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When I was in horticulture school, the old-skool dudes teaching pest control were all about the chemicals – they just didn’t believe organics could be as effective as the lethal stuff. Yet every so often, a hint of doubt would creep into their voices about safety.

I’d hear, “well, this one’s actually pretty bad” or  “ya don’t wanna get too close to this” and “this one’s chemically similar to Agent Orange and I’m not really sure why it’s still legal”. What?!!

“Agent Orange on your lawn” has never been the special Genevieve mojo I wanted to share with my gardening clients! [Click here to continue reading…]

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Four Secrets to a Fast Garden Makeover

by Genevieve on March 2, 2010

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Thinking of selling your home, or having a party? While a garden makeover may seem like an overwhelming task, if you know where to focus your energy you can get great results without having to fix everything.

Use these four tips in the garden areas most likely to be seen first – near the front door, areas visible from windows or the patio where you might entertain, and next to pathways.

Focus on the edges

Most people don’t see the details of a garden; they notice the overall effect. If you have lawn creeping into your garden beds, or weeds growing along the edges of your garden beds, cleaning up your borders so that you have a clean, simple, flowing line is an easy action that can make a slightly unfinished or messy area of the garden look tidy and cared-for. [Click here to continue reading…]

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Review of Fiskars Powergear Hedging Shear (Video)

February 20, 2010
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If you’ve hung around North Coast Gardening for any length of time, you know that I’m a sucker for tools that do multiple jobs well.
This hedging shear is my go-to tool for cutting back perennials in fall and winter, pruning ornamental grasses and sword ferns in winter, and deadheading heathers and other plants that respond [...]

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Podcast on Natives with Doug Tallamy

February 16, 2010
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Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, wants to change the way we landscape- radically. He’s a native plant buff and makes a scientific case for planting more natives in our gardens to preserve biodiversity.
This five-part podcast (it’s only about 45 minutes long all put together) presented some game-changing info that’s making me really re-think [...]

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How to Kill Dandelions in Lawn Organically

February 11, 2010
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I just got a nifty tip on how to kill dandelions organically when they are growing in your lawn or in the center of another plant: injection with vinegar-based organic weed killer.
You may have found that if you spray non-selective herbicide, organic or otherwise, on your dandelion that you end up with a dead patch [...]

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Your Gardening Body: How to Prune Trees Without Strain or Pain

February 7, 2010
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Anne Asher, a movement specialist from The MOVE! Blog, answers questions about how professional or passionate gardeners can reduce the strain that comes from repetitive gardening tasks. Check out her new product – great for winter time – called Clear the Blear. Here’s this month’s installment:
When pruning apple and other trees in January, I [...]

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Pruning Miscanthus Grass: How to Cut Back Big Ornamental Grasses

January 27, 2010
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Ready to prune your Miscanthus Grass? This is the time of year to do it! Ornamental grasses start shedding little grass bits everywhere in January, and with every windy storm they become increasingly messy until in early March you have a bunch of grass sticks still upright and grass leaves piled up everywhere in your [...]

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Disease-Resistant Roses for Damp Coastal Climates

January 19, 2010
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It’s bare-root season, guys, and the roses are cheap and plentiful! I’ve written before about how to select a bare-root rose and about some disease-resistant rose varieties for the coastal Pacific Northwest.
I wanted to follow up with some additional suggestions that our local rose expert, Cynthia Graebner of Fickle Hill Old Rose Nursery, left in [...]

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Brrr! What NOT to Prune in Winter

January 17, 2010
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Right now it’s major big time pruning season here in Northern Cali. I’m cutting back hardy perennials, roses, fruit and other dormant trees and ornamental grasses.
But there are a few things I’m leaving alone for the time being. A lot of my favorite plants are frost-tender and can be killed by a stern frost this [...]

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Rosy Resolutions for the New Year

January 8, 2010
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I’m honored and pleased to be able to share with you the writing of my favorite garden humorist, Dr Leda Horticulture.
Regan Nursery, the finest place to buy bare root roses online, and a gorgeous full-service garden center serving the San Francisco Bay Area, has given us permission to reprint Dr Leda’s articles from their [...]

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