Steve Smith

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A mild December makes for easy winter cleanup in the garden

If you haven’t finished your November gardening tasks, here’s a list of chores to do this month.

Buying a fresh-cut Christmas tree is the natural choice

When decorating for the holidays, Steve Smith goes for the real deal. He lists some pros and cons.

Add evergreen perennials to your garden for winter interest

Here’s a list of plants that compliment the seasonal shrubs you’ve just added to your yard.

Around Thanksgiving, gardeners give thanks for the garden

What are they most thankful for? The pleasure they receive from spending time in their yards.

Keep the garden interesting all through the winter

These plants will add much-needed color to the winter garden.

Fall pruning at the top of the gardener’s November to do list

Gardening in the Northwest really is a year-round hobby. Check off this month’s chores.

So much happens in the fall garden that you’ll never get bored

Watch for gardening surprises: While many plants go to sleep this season, others are just waking up.

Fall is just another blooming season

October can be a time of spectacular colors in your garden.

How to prune a hydrangea: An exception to the pruning rule

It helps to think of a growing blackberry vine when you’re about to cut back this blooming shrub.

Planting bulbs requires optimism and patience

Here are seven tips on how to plant bulbs now for beauty come spring.

Gardener’s to-do list: October perfect time for planting bulbs

Here are columnist Steve Smith’s suggestions for which tasks to do around the garden this month.

Plant these late bloomers to brighten up your shade garden

In this follow-up to a column on sunny borders, Steve Smith lists flowers to liven up a dark yard.

Here’s why late summer pruning of plants makes a lot of sense

The heavier you trim a plant, the more likely it is to grow back profusely.

Cutting the lawn down to size in pursuit of greener grass

Cutting the lawn down to size in pursuit of greener grass

Let’s face it: Even in today’s society, the lawn is the man’s domain. It is literally his “turf” and, when left alone, he can spend… Continue reading

Cutting the lawn down to size in pursuit of greener grass

Fall is for planting: The gardener’s September check list

Fall has always been my favorite time of year, especially when I lived in California and the summers were so oppressive. While August can feel… Continue reading

Don’t ignore these late bloomers for your fall garden’s border

As we move from late August into early September, it is not unusual to have our borders start to look a little tired. Part of… Continue reading

Now’s the time: Here’s how to plan for a fall vegetable garden

Now’s the time: Here’s how to plan for a fall vegetable garden

Believe it or not, it is time to start thinking about planting a fall vegetable garden. Cooler nights and shorter days are the triggers that… Continue reading

Now’s the time: Here’s how to plan for a fall vegetable garden

What exactly does it mean for a plant to be ‘drought tolerant’?

It’s been almost five decades since I had a college-level plant physiology class and studied the process of how plants move water through their vascular… Continue reading

Answers to three of your most common gardening questions

At the bottom of every column I write is an invitation to send in your questions about gardening issues for which you would like answers.… Continue reading

Don’t give up: August can be the summer climax for our gardens

the final lap of the summer gardening season, when all our hard work should come to a crescendo. August is… Continue reading