Is your post-holiday refrigerator filled with the aging remains of New Year’s Eve party food, molding cheese and ham that’s well into its second curing? Are counters covered in gift basket remnants?
Oh No! We got snow! Plus a lot of ice, wind and freezing weather. The good news for your garden is that we’ll have a lot fewer slugs, bugs and other garden thugs this spring, and the winter storm might also freeze a few million weed seeds.
When should you repair and when should you replace?
Sharpen your shears this week and get outdoors for some winter pruning. You can get snippy with plenty of plants now, but there also are some you should not be pruning.
You may think I’m all wet, but I’ve decided to talk about condensation, only because I receive a lot of questions about foggy windows in the winter.
The third week of January is the start of the gardening season – yep, the Tacoma Home and Garden Show will be Jan. 25-29 followed by the Northwest Flower and Garden Show Feb. 8-12, and then a bumper crop of garden shows, plant sales and blooming celebrations to welcome the growing season of 2012.
Rhododendrons hardly seem like an endangered plant in Western Washington. Come spring, our local gardens and nurseries look like Mexican piñata shops as rhodies bloom in shades of pink, red and purple.
The second week of January has the Christmas decorations finally packed away so there is room to improve your indoor space. Speaking of space, it was NASA that confirmed what gardeners have suspected all along – indoor plants are good for your health. Certain houseplants actually clean and purify polluted indoor air. Some houseplants do this better than others.
The first week of January means it is time to make some promises to your garden. These resolutions mean less work and more beauty, so mark your calendars now so that each month you’ll hold yourself accountable:
The end of 2011 means it is time to answer the most-often-asked questions of the year – those emails and letters I get over and over. Just wish I could give better answers to these perennial challenges when it comes to gardening in Western Washington. If you have better solutions for these common problems, send me an email and I’ll share your garden wisdom:
Q: I recently bought a new construction condo in which the living room and master bedroom are in the basement level.
After writing this column for over 25 years, this is still the most requested reprint, so as a gift each year I go with tradition and offer this Christmas column so that it can be used and shared copyright free. You can also download a copy from my website at binettigarden.com.
The second week of December is when holiday shoppers begin looking around for more creative, meaningful gifts.
The first week of December is the time to start humming a certain carol, make like the Victorians and deck the halls with boughs of holly. But don’t forget about the cedar, fir, nandina and camellia greens. Here in Western Washington we have the glorious greens to celebrate the season with less money and more tradition – and at the same time accomplish some serious winter pruning.
MINNEAPOLIS — Sometime in the next few weeks, Paul Brazelton will move his family into a 1935 Tudor in south Minneapolis that has no furnace.
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