Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

Tree growers can get aid for disaster losses

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced today that nurseries, Christmas tree growers and orchardists can now apply for benefits under the Tree Assistance Program, which was part of the 2008 Farm Bill. The program, administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency, exists to help farmers who lost trees to natural disasters after Jan. 1, […]

Aguirre departing for new horizons

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We’re sad to report that OAN Executive Director John Aguirre will be leaving us at the end of the month to join the California Association of Winegrape Growers as that group’s new president. John has provided outstanding leadership to the association, which publishes Digger, during his decade-plus tenure at the helm, and he will be […]

Retailers get their own place at the Farwest Show

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The 2010 Farwest Show in Portland, Ore. has many new features coming this year, and one of them is the Garden Center Pavilion — a place to check out all the enticing gift shop items many garden centers are using to build larger orders, add to their bottom line, and become a multi-season destination for […]

Duke researchers: ‘Choose your fronds carefully’

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The ferns you find at garden centers or from wholesalers that are labeled as American natives may not be authentic. Researchers from Duke University report that they found falsely-labeled ferns at nurseries in North Carolina, Texas and California. It’s hard to say whether this happened intentionally or accidentally, because ferns aren’t as easy to tell […]

Trucking glut turns into a shortage

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It was predicted more than a year ago that as the economy recovered, a trucking shortage would develop due to truck owners having sold their idled trucks overseas. Now, according to Packer, that is exactly what has happened. For the first time in a long time, carriers may have the leverage rather than their customers. […]

OSU scores $5.8 million grant to research fruit fly

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Oregon State University tentatively has scored a $5.8 million grant to battle the spotted wing drosophila. As we reported last fall, this fruit fly has been attacking ripe fruit in the Pacific Northwest and causing widespread damage. Fruit and berry growers are the main victims, but nurseries growing fruit trees and shrubs also have reason […]

Wyden introduces trees and jobs bill in the U.S. Senate

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U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has introduced a Senate version of the Small Business Environmental Stewardship Assistance Act. This is the bill, first introduced in the House, that would provide $50 million annually, each of the next five years, to plant urban trees and expand urban forests. The Oregon Association of Nurseries quickly praised Wyden […]

These sculpted plants are shear works of art

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Many plants are beautiful, but sculpted trees and shrubs can in many cases be considered works of art. Oregon growers are increasingly doing more and more creative things with junipers, pines, boxwoods, Chamaecyparis and many others. Curt Kipp takes a look in this article (PDF) from the May 2010 issue of Digger.