ARCHIVE

SHOW ARCHIVE

Episode 138 • August 15, 2009

VIDEO ARCHIVE


It is certainly hard to get motivated in the garden these days.  We are finding ourselves taking more time to shoot stories and sometimes just hanging out at different garden centers. These are the lazy days of summer.  It is a good time to relax and enjoy a good episode of Garden Time.  And speaking of Garden Time… 

WE ARE MOVING!  On September 12th we will be moving to KOIN Local 6 with the Garden Time show.  We are moving to join our sister program, Fusion.  Fusion is a half hour home improvement, design and cooking show.  Viewers will get the best local home and garden information in one hour on Saturday mornings.  Check us out on KOIN-6 on the 12th, Fusion at 8:00am and Garden Time at 8:30.

This week we featured...

Crape Myrtles

It is known as the ‘lilac of the late summer’, it is the Crape Myrtle and it is busting out all over right now.  If you have driven around neighborhoods lately you may have seen the prolific blooms on these trees or small shrubs.  We had a chance to learn more about this great plant from Jack Bigej at Al’s Garden Center (503-726-1162).  Jack loves these plants and so does Al’s.  They are having a Crape Myrtle Festival this weekend through the 23rd of August.  You can stop by and see tons of different varieties in bloom.  Crape Myrtles love sun and the more sun the better, it means more blooms for each plant.  Jack also told us that these plants can be very drought tolerant too.  He also showed us how to prune them.  There really are no rules for pruning.  They bloom on new wood and you can hack them back pretty far and they will still come back.  If you want to check out a cool variety, find ‘Zuni’ when you stop by the store. 

Triple Crown Cobbler

It is still berry time in the northwest.  We found one of the best cane berries still producing right now is the Triple Crown Berry.  Jolene from Smith Berry Barn (503-628-2172) took us out to the field to pick some of these wonderful berries.  The Triple Crown is a great late summer berry.  It has a great taste, holds up well for eating or canning and is thorn-less!  After we had picked a big bowl we went in and learned a brand new recipe to make a tasty cobbler.  This recipe is located on the Smith Berry Barn website as a peach cobbler, but we easily changed it to use the berries.  First we mixed the berries with some ingredients and baked the berries, and then we made the topping and added that to the mix.  When it was finished we had a great dessert that was done in about 40 minutes.  Check out the Smith website for more delicious recipes and a daily update of what is fresh from the fields.

Designing the Outdoor Room

During the summer it is easy to extend your living space by heading outside. But what happens during the winter months or if you have an old deck that doesn’t function very well?  Designing a garden room can be pretty easy if you get the right advice.  Judy chatted with Drake Snodgrass of Drake’s Seven 7 Dee’s Landscaping (503-256-2223) to learn some of the steps you can take to get off to the right start.  Drake first talked about figuring out your needs.  It is not about the Jones, it is about your family.   You need to figure out what you want compared to what your husband may want.  The plan may be something in between.  Next you will need to figure out a budget.  Does the dream match the resources you have available? This is where you may need to meet with a landscape designer and contractor.   A designer helps you create the plan and a landscape contractor helps you install the materials.  Drakes can do both so you don’t have problems trying to make these 2 activities work together.  Drakes can also help you with the smaller projects too.   

Amdro Ant Block

Ants are the #1 pest problem in the US.  There are lots of products that can get rid of them once they get inside your home, but we found a new product that will stop them before they invade your home, yard or garden.  Norm from Lilly Miller explained how the Amdro product creates a barrier to your home.  One of the big differences…ants treat this as a food.  The other products only take care of the ants that touch the product.  Amdro is a bait that they take back to the nest.  They take it back to the queen and once she is gone, so is the problem.

 

Hogweed

Invasive plants cost us all.  It costs us time as we try to pull them out, it costs us money to pay for removal programs and it also robs us of native species that are pushed out by these little thieves.  We heard about one of the newest and most noxious of these plants, Hogweed.   We met with Jennifer Goodridge from the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services.  She is working hard to help get the upper hand on this dangerous plant.  Hogweed looks like a Queen Anne’s Lace, but with a much larger flower cap.  Unfortunately these plants can cause you some real pain if you touch them.  The sap from the plant can cause burns on your skin and the burns will return year after year.  We all know that blackberries and wild clematis are invasives, but this one is just starting out and government experts are trying to tackle this one before it becomes a huge problem.  To learn more about invasives in your area or if you think you may have a Hogweed plant in your area you can check out the Oregon Invasives Hotline.  It is loaded with great information and it can put you in touch with the experts in your area.   

Click here to learn more about your role in invasive plant control, with an informative paper you can print:
Word Document    PDF File

Worm Tower

If you have a small garden you may not have room for a large compost pile.  In fact, you may not have room for much at all.  You still can have the benefits of creating a nutritious soil for your plants with a ‘worm tower’.   Kith from Bethany Nursery (503-439-0707) showed us how to build this mini-composter for your garden.  The tower is just a large PVC pipe.  It is about 3 feet long.  You drill ½ inch holes in the bottom 18 inches of the pipe and then bury that part of the ground in your garden.  When you have kitchen scraps, you just add them to the pipe and cover it with an irrigation cap.  The cap keeps out rats and other animals.  Then the worms can make their way into the tower and then they take the nutrients out and into your garden!  Check with Bethany Nursery if you have any questions on how to build one.

 
main page this week

plant of the week

tip of the week tool shed how to gardens to see sponsors events calendar the happy spot
streaming video read our blog join our twitter e-mail us archive press relations links to other websites
 

Website design and content ©2006-2019 Gustin Creative Group.  Please send website inquiries to gustingroup@comcast.net.  This page last modified March 06, 2020.