Feb 11, 2026 | Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Recommended Plants
You can help mason bees and other pollinators by making your yard more welcoming to them. The native bee Osmia lignaria, commonly called the blue orchard bee or mason bee, is one of the easiest for gardeners to support. Mason bees are exceptional pollinators. Each bee...
Jan 19, 2026 | Disease Control, Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Landscape Care, Lawn Care, Recommended Plants, Tree Care
Winter is the perfect time to give your garden a strong start for the year ahead. A little attention now to winter garden tasks will help your landscape thrive through the growing season. Build soil health You can improve soil health by adding mulch beneath trees and...
Jul 9, 2025 | Recommended Plants
We appreciate our native bees, and we hope you do too. They are very effective pollinators, and they play a critical role pollinating wildflowers and other plants, including many of the foods we eat. Across the United States, there are about 4,000 native bee species....
May 22, 2025 | Recommended Plants, Watering
As our summers grow hotter and drier, we need to look carefully at the plants we choose for our landscape. Plants that do well in drought conditions are likely to be more successful with less work. How has summer weather changed? Seattle’s summers have warmed...
Apr 16, 2025 | Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Landscape Care, Recommended Plants
This month, in honor of our 30th anniversary and Earth Day, we’re busting myths about sustainable gardening. Myth 3: Sustainable gardening costs too much. We think this myth is widespread because some people make an initial financial investment in sustainable...
Feb 18, 2025 | Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Landscape Care, Pest Control, Recommended Plants
This is the time of year to think about mason bees. These small, solitary, nonaggressive bees are most active in early spring. This makes them great pollinators for fruit trees, which flower in spring. Mason bees are amazing pollinators. Each mason bee visits around...
Dec 13, 2024 | Eco-friendly Gardening, Nature, Recommended Plants, Wildlife
At this point in the holiday season, many of us are busy buying gifts. This year, consider giving gifts that support nature. The birds and bees will thank you, along with the beneficial critters in your soil, plants in your yard and gardeners in your life. Here are...
Jun 17, 2024 | Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Landscape Care, Nature, Recommended Plants
Celebrate Pollinator Week, June 17-23. Pollinator Week is an annual celebration in support of pollinator health. Pollinators “are the unsung heroes behind the food we enjoy and the beauty that surrounds us,” said the Pollinator Partnership. Pollinators...
Apr 30, 2024 | Garden Care, Recommended Plants
People love roses. But they are notoriously difficult to grow in our western Washington climate. The moist, cool weather in western Washington is ideal for rose diseases such as black spot, rust and powdery mildew. Some of our most popular blog posts over the years...
Apr 25, 2024 | Community, Garden Care, Recommended Plants
The spring weather may have you thinking about your yard and garden. Maybe you’d like to buy new plants. Are you looking for vegetable starts? Or a shrub to fill in a bare spot? Or perennials to add some color? Plant sales are a wonderful place to buy new garden...
Feb 13, 2024 | Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Recommended Plants
Why mason bees? We love mason bees. These small, solitary bees are amazing pollinators. Each mason bee visits around 1,800 to 2,000 flowers a day, and they pollinate 95-99% of them. In comparison, a honeybee may visit 700 flowers a day and pollinate about 5% of them....
Dec 5, 2023 | Community, Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Landscape Care, Landscape Design, Recommended Plants
Are you looking for a gift for a gardener in your life? Or perhaps it’s time to buy something for yourself. Gardening books can provide inspiration during the wet and dark days of winter. Here are ideas for a few books from local authors. Get the benefit of...
Sep 14, 2023 | Garden Care, Landscape Care, Recommended Plants, Video
The season is changing. Fall is in the air, and nighttime temperatures are cooler. Here are some things you may want to do in your landscape in September. Keep watering until it rains We have not seen much rain yet this month, with little or no rain predicted in the...
Jun 14, 2023 | Eco-friendly Gardening, Garden Care, Recommended Plants
Next week is National Pollinator Week, and June is National Pollinator Month. Both are annual celebrations of pollinator health. It is a time to raise awareness for pollinators and spread the word about what we can do to protect them. You can help pollinators in your...
Apr 6, 2023 | Landscape Design, Recommended Plants
Many people are interested in raising food to feed their family. When we design landscapes for our clients, we like to include edible plants in both vegetable beds and ornamental beds. Many edible plants are also beautiful, making your garden both more attractive and...
