Digger magazine

Written to make you a nursery industry expert.

July 2021

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Get ready for Farwest 2021 at the Oregon Convention Center on August 18–20 with this issue that includes the New Varieties Showcase preview and Planning Guide. Our stories offer advice for grabbing customer attention on the trade show floor, plus other information on Smart Sprayer technology and wildfire-resistant landscaping advice. In this issue: Catching eyes […]

Setting up for spray success

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Growers of variable crops can reduce chemical waste and ensure coverage by systematically adapting their approach By Brian Hill and Lloyd Nackley We can’t all mount lasers on our air-blast sprayers,” a Willamette Valley grower said recently in a conversation with researchers. It’s true that some growers actually can mount lasers. Lasers are now a […]

A hotter trend

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Widespread wildfires prompt greater demand for fire-safe plants and landscaping As the wildfires of Labor Day 2020 tore through Oregon, the impacts on homes and forests were sevbere. The flames devoured a million acres of forestlands, and destroyed more than 4,000 homes. The impacts are something foresters, landscape professionals and nursery operators must pay attention […]

Catching eyes — and customers

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An engaging trade show booth, with attentive staff working it, is a lifeline for businesses The Farwest Show is back in 2021, and for exhibitors, that means one thing — time to prepare your “A” game. Whether the booth is offering plants, supplies or something else, anyone involved in nursery trade shows knows a good booth […]

A summer of reconnection

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It felt like home. Last month, the nursery and greenhouse family came together to golf at the Duffers Classic, our annual tournament to raise funds for the Oregon Nurseries’ Political Action Committee (ONPAC). Although some displayed a rusty golf game, that could not hamper the tremendous feeling of reconnection we all shared. Our long national […]

June 2021

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In our annual Sustainability Issue of Digger, we explore how growers, retailers and landscapers can provide what consumers need for the healthy and sustainable landscapes they desire. Readers will also meet Joe Dula of Moana Nursery, and learn what it takes for nurseries to find the workforce talent they need. In this issue: Let’s keep […]

Native plants, bees, and microbes

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The OSU Garden Ecology Lab studies the health of garden environments The Garden Ecology Lab at Oregon State University (OSU) studies the plants, insects, animals, people, decisions, and management practices that either improve or degrade a garden’s ability to promote environmental and human health. An underlying premise of our work is that gardens are important […]

Lessons from an ice storm

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Widespread tree destruction highlights the importance of proper selection and maintenance The northern Willamette Valley in Oregon was hit by a once-in-a-generation ice storm on February 12 and 13 of this year. In the small town of Silverton, where the valley meets the Cascade Range foothills, freezing rain fell for more than 30 hours. Trees […]

A hearty appetite for edibles

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Growers find they can’t grow enough edible plants, and retailers can’t keep them in stock In March 2020, U.S. governors began rolling out stay-at-home orders, including in Oregon, because of the coronavirus known as COVID-19. Not long after, Americans in lockdown turned their attention to edible gardening any way they could — in containers, in […]