Are you researching how to grow hops for the beer lover in your life, and interested in adding hops to your garden? We take a lot of pride in our hops, and think they’re a beautiful, practical, and useful addition to any home garden.
Choosing a Site For Growing Hops
Hops are best planted in full sun. Plants will perform best if placed in well drained soil. Soil in the Willamette Valley can be improved by adding a compost mix to prior to planting. Hops have a very large root system and should not be kept in a container too long.
Planting Hops
Hop rhizomes should be soaked for several hours before planting. Examine the rhizome for the buds – they will indicate up from down. The buds should be facing up. If you are unable to tell which way is up, plant the rhizome sideways. Hops will thrive in any garden soil, but grow more vigorously with enrichment from compost or manure. As the vine begins to grow it is advisable to train it onto a trellis. In a single season, the vine will grow to a length of 25 feet.
How to Care for Hop Plants
Never let the plants dry out. This is a recipe for disaster, especially for newer plantings. Water deeply at least once a week. Remove any weeds carefully. Mulching is beneficial in the winter months, but be sure to keep mulch away from stems and crowns.
Pruning Hops
Hops have a perennial root system, but an annual top. After flowering, the top will start to die back. After the entire vine has died or turned brown, cut it back to ground level. There is nothing that needs to be done to the vine after that. Fertilize again in the spring with a slow release, all-purpose granular fertilizer.
Live in the Portland or Vancouver Metropolitan Area and looking for a place to purchase hops? Look no further than our Portland garden center. We’ll be here to help you get started.
Planting fruit trees can be one of the most rewarding plants to have as part of your garden. The following is a brief overview of what you’ll need to know when planting and growing fruit trees for yourself.
Choosing a Site for Your Fruit Tree
Avoid planting trees in the shade or around older trees as fruit trees need to be planted in full sun to thrive. Fruit trees require well-drained soils and it is best to amend the site with compost before planting.
When to Plant Fruit Trees
Plant fruit trees as soon as possible in the late winter/early spring.
Bare Root Trees
When working with bare root trees, soak the roots in a bucket or wheelbarrow of water mixed with root stimulator for about a ½ hour. Dig the hole just large enough to accommodate roots. Fill the hole with water twice to check for drainage. If the hole has not drained within 12-24 hours find a spot with better drainage. If the native soil is heavy clay, blend one-third organic soil amendment with the backfill soil. If the soil is reasonable, just use the native soil for backfill. Form a small mound in the bottom of the hole to spread the roots over top; making sure the graft line is a couple of inches above the soil line. Fill the hole with soil. Do not put fertilizer in the hole or it may burn tender young roots. Alternatively, use a mild transplant fertilizer. Check to be sure the tree is no deeper than its original soil level as this can cause the tree to rot. Make a watering basin with extra soil. Fill the basin with water combined with root stimulator, making sure the tree is well-watered and no large air pockets are left around the roots. Paint the trunks with white latex paint to prevent sunscald.
Planting Potted Trees
Dig the hole twice as wide as the pot but no deeper. If the soil is heavy clay, amend with one-third organic soil amendment. Place the tree in the hole so it rests slightly above the surrounding soil level. Fill in the hole with backfill, building a water basin slightly wider than the root ball around the tree. Water the tree thoroughly. Paint the trunk with white latex paint to avoid sunscald.
Fertilizing and Pest Control for Planting Fruit Trees
Best growth will be accomplished with the help of fertilizers. There are many organic as well as conventional options. All fertilizers should be applied after leaf fall in autumn and again before bloom in the spring. Trees that are planted in the lawn may need more nitrogen than those planted in a garden bed. Generous amounts of lawn clippings or compost make a great substitute for a nitrogen fertilizer. Don’t let fertilizer touch the trunk of the tree.
There are many pests that target fruit trees. These include insects, bacterial infections, and fungi. All of these are treatable and can be treated throughout the year.
Harvesting Fruit Trees
Apples and sour cherries are ready for harvesting when they are easily picked from the tree. Sweet cherries, plums, prunes, and peaches will all continue to ripen after harvest. European pears should be picked while they are still green and should come off the tree easily when ready. Persimmons ripen late in the fall when they become soft. Nuts fall to the ground when mature. For best quality, gather walnuts from the ground and dry.
If you’re interested in growing fruit trees and happen to live near us in the Pacific Northwest, be sure to visit us at our Portland garden center.
If you’re looking for information on growing artichokes at home, this is the place for you. We aim to cover all of the necessary information one needs to grow delicious artichokes to be enjoyed straight from your home garden.
Preparing a Site for Growing Artichokes
Artichokes need to be able to grow quickly to become edible. Artichokes need partial to full sun and a lot of room. Do not plant artichokes in containers. Watering is key and the soil needs to be very good with excellent drainage. Artichokes prefer additions of compost and/ or manure in generous amounts each season. Slightly acidic soil will help with production.
Planting Artichokes
Place the plant in a 12”x 12” hole. You want the depth of the hole to be the same depth as the nursery container you bought the plant in. Fill the hole with rich compost. It is important to make sure the soil around the plants is well fertilized and loose. Keep the plant moist at all times. For highest production, fertilize the plants every 6-8 weeks with a balanced fertilizer. Allow five feet of growing room for each plant.
Caring for an Artichoke Plant
Here are some basic rules to achieve success:
Water well to encourage production.
Flowering too early will stress the new plant so stalks should be cut back.
When summer temperatures pass the mid-70s reduce the water and feeding.
After the first killing frost, cut off the big leaves and stems and mound earth around each plant. This will keep your plant healthy for next season.
One fourth of the plants should be replaced each year to keep production steady.
Harvesting Artichokes
Artichokes are perfect for eating when they reach a good size but before they begin to open. The bud is the edible part and can keep up to one month in the refrigerator.
Live in the Portland or Vancouver Metro area and looking for a place to buy artichokes? Don’t forget to call us at our Portland garden center today!
If you’re interested in growing a currant bush in your Pacific Northwest home, then you’re in luck. We wrote this guide specifically for you. We are always here to help.
Choosing A Site for Growing Your Currant Plant
Currants and gooseberries both prefer a sunny location but can tolerate part shade. The soil needs to be well drained and contain organic matter. It is ideal for the pH to range between 5.5-7.0. This is the typical pH range of the Willamette Valley naturally. Since currants and gooseberries are hosts to White Pine Blister Rust, it is not wise to plant these if you have five-needled pines in your landscape.
Currant Planting
Amend the soil with compost. Space the gooseberries and red or white currants 3-4 feet apart in rows. Black currants are more vigorous so spacing them 4-5 feet apart would be wise. Rows can be 7-10 feet apart. Dig a hole large enough to fit the spread of roots. Add a well-balanced slow release fertilizer to the fill soil. Press down on the soil around the plants to avoid air bubbles and water thoroughly. At planting time, prune all branches to a length of 4-6 inches. This will stimulate new growth. Mulch around the plants before the summer arrives with 2 inches of compost, sawdust or other organic materials.
Growing Currants
Remove all the blossoms the first year after planting. This will allow your plant to become more stable. Fertilizer should be applied each February and again in the late spring each year. Currants and gooseberries can also be trained as a fan shape on a trellis. This is attractive and will help with small spaces.
Pruning a Currant Bush
Pruning is best done in the winter months when the plants are dormant.
Red and white currants and gooseberries produce their fruit on 2-3 year old wood. Remove any stems that are older than 4 years old. Black currants produce best on 1 year old wood. Strong 1 year old canes and 2-3 year old canes that have an abundance of strong 1 year old branches are the most productive. When you prune, keep a total of 10-12 canes per mature bush- about half should be 1 year old shoots. Make your pruning cuts close to the ground.
Harvesting Currants
Pick black and white currants as well as gooseberries as an individual fruit. If you try to do this with red currants, you will ruin the fruit, so it is best to pick these in clusters.
Looking for where to get a currant bush? If you live in the Portland or Vancouver Metropolitan area, be sure to stop by our Portland garden center. We’ll always be available to answer your questions.
It may seem odd to talk about intentionally growing this often aggressive and painful plant. But maybe you are someone who believes that the fruit is worth the pain. There are also varieties of blackberry which grow great fruit and are thorn-free. Either way, growing your own blackberries assures that you’ll have an easy source of this fruit close to home. Just be sure you’re prepared for the work that comes with cultivating these vines!
Choosing a Site for Growing Blackberries
Blackberries produce best in full sun, but can tolerate partial shade. Blackberries can grow in just about any type of soil as long as it is well-drained. If the soil drains slowly or is too wet, adding organic matter will help reduce the chance of root rot. Blackberries would prefer to have the pH between 5.5 and 7.5. If your pH is below 5.5, add lime.
Planting Blackberries
Dig a shallow hole large enough to accommodate the roots of starts. Prune off any damaged root parts. Spread the root mass and set the plant in the ground at the same soil level as it was in the nursery pot. Cover the roots and press the soil down firmly to remove air pockets. If you have soil low in fertility, add a well balanced all purpose fertilizer to the hole. Space plants 4-10 feet apart in a row. It is wise to trellis all blackberries. A simple trellis system 6’ tall of wire supports strung between posts is preferred.
How to Care for Blackberries
Each spring, add a well balanced fertilizer to the soil. Control weeds between the plants but cultivate no deeper than 1-2 inches to prevent root damage. You may apply mulch once plants become established. Sawdust (not cedar), compost, or bark mulch can be applied in a three inch layer over the row.
Pruning Blackberries
Pruning should be done in winter or early spring. Blackberries bear fruit on canes that grew the previous season. The canes that produced fruit last year should be pruned away. The new canes can be tied to on a trellis or a fence. This will allow better air circulation and higher quality berries.
When to Harvest Blackberries
Berries should be harvested every 3 to 6 days depending on weather and cultivation. When ripe, berries come right off the vine. To extend shelf life, pick berries when they are dry and refrigerate as soon as possible.
Horseradish may seem like an odd plant to grow, but this unique root is delectable when turned into purees, sauces, or served with a savory steak. The horseradish plant has a distinguishable large green leaf that will add a lot of color to your garden.
Choosing a Site for Growing Horseradish:
Horseradish would love to have full sun. Partial shade works, but the rate of growth will decrease. Horseradish will grow in a deep container, like a barrel, very easily. The soil needed to grow horseradish needs to be well drained and have a pH of 5.5 to 7. To achieve this pH range, add some acidic planting mix to the native soil when planting.
Planting Horseradish
If you bought the plant in the “bare root” form, you should plant it as soon as you are able to work the ground. If you are unable to do this, keep the root in the fridge in a loosely wrapped plastic bag. Dig a hole 1 foot across and as deep as your shovel. Loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole. Place roots on a 45 degree angle, around 6 inches deep for the small end, keeping the top of the root just below the surface. Refill the hole with compost and mound up a couple of inches because the dirt will settle with time and watering.
If you bought a horseradish plant, dig a hole twice as wide and deep as the roots of the plant. Add some soil back in the hole. The hole should be the same depth as the roots. Place the plant in the hole and pile the remaining soil around the plant. The base of the leaves should be at ground level. Water the plant well. It is normal for horseradish to wilt for a few days after the initial planting. You should see new leaves appear very soon.
Caring for the Horseradish Plant
There are no specific watering issues associated with horseradish. Keep the soil evenly moist, just the same as any other plant. If you added compost to your soil when you initially planted, it should give enough nutrients for the plant during the first year. After that, a slow released well balanced fertilizer will work. This should be applied in the early spring.
When to Harvest Horseradish
For the best flavor do not harvest until the leaves have seen frost. One year old plants have the best flavor, so it is common to replant new plants every season.
A lifelong Oregon resident, Drake has been passionate about plants since childhood, beginning with propagating and growing flowers at his grandfather’s nursery. He opened Drake’s 7 Dees in 1974, while earning degrees in Business and Horticulture from Oregon State University. He later expanded into the design/build side of the industry, allowing him to combine his passion for plants with his love of family by maximizing the quality of family time spent outdoors.
Drake is co-founder of the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association and is a Landscape Industry Certified Manager (LICM)—a designation that less than two percent of landscapers have attained. Additionally, Drake serves on the Board of Directors for the Portland Japanese Gardens, widely regarded as one of the seven best Japanese gardens outside of Japan.
Drake is married to former Oregon Speaker of the House, Lynn Snodgrass. Together, he and Lynn received the Farm Bureau President’s award in 1999 for their service and dedication to agriculture in the state of Oregon. Drake and Lynn have two wonderful daughters, two talented son-in-laws, and seven grandchildren. In his spare time, Drake enjoys camping, water and snow skiing, reading, and of course, gardening.
Tim Sellin
Senior Design + Production Manager
Born and raised in the Portland Metro Area… Tim has had an appreciation for the outdoors from a young age. Inspired by our local beauty ranging: the Mt Hood National Forest to salty, sea spray of Cannon Beach, the arid high-desert of Central Oregon to the rugged terrain of Steens Mountain – Tim sought higher education at the University of Idaho in their Landscape Architecture department. Graduating with honors in 2004, he returned home to establish his professional career.
Now making his home in Sandy, Oregon – Tim and his wife [Nicole] are raising two happy and healthy kiddos and 4 fur-babies. Between soccer, football, cheerleading, girl scouts and other extra-curricular activities… the Sellin family are heavily involved in their community and church family. Since college, Tim has spent 13 of his 17 years with Drake’s 7 Dees and has ‘set roots’ in anticipation of long-term growth at the family-focused company. Having spent his time away from Drake’s in a ‘boots on the ground’ capacity, Tim has fostered a love for the operational/production side of landscape business, as well as the design/sales.
His goal in life as well as business is to put others first.
Steven Kurvers
Senior Design Associate + Studio Manager
Bachelor of Science Landscape Architecture, BSLA… 2009
California Polytechnic University, Pomona… Cum Laude
American Society of Landscape Architects – Honor Award
Steven has 15 years of experience in the residential landscape design/build and garden center industry, including 9 years with Drake’s 7 Dees. Steven also has experience working with the National Park Service in Yosemite on sub-alpine restoration projects, as well as volunteer experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer serving the community of Zaouiat d’Ifrane in Morocco.
Together, Steven and his wife Anna have four lovely children, all 5 years old and under! In his (very limited) spare time, Steven enjoys camping, hiking, archery hunting, and cooking. Steven’s passion for his work lies in helping others, through design to envision a more beautiful space that, once built, becomes a reality that improves their quality of life.
