gardening

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Waterwise Tips: Cut back on water and grow gorgeous roses

Want to save water? Who doesn’t in California’s long-running drought. However, not everyone wants desert-like landscape populated with mostly rocks, wood chips, and cacti . So it’s good to know, you can cut back on watering and still have gorgeous blooming roses in your garden. The rose expert at San Marino’s Huntington Library says it can be done and has […]
Saturday, February 28, 2015

Sheridan Gardens in Burbank closes its doors

Long time Burbank business, Sheridan Gardens, nursery, gift, and home decor shop, abruptly closed its doors just over a week ago on Friday, February 20. It was a shock for the small group of employees who worked there as well as for devoted shoppers who had patronized the business for many years. Since 1980, the nursery and the adjacent lot at […]
Saturday, September 1, 2012

Garden Guru: Summer bugs

Lately, I have had customers and my neighbors inquiring about patches in their lawns looking “dry” or spreading patches. The answer: Grubs, which are an “alien” looking fat white worm, are eating at the roots. There are a few organic forces you can use against them and they will go away easily and are environmentally friendly — organic is particularly […]
Thursday, August 2, 2012

Garden Guru: Summer plant maintenance

Spring is the most popular time for gardeners to flock to their favourite nursery to shop for their gardens, raised bed, and hanging basket gardening. Here comes the summer heat and those spring annuals are getting a little “tired” looking and need a boost of care. Wait, just to clarify. Annual bedding plants(for instance petunias, marigolds, cosmos,pansies,  and snapdragons ), start […]
Friday, June 29, 2012

Garden Guru:Watering flowers and plants in hot weather

Occasionally, when the temps hit the high ones, my customers will ask why I am watering at Armstrong nursery when it is kind of hot and during the middle of the day. They quote various stories/articles about NOT to water at that time of day. Well, here’s the deal. In a retail nursery the smaller containers(6-pack color, 4-inch pots and 1-gallon […]
Thursday, June 7, 2012

Garden Guru: Summer watering tips

The easiest way to make the switch to less frequent lawn watering is to set the sprinklers to every two to three days for about three weeks. You’ll be amazed that after a month or so on that schedule your lawn will tolerate twice a week watering! My Bermuda grass lawn, which was getting watered every other day,  now gets […]
Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Michelle Obama’s new book on gardening in America

First Lady Michelle Obama’s passion for healthy eating and gardening are well known. Mrs. Obama shares those passions in her first-ever book , “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.” Released by Crown Publishing yesterday, the book is already in the top ten of best selling books on Barnes and Noble and Amazon […]
Saturday, March 17, 2012

Garden Guru: Planting tomatoes and peppers part 2

Being in the retail nursery business as long as I have been, I frequently get asked–“What is the best tomato/pepper?”  I’ll smile and respond–“If you ask all five of my associates that question, you will get about five different answers.” But the tried and true favourites are: Better Boy(medium/large fruit) Champion(medium fruit) Cherry(Small salad-type) Beefsteak/Beefmaster/Big Boy( for “hamburger big size!) […]
Thursday, March 8, 2012

Garden Guru: Planting tomatoes and peppers part 1

It’s about time for tomatoes and peppers. With these unusually cold nights and warm days those plants don’t know what to do! But they are readily becoming available at your local nurseries in seedling form. If you want to start from seeds, now is the time. For seed sowing this time of year, it’s a good idea to start them […]