tool – Use a ball-peen hammer or a block of wood with a nail hammer to knock the tool head out of the ferule on the handle. Consider fiberglass when replacing your tool handles – it is lighter and easier to maintain!

 Step 3. Mower Maintenance
Before you give your lawn mower the season off, empty out the fuel entirely by running the mower until it runs out of gas and the motor comes to a stop – don’t just dump it out. Change the oil and remove spark plugs – changing the spark plugs, if necessary. Reinstall the spark plug without connecting the ignition cable, and add a small amount of oil to the crankcase to store.

Safety Alert! Again, be sure that all blades for power equipment are balanced so they will not vibrate off during use and cause possible injury or damage

Never store a dirty mower! Not only will the care you take now help extend the life of your mower, cleaning out last season’s grass from underneath the mower is a dirty job – but SO much better than having to deal with old grass in the spring!

Thoroughly clean the engine and frame of the mower, on top and underneath, using a scraper to remove any built-up dirt and grass clippings on the underside of the mower. Rinse completely with a garden hose. Once it is clean, check the blade’s condition for wear and tear. If the blade needs sharpening, use a heavy file to remove dull edges or (better yet) simply replace it so it’s ready come spring.

Step 4. Weed Wacker Winterization
Remove all dirt, grease and debris from the trimmer using a stiff-bristle brush, then tighten all screws and hardware. Drain the fuel tank, remove the spark plug and add a small amount of oil into the cylinder. Pull the starting cord a couple of times to distribute the oil throughout. Reinstall the spark plug but do not connect the ignition cable, just leave it until spring.

That is it. Perfectly maintained tools ready for use first thing in the spring when that gardening bug hits.  Hope you enjoy your season and take the time to be grateful for all that we have, here in the Pacific Northwest. May your holiday season be filled with family, joy and peace. ~ Amy Harmon

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 If you are in need of a residential or commercial yard clean up or grounds maintenance work, give us a call and tell us about your landscaping needs.  We would be happy to give you a  free estimate and work with you to give your landscaping the care it needs this season.

Our Garden and Winter Yard Clean Up services include pruning, leaf clean up, branch and debris clean up, mulching, hedge and shrub trimming, weed control, fertilizing, increasing curb appeal, yard waste removal, weeding, yard clean ups, spreading new beauty bark or gravel, planting and/or removal of plants, and much more. Remember to mulch now to protect your plants before it snows! Call Green Thumb Company at (360) 671-LAWN for a free estimate, or Request a Quote directly from our website.

Indoor and Outdoor Plant Care Between December and February

Winter Plant Care in Bellingham, WA

Many people see the fall and winter as a time to close down the garden and wait until the spring to start up gardening activities again. However, there are plenty of things you can be doing through the fall and winter months to continue enjoying the pleasures of gardening, both indoors and out.

As most gardeners soon realize, prepping your plants for the winter is a never ending task — gardening does not end just because summer is over. The timing of gardening chores and events can vary from year to year, depending on weather and site conditions, but a lifetime of winter gardening in the Pacific Northwest has taught me a few tricks to keep things looking great, even through the winter months.

Below is a basic guide to help sort out both the WHAT and the WHEN to tackle the most important tasks to keep both your outdoor AND your indoor garden plants looking fresh and fantastic for the holiday season and beyond.

 Enjoy the season ~ Amy Harmon

Indoor Plants

Houseplants getting additional sunlight through the windows

December

• Check houseplants for brown, dry edges on their leaves. This may indicate too little relative humidity in the house. Increase humidity by running a humidifier, grouping plants together, or using pebble trays.
• Extend the beauty of holiday plants, such as poinsettias and Christmas cactus, by placing them in a cool, brightly lit area free from drafts.
• Houseplants may not receive adequate light because days are short and gloomy. Move plants closer to windows, but avoid placing foliage against cold glass panes. Another option is to add artificial lighting in the area.
• Because growth slows or stops in winter months, most plants will require less water and much less fertilizer.
• If you are forcing bulbs for the holidays, bring them into warmer temperatures after they have been sufficiently “precooled”. Two to four weeks of warm temperatures (60°F), bright light, and moderately moist soil are needed to bring on flowers. Bulbs require a chilling period of about 10 to 12 weeks at 40°F to initiate flowerbeds and establish root growth. Precooled bulbs are available from many garden suppliers if you did not get yours cooled in time.
• When shopping for a Christmas tree, check for flexible, green needles that do not shed, and a sticky trunk base, both indicators of freshness. Make a fresh cut on the trunk, and keep the cut end under water at all times.
• Evergreens, except pines and spruce, can be trimmed now for a fresh supply of holiday greenery. Use proper pruning techniques to preserve the beauty of landscape plants.

January

• Keep holiday poinsettias and other plants near bright window. Water as the top of soil becomes dry.
• Check produce and tender bulbs that you have dug up and kept in storage. Discard any that show signs of decay, like mold or softening. Shriveling indicates insufficient relative humidity.

February

• Check water levels daily in cut-flower vases and re-cut ends as needed.
• Repot houseplants as they outgrow current pots.
• Early blooms of spring-flowering bulbs can make a beautiful gift for your sweetheart. Keep the plant in a bright, cool location for longer lasting blooms. Forced bulbs make poor garden flowers and should be discarded as blooms fade.

Lawns, Woody Ornamentals, Landscape Plants, and Tree Fruits

December

• Prevent bark-splitting of young and thin-barked trees, such as fruit and maple trees. Wrap trunks with tree wrap, or paint trunks with white latex (not oil-based) paint, particularly on the south- and southwest-facing sides.
• Protect shrubs, such as junipers and arborvitae, from extensive snow loads by tying their stems together with twine. Carefully remove heavy snow loads with a broom to prevent limb breakage.
• Protect broadleaf evergreens, or other tender landscape plants from excessive drying by winter sun and wind. Place canvas, burlap, or polyethylene plastic screens to the southland west to protect the plants. Similarly, shield plants from street and sidewalk salt spray.
• Provide winter protection for roses by mounding soil approximately 12 inches high to insulate the graft union. Additional organic mulch, such as straw, compost, or chopped leaves, can be placed on top. Wait until late winter or early spring to prune.

January

• Check the lower trunks of young trees for rodent injury. Prevent injury to the tree with hardware cloth/ or protective collars.
• “Leaf”  (my feeble attempt of a pun) through the nursery catalogs and make plans for landscape and fruit orchard purchases. Order early for best selection.
• Cut branches of forsythia, honeysuckle, pussy willow, crabapple and other early spring-flowering plants to force into blooming indoors. Place the branches in warm water and set them in a cool location.

February

• Check mulches, salt/windscreens, rodent shields, and other cold weather plant protections to make sure they are in place.
• Prune landscape plants, except early spring bloomers, Rhododendrons or other plants that have already budded, which should be pruned after flowers fade.
• Prune fruit trees to control tree size. Remove dead, damaged, or weak limbs.

Flowers, Vegetables, and Small Fruits

December

• Protect newly planted or tender perennials by applying mulch such as straw, chopped leaves, or other organic material after plants become dormant.
• Store leftover garden chemicals where they will stay dry, unfrozen, and out of the reach of children, pets, and unsuspecting adults.
• Mulch strawberries when temperatures have dropped to 20°F.
• Clean up dead plant materials, synthetic mulch, and other debris in the vegetable garden as wells in the flower beds, rose beds, and orchards.
• Order seed catalogs, and make notes for next year’s garden.

January

• Browse through garden catalogs and order seeds and plants early for best selection.
• Sketch your garden plans on paper, including what to grow, spacing, arrangement, and number of plants needed.
• Wood ashes from the fireplace can be spread in the garden, but don’t overdo it. Wood ashes increase soil pH, and excess application can make some nutrients unavailable for plant uptake. Have your soil tested to be certain of the Ph before adding wood ash.

February

• Prepare or repair lawn and garden tools for the upcoming season. (This will be the next article and I will link the two)
• Start seeds indoors for cool-season veggies so they will be ready for transplanting to the garden early in the season. Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage seeds should be started five to seven weeks prior to transplanting.
• Test leftover garden seed for germination. Place 10 seeds between moist paper toweling or cover with a thin layer of soil. Keep seeds warm and moist. If less than six seeds germinate, then fresh seed should be purchased.

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 If you are in need of a residential or commercial yard clean up or grounds maintenance work, give us a call and tell us about your landscaping needs.  We would be happy to give you a  free estimate and work with you to give your landscaping the care it needs this season.

Our Garden and Winter Yard Clean Up services include pruning, leaf clean up, branch and debris clean up, mulching, hedge and shrub trimming, weed control, fertilizing, increasing curb appeal, waste removal, weeding, yard clean ups, spreading new beauty bark or gravel, planting and/or removal of plants, and much more. Remember to mulch now to protect your plants before it snows! Call Green Thumb Company at (360) 671-LAWN or Request a Quote directly from our website.

Fall Garden and Yard Clean up Tips

Pruning - an essential part of Fall Yard Clean ups

Our team at Green Thumb Company knows that one of the tricks to successful yard maintenance is a good, thorough Fall Yard Clean up.  With the cool brisk days of autumn close, cleaning the yard and garden for next year’s planting will be easier when you have taken your head start in the fall. Basic Yard or Fall Garden Clean up and preparations for winter can be taken care of over the fall gradually by tackling just a few chores every week.   

To start your Fall Garden Clean up, begin by removing your dead or dying flowers as you see them, a little at a time. By doing this slowly, it will help to keep you garden neat, tidy, and having a presentable appearance before the frost sets in. As the season begins to change, keep your leaves raked and your trees and shrubs pruned back Instead of letting your garden become overgrown and ugly. This also saves you the tremendous effort of a “mass exodus” (that is, a huge clean up job) and keeps your garden looking presentable throughout the fall and into winter.  

Doing bits of work here and there also provides you with the opportunity to see where you might want to include plants that provide fall interest or where you might need to divide or transplant a plant from one area to another. Chores like cleaning away dead plant matter will also help your garden’s health by preventing organisms such as fungi, viruses and insect larvae from hibernating in them during the winter months and spoiling your soil for next year’s garden. 

Fall Yard Clean up time savers include using efficiency tools for those fallen leaves like a mulching mower or the leaf blower. Noisy yes, but a blower is an amazingly quick and efficient tool that can be used year round to help your yard look good with minimal effort. On the other hand, the mulching mower has the additional bonus of being great for your soil, as it puts the leaves and clippings back into your lawn to slowly compost.   

Though October always finds my yard and gardens looking disheveled and a bit worn down, I still treasure every bit of remaining color, texture and interesting foliage. However, by November, I’ll have said my last goodbyes and am ready to let the soil rest for the season. 

So without further ado, here are our best Green Thumb Do It Yourself Fall Yard Clean up tips to effectively take care your Fall Garden Clean up now to get it ready for its long winter nap. 

Plant Care and Winter Preparation 

Fall Yard Clean up Tips for your Landscaping

• Lift tender bulbs out of the soil, dry in a cool, dark and airy place (an open air carport or a crawlspace under the house or deck is perfect).  Store in a breathable container in dry peat moss in a very cool, dark spot being sure that they will stay dry and not get too cold or freeze.
• Stake young trees to prevent winter wind damage.
• Install mouse/rabbit guards around trunks of young trees if needed. Install wire mesh guards of hardware cloth or chicken wire for your fruit trees and rose bushes. 
• Winterize roses and tender plants, pruning where necessary.
• Before the first frost warning, dig root veggies out of the ground for the table and for cool storage.
• When you hear news of the frost warning, pick all tomatoes, peppers, squash and other veggies. Tomatoes can be ripened in sealed heavy-duty paper shopping bags, with a sheet of newspaper between the layers, stored in a cool dark place.  Check them every few days to remove ripe ones, and reseal the bag.
• Collect seeds from marigolds, sunflowers, or other flowering plants that are easy to collect seed heads. Store in a cool, dry place and plant next spring for another brilliant year of flowers.
• Rake up fallen leaves and debris. Add the fallen leaves to the compost pile or place them in bags for recycling
• Pull the pumps from your garden pond.  Drain and clean for winter storage. 
• Unless your garden pond is deep enough for your fish to winter there safely, remove them to an indoor tank.  Bring plants that are not winter- hardy indoors to tubs or pots. 
• Shovel and sift through finished compost in your bins to gain space in the compost box for later additions.
• Spread manure or compost on the garden.  You can spade it in when the ground thaws in spring.
• Completely clear the garden of weeds before they drop their seeds and create a problem for next year.
• Store pesticides in a cool, dry, safe place.  Check expiration dates.  Note for disposal any that will be over-age by spring.

Planting  

• Plant spring bulbs and any lilies before the ground freezes.  Ideally, the bulbs should have four to six weeks in the ground before the ground freezes to form a strong & healthy root system – and don’t forget to water after planting.
• Divide and replant any perennials before the ground freezes.
• Transplant any summer or fall blooming shrubs before the ground freezes.

Pruning and Fertilizing 

Pruning back shrubbery in the fall helps keep plants healthy

• Prune shrub roses when they go dormant.
• Cut back perennials.
• Pull annuals when plants cease blooming or have died from the frost.
• Don’t prune spring blooming shrubs, such as lilac, forsythia, and big-leaf hydrangeas as pruning them now will remove next spring’s flowers. Also, some perennials, such as coneflowers and sedums keep on giving all winter with attractive seed heads which also feed birds that stay in the area.
• Fertilize spring bulbs and lilies when planting – bone meal is often added as well.
• Spread compost or organic matter over garden, HOWEVER don’t fertilize new plantings or other plants in the landscape. Fertilizing now will spur new growth, which won’t have a chance to acclimate before winter arrives, making plants susceptible to damage.
• Once your garden is all cleaned out, now is a good time to feed your soil, by adding fertilizer, compost, mulch and compost manure and some organic topsoil, then tilling it under and lastly covering it with pine straw or pine bark on top preparing it for next spring. Now that you have cleaned your garden for the winter, it can take a rest and so can you, because before you know it, it will be spring and time to start all over.

Chores and Maintenance  

• Once the soil freezes, mulch trees and plants. This prevents frost heaving here in the wet Pacific Northwest and helps protect the roots.
• Clean up plant debris from beds and borders (before mulching!)
• Empty clay, terra cotta or ceramic pots, concrete bird baths and garden ornaments (you can empty the container contents to compost pile after frost kills plants). Then hose down and store indoors for winter to avoid cracking. (Concrete and terra cotta can freeze and crack during winter months.)
  

  Clean up Plant Debris to help tidy beds

• Take down stakes and trellises to clean and store them for next season.
• Remove the outdoor hose and sprinklers and shake them out to remove the last drops of water. Neatly coil the hose and hang in the garage or shed.
• Inspect and clean all gardening tools. Store gardening tools indoors during the winter and be sure to clean and dry your gloves, then place gloves inside a closed container so come springtime there are no surprises inside!

There are lots of reasons to pay attention to the landscape in the fall before the full force of winter hits. The weather is cooler, making outdoor work more comfortable. The soil also is usually more evenly moist and easier to work than in spring.  In addition, the prep work done in the fall reduces the amount of problems that could arise in the spring. 

While it is a considerable amount of work, a fall garden clean up is essential to maintain a healthy garden year round.  Prune things back, cover up what you can and keep the garden and yard tidy, just remember to leave yourself plenty of time for apple picking, enjoying the fall color and all the other delights that autumn brings to the Pacific Northwest! 

Enjoy the season ~ Amy Harmon, Green Thumb Company

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 If you are in need of a residential or commercial grounds yard or garden clean up, give us a call and tell us about your landscaping needs.  We would be happy to work with you to give your landscaping the care it needs this fall and winter. 

Our Garden Clean up and Fall Yard Clean Up services include pruning, mulching, hedge and shrub trimming, aerating, weed control, fertilizing, leaf blowing, debris removal, increasing curb appeal, waste removal, weeding, yard clean ups, spreading new beauty bark or gravel, planting and/or removal of plants (fall is a great time to plant cost effective bare-root trees), and much more. Call Green Thumb Company at (360) 671-LAWN or Request a Quote directly from our website.

Lawn Maintenance Contracts Protect You And Your Yard

Possibly the cheapest way to increase the curb appeal of your Bellingham or Ferndale Washington home, as well as maintain your home investment, is with the services of a professional lawn care company. When you hire a landscaping company they will probably ask, and you should demand, they sign a lawn or yard maintenance contract. The agreement should specify the responsibilities of the company as well as the homeowner so there are no questions as to who is responsible for what part of the lawn care.

Any Whatcom County lawn maintenance professional will have a yard maintenance contract. This contract should spell out how many times the company will visit and mow your lawn as well as being specific as to what areas will be mown, weeded, trimmed or in other ways, worked on. The contract will probably leave open some wiggle room for the weather when cutting the grass will not be possible (Bellingham and Ferndale both have this challenge in early spring and again in the deep fall). Generally, the contract estimates how many times during the season specific care will be provided, but do keep in mind, weather always plays a role in the final outcome of any lawn maintenance contract. Especially here in the Pacific Northwest!

In a basic lawn maintenance contract it will generally state how often (for example on a weekly or bimonthly) work is to be done. Most landscaping or yard maintenance companies may also offer beginning and season ending services such as yard clean ups, fertilizer applications, winterizing, aerating, weeding (etc) and if they are to be included in the work, they should be written into the lawn maintenance contract.  

A well written contract is designed to let the customer (and company) know what specific tasks will be completed so that there is no question as to the expectations of the job. For example, a fall clean up might include deadheading, cutting back dead foliage, cleaning/raking up leaves, trimming bushes and shrubbery, pruning fruit trees or  weeding etc.

Mulching flower beds is usually done by a landscaping crew but many yard and lawn maintenance companies offer the service and if available, should be included into your lawn maintenance contract so you know what type of mulch will be used and when you can expect to see it applied. It should also be noted what happens to lawn clippings and if the company picks them up, how are they disposed of.

There are many jobs that a lawn care and landscaping company can perform to help reduce your time outside and having a lawn maintenance contract can insure the jobs get done when they say they will get done at a preset cost. The best companies will create a custom contract designed to suit a customer’s specific landscaping needs and budget.

We here at Green Thumb Company really try to figure out how best we can help a customer take care of the specific needs of their yard while staying within the parameters of whatever their budget is. It really is all about customer service! A landscape contract is just a tool to spell out mutual expectations – and show exactly how well your landscape company can take care of you.

Enjoy your summer ~ Amy Harmon

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Green Thumb Company is a full-service grounds maintenance company that feels confident in our ability to meet all of your expectations. We have a commitment to provide great landscaping services with outstanding customer satisfaction and have been serving Whatcom County customers in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden for more than 20 years.

If you would like to increase your home’s curb appeal or maintain your new or mature landscaping investment by developing a  contract that is specific to your yard & landscaping needs as well as your budget, please give us a call at 360-671-LAWN (5296).

DIY Tip#1 – Using a Weeder in the Pacific Northwest

I don’t know about you, but weeding in the spring is a chore I don’t mind doing. It’s methodical, almost relaxing for me! and ensures that I enjoy the best part of summer looking over a (relatively) weed free yard and landscape. Here are some Do-It-Yourself Tips to using a weeder to remove unwanted plants and leave a healthy lawn or garden behind.

A weeder is a tool with a long metal spike that is used to pull weeds up from their roots. Weeds here in Bellingham and Ferndale, Washington are especially insidious and their roots run deep so that they can thrive in our climate. Chemical weed killers often kill more than the weeds they are sprayed on. Runoff and seepage may send chemicals onto other plants or into the water supply around Lake Whatcom or into nearby wells. Manually pulling weeds with a weeder gives you the assurance that the weed is out without harm to the surrounding area.

Things You’ll Need:

• Garden hose or watering can (optional)
• Bucket or wheel barrow
• Knee pads (optional)
• Garden gloves (optional)

Step 1

Wear gloves to avoid contact with irritating thistles, nettles and thorns and also to prevent blisters.

Step 2

Feel the moisture levels in the soil surrounding the weeds by attempting to press your index finger into the soil. The soil is damp enough to pull weeds if your index finger goes into the first knuckle without much effort. Water the soil and wait 30 minutes for the ground to soak up the water to soften the soil before each retest.

Step 3

Jam the sharp metal tip of the weeder straight down into the ground about an eighth of an inch away from the taproot. Shorter weeders require that you get down on the ground to press the in the point of the weeder. Knee pads make the kneeling experience easier and less painful.

Step 4

Shimmy the weeder back and forth until you have loosened the soil next to the root enough to pull the weed from the ground.

Step 5

Press the weeder down on the other side of a main root that is still holding onto the soil. Work the weeder back and forth in the ground as you pull straight up on the weed without snapping the root. Leaving large pieces of the root behind may allow the weeds to regrow.

Step 6

Pull the weeder up out of the ground and knock off any dirt stuck to it before using it to release the next weed root.

TaDah! Done. Is hand weeding really worth the effort? Only you can answer that question. Weeding IS time consuming, but when you can look out over your lawn and landscape and see a weed-free (ish) yard, I sure think it is!

Enjoy your summer ~ Amy

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Green Thumb Company is a full-service grounds maintenance company that feels confident in our ability to meet all of your expectations. We have a commitment to provide great landscaping services with outstanding customer satisfaction and have been serving Whatcom County customers in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden for more than 20 years.

Three critical LANDSCAPING MAINTENANCE tips for your lawn.

We often have a “do it and forget it” mentality. Once a task is completed, we don’t give it a second thought. Instead, we move on to whatever is next in line. That attitude may work in some areas, but it certainly is not appropriate for the care and nurturing of your Bellingham or Ferndale home landscaping.

Great Whatcom County landscaping does not stem exclusively from those days of planning and planting. Your property is a growing, living thing. You can set something beautiful into motion, but in order to get the most out of your landscaping, you will need to conduct regular landscaping and lawn maintenance. You will need to address the yard’s needs and to be proactive in order to prevent the development of problems that could completely derail your plans.

The lawn is a important part of many Whatcom County’s landscape plans, in most cases. Grass frequently forms the basis from which the rest of our landscaping efforts emerge. A good looking, healthy lawn is a necessity for those seeking landscaping success. The lawn is the canvas upon which landscapers paint.

Understanding the importance of great grass and the need for regular landscaping maintenance let us look at three things you can do to keep your property attractive and in line with your landscaping vision. These three lawn care tips are all “out of season” activities you can do to improve your landscape’s health and beauty.

FALL FERTILIZATION

Fertilization is a perfect example of maintenance for landscapes. It is one of those regular things that you simply cannot afford to neglect. Every year, as the end of autumn approaches, you should apply a final dose of fertilizer to your grass. The lawn will absorb those nutrients and they will help to keep it strong, healthy throughout the winter, and ready to explode into growth when things warm up again.

WINTER CLEANING

If your lawn is smothered in any location, it can do a great deal of harm. Before the really cold weather sits in, walk your property and carefully remove any debris from the lawn. Things like tree branches, an old hose, your children’s toys or that tool you have been meaning to put back into the garage can do serious damage if left in place through the winter. Smothered grass is less disease resilient and may even die completely. You certainly do not want to bring in spring with a brown ring in the middle of the yard!

AERATION

Aerate the grassy area before the year’s first freeze. As winter comes, thatch will accumulate and your lawn can be “choked off.” A serious aeration and that aforementioned fall fertilization will prepare your lawn to last out the cold and will position in for maximum spring performance. You can rent an aerator at any hardware store, if you do not own your own. Some people claim to get more than satisfactory results from manual aeration strategies, including special slip-on shoe cleats. Give your lawn a chance to breathe through the winter and it will thank you in the spring.

These are only three of literally thousands of potential landscaping maintenance tasks you can perform. These three means of improving your lawn’s health however, do reveal why maintenance activity is necessary. If you simply “let things go,” you run the risk of undoing all of your hard work. Last year’s landscaping accomplishment can become next year’s embarrassment if maintenance is not taken seriously.

Remember, your Bellingham landscaping and lawn maintenance is not a pretty picture that, once painted, remains in place forever. It is a constantly growing and changing collection of living things. It is, in many ways, an organism unto itself. In order to nurture it effectively, you will need to revisit it frequently. That is what yard maintenance and landscaping is really all about.

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Green Thumb Company is a full-service grounds maintenance company that feels confident in our ability to meet all of your expectations. We have a commitment to provide great landscaping services with outstanding customer satisfaction and have been serving Whatcom County customers in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden for more than 20 years.

If you would like to maintain your home’s investment by talking to us about landscaping maintenance, please give us a call at 360-671-LAWN (5296).

Landscape Maintenance Tips

After going to the expense of landscaping your Bellingham or Ferndale home, you should take steps to preserve your investment. The lawn must receive proper care and routine lawn maintenance is necessary to keep your landscape and yard looking it’s best!

Yard Maintenance

1. Grass needs mowing as well as fertilizing. This is often done in the late fall. Flowering shrubs and perennials need pruning annually. A healthy lawn should also be aerated once a year. Mulching your flower beds helps keep moisture in as well as forming a barrier for keeping weeds out. A seasonal yard clean-up in both the fall and again in the spring keeps leaves from piling up in the yard, keeping it free from developing any fungus or mold.

Irrigation System Maintenance

1. To operate an irrigation system so that it is most effective at watering, the system must operate properly. Timers must water the grass efficiently, and there must not be any overlapping watering zones.

Benefits

1. The prime benefit of a well-maintained lawn is its natural beauty and the pleasure it gives the homeowner on a daily basis. Green grass and healthy shrubs also add to your home’s worth.

Considerations

1. The weather can affect the lawn’s appearance. If a homeowner doesn’t have the time or physical ability to take care of routine yard and landscaping maintenance, Green Thumb Company can! We are able to set up an affordable season-long contract for yard maintenance or feel free to call us as needed.

Warning

1. It is necessary to wear personal protective equipment when doing lawn or yard maintenance. Turn off all electrical systems for the irrigation system before performing routine maintenance to avoid the danger of electrocution.

Green Thumb Company is a full-service grounds maintenance company that feels confident in our ability to meet all of your expectations. We have a commitment to provide great landscaping services with outstanding customer satisfaction and have been serving Whatcom County customers in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden for more than 20 years.

If you would like to increase your home’s investment or simply have a desire to have your yard looking it’s best, please give us a call at 360-671-LAWN (5296). We would love to talk to you about your Bellingham or Ferndale or Lynden landscaping or yard maintenance.