Espalier is a way of training and pruning plants so their branches lie in an orderly and ornamental two-dimensional form. The beauty comes from the tracery of the branches. Espalier is a way to create a living border in a garden, or decorate a fence or wall.
As coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across the Northwest, the pandemic is threatening to exacerbate an already critical labor shortage for farms and food processors.
Behind the flurry of treats and blooms, there are human stories: of drug cartels, hail storms, border agents and beet seed breeders.
After 20 years at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Gary McAnich has announced he will retire from his position as the agency's nursery, Christmas tree and industrial hemp program manager.
In retrospect, the inefficiencies at Peoria Gardens near Corvallis, Ore., were hiding in plain sight.
Tight supplies are once again challenging Christmas tree vendors as the industry continues to recover from a massive glut of cheap trees in the mid-2000s that caused wholesale prices to crash,…
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released prevailing wage survey results likely to increase the minimum wage for H-2A workers by 5.3% in Washington and Oregon next year and by a…
A bill seeking to ensure a legal and sufficient agricultural workforce passed the House Judiciary Committee, 18-12, with Republicans citing shortcomings.
A bill seeking to legalize domestic farm laborers and improve the H-2A-visa foreign agricultural guestworker program received renewed support and opposition before its U.S. House Judiciary Com…
Cascade Mountain water reservoirs serving the Yakima Basin are refilling but still below average after a moderate summer drought that caused some crop losses. Winter snowpack outlook is uncertain.
With a predicted rise and decline of Cosmic Crisp apple tree plantings, Central Washington tree fruit nurseries say tree orders are slowing. Meanwhile, the nurseries are experiencing good weat…
A record 257,667 H-2A-visa agricultural foreign guestworker positions were certified by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2019, but the rate of growth slowed to 6.1% after five years of more than 18%.
A new farm labor bill appears to have widespread support on first blush, but the depth and extent of that support is questionable as organizatons say it doesn’t do enough to control labor and …
Hundreds of agricultural groups and United Farm Workers of America are backing a new bipartisan bill seeking to ensure farmers with a legal, adequate and affordable workforce.
Leader of Zamzows chain finds the answers in soil health
Along with growing hanging baskets and carrying unusual plants, Nature Nursery and Market in Burley, Idaho, cultivates entertaining community events year-round to thank customers for their support.
Chemeketa Community College hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the college's new agriculture complex on June 11 at the Salem campus.
Fire destroyed a building housing vehicles, chemicals and equipment at a nursery in Canby, Ore., causing an estimated $450,000 in damage.
Growers are left dealing with higher labor costs and trying to get the U.S. Department of Labor to change its ways after a judge refuses to pull agricultural foreign guestworker minimum wages …
A Yakima labor attorney gave employers tips at the Washington Growers League annual meeting and said arbitration agreements must be understood by employees signing them to be binding.
A federal judge heard arguments regarding returning the minimum wage for H-2A-visa foreign guestworkers to 2018 levels but it may be days or weeks before he rules.
Many farmers wouldn’t be thrilled about a beaver dam flooding a portion of their land, but George Kral doesn’t see it as a problem.
The founder of a global blueberry nursery company based in Oregon is stepping down as CEO, to be replaced by a triumvirate consisting of his two children and chief operating officer.
Most of Wild West's vegetable seed comes from Treasure Valley
A continued shortage of Christmas trees from Oregon growers will likely mean higher prices this season for consumers.
A lingering shortage from Oregon growers means Americans will once again pay more for Christmas trees this holiday season.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — People may need to trim back their Christmas tree expectations this year.
Willamette Valley trees have benefited from several days of rain going into harvest, just what Bob Schaefer, general manager of Noble Mountain Tree Farm near Salem, Ore., likes to see.
As a university horticulture student, Kathy LeCompte once got some bad advice from a guidance counselor about her plan to commercially grow and sell plants.
PORTLAND — As Tom Fessler thought about the future of his family’s nursery, he couldn’t help but notice the growing importance of ecommerce to the overall retail industry.
The Oregon Department of Forestry and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service are partnering to help private landowners in southwest Oregon slow the spread of an invasive tree-killing dise…
New facility set to open Sept.24
NEW YORK (AP) — Watch out for the 7-foot box on the doorstep. Amazon plans to sell and ship fresh, full-size Christmas trees this year.
The courtyard at Monrovia’s 1,200-acre plant nursery in Dayton, Ore. was buzzing with bees Tuesday as visitors toured elaborate displays set up for the company’s 2018 Handcrafted Expo, which r…
Portland, Ore. — The annual Farwest Show fills the Oregon Convention Center each year with more than 6,000 nursery industry professionals from all corners of the U.S. and provides space for mo…
Salem, Ore. — What began as a way for Diane Wavra to stay at home with her children has blossomed into a booming nursery business.
ALBANY, Ore. — For Sevenoaks Native Nursery, sand is a key ingredient for optimum growth in their plants.
Many consumers are saying so long to their lawns and replacing thirsty grass with low-maintenance native plants, says Diane Jones, owner of Draggin’ Wing High Desert Nursery in northwest Boise.
CANBY, Ore. — Morning Shade Farm began nearly 25 years ago, when Jim Geiselman and his wife, Kasi, decided they wanted to move to the country to raise their kids.
The Plant Place Nursery has two locations — one retail and one wholesale — in the Olympia-Tumwater area of Washington state.
In 1980, Michael Dolan was a young man fresh out of military service. Then he read “Eating on the Wild Side,” by Jo Robinson.
Tony Godfrey’s grandparents were all farmers in the Midwest, but his father was a machinist who moved the family to California for a job.
Wetland plants growing in logs and mats made from coir, the fiber from the outer husk of coconuts, have been the key to growth at North Fork Native Plants, a nursery in eastern Idaho specializ…
Molalla, Ore. — In the late 1980s Neal Lucht saw the need to produce transplants for commercial agriculture. At the time, plug transplants weren’t grown in the Pacific Northwest, but he knew s…
Inland Desert Nursery, the Pacific Northwest’s largest grapevine nursery, took root five decades ago with a teenager’s knack for growing vines in southern Washington.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Ornamental Plant Breeding Program at Oregon State University is attempting to create a better re-blooming lilac and make it more blight resistant.
Not all plants are wholesome for foraging animals.
Christmas tree farmers have narrowly approved a national checkoff program that raises about $1.8 million a year to promote and research the crop.
But this isn’t the first time local farmers have been in the crossfire over a dispute with Mexico. Back in 2009, the U.S. government found itself unable to reach an agreement with Mexico over …
CARPINTERIA, Calif. (AP) — There’s something in the air of the idyllic seaside Southern California town of Carpinteria (CAHR’-pihn-tehr-ee-uh), and residents say it stinks.
JEROME, Idaho — Moss Greenhouses is well known throughout the Intermountain West for its premium plants and hanging baskets.
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Researchers for Washington State University are being deluged with reports of brown marmorated stink bugs, especially from western Washington.
Modern gardening isn’t just about growing plants — it’s part of a movement toward personal and family wellness that includes everything from diet and exercise to a clean and livable environment.
We’re coming up on cherry blossom festivals, tulip time and lilac season. Here’s a look at some of the places that celebrate spring flowers with festivals and other events.
BOISE — Opposition from Idaho farm groups has helped beat back a bill that would have required conspicuous labeling on all plants for sale that could be poisonous to humans or animals.
