Author: Kym Pokorny

It appears overnight and looks like a horror-show blob that’s slithered its way into your garden. The gross-looking substance known as slime mold shows up on mulch and lawns, but is harmless to plants. Instead it feeds on decaying matter, fungi or bacteria, according to Neil Bell, a horticulturist for Oregon State University Extension Service. […]

Fragile, beautiful and fascinating, butterflies flutter their way into our gardens and seem to just as quickly wing their way out. It isn’t because they necessarily want to leave, said Heather Stoven, an entomologist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. Rather they don’t find what they need to park themselves permanently. As detailed in […]

Go small with microgreens and grow tiny plants with big flavor for soups, salads and sandwiches. Growing microgreens is fun, easy and a great activity to get kids involved in gardening, said Brooke Edmunds, horticulturist for Oregon State University Extension Service. They can be grown from kits or seed packets. Almost any kind of herbaceous […]

Grass lawns are the default for most yards, but some people want other options, like edible or ornamental landscaping, mulch or low-maintenance groundcover. “Maybe you have a lawn full of difficult-to-control weeds like annual bluegrass or rough bluegrass and you want to start over,” said Alec Kowalewski, turfgrass specialist with the Oregon State University Extension […]

Knowing the hows and whys of tomato diseases gives gardeners a leg up for successfully growing the most-treasured of vegetables. Brooke Edmunds, a horticulturist with Oregon State University Extension Service, troubleshoots the following common problems that might afflict your tomatoes as the season goes on. Blossom drop: It’s usually caused by dry soil and dry […]

Cooking and gardening have taken the country by storm and easy-to-grow herbs act as a bridge between the two, adding flavor to our food and confidence to our gardening. Growing them inside gives everyone the opportunity to spice up their homegrown food, said Brooke Edmunds, horticulturist for Oregon State University Extension Service. “People are entertaining […]

Freshly planted and carefully tended, vegetable gardens can quickly become a magnet for trouble. Problems seem to spring up overnight. Weeds, for instance, can overtake a garden in days. Slugs munch on seedlings. Aphids suck the juices from any number of plants. And that white butterfly you see fluttering around? It’s a cabbage white butterfly […]

Interest in home gardening has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the Food Hero team at Oregon State University Extension Service is offering Oregonians a unique opportunity to grow vegetables and fruits at home. Food Hero, a social marketing campaign that empowers families to make food choices that are healthy, fun and tasty, is […]

When homeowners set out to prune grapes, kiwifruit and other berry crops, they often stand in front of the plant at a complete loss. Just getting started is intimidating. “Over my many years at OSU, pruning has been the single most common question and challenge for home gardeners,” said Bernadine Strik, professor and Oregon State […]

With deeply lobed silver leaves and a 3-foot stature, the artichoke unfolds as much mystery in the garden as it does on the dinner table. The can be used to set off any color in a perennial border, as a striking specimen plant or as the flagship of a vegetable garden. But the reason most […]