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Welcome to Garden Time -- Season 4!

Garden Time is Portland's #1 garden show, and is owned and produced by the same person who started the In the Garden TV show and the former garden show on Good Day Lifestyles on KPTV-12.  It is our goal to give you the best gardening information in the Northwest.  We are a local show and we will always be a local show.  What does that mean?  It means we will stay topical and seasonal.  You will see what works in the Northwest, what you can plant here and how it will grow.  It is information that will help make you a successful gardener. 

Garden Time airs Saturdays at 8:30am on KPTV FOX-12 in Portland and KEVU-23 in Eugene.  It airs Saturdays at 9:30am on KWVT-17 in Salem and CGN-7, which serves Hood River and the Columbia River Gorge.  Garden Time is owned and produced by Gustin Creative Group and is not affiliated with any television station or network.


Hosts Judy Alleruzzo
and William McClenathan

SHOW ARCHIVE

Episode 125 • May 16, 2009

VIDEO ARCHIVE


A preview of the summer is here. The weatherman is forecasting a mini heat wave this weekend. It is a good time to take a look at your garden and see which plants are doing well. If you lost some trees this past winter it is also a good time to check out the amount of sun your garden may be getting. With the increased sunlight, some of your shade lovers may be getting too much of a good thing. It’s also a great time to head to your local garden center. We stopped by Cornell Farms (503-292-9895) and we were blown away by all the color; from flowers to tools! Enjoy the weekend, fire up the grill and relax!

A reminder that you can see our sister show, "Fusion" at its new time on Saturday, 8:00am on KOIN-6 in Portland.  Turn on your TV a half hour before "Garden Time" for some great tips on decorating, home repair and cooking.

This week we featured...

Tsugawa Mixed Pots

Containers can hold anything. Just take a look at your local garden center; they have everything in a container. But to find some of the most interesting combinations of plants we stopped at Tsugawa Nursery (360-225-8750) and visited with Brian Tsugawa in Woodland to see some really cool ones. First we saw one that mixed 3 different types of small blueberries together with some small color and even a couple of ground covers and herbs. That was next to one that had a native huckleberry mixed with blueberries. The coolest one of all was a container that had an espaliered apple tree and about 6 different lettuce plants. Then we moved to the color pots and these were spectacular! The flowers in the pots were popping. To help keep them looking good Brian recommended that you use a few products like Soil Moist, a product that helps hold the water in your soil, a good fertilizer like Dr. Earth and even a long term fertilizer like Osmocote. If you are headed out this weekend stop by and get some ideas for your own mixed containers.

Summer Blooming Bulbs

If you think that daffodils and tulips are the only bulbs for your garden, think again. Yolanda from VanVeen Bulbs (888-289-2852) showed us a few bulbs that will carry color to your garden year after year. First we did talk about the spring bulbs. Now is a good time to order them for planting in the fall. Yes you can order them now and it is a good time to do that. Then they will show up when you need to plant them and you can get them into the ground. The next stop was some of the summer blooming ones. Scilla Peruviana, the Cuban Lily, which is a native of Spain but was carried to Peru and there it got its name. It is very hardy for our climate and will bloom in April and May. Next was gladiolus. These are an old favorite, but they are a consistent performer in the Northwest garden. They come in a bunch of different colors and can bloom pretty quickly after you plant them (as soon as 90 days after planting). Then we saw the South African bulbs that are her favorites! The Tritonia and the Crytanthus mackenii are two that will be winners in your garden. We ended with Red Hot Poker, the Kniphofia. These are hummingbird magnets and have a one-of-a-kind bloom stalk that will last for weeks. So if you are looking for great summer color that will return year after year, check out the beauty of summer bulbs.

Slug Control

SLUGS!!! These little pests will devour your new plants and vegetables. If you are looking for way to keep them in check, William met with Norm from Lilly Miller to cover some of the different ways you can deter them. Norm told us that 80% of the slug bait manufactured is used here in the Northwest. First we talked about the Corry’s product that has a great track record of success, the Deadline liquid product, pellet products and the Corry’s meal. All of these products contain Meta, the most effective way of controlling slugs. William also talked about the non-chemical methods of control. He covered beer traps and copper tape which gives them a shock. Norm then covered a couple of the broad range applications. First was the Worry Free product that is safe for pets and wildlife. There are various ways to handle slugs including chemical and natural methods, and if you have pets or small children you need to make your choices wisely. Take the time to find the method that’s best for you and check with your local garden center if you need help.

Deck Materials

These days people are looking to entertain more at home and that means they want a deck they can be proud of. But if you are looking at replacing or building a new deck there is a lot of confusion about all the different product choices. Chris from Parr Lumber (503-644-1178) walked us through the 3 main choices a home owner has to choose from. First was the old stand-by, wood. There is something about a cedar deck. Natural wood gives a deck a certain feel because of the uniqueness of the wood pattern itself. The problem is maintenance. To have a wood deck last for a long time you need to take care of it. That means cleaning and sealing it every year. So you may want to try a composite material like a Trex product. This is a combination of wood fiber and PVC. It is strong and long lasting and has the look of a wood product with just a little bit of maintenance. The final choice is the PVC only material. This is a plastic product and so it will last for a very long time and needs virtually no maintenance to keep it in shape. Once you have chosen your material you can really get artsy with your choice of railing, post caps and lighting. To learn more you can stop by your local Parr Lumber location. They will even install it for you!

Stepable Magazine

We had a pleasant surprise when we stopped by our local store. We found our good friend Fran Hopkins from Stepables in a couple of the national garden magazines. A couple of years ago we watched as Fran converted her grass lawn into a low maintenance, low one using Stepable groundcovers. Her project is now being featured around the country in publications and on TV and radio. Her project is easy to duplicate if you are looking to get away from the weekly work of maintaining a lawn. Check out her website for more information.


 
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