Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

Consumer advice on invasives

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Carol Savonen’s latest column for the Statesman-Journal (Salem, Ore.) advises consumers on which plants to avoid when they are out shopping at garden centers. The column advises folks who see these plants on sale somewhere, to have a polite conversation with the plant buyer at that store. Savonen, a professor emeritus from Oregon State University, […]

Snodgrass tapped for honor

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Congratulations to Lynn Snodgrass, CEO of Gresham, Ore.-based Drake’s 7 Dees Garden Center. She has been selected by the Portland Business Journal as an Orchid Awards finalist for “Business Owner of the Year” in the medium/small business category. The awards, which honor the achievements of leading Portland-area businesswomen, are given as part of the 2009 […]

Gardening hotline returns to Portland

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Gardeners in Multnomah County, Ore. now have a new resource to help them solve gardening problems. Oregon State University Extension Service has partnered with the West Multnomah Soil and Water Conversation District to establish a new, volunteer-staffed gardening hotline at 503-445-4608. It’s available from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday. The public can also drop in and […]

A P. ramorum breakthrough

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Researchers probing linkages between the two North American strains and the European strain of Phytophthora ramorum – the pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death – say they have found important clues to their origins. According to a USDA Agricultural Research service press release: Their evidence showed that the European lineage may be older than the […]

Plastic into oil

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People talk all the time about recycling plastics. Agri-Plas Inc. in Brooks, Ore., has gone a step beyond that by converting used agricultural plastics (greenhouse film, plastic pots, etc.) back to their source material — crude oil, which then can be refined into fuel. As noted by two publications (www.sustainablebusiness.com and www.environmentalleader.com), the company recently […]

The pros and cons of furloughs

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Sad though it may be, many employers resorting to layoffs and terminations as a means to reducing costs. After all, labor is the largest expense for many employers. During the current recession, a different option has become increasingly popular. Furloughs are mandatory, unpaid time off for a larger group of employees. Unlike layoffs, furloughs keep […]

The real dirt on what’s hot

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To paraphrase an old McDonald’s tagline, “Did someone say edibles?” Lest anyone doubt that edibles are going to be THE hot seller at garden centers this year, consider this. We received word from Patty Howe that Al’s Garden Center of Sherwood has already filled up “Getting Down in the Dirt,” an upcoming seminar on vegetable […]

Private enterprise steps up

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Last year, the Oregon Department of Forestry closed the D.L. Phipps Nursery for budgetary reasons, prompting foresters, Christmas tree growers and others to wonder where they would be able to obtain native seedlings. According to this article in the Capital Press (Salem, Ore.), IFA Nurseries has stepped in to become the answer to that question.