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Sara Reeves Photo

Home gardens and do-it-yourself landscape projects experienced a huge boost in popularity over the past two years, and the trend shows no signs of stopping!  More time at home has given us all more time to contemplate how to use our spaces in a way that better fits our families and our lifestyles.

Looking to get started on your project but aren’t sure how (or where) to get started?  Our trained professionals have these tips for you!

• Take an inventory of your existing landscape features. When you think about spending time in your outdoor spaces, what are you missing? Some examples might include lawn area for playing, garden space for vegetables and herbs, or curb appeal as you drive up to your home.
• Set goals for your project and write them all down. You may not be able to get to them all this year, but keeping them in mind and planning for the future cuts down on double work. If you know that you will want a vegetable garden at some point but you won’t have time to implement one this year, go ahead and figure out a good sunny spot for it this year, and avoid filling it with landscape plants that may have to be relocated in the future.
• Now that you know what you are working with, and have your goals in mind, it’s time to buy plants, right? Not yet! Take pictures and measure your space. Figure out how much sun and at what time of day it gets. Our team will help you match your space with the plants that will work best in it, so the more you know about your space, the better the match.
• Ok, now you can head to the garden center! At Good Earth, the inventory is organized by sun needs; plants that love full sun are grouped together and shade to part-sun plants are grouped together. Within each category, there are evergreen and deciduous plants, one that blooms and others that don’t. Don’t get overwhelmed, we have team members available to help you every step of the way!
• Take your haul home, place plants where you think they should go, stand back and look at them, then adjust as needed. Then plant! Proper planting is key to long term plant success. We have you covered here too, with numerous helpful blog posts and videos with detailed information on all kinds of topics, including:

Starting a DIY Landscaping Project? Read This First…

Landscape Design Tips for the DIY Homeowner

How to Plant a Plant

To find out all kinds of helpful information, visit our online Learning Center. If your landscape is showing signs of winter stress right now, be sure and check this blog post out, Plant Recovery After a Hard Freeze.

The post Top Pro 5 Tips on Doing Your Own Landscape Project appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

If you haven’t read our last blog post, the aptly named Reasons to Prune , we suggest doing so before reading this one. A large part of good pruning includes understanding the reason you are pruning. Coming back to the reason throughout the pruning process will help you keep on track.  When you lose sight of why you are pruning, you can also easily lose sign of how to prune and what your next cut should be.

What to Prune

This post is all about what to prune and when, which are the next pruning steps to keeping your garden healthy and thriving.  Many plants don’t have to be pruned and only need occasional trimming to keep their natural form.  Unless you are creating or maintaining a special feature like a topiary, we suggest working with the plants natural shape.  It will greatly cut down on the amount of work needed.

Types of ‘Pruning’

Shearing

As discussed in the Reasons to Prune post, there are different kinds of ‘pruning”, and shearing is one.  One example of this process of cutting off the top of a plant  Ornamental grasses and ground covers like liriope respond well to being sheared; old growth is removed before new shoots emerge from the ground. Another example of shearing is cutting off the ends of all the branches, which is often done to shape a hedge.  This also works well.  Some people like defined shapes and space between each plant, and shear back rows of foundation planting into a loosely round-ish or square-ish shape.  Depending on what kind of plant you have, this may not be necessary and often times, it leads to plant decline due to lack of interior foliage. This process is often done with hand or power shearers versus pruners or loppers.

Trimming, Cutting Back and Cleaning Up

Trimming back a plant usually describes the light trimming a plant might need when it grows a random long shoot that is out of place.  Also in this category of pruning is the clean up of perennials. Shrub roses such as Knock-Out and Drift Roses also fall in this category, since they are usually getting cut back to the same height, although some selective removal of old canes may occur as well. This is a more selective process than shearing.

True Pruning

This is the process of selectively removing branches from a tree or shrub, in a slow, thought-out process, keeping the plants’ natural shape in mind and thinning out to allow more light and air into the plant canopy. This isn’t the easiest or fastest method but depending on the plant, it may be the best method.

When to Prune

There are two ways of looking at this; if you want to think of it as a calendar of chores, here is a link to our Arkansas Gardening Calendar.  You can look at each month for what should or should not be pruned at that time.

You can also think of pruning in categories and generalities; evergreen shrubs versus spring blooming shrubs.  We thought that the most helpful way to look at it might be by plant categories with a little more in depth information on each.  We start with some easy straightforward ones and build up to more complicated categories, like the ever tricky hydrangea! By the way, if that’s what you are most interested in, here is a post all about hydrangeas, include when to prune different species.

If you have a specific pruning question that isn’t addressed here, please call or email us before making the first cut. We don’t want you to cut a spring bloomer right before bloom time and miss out on all your blooms, for example!

Groundcover

A clean up of groundcovers like liriope, sometimes commonly called monkey grass, should be done before new growth begins in the spring.  February is a great time to do this.  Shearing back to remove winter damaged leaves before new green shoots emerge makes the clean up process easier and the plant will most likely flush much stronger than it would have if it was also struggling to keep damaged leaves growing.

Shearing isn’t recommended for all groundcovers; for example, vinca minor and semi-evergreen perennial groundcovers don’t really need pruning but might benefit from a light trimming. Or, if they have grown out of bounds, a heavier cut back and root prune (a whole other topic!).

Other groundcovers like Asiatic jasmine are sometimes sheared into short hedges, all the same height.  This can be done in February as well, before new growth begins.  This will help the area look more consistent as it grows.

Perennials and Hardy Ferns

Hardy ferns and most perennials (there are exceptions such as hellebores which are late winter blooming) can be cleaned up in the fall as needed. Unless you are keeping seeds for spring seeding or wildlife, spent blooms and stalks can be removed. Dead or diseased branches can be removed then as well. For non-woody, or herbaceous, perennials like hostas whose leaves die back in the first killing frost, you can remove the leaves.

A heavier handed cutting back of perennials should be done in February so the new growth comes back strong in the spring. Keeping the extra growth on between fall and late winter will help protect the plant from winter damage.

Since new growth for The Autumn fern, a popular evergreen fern, should be cut back now before new growth begins.  Also, clean up any evergreen perennials before their new growth shoots up. Phlox

Hydrangeas (Timing depends on species)

As mentioned above, hydrangeas are interesting because different species needs to be trimmed differently for best results.  Here is a link to the hydrangea post and quick details for different species are below.  Remember, if you aren’t sure which kind you have, come talk to us before pruning.

Mophead and Lacecap Hydrangeas (H. macrophylla)- After bloom in June/July

Oakleaf Hydrangeas (H. quercifolia)- After bloom

Panicle Hydrangeas (H. paniculate, includes the popular Limelight)- fall, winter, early spring

There is always a bit of confusion about when to prune everblooming shrubs like Endless Summer Hydrangeas; since they bloom all summer, you can deadhead spent blooms throughout the season, then prune in the fall.

Spring Bloomers (After Blooming)

Most spring bloomers, especially ones that bloom in the early spring, such as quince and forsythia, can be pruned after blooming ends.  Trimming in the fall or winter will remove flower buds.  Light shaping can be done at the end of the growing season as needed but keep in mind, reducing plant volume will reduce blooms.

Prune back spring blooming viburnums and loropetalums after blooming as well.

Spring blooming spireas, such as Bridal Wreath, can be thinned after blooming.  Avoid shearing back, as this will alter the graceful natural shape of the plant, in a way that’s hard to recover from.

Azalea (After spring blooming)

Azaleas have a wonderful natural form so it’s best to work with that when pruning.  Look for the tallest branches that need trimming back and follow the branch down under the canopy height you are trying to keep.  Prune just above a fork in the branch to encourage further branching.  As a good rule of thumb, do not remove more than 30% of the plant at any one time.  Since azaleas should be pruned mostly for shaping reasons, this shouldn’t be an issue.

Encore azaleas bloom often… so when do these get pruned? Same time as ‘regular’ azaleas, after the spring bloom!

Roses (Timing depends on rose type)

Prune your Knock-Out, Drift and Hybrid Tea roses around Valentine’s Day each year, but wait until after blooming to prune your climbing roses. Also wait to prune any other roses that only bloom in the spring until after they bloom.

Pruning shrub roses is pretty simple but important because they only bloom on new growth.  This is why pruning out old, unproductive canes is important, as well as removing obvious dead wood. The goal with pruning shrub roses is to encourage new growth; you can cut Drift Roses back to about 8” off the ground, in a rounded shape. With Knock-Outs, you can prune those down to about 18” off the ground, and taking note of the remaining structure left. Remove shoots that cross through other branches, or ones

Hybrid Tea roses usually have many less canes than shrub roses. Identify the healthiest looking 5 to 7 canes and keep these, pruning to a height of around 18 inches off the ground.  Remove old, unproductive canes. The easiest way to do to this is to cut the whole rose back to around 2 feet then make selective cuts and cane removals as previously described.

Ornamental Grasses (February)

The last few categories have been a little more complicated but here is an easy one!  Let grasses to their lovely winter thing until February, then gather the top growth into a bundle and tie with twine about 2 feet off the ground. Most grasses can be sheared down to a height of about 8 to 12 inches off the ground.  Taller grasses can be sheared on the higher end of the this and dwarf grasses on the lower end. The method of tying up the bunch makes clean up much easier!

Crapemyrtles (February)

This is a big one and it’s often done incorrectly. Avoid crape murder… read this post for details. Spoiler alert, less is more with crepe myrtles!

Camellias (After blooming)

Pruning of camellias is can be done for a variety of reasons and the reason will determine the pruning type. You might prune to remove dead or dying branches; this will help new growth emerge. If there is a severe scale issue, pruning the plant back hard (as well as treating the pest) could help it recover more quickly and vigorously. Pruning of camellias can also be done to re-shape, although we suggest working with the natural shape, as opposed to severe pruning or shearing. And last but not least, if you are growing yours as an espaliered tree, that will take some trimming, pruning and shaping.

As far as timing goes, any hard pruning should be done after bloom period ends, which differs between species. Lighter trimming can be done other seasons as needed but keep bloom time in mind (C. sasanqua bloom in fall/early winter, C. japonica bloom in late winter/early spring) so as to avoid removing too much before blooming.

Deciduous Trees (February)

Prune in late winter or early spring before new growth emerges.  Trimming trees should always be a thoughtful process; consider each cut before making it.  Pruning to shape trees is best done when they are young. As the trees mature, removal of branches growing into the canopy of the tree or ones crossing other branches may be needed. ‘Limbing up’ is the process of raising the canopy height of a tree and is the gradual removal of lower branches and twigs as the tree grows.

Broadleaf Evergreens (Early spring)

Prune boxwoods, hollies and other broadleaf evergreen shrubs in the spring after they flush out for the season. You can also lightly, selectively trim during the summer.

The above recommendation is for shrubby branched evergreens; ones with shoots that come out of the ground, instead of branching off a trunk are different.  Plants with this cane-like growth pattern includes  fatsia, nandina, mohonia and others. For these plant types, remove tall canes as needed to a 2-4 inches above the soil line. This thinning process won’t have to be done each year, only occasionally… and sparingly. It should only be done when these taller canes are too tall and shading out the majority of the plant canopy.

Needleleaf Evergreens

Most needleleaf evergreens don’t require trimming and can even start looking wonky with pruning so have a plan before trimming.  Evergreens grown as spirals, like Blue Point Juniper often is, will require shearing back into shape a few times a year.

Summer Blooming Shrubs (Timing depends on plant)

This is a large group of shrubs and contains many different kinds of plants.  Let’s talk through a few of the most popular, starting with summer blooming spireas such as Goldmound. Shear this plant back pretty hard in February; it blooms on new wood so the goal is to encourage strong new growth.

Indian hawthorns usually don’t require much trimming but if needed, they can be trimmed after summer blooming ends.

Gardenias can also be trimmed back after summer blooming ends. Bloom set for traditional gardenias is in the fall so avoid pruning during fall, winter or spring. This will remove flower buds. For re-blooming varieties, such as Southern Living’s Jubilation gardenia, you can prune after fall bloom.

Another summer bloomer is Rose of Sharon; this large shrub or small tree blooms on new wood and can be pruned during late winter or early spring before new growth emerges.

Annuals

Annuals only grow for one season, either the warm or cool season here in Arkansas. Trimming usually consists of cutting back leggy growth to encourage new blooms. To keep annuals as healthy as possible, remember to fertilize throughout the season!

Fruits

We have several new blog post for fruits; here are links to each.  Pruning information for blackberries is in the post; fruit trees should be pruned in February, and blueberries should be pruned in the summer.

How to Grow Blackberries in Arkansas

How to Grow Blueberries in Arkansas

Fruit Trees in Arkansas

Pruning fruits is an intricate process, and is a whole post by itself… on each fruit type!  We haven’t done these yet, so here are links to great resources from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.

Blueberry Production in Arkansas

Fruit Tree Pruning

Research Before Planting

If you are thinking of adding to your landscape any time soon, and will be plant shopping, take note of the mature size of each plant before purchasing.  Keeping a plant at half the mature size can be challenging to you, and potentially harmful to your plant. Choose a plant whose mature size will work in your space. We suggest measuring the space before leaving your home.  If there are windows or a porch located behind the planting area, measure how far off the ground they are.

Last but not least, if you want a more mature looking landscape now, buy an older, larger plant as opposed to more plants that will then require more pruning maintenance. And exception to this would be when growing a hedge that will require frequent shearing anyway or green screen for privacy, where the goal is for plants to grow in together.

Still have questions?  We can help; just come by and see us!

The post When and What to Prune appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

The answer is yes, we do offer gift cards, in any amount!  We aren’t set up for online purchases BUT it’s still an easy process.

• If you are local, just stop by the garden center!

• If you aren’t local or won’t have the chance to visit us, give us a call at 501-868-4666 during our business hours.  Over the phone payments for gift cards can be made via debit or credit card and we can mail your receipt to you.

• Provide the mailing address of where you would like the gift card sent, along with a short message to the recipient and we will get it in the mail to them.  You can also choose to have the gift card recipient pick up the card in person, whichever works best for you.

Still have questions?  Give us a call!

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Why do we prune? What is pruning? What are the types of pruning?

Some plants need to be pruned, thinned or trimmed back while others do just fine with no shaping, and can even look worse after pruning efforts.  In this post, we want to share more about the reasons to prune and in our next post, we are going to talk more about what to prune and when (link to that post will be in next weeks’ newsletter).  You can also check out our Gardening Calendar for some timing guidelines.

Quick aside on some terms; pruning usually indicates a slower process with selective cuts. This would be when you are cutting a branch or shoot, then stepping back to consider the next before cutting.  Pruning not only cuts off shoots, it encourages new growth in that the process typically allows more light to enter the interior of a plant. Shearing usually refers to cutting back the ends of most exterior branches to create a certain shape or maintain a certain height.  With ornamental grasses and groundcovers like liriope, shearing is cutting down the entire plant to a certain height. Thinning a plant is different still and is the preferred method for plants whose shoots come out of the ground, as opposed to off main trunks or larger branches.  Thinning can also refer to the removal of interior branches on a ‘regular’ shrub or tree.

Don’t prune just to prune. There needs to be a reason or why do it? You could be turning your low maintenance landscape into a high maintenance landscape for no good reason.  And if you prune, you need to know why you are pruning to know how to prune each particular plant.

Top Reasons to Prune

Shaping Plants

The first reason to prune is to create or maintain the shape of a plant.  Let’s say you have a plant you are trying to train into or keep in a certain shape.  An example of this might be a holly, shaped into a tight, pyramidal form.  Although some hollies naturally have this shape, you will need to shear it to keep the shape, especially if you are aiming for a formal, symmetrical look. Pruning to maintain shape may be as simple as pruning back a few leggy azalea shoots after the spring blooming season.

When pruning for shape, we often see shrubs that have been sheared to the same height year after year.  These plants typically only have a very thin layer of foliage on the outside of the plant.  We suggest keeping regularly sheared shrubs in a soft pyramidal shape as opposed to round; this way the foliage on the bottom of the plant would continue to get sunlight. When they are pruned into spheres, the top of the plant shades out sunlight to lower leaves and branches.

A Little More on Shaping Plants

Some plants do better than others when consistently sheared. For example, Compacta hollies tend to lose most, if not all, of the interior foliage after years of regular shearing. Other hollies, such as Nellie Stevens holly, seem to take consistent shearing better and keep more interior foliage.

Unless you are willing to invest some time (or money to have someone else do it) on regular pruning, it’s best to work with the natural shape of the plant and consider the mature size of a plant when planning your landscape. Trying to keep a large plant at much smaller size can also stress a plant, making it more susceptible to disease and insect issues.

While there are specific times of year to do a ‘hard’ prune, most plants will be fine with a light shaping any time year.  You can go ahead and cut that wild abelia shoot off in the summer, no problem!

Create and Maintain Special Feature

All topiaries from geometric to fanciful, will require trimming or pruning. And so will espaliered trees or shrubs.  You may also choose to grow that huge loropetalum as a tree instead of a large shrubs, which will require removing lower branches. Before you cut, keep in mind that maintaining a shape that is far from a plants’ natural shape will be more work.  But many people find it therapeutic so we aren’t trying to talk you out of it!

Healthier Plants

Pruning is also often done to assist a plant in recovery from storm damage, such as the removal of branches broken under the weight of snow or ice. Portions of plants may also expire due to root injury, wind or mechanical damage. A good time to assess the situation is late winter or early spring. If branches break easily and show no green when the outer bark is scraped back, it may be a dead branch. Cut back to a living portion of the branch or further if needed to maintain a good shape. If you see dead branches during the growing season, it’s fine to prune those out then as well. If it’s winter, and you aren’t sure, feel free to wait until spring to see if the branch that might be dead leafs out and prune when it becomes obvious it won’t. Promptly address dead branches that may be hazard to people, pets or property.

You might also need to occasionally prune tree branches that have a narrow angle to the trunk as opposed to a more typical, stronger wide angle.  Picture a tree trunk and a branch growing from it.  The closer it is to a 90 degree angle, the stronger it is. The more narrow that angle is, the more susceptible to breakage it can be.  One well known example of this issue is the Bradford pear, a tree notorious for for splitting.  The natural structure of Bradfords includes narrow branches so we suggest choosing an alternate tree.  Most trees have wider branch angles and only the occasional narrow angled branch that will need to be removed.

Control Disease or Insects

Severe disease and insect infestations can be another reason to prune.  An example of this would be a crapemyrtle taken over by crapemyrtle bark scale (learn more about crapemyrtle bark scale in this post).  If you have tried all the other control methods and can’t get it under control, reducing the size of the plant can help in controlling a persistent pest.  We would caution against this being the initial go-to method of resolution though.

Thinning a shrub can increase air flow; good air flow will reduce disease and insect issues.  Thinning a plant will also make controlling these pest issues easier.

Rejuvenate Aging Plants

As mentioned above, pruning can encourage new growth, which creates another good reason to prune… to rejuvenate aging plants.  Plants don’t live forever but by taking good care of them, you can extend their lifetime.  Let’s say you just moved into a home and you are seeing plants with dead branches, or maybe the boxwoods only have foliage on the outside.

These plants might benefit from being cut back severely.  That may sound er, severe, but what we mean by that is they need to be cut back further than usually recommended to remove dead or dying branches. If the roots are healthy, new shoots should emerge and a new shape can be developed.  If the roots aren’t healthy, the plant may not recover from a hard pruning.  You might not know until you try to rehabilitate a plant.  Sometimes, these drastic measures are worth it to try to recover a plant. Sometimes not; that choice is yours to make.

Increase Blooms or Fruit

Careful pruning of fruits (both trees and brambles) will encourage blooming and therefore, fruiting. Deadheading (removal of spent blooms) shrubs or perennials that rebloom throughout the season will encourage new blooms. Shrubs like roses and butterfly bushes bloom best on younger, vigorous growth and later in the season. Since pruning encourages this growth, the action increases blooming.

Bottom Line

In conclusion; you don’t need to prune just to prune. Have a reason in mind. If you don’t start with a good reason, determining what your next cut will be is difficult.

Try to work with the plants’ natural shape; most plants have a wonderful natural shape. And, in general, avoid removing more than 30% of the top growth at any time. Exceptions are cleaning up or cutting back perennials and groundcover such as liriope.

Now that we have introduced you to the reasons to prune, we suggest reading our next pruning post; When and What to Prune in Arkansas.  This is key because some plants bloom only on current years’ growth (also called new wood), while others bloom on last years’ growth (old wood). This means that if you trim certain plants at the wrong time of year, you may be drastically reducing your blooms…eek!

The post Reasons to Prune appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

Moksha Ornaments, Chimes and Rain Chains

Kelly’s Pick of the Week

Santa’s Kindness Ornament

Julie’s Pick of the Week

Santa’s Kindness ornament is a fun, interactive experience!  Every day in December, Santa connects with your child, children or grandchildren daily to encourage kindness and project that will keep them smiling the entire season.  It’s a wonderful way to spread joy and kindness. It’s easy to use too!  Just register, then use your phone’s camera to scan a QR code that takes you to Santa sharing his ideas for the day. The ornament comes with a journal and we have extra journals for households with several children.  Your kids are gonna love it. Click here to watch Gregg sharing about this new, fun experience recently. Merry Christmas!

Caren’s Aloe Vera + Botanical Therapy line

Jen’s Pick of the Week

Caren’s Gardeners Hand Treatment is my must-have lotion! Gardening, and really, working outside in general, is rough on hands. Winter doesn’t improve matters either.  The Caren line is the way to go, not only with this lotion but all their skin care, including fun seasonal shower sponges.  Every product in the Caren line is sublime; and available in an immense range of scents, from sunny, citrus notes to green grass, musk, sandalwood and tree oak moss. Caren products feature a signature aloe vera base, which is then enriched with natural botanicals, vital antioxidants and rich vitamins to provide a healthy glow. Free of Parabens, Phthalates, Mineral Oil, Gluten and GMO’s. Made in the USA and placed in glass or sugarcane tubes.

The post Our Staff’s Favorite Gifts appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

History

Here are a few interesting tidbits about poinsettias; they are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico.  He introduced the plant to the US in 1825.  Poinsettias are widely considered and most popularly sold as a Christmas plant.  As legends tell it, in 16th century Mexico, a poor girl named Pepita was unable to provide a gift in celebration of Jesus’ birthday.  An angel inspired her to gather these “weeds” from the roadside; which then sprouted crimson blossoms. From the 17th-century on, poinsettias were used by the Franciscan friars in Christmas celebrations.

Interesting Fact about Poinsettias

A little botanical side note; the bright poinsettia petals actually colorful leaf bracts surrounding the actual poinsettia flower, which is located at the center of the bracts and may be green or yellow.  We suggest not correcting people with this fact when they are waxing poetic about the beauty of poinsettia flowers.  From this author’s experience, all that will get you is a blank look or maybe even an eye roll.  Wait… are your eyes rolling right now?!

Now, these hard to resist plants are pretty easy to take care but there are a few helpful tips.  And as is true with most plants, correct watering is key!

How to Care for Poinsettias

Place poinsettias in bright, indirect light, and water as needed throughout the season. Water when the soil surface is dry and do not allow the plant to sit in water. If the plant is in a sleeve, remove the sleeve, water, let it drain then replace the sleeve. Or cut the sleeve to allow water drainage and place a saucer under the plant; dump the extra water from the saucer. Water the soil; avoiding the foliage. Move poinsettias carefully; they break easily. Avoid placing the plant near hot or cold drafts; 65 to 70 degrees is preferred. Enjoy them for the season and then toss out with the tree!

Are Poinsettias Poisonous?

One last item to cover; are poinsettias poisonous or not?  The white sap that appears when stems are broken may irritate your skin, and cause some itching.  This is true with other plants in the Euphorbiaceae family too, including Variegated Tapioca and the much loved Ascot Rainbow Euphorbia.  Avoid ingesting these plants.  You would have to eat large quantities for them to be dangerously poisonous but they don’t taste great so we advise against ingesting them altogether!

Fresh Arkansas Grown Poinsettias at Good Earth

We support local growers; all of our poinsettias are Arkansas grown.  We take good care of them; our poinsettias are either in the hothouse or in our gift shop during their time with us.  Buying healthy, happy plants is the first step to success so pick yours up here today!

The post Poinsettia Care appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

There are actually 3 different kinds of cactus that look similar and have one of three names; Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cactus.  While it may seem like they are all the same, there is a difference.  It’s all in the leaf shape.

Thanksgiving Cactus

Although they are commonly called Christmas cactus, the ones pictures above are technically Thanksgiving cactus.  See how the the leaves have pointed, claw-like projections on leaf edges? That is the telling sign that you are looking at a Schlumgera truncata, or Thanksgiving cactus.

Christmas Cactus

Christmas cactus, or Schlumgera bridgesti, look very similar but instead of pointed projections, they are more rounded.

Easter Cactus

Rhipsalidopsis gaertnerrii is the botanical name for Easter cactus. The leaves of this plant have gently scalloped edges, with scallops near the center of the leaves.

Growing Tips

When it comes to care, it doesn’t really matter which one of these beauties you find, they all have similar care needs! All three are short day plants that require 12-14 hours of darkness per day and cool temperatures (nigh time temps of 60 to 65 degrees F) to induce blooming.  If not already blooming, place your cactus in a cool, dark area for 12-14 hours per day until bud set.

Christmas and Thanksgiving cactus require about four to six weeks of short days in order to bloom. That would normally happen naturally around mid-October, which is why you start seeing blooming cactus available now. You might be able to get a second, smaller spring re-bloom. To encourage this, just return the plant to short day conditions for the required amount of time. Easter cactus require 8-12 weeks of short days.

During the short day period and subsequent bloom period, discontinue fertilizer use.  Also during short day period, reduce watering.

As far as location, a seldom used room on the lower level of a house is a good spot.  Once buds appear, bring the plant into a warmer, brighter location and enjoy the blooming show! Place in bright, indirect sunlight.  Water only when the top inch of soil is dry and avoid fertilizing or repotting during bloom.

If buds drop, it can be due to drafts, overly warm temperatures, too much water or direct sun.  These cactus plants tend to do best root bound; one more way they are low care! Avoid overwatering, which can cause root rot. Reddish leaves can indicate too much sun, lack of phosphorus or lack of water.

These plants make wonderful gifts that can be handed down from generation to generation.  There are reports of plants being over 100 years old! Who is ready to start a new holiday tradition?

The post How to Grow Christmas Cactus appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

Christmas is a busy time of year…we get it!  Make your holidays easier by picking up your Christmas tree along with other your ornaments and other decor and, at the same time, do a little gift shopping! Follow the links for more in depth information:

• Read Tips for keeping your Christmas decor fresh all season
• Check out the gifts that have our team feeling festive this year!
• Get a refresher on Poinsettia care
• Gift ideas for gardeners
• Wondering how to grow Christmas cactus? Here’s the dirt…

And of course, stop by or give us a call if you have any questions!

The post Christmas at The Good Earth Garden Center! appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

Did you know that we have a 5,000 square foot Gift Shop, filled with all kinds of lovely gifts, including many locally made items?  Check these out!

We have pottery from several different local artists, including our own Landscape Planning and Construction team member, Chad! The mugs and bowls pictured above are his; each one is unique, making for a very special gift.

We also carry Honey Bee Pottery from Piper Groves. Piper’s pottery features an interesting and eye-catching use of texture.

Over the past 20 years, Cary Collins Designs has grown from a dream to an inspiring business.  Read more about Cary’s journey here! Each year, we stock her calendars and refills, both of which are very popular gifts. Each month, enjoy unique artwork and a scripture.  She also has a variety of note cards and writing pads.  The bright colors and uplifting messages are so sweet!

And speaking of sweet…local honey! Guenther Apiary honey is especially delicious so consider grabbing some for yourself as well!  We love the honey, and of course, the creamed honey, which is available in a variety of flavors, including Strawberry and Blueberry. We are very excited to stock their beeswax candles now too!

We would like to introduce you to our newest local artisan, Richard Zimmer, a self taught woodworker. He has been woodworking since his teens. Each piece is handcrafted from native or reclaimed wood, including walnut, cherry, maple, honey locust and cedar.  His goal is to introduce people to quality craftsmanship.

Born and raised in the Midwest, artist Biz Northup, creator of Molly Kate doorhangers, enjoys the outdoors, gardening, reading, creating new crafts, decorating and traveling. She comes from an elementary education background so it was a natural fit for her to use her creative talents to product fun, spirited decor. Biz gets her inspiration for new ideas by listening to friends who have purchased her creations and by shopping hidden gems throughout the United States. Door hangers are handpainted; each one is unique.

As you can see, The Good Earth Gift Shop has many locally made gifts for your loved ones.  We also promote self- gifting; treat yourself, you deserve it!

And if you just aren’t sure what to get someone, a Good Earth gift card is a great choice!  Stop by to purchase one or if you don’t live nearby and you would like one for someone who does, give us a call.  We can mail one out, just have a mailing address handy when you call!

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