Idaho - Fine Gardening
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Design
The Best House Foundation Plants for Your Region
When it comes to choosing foundation plants for your home, it’s important to pick species that not only enhance your landscape but also thrive in your specific climate. That’s why…
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How-To
4 Tips for Getting the Garden Through Drought Sustainably
On a recent hike in the foothills just southeast of my house, I couldn’t help but notice crisped, curling leaves on big flower cinquefoil (Drymocallis fissa) and the drought-tolerant mountain…
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Design
Tips for Designing a Meadow Lawn
I’ve designed, installed, and continue to manage two meadow lawns to date. Through these gardens, as well as my own study in nature and research in references, I’ve learned a…
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Article
How to Manage Flea Beetles: The Cutest Pests You’ve Never Heard Of
Late spring sees me watching and waiting, breath not quite bated—and certainly not baited—to find out my fate for the season with one garden critter in particular: the flea beetle.…
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Design
Guidelines for Building a Rock Garden
Last fall, this column featured Showy Native Plants for Rocky Soils. Not included in that plant palette were rock gardens. While similar in that the plants for such spaces require…
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Article
Plants That Take Sun and Shade for the Mountain West
1. Creeping Oregon Grape Name: Mahonia repens syn. Berberis repens Zones: 5–8 Size: 1 to 2 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide Conditions: Full sun to full…
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How-To
Tomatoes for Mountain West Gardeners
Despite working predominantly in ornamental—especially naturalistic—horticulture, I hold an “interdisciplinary minor in organic agriculture” from Colorado State University. Early in my career I worked primarily in food crops, and before…
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Design
Great Native Plants for Western Gardens
In his article Weaving Vignettes Together, horticulturalist Dan Johnson gives us a look into his home garden in Denver, where he uses repeated plant groupings and consistent hardscaping to unify…
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Design
3 Warm-Season Ornamental Grasses That Excel in the Mountain West
My career in ornamental horticulture has led to the development of a working theory: Ornamental grasses are an acquired taste for most gardeners. This theory grew from personal experience (my…
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How-To
How to Pick the Best Mulch for Your Mountain West Garden Beds
Since entering horticulture professionally over a decade ago, I’ve noticed a correlation on the Colorado Front Range between wood mulch (also called arborist chips) and water-wise gardens. A beautifully designed…