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There is at least one company on Vashon Island which offers this service as well. Another P-I article mentions Rent-a-Ruminant. This document from Sound Native Plants contains contact information for several such services. I have two raised garden beds 8 x 12 feet in my back yard.
Recently I read somewhere that having a cover crop during our wet winter months would help decrease the leaching of nutrients and would also help bind nitrogen in the soil. Three suggested cover crops were crimson clover, Australian field peas did they mean Austrian winter peas? What would you suggest?
Are these good recommendations? Which might be the best? Sustainable Horticulture: Today and Tomorrow R.
Poincelot, , p. Hairy vetch, Vicia villosa, and Austrian winter pea, Pisum arvense. Crimson clover Trifolium incarnatum is almost as efficient at supplying nitrogen to the soil. Additional information about growing cover crops in the Pacific Northwest can be found on Ed Hume's website.
Keywords: Senna , Cassia , Rubus , Bible plants. I am interested in this plant because my church group is just finishing up our study of the Book of Exodus.
And I thought this plant might make a really nice and symbolic gift. I am beginning to understand that this plant may be rare, or possibly known by another name? The problem with English common names for plants of the Bible is that you are at several removes from knowing which plant the original Hebrew text describes. There are some sources which state that "burning bush" refers to Rubus sanctus, but it is more likely that it refers to Senna alexandrina.
The Hebrew word in Exodus is sneh, which is the same as the Arabic word for the Senna plant. Plants of the Bible by Michael Zohary Cambridge University Press, says that "the plant in question, specifically named 'sneh,' might well have been a real plant in the local flora. As there is no hint in the text that the sneh was a thorny bush, and there are no plants in Sinai or anywhere else that are not consumed when burnt, sneh may be identified linguistically only.
There is no native Rubus in Sinai, Egypt, or southern Israel, and the bramble in the monastery garden at Santa Caterina is a cultivated specimen, planted by the monks "to strengthen the belief that the 'burning bush' has grown there since the revelation, so completely is sneh equated with brambles in the minds of scholars and Bible lovers. While Senna alexandrina may be a bit difficult to obtain, there are other species of Senna more widely available.
However, if you wish to grow the Rubus you saw also referred to as Rubus ulmifolius ssp. It is not easy to obtain except as seeds, and it prefers a moist environment. Keywords: Taxus brevifolia , Poisonous plants. Taxus brevifolia , Pacific or Western yew, is native here. The Sunset Western Garden Book , p. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Pojar and Mackinnon Lone Pine, says that "Western yew seeds are poisonous and humans should avoid the fleshy 'berries,' although a wide variety of birds consume them and disperse the seeds.
The foliage is poisonous to horses and cattle. The Plants for a Future database has more information at this link. Keywords: Irrigation water quality. I do know that some indoor plants do better with water that is not fluoridated. There are conflicting opinions on the effects of fluoride on human health and the environment including plants.
According to this article entitled Water fluoridation and the environment by Howard Pollick in the International Journal of Occupational Health reprinted by the Centers for Disease Control , the fluoride level in residential water as opposed to industrial runoff seldom rises above a level of concern for plants. For an alternate viewpoint, see the Fluoride Action Network's website. Keywords: Geranium , Fertilizers. Established hardy geraniums do not need much more than an application of compost in spring.
Most commerical fertilizers will provide too much nitrogen, causing weak growth that flops over or needs staking.
Keywords: Plant longevity , Osmanthus. What is the lifespan of Osmanthus? A client's year-old, 12 ft. According to SelecTree , a database produced by the Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, most Osmanthus species have a longevity of 50 up to years. A plant's lifespan varies, and urban trees and shrubs tend to be subjected to more interventions in the form of pruning, pollution, damage from construction, and so on.
Also, the hedge has undoubtedly become woody with age. The closest list I could find to meet your needs is one of evergreen shrubs that will grow in shade:. Japanese aucuba - Aucuba japonica vars. English laurel - Prunus laurocerasus 'Mount Vernon' Japanese skimmia - Skimmia japonica evergreen huckleberry - Vaccinium ovatum nannyberry - Viburnum lentago.
Keywords: Prunus lusitanica , Growth. My customer says his Portuguese laurel which is now a 5 foot tree won't be growing any bigger. It is in the shade, but don't these get 15 feet in height?
SelecTree , the website of the Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, says that Portugal Laurel Prunus lusitanica will do well in sun to partial shade, and may grow up to 35 feet tall, at a rate of two feet a year. The Sunset Western Garden Book says that a multi-trunked tree can get as large as 30 feet high and 30 feet wide. Perhaps your customer is expressing wishful thinking, and aspires to grow a shrub rather than a tree.
Some people do grow it as a hedge, and clip it frequently to control its size.
Keywords: Perennials--Care and maintenance , Iris. Do I leave my Siberian iris alone through the winter, then cut them back in the spring when new growth starts to show, as I've done in the past, or do I cut them back now? My neighbor has had hers cut back for months now and insists her way is best According to the book The Siberian Iris , by Currier McEwen, , you should "allow leaves to remain on the plants as long as they are green and adding energy to the plant through photosynthesis.
When they turn brown in the fall, cut them off as low as possible and burn them. We are currently making plans to construct a Plant Science Laboratory at our school, a community college in Seattle. The plans are to have a two greenhouses, gutter connected and providing about 1, square feet of space.
It will be constructed on a 10, square feet of property near the school. I am wondering if there are any publications that discuss the management of an educational greenhouse at the CUH library.
Also, are there any newsletters, websites or other materials you are able to recommend? The bulk of our books on greenhouses focus on either commercial growing or home hobbyist. We have some back issues of the journal GM Pro, also known as Greenhouse Management and Production, which has a commercial focus.
I searched the Garden Literature Index of journals and didn't find anything too promising on actual management. I recommend you try talking with some of your colleagues at the local colleges that have horticulture programs:. Lake Washington Institute of Technology. And here is a link to a college in Ontario, Canada - Niagara College - that is doing something similar to what you describe. In his book Trees of Seattle , local author Arthur Lee Jacobson lists a small number of loquats growing in Seattle, all of them young trees. On his website , he at least mentions the potential for fruit if the winter flowers are not killed by frost.
The website of California Rare Fruit Growers provides general information on growing loquat.