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    Winter pruning
    Greg Graves
    • Mar 1
    • 3 min

    Winter pruning

    pruning 80 year old apple trees Late winter or early spring is a good time to prune many woody plants while they are still dormant. There are exceptions, like some evergreens that tend to bleed sap are better pruned mid-spring so frost doesn’t effect the cut. Each plant is a bit different so it’s best to check out specific plants before you start in. Knowing the plant also helps you figure out how it should look. This winter has been kind of normal with swings in temperatures
    265 views0 comments
    The Winter Garden
    Greg Graves
    • Jan 18
    • 3 min

    The Winter Garden

    the trail into the winter garden Now is the time of year when gardeners in the Northwest start itching to be back out in the garden or thinking about it on those few nice days. The holidays are long gone, the days are barely starting to get longer, tons of spring catalogs are arriving daily in the mail but we are only about half way through winter. Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’ It is also the time of the year when most gardens aren't looking their best. Most things are dorma
    161 views0 comments
    Bark
    Greg Graves
    • Jan 11
    • 2 min

    Bark

    Western Red Cedar – Thuja plicata Today is one of those cold winter days in the Northwest, highs just in the 40s and raining. It’s really the kind of day I don’t want to be out working in the garden but I don’t mind a walk-about. Everywhere I see little signs of spring but what I really appreciate are the simple things like the color and texture of the bark, mosses and lichens. I’m fortunate to have big trees with stunning trunks. There are a couple Western Red Cedars, a cou
    75 views0 comments
    Hydrangeas
    Greg Graves
    • Aug 3, 2021
    • 3 min

    Hydrangeas

    Hydrangea serrata ‘Preziosa’ Hydrangeas are the queens of the summer garden. Most deciduous shrubs and trees flower in spring giving more time to set seed throughout the summer. Since many hydrangeas flower at this time of year they definitely take the spotlight, not that they wouldn’t anytime with all those big blooms. Hydrangeas are native to the northern hemisphere, mainly Asia. There are a few North American species but the ones that are most popular originated in China,
    206 views0 comments
    Roses
    Greg Graves
    • Jun 30, 2021
    • 2 min

    Roses

    Rosa blanda There is nothing quite like the smell of roses in the garden in June. For me roses have always been a bit of a challenge. I usually picked the big blooms out of garden catalogs and then found them to be less than satisfying. I would try to deal with black spot and to figure out the right time to prune and which ones did what. I found them a bit confusing. Being the lazy gardener I just moved on and forgot about them. Come June when I would get a whiff of one along
    812 views0 comments
    ‘Great Plant Picks’
    Greg Graves
    • Mar 15, 2021
    • 3 min

    ‘Great Plant Picks’

    It’s that time of year to revisit ‘Great Plant Picks’. While I was working at the Miller Botanical Garden the ‘Great Plant Picks’ program was developed as an outreach program so I had the opportunity to work on it from the beginning and still do. I am now a member of the perennial committee. I reference the program often when I do the daily Facebook posts if the plant happens to be a ‘Great Plant Pick’. I thought it may be useful to make people not familiar with the program a
    324 views0 comments
    Rhododendrons
    Greg Graves
    • Jun 21, 2016
    • 3 min

    Rhododendrons

    Rhododendron vulcan To be a gardener in the Northwest means you have dealt with Rhododendrons at some point. It is the state flower of Washington, so you know they are everywhere. Unfortunately, many of us have rhodies planted right in front of our windows. Perhaps like me, you bought an older house and needed to figure out what to do with all those misplaced rhodies. When I bought my 1930s house in the early 90s, the main landscape plant was Rhododendrons. Some were probably
    73 views0 comments

    THE OLD GOAT FARM

    20021 Orting Kapowsin Hwy. E.
    Graham, WA 98338
    Phone: (360) 893-1261
    E-mail: oldgoatfarm@comcast.net

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