Protect and Replenish Your Garden Soil with a Cover Crop

What do you do with your garden beds after you’ve harvested the season’s fruits, vegetables, and flowers?

              Subscribe to the Blog >

By: Valerie Rose, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener

Don’t leave the soil exposed to winter rain and wind – protect your precious garden soil with a cover crop. Garden crops draw nutrients from the soil, and cover crops replenish these nutrients. Think of it as home-grown fertilizer.

Cover crops are sometimes known as green manures. Farmers spread composted animal manure on fields, a traditional fertilizer source, replenishing soil nutrients following the harvest. Cover crops are a green, plant-based fertilizer that feeds the soil without animal products, hence the term ‘green manure.’

Cover crops do many important jobs at once, working quietly in the soil when it’s too cold for even the heartiest gardeners to lift a trowel. They include many species of plants: grains, grasses, and legumes (beans and peas). These versatile plants can suppress weeds, retard erosion, add organic matter, and store nutrients for future plants. Organic matter builds better soil structure and fertility, increasing water retention, drainage, and aeration.

Cover crops grow food for the soil instead of ingredients for a salad. When planted in autumn, cover crops are dug into the garden bed in the spring. Once tilled back into the soil, cover crops break down, adding nutrients and organic matter, nourishing next year’s garden. They also provide necessary food for earthworms and microorganisms. Cover crop plants are genuinely masters of multi-tasking.

Many Varieties to Choose From
You have many choices of cover crop plants with differing benefits. Adding and replenishing nitrogen, an essential plant nutrient, clover is a real gift. Clovers are nitrogen-fixers; they take atmospheric nitrogen from the air through the plant leaves and convert it into a form that plants can use. These generous plants store this vital nutrient in small nodules on the roots with the help of soil bacteria called rhizobia. When the plants decay in the ground (or are tilled into the soil), the nitrogen is available to feed other plants. Gardeners should plant crimson clover from September through mid-October and till it under in the spring. Crimson clover is this gardener’s favorite cover crop; I till under most of the plants, leaving a dozen or two to flower. The glorious red blooms are a welcome food source for pollinators in the spring and make a long-lasting cut flower.

Austrian field peas are another great option. This cold-hardy overwintering pea is an excellent choice for cooler, poorly drained soils, which describes many garden beds we know. You can sow this nitrogen-fixing pea as late as the end of November. Dig the plants into the ground in late April or early May in the spring.

Clovers and peas benefit from ‘inoculation’ – coating the seeds with nitrogen-fixing bacteria before planting. Doing this increases the amount of nitrogen each plant can retain. Most seed dealers sell small packets of inoculum, which are actually bacterial spores of rhizobia.

The inoculum and seeds are an easy, inexpensive way to nourish your hungry soil.

Buckwheat roots loosen the topsoil while accessing phosphorus within the soil, which is then stored in the plant’s tissues returning phosphorus to the soil for the next crop. Photo: © Adobe Stock

Some Choices of “Green Manure” Cover Crops

Crop	Planting Time	Spacing	Seeds/100 sq. ft.	Comments
Crimson Clover	Sept. – mid Oct.	Broadcast	1-4 oz.	Legume* – Does poorly in poorly drained, acidic, infertile soil. Good for undersowing. Avoid other, perennial clovers, such as red clover.
Vetch	Late Aug. – mid Oct.	Broadcast	5-10 oz.	Legume* – Soak seeds overnight before sowing.
Field Peas	Late Aug. – Oct.	Broadcast	10-12 oz.	Legume* – Does reasonably well in poorly drained or infertile soil. Very hardy. Matures later than crimson clover.
Fava Beans	Late Oct. – early Nov.	6″-8″	12-14 oz.	Legume* – Soak seeds overnight before sowing for quicker germination. Large plants, lots of organic matter, nitrogen for soil. Not very hardy.
Cereal Rye	Late Sept. – Oct.	Broadcast or 5″ spacing	5-10 oz.	Produces lots of biomass. Harder than legumes to chop up. Breaks down more slowly. Roots improve soil structure. Chop before stalks turn brown.
Winter Wheat	Late Sept. – early Oct.	Broadcast or 5″ spacing	5-10 oz.	(see Rye comments)
Buckwheat	June-Aug.	Broadcast	3 oz.	Good summer green manure. Doesn’t need lots of water. Attracts beneficial insects. Not winter-hardy.
Tyfon	May – Sept.	Broadcast or transplant 4″	1⁄2-1 oz.	Cabbage family. Do not follow with same family crop. Edible greens and roots.
Corn Salad	Sept.	Broadcast	1 oz.	Good salad greens in winter. Allow to grow in early spring before chopping.

Retrieved from: https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2053/2015/09/list-of-crops-with-garden-coverage.pdf

Don’t Let Them Go To Seed
Cover crops should be tilled or dug into the soil before going to seed. Tilling or digging in is especially important when planting buckwheat, which is sown in summer. Clare Sullivan, a field crops expert for the Oregon State University Extension Service, notes, “The fast growth and dense canopy smothers annual weeds, protects the soil from erosion, and helps conserve soil moisture. The abundance of blossoms attracts pollinators and beneficial insects, and in a pinch, buckwheat can be added to a bouquet.”

Buckwheat roots loosen the topsoil while accessing phosphorus within the soil, which is then stored in the plant’s tissues. “When buckwheat residues are returned to the soil, the phosphorus becomes available for the next crop,” Sullivan said.

Cover Crops on Farms
Gardeners and farmers alike benefit from planting specific crops. Many farmers renew the health of their soil with cover crops. They may plant entire fields or in rows between orchard fruit trees. The Skagit Conservation District’s Cover Crop Grant Program helps eligible farmers purchase seed.

Farmers may plant cereal grasses like oats, barley, or rye. Rye is one of the most commonly grown cover crops on Northwest farms. This crop is vigorous, very cold-hardy, and can germinate and establish in cool weather. Rye grows rapidly in the spring, so it can become difficult to turn under by the time gardeners are ready to work their gardens. Mowing or weed whacking may be necessary before incorporating a heavy cover crop of cereal rye.

Livestock can enjoy grazing on cover crops such as triticale or winter rye. Even a variety of radish is used as a cover crop! Unlike radishes grown in vegetable gardens, the Forage radish loosens soil rather than enhancing a salad. Also known as “tillage radish,” their large roots “till” deep into the ground, naturally aerating the soil. Forage radishes also provide excellent food for wildlife.

Adding a cover crop to your garden is a small task with large benefits. “It seems really unlikely that you’re planting a seed in October that’s going to somehow magically do something good for you,” says David Kidwell-Slak, the National Plant Materials Center Manager for the National Resource Conservation Center. “[But] they provide a lot of benefits without much effort. It makes a pretty amazing addition to the garden.”

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:
Cogger, C., Benedict, C. and Andrews, N. (2014) Cover Crops for Home Gardens West of the Cascades. Washington State University Extension Publication FS111E. https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/cover-crops-for-home-gardens-west-of-the-cascades-home-garden-series

McNiff, N. (2022) Cover Crops Benefit Both Commercial Farmers and Urban Gardeners. Farm Production and Conservation Business Center, USDA. https://www.farmers.gov/blog/cover-crops-benefit-both-commercial-farmers-and-urban-gardeners

Allison, J. (3/19/21) Conservation District Program Helps Skagit Farmers Plant Winter Cover Crops. Skagit Valley Herald, GoSkagit. Retrieved from: https://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/conservation-district-program-helps-skagit-farmers-plant-winter-cover-crops/article_5021e864-1dc7-5490-abf2-f69cca34828d.html 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Valerie Jean Rose became a Master Gardener in 2009. A former journalist, she enjoys playing with words and plants-particularly her own vegetables.

There is still time
to apply to become
a Master Gardener in 2025
Questions about becoming a Master Gardener may be directed to: Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: https://extension.wsu.edu/skagit/mg/
Sample Apples and Pears at NW Fruit
On Saturday, October 12 NW Fruit will hold its Sample the Apple and Pear Harvest Day. It is open to members, but anyone can attend by paying a $25 annual membership fee that day. Dr. Cameron Peace of WSU’s School of Horticulture (Pulman) will speak about heritage apple varieties and using DNA to identify varieties. There will be a tour of the many pioneer varieties in the garden and a chance to taste dozens of delicious cultivars thriving in the garden. Bags or boxes of ladder-picked fruit will be available for members to take home in addition to other fruit. Go to the website https://nwfruit.org/apple-pear/ to read more about this event.

What’s in Your Bag of Potting Soil?

Not All Potting Soils Are Created Equal

              Subscribe to the Blog >

By: Bruce Lindsay, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener

As spring advances, gardening stores offer a multitude of soil mix choices. Selection can seem daunting, so we asked fellow master gardener and soils expert Bruce Lindsay to take us on a deep dive into what potting soils are made of and how to amend commercially bagged potting soils to ensure the best success in our container and raised bed plantings.
                                                             — Ask a Master Gardener Editors
What exactly is in a bag of commercially produced potting soil?
The first step is learning the basics of soil. All soil primarily consists of sand, silt, and clay mineral particles. Sand is visible to the naked eye, ranging from 0.05 to 2mm in diameter, and is gritty to the touch. Silt is not visible to the naked eye and looks and feels like flour when it is dry. When it is wet, it feels like damp flour dough. Silt ranges from 0.002 to 0.05mm in diameter. Clay is the size of bacteria, less than 0.002mm, and has colloidal properties as the result of its net negative charge due to its crystal structure. In a natural setting, soils have pores made by plant roots and insects, which are essential for drainage and allowing air to enter the soil for roots to breathe. The size of the pores is also important for water movement and the soil’s ability to retain water.

In contrast to well-balanced mineral soil, purchased potting soil typically has very few of these properties and has several problems. But take heart, armed with scientific knowledge, gardeners can remedy many of these deficiencies.

The vast majority of bagged “potting soil” consists of ground wood and bark produced from recycled forestry products (RFP). Commercially bagged soils are available in multiple mixtures containing RFP, peat moss, and other additives. © Photo: Adobe Stock

For seed starting and plant repotting, master gardeners use a moist, good quality potting soil mixed with perlite. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

The vast majority of bagged “potting soil” (technically called a potting “medium” even though the label calls it “soil”) consists of ground wood and bark produced from recycled forestry products (RFP). Various commercially bagged soils are available, from coarse bark to multiple mixtures of RFP, peat moss, and other additives. In contrast, mineral soil products combine mineral particles of various sizes with some added compost. The potential hazard with some commercially bagged soils is the possible presence of weeds such as horsetail (Equisetum) and the potential presence of herbicides coming from landscaping sprayed with herbicide or hay fed to animals that has been sprayed and persists through a composted state and cause damage when used as potting soil.

Dealing with Nitrogen Deficiencies 
Recycled forest products are commercially sold in large bark chunks as mulch and finer-grained material as potting soil. These products come with inherent problems that gardeners can solve with amendments. The first issue that must be addressed is the carbon-nitrogen ratio (C/N). The ground-up wood materials in these bagged soil products are often almost pure cellulose, and bacteria (microorganisms) love to eat it. When bacteria eat stuff, they make many more bacteria and require more nitrogen as they reproduce, which results in nitrogen deficiency, leading to poor plant growth.

Older leaves turning yellow while the young leaves are green is often a sign of nitrogen deficiency. Severe nitrogen deficiency results in a severe lack of growth and stunted plants. One must take care when adding nitrogen; too much will promote rapid growth and excessive foliage. It can be a tricky balance, but fertilizer with some phosphorous and potassium is best. Some fertilizers also contain micronutrients, which can be beneficial. Use a significantly diluted solution (1 TBSP per gal.) of soluble fertilizer and frequently monitor the plants to see how they are doing.

Perlite is a volcanic glass, which, when subjected to heat and pressure, it changes, puffs up like popcorn, and forms many tiny pores that can hold water.

It is surprising how much wood is included in a bag of potting soil. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

Since the recycled forest products used in commercially sold products are very porous, much of the fertilizer will drain through the pot in one application. To solve this problem, use well-composted materials containing organic matter or humus for effective nutrient retention. Well-composted materials should not include a lot of materials like straw and sawdust. Bacteria love sugars and cellulose, as in the “greens” of composting terminology, but bacteria have a hard time breaking down the “browns,” which contain lignin. If there were only sugars and cellulose in composting, bacteria would consume everything, and nothing would be left. The compost “browns” in soils contain materials high in lignin, resulting in “humus” as the ultimate end product of composting. One benefit of humus is that it is very good at holding water. Another significant advantage of adding well-composted materials to a soil mixture is that it will also add beneficial bacteria and fungi that are essential for many processes, just as they are in healthy mineral soils. Another benefit is that humus has a net negative charge that can hold onto cations such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium, giving the soil cation exchange capacity essential to plant growth.

The Importance of Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
Balanced mineral soils contain clay particles with a negative charge that hold onto the cations. Bagged potting soils containing a heavy ratio of recycled forest products do not have any clay, so the cations get leached out. To amend this problem, add well-composted materials to the RFPs. Hydrogen ions are cations that stick to negatively charged humus particles like little magnets. When fertilizers are applied, the calcium, magnesium, and potassium displace the hydrogen cations and become stuck to the humus particles. Plant roots come along, exude acids, and displace the nutritional cations, which are absorbed by the root and go up into the plant.
Wikipedia defines CEC as:
Cation-exchange capacity (CEC) is a measure of how many cations can be retained on soil particle surfaces.[1] Negative charges on the surfaces of soil particles bind positively-charged atoms or molecules (cations), but allow these to exchange with other positively charged particles in the surrounding soil water.[2] This is one of the ways that solid materials in soil alter the chemistry of the soil. CEC affects many aspects of soil chemistry, and is used as a measure of soil fertility, as it indicates the capacity of the soil to retain several nutrients (e.g. K⁺, NH₄⁺, Ca²⁺) in plant-available form. It also indicates the capacity to retain pollutant cations (e.g. Pb²⁺)

Many garden centers now carry a soil amendment called humic acid (or related substances, humin and fulvic acid). These are still the subject of much scientific debate. These compounds are created by alkaline extraction and are not naturally present in soil. While humic substances may have some positive effects on root growth, home gardeners are best advised to focus on the longer-term building of soil organic matter through carbon-rich amendments such as compost (or cover crops for garden beds), etc.

The Soil‘s Capacity to Hold Water
It is essential to slow the water down so plants have the opportunity to absorb it. Fortunately, most ornamental plants and vegetables prefer well-drained soil and do not like being in standing water for very long. In contrast, due to their fibrous material, most hanging baskets need watering once a day.

Add popped perlite and/or vermiculite to the mix to increase water retention. Perlite is a volcanic glass, which, when subjected to heat and pressure, it changes, puffs up like popcorn, and forms many tiny pores that can hold water. Perlite is the little white balls often added to soil mixes.

Vermiculate is a naturally occurring mineral that is also heated to create the golden-brown cube-like material we see added to soils. Vermiculite draws in and holds water like tiny sponges throughout the soil. You can also use coconut coir as a moisture-holding material, but soak it thoroughly before adding it to a mixture.

The water-holding capacity of pelletized wool is an exciting new material being tested. Pelletized wool is composed of the short wool fibers from the underside of sheep where the wool is also much dirtier and has plant fibers embedded; it is not suitable for processing into fabrics. This material has been a waste product of the wool industry. Recently, however, research has shown that this material is a viable amendment to soil that improves the water-holding capacity of soil and provides some slow-release nutrients. Already sold commercially this material is pelletized for ease of mixing into soil and is a productive, sustainable use for a by-product typically diverted to a landfill.

The Addition of Slow-Release Fertilizers
Bagged potting soil products often offer slow-release fertilizer additives. Beware of those using tiny plastic beads to store the nutrients. Our soils do not need synthetic materials left behind. Instead, some products use fertilizers with a mineral coating, such as limestone or gypsum, that slowly dissolves, releases the inner contents, and does not leave behind plastic residue.

Other slow-release products consist of blood, bone, and feather meal, which are by-products of meat processing. The drawback of these materials is the smell they generate. They are acceptable when used in a field but not welcome on a patio in a hanging basket. Likewise, fish emulsion is a fairly slow-release fertilizer but also has a considerable odor problem. While it is an organic fertilizer, one must consider the odor it causes and that it is a by-product of overfishing of oceans.

Adding ground limestone to the mix may be a good idea because the recycled wood product material tends to be on the acidic side. The limestone will add some alkalinity. Dolomitic limestone is even better, as it contains magnesium and will be a slow-release source of calcium and magnesium. Be sure to mix it well with the potting soil. About a cup per cubic yard should be enough. If you have access to a pH tester, use it! The soil pH indicates the availability of essential nutrients needed for plant growth. Ideally, potting soil should have a pH of about 6.5. It is important to test the pH of your soil mix before adding an amendment to raise or lower the pH.

Basic food waste from the farming, grocery, and restaurant industries is a readily available slow-release fertilizer. It is stunning that forty percent of our food production goes into landfills. An alternative is an organic liquid product made from fermented food and vegetable waste. It doesn’t stink and smells good, somewhat like soy sauce. With landfills overflowing, diverting food waste into soil improvement and garden production is one way to improve our environment.

Some people think replacing their potting soil with fresh material each year is necessary. This is only the case if there are disease issues. For instance, potting mix used for tomatoes or potatoes should not be used again for those plants because they are both susceptible to soil borne diseases. After a season of growing and watering, all the nutrients have leached out, but you can easily replace the nutrients by using the dilute fertilizer solution mentioned above. If the soluble fertilizers are too concentrated and the plants are not utilizing them, they may accumulate as salts. As time passes, some of the RFP in the potting soil will get eaten by bacteria, and the volume will decrease. In this case, add new potting soil with the amendments and mix it well with the original soil, spreading the nutrients around.

These recommendations apply to soil used in containers, raised beds and hanging baskets. It also applies to starting seeds in trays, but the seed starting soil material should be very fine to ensure good contact between the seed and the moist growth medium. When starting seeds, the soil should also drain fast enough so a fungal damp-off situation does not develop. Sphagnum peat moss tends to float to the top when watered and begins to clog pores, making it difficult to get moisture down to the bottom of the cell. Sprinkling fine vermiculite on the very top of each cell can help prevent these problems.

While forestry products recycled as commercial potting soil have drawbacks, amending these insufficiencies is an easy process. It is much better to use RFP products than to burn, bury, or dump them into the overflowing waste stream. Armed with awareness of the limitations of modern “potting soil” and knowing some remedies, gardeners can buy these products feeling confident with scientific knowledge.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:

Beck, L. (2023). ‘Waste Wool‘ is a Burden for Farmers. What if it Could be a Solution Instead? Retrieved from https://modernfarmer.com/2023/11/waste-wool-solution/

Brady N., Weil, R. (2017). The Nature and Properties of Soils. London, UK. Pearson Education (15^th ed.)

Lehman, J., Keber, M. (2015). The Contentious Nature of Soil Organic Matter. Nature volume 528, pp 60-68.  https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16069

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Bruce Lindsay became a Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener in 2015. With an MS degree in geology and an MS degree in soil, he has mapped soils in Nevada, Arizona, California, and Washington.

Questions about home gardening or becoming a Master Gardener may be directed to: Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: www.skagit.wsu.edu/mg

Upcoming Skagit Master Gardener Foundation Events:

Know & Grow:
Growing Roses in Skagit County – Free
Presented by Virgene Link-New
April 16, 1 p.m. 
NWREC Sakuma Auditorium
(16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon)

Free Admission & Parking
May 11, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Skagit County Fairgrounds
Learn More >

---

A Second Act for Your Square 1-Gallon Pots at the Discovery Garden!

Bring your leftover square 1-gallon pots to the Discovery Garden (16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon). The bin for recycling the square 1-gal pots is located in the parking lot, just north (to the right) of the main entrance.
We only need square 1-gallon pots like the ones pictured below (bottom right). The recycling bin will be available now through fall. Simply put your pots into the bin, and we take care of the rest!

---

 

Discover the Skagit Valley Display Gardens Open House

Discover the Discovery Garden, NW Fruit Garden, and the Salal Native Plant Garden

              Subscribe to the Blog >

By Janine Wentworth, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener

June is the beginning of summer blooming, fruit and vegetable growth and early harvests.

Enjoy the summer gardens of Skagit Valley at the Discover the Display Gardens Open House. Skagit Valley is home to 8 acres of display gardens operated by volunteers as a learning resource for the public.

Discover the Display Gardens
Open House

June 24, 2023 · 10 am – 2 pm

Free Admission

• Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener Discovery Garden
• Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation
• Salal Native Plant Garden

All three are nestled together in the green fields of the WSU Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center west of Mount Vernon on HWY 536 (Memorial Hwy.)

While all three of these gardens are open to the public daily, the Annual Open House is focused on educating and inspiring visitors interested in many specific areas of interest, including pollination, water-wise gardening, native plants and raising fruits and vegetables in the Skagit area.

The Discovery Garden
Designed to support Skagit home gardeners by promoting science-based gardening practices, Skagit area WSU Extension Master Gardeners have created 30 garden rooms within the garden, featuring hundreds of plants chosen to flourish in Skagit Valley. Come and spend time with the volunteers who maintain the gardens and learn more about what they grow.

In addition to tours of the garden rooms, Master Gardeners will be on hand offering activities for all ages including:

• Free garden tool sharpening
• Solutions to plant problems
• Plant identification– to help you know what you have
• Expert advice on weed identification and management

While at the Discovery Garden, visit the small fruits garden and learn more about food you can grow in your own back yard. Photo © Nancy Crowell Photography

Visit the learning station near the pond in the Naturescape Garden. There you will see Koi fish and learn about pond maintenance and construction as well as drip irrigation.

Bring a blanket and picnic lunch and enjoy the day at the Discovery Garden. Photo © Nancy Crowell Photography

Learn about effective gardening at the 8 education stations located throughout the garden area. Master Gardeners will offer instruction on topics such as:

• Developing healthy soil
• Composting
• Pollinator support
• Fruit tree pruning and thinning
• Gardening with native plants
• Weed identification: Match examples of common weeds with their names so you can learn how to identify them and control them
• Clean water and water conservation: Visit the learning station near the pond in the Naturescape Garden. There you will see Koi fish and learn about pond maintenance and construction as well as drip irrigation

Pollinators: Learn about plants that support pollinators from Master Gardeners who plant and care for the pollinator gardens and the pollinators that live in the garden. The pollinator station at the Open House will teach ways to help native bees and other pollinators thrive in home and community landscapes because pollination is an essential survival function.

Local Food: The Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners offer extensive resources for local gardeners. During the Open House, Master Gardeners will be giving talks on healthy soils, growing your own vegetables, and weed identification and eradication. The Grow Your Own Food page at https://www.skagitmg.org/home/resources/food/ is also an excellent resource for gardeners getting started.

While at the Discovery Garden, visit the Vegetable, Small Fruits, and Doc’s Arbor garden rooms for ideas and examples of food-producing plants that grow well in the Skagit County area.

Educators from the Xerex Society will be at the Open House demonstrating techniques for making your garden pollinator friendly

Learn smarter vegetable gardening tips from the Master Gardeners who have research and tested a variety techniques that face gardeners in the North Puget Sound area.

Throughout the growing season, garden waste is sorted, chopped, and chipped– the browns and greens are com­bined and turned, giving us nutrient-rich compost in a few months.

Composting: Curious about how to get started composting? Composting reduces waste and provides an inexpensive treatment for home gardens and landscapes. Healthy soil is essential to have healthy plants. Come talk to our soil experts and learn about your soil and what you can do to improve it.

Growing the Discovery Gardens since 1996
In 1994, the Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners had a vision for a garden that would demonstrate best practices for gardening in the Skagit area. After two years of planning, the garden’s first structure of trees and fences was placed in the fall of 1996. Over the following two years, many committed WSU Extension Master Gardeners, along with the help of the community, planted the gardens.

The WSU Master Gardener Program addresses important sociologic and environmental issues by teaching research-based horticulture information. We want people to have important skills and abilities that help mitigate challenges and to understand that everyone has a role to play in creating and sustaining healthy and resilient communities.

Salal Native Plant Garden
The second garden participating in the Tri-Garden Open House is the Salal Native Plant Garden. Bordering the Discovery Garden to the south, the Salal Native Plant Garden is entered by walking through the Discovery Garden following the paths to the south. This labor of love and concern for native plants is manifested in an extensive and charming display garden.

Created twenty-five years ago as a collaborative effort between volunteers of the Salal Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society and the Washington State University Agriculture Extension Agency at Mount Vernon (WSU), the Native Plant Garden is now a half-acre oasis that holds the seeds for the future of native plants in the lower Skagit Valley. The garden is a terrific resource for homeowners who want to learn how to incorporate more native plants into their landscaping.

Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation (NW Fruit)
The third garden on display is the fruit garden known as the Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation (or NWFruit.org). Here volunteers will answer questions about fruit trees. The 6-acre garden was designed and constructed by volunteers of the foundation and contains large informational signs and handouts based on the research conducted by Washington State University.

During the Open House volunteers will be on hand to explain examples of netting for bird control, a Tatura trellis, and answer questions about the expansive espalier display.

The fruit garden contains a large collection of fruiting plants with many unique varieties, including a collection of 17 variations of Gravenstein apples, a collection of antique apples from all over the world, and unusual fruits such as medlar and blue honeyberry. Located on the west side of the Discovery Garden the fruit garden is open to the public seven days a week from dawn to dusk.

Please join us for the Open House festivities on June 24, 2023 from 10 am – 2 pm. You are welcome to bring a blanket and picnic lunch and enjoy the day with family and friends.

The gardens are open and free to the public throughout the year, 7 days a week from dawn to dusk. Visit the gardens throughout the seasons to view the seasonal changes. Signage in each garden identifies plants and makes for interesting and educational self-guided tours.

 

RESOURCES:

• Discover the Display Gardens website
• Learn about Master Gardener program priorities: https://mastergardener.wsu.edu/priorities/
• Interested in Composting and Vermacomposting? See our recent blog article at: https://www.skagitmg.org/vermicomposting/
• Get started growing your own food: https://www.skagitmg.org/home/resources/food/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Janine Wentworth became a master gardener in 2018. She and Kay Torrance are co-chairs of the Discovery Garden Open House.

 

 

 

 

Questions about home gardening or becoming a master gardener may be directed to: Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: www.skagit.wsu.edu/mg