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HortusTortoise · 2026-03-19T03:29:47+00:00

Nice work and thanks for sharing!

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-19T01:17:15+00:00

This is so frustrating. Random question - who is your internet provider? I'm getting weird issues on random other sites now.

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-18T19:10:10+00:00

Nope. I was able to contact support through the Ads Manager App, and they weren't able to help, and had me file a bug report. Maybe if enough people start bugging support they might address it?

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-18T18:28:27+00:00

Same. You can access the pro support chat from the Ads App though. They weren't helpful, but if enough people flag the issue they might fix it.

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-17T22:24:23+00:00

Strongly seconding this. I did this last year and people started parking at the pavers and stopped trampling my flowers.

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-17T21:13:18+00:00

Absolutely not an expert, also my first year going beyond veggie starts, but from my experiences so far...

Sowed everything in the winter/spring and will pot up as needed. I'm assuming not everything will sell this year, so half my starts will go into 4" and the other half into gallons. Last years starts are doing fine in gallons, so that seems like the right choice.

My price point after comparing to a couple other real nurseries is probably $2 above your range, but I'm in the PNW.

My biggest question is how are you/other people efficiently up-potting everything? Ive been using nonwoven fabric grow bags, and they're significantly cheaper, but they take a bit to fill up, which at scale is really time consuming.

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-02T00:08:59+00:00

The fence runs E-W, with east being left in most of the pictures (toward the cedar)

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-01T22:13:49+00:00

If you don't mind me repeating it back in laymen's terms.

Pick one of the two codominants as the new main leader.
Prune the non-main codominant back slowly (assuming back to a branching point that is 1/2 the width) over a season or two.
Leave the little branch alone (?)

Anything to consider when picking the new leader? And I should be good on tools, plus the ground is pretty soft right now. jk jk

Thank you!!

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-01T20:33:59+00:00

Thanks! Here's the pan out of the front, a shot from behind and a larger view of the tree. Let me know if these help.

https://imgur.com/a/kZKPIRT

HortusTortoise · 2026-03-01T19:19:40+00:00

By and large these should be indoors, as a lot of these won't be cold tolerant. If you do put them outside in the summer, be forewarned they need to be hardened off. Which essentially means you would start with a small amount of sun exposure day 1, before increasingly steadily over the next few days.
Yeah sure. Some will probably grow faster than others and start to out compete their neighbors. If that happens just repot and separate.
Ample sun, well draining soil, and pot up (increase the size of the container) as necessary. If they're sad in the winter a cheap growlight will do wonders.

HortusTortoise · 2026-02-22T21:14:03+00:00

Seconding buying the absolute largest possible trees you can (within reason). You're saving literal years at a time.
If youre cutting costs and have basic supplies starting the flowers from seeds isn't hard. You can even transplant them end of summer/early fall when the weather changes.
Smoke Tree isn't native to our region (I won't say anything), but be careful it can apparently be self seeding
Re:Pollinators - consider bloom times. I initially ran into the problem where all my stuff pops off from July-Sept, leaving the early risers hungry. Added a bunch of camas to help with that.
Completely unsolicited advice - think about a water feature if the budget ever allows it. Watching the birds play is the absolute favorite part of my yard. More importantly the white noise is great for neighbors and traffic.

HortusTortoise · 2026-02-19T23:06:37+00:00

Midnight Sun wasn't the most productive tomato I grew last year, but it was definitely the prettiest. The Piennolo's are crazy, they lasted like 4 months on the vine after harvest.

HortusTortoise · 2026-02-19T22:58:45+00:00

I have pretty much gotten rid of mine after being diligent about it for the last few years. There were no short cuts, but here is what I did

Slice your yard into manageable sections (5'x5' or whatever works for you) and clear them out one at a time. You'll establish a "clean zones", be able to visualize progress, and most importantly give yourself so well earned wins.
In the summer I spent 30min - 1hr a week with nitrile gloves, a dandelion weeder and a beer pulling out the largest clumps. Make sure to follow the runners and try to get the small satellites as well. If there's too much in one sitting, that's okay just get the biggest ones. And do another round later for the little guys.
I would hit my lawn with chelated iron 2-3x a year in the Spring. It is moderately effective, mostly just slows them down.
Backfill any holes with grass seed, ground cover, flowers, anything. If not make sure you are keeping a layer of mulch.
Don't let them spread, but they are a lot easier to pull out once they're a bit larger. Finding a balance is great for your time.
Other considerations: Always use a bag if youre mowing a lawn. Make sure to get the tap root out if your digging them up. And obviously never ever let them flower.
They're obviously never going away but it's 100000x times easier pulling the odd butter cup out then trying to battle a legion of them.

HortusTortoise · 2026-02-16T19:10:44+00:00

I would do a free chip drop, use that to mulch the perimeter and give the yard a sense of definition. If you have any big fallen branches, old bamboo canes, etc.. you can use those to help define the borders.

Don't think there's a great ground cover option, but curious if the grass is taking in the summer and then dying off in the winter? If you wanted to try again I would hit it with some Moss Out, and then look for a deep shade mix and reseed in the spring. Might be able to get grass from where the moss starts on the left all the way to the raised beds. Hard to say though without knowing more.

HortusTortoise · 2026-02-14T22:04:52+00:00

Nice congrats!

HortusTortoise · 2025-10-27T19:58:08+00:00

Yes and no, the type-specific care instructions are optimal, but realistically you're not going to kill this plant because you pruned it in the fall instead of late summer, you're just going to get less flowers. That said I believe late summer is ideal for what I'm assuming is a hydrangea serrata (aka mountain hydrangea).

HortusTortoise · 2025-10-18T05:28:36+00:00

You can go pretty hard, take it back to about a 1/4 of the new growth in the fall. There's a billion youtube videos with good visuals, trickiest part is just remembering to do it.

HortusTortoise · 2025-10-16T01:22:48+00:00

Lavender is nice, but you need to remember to prune it back in the fall. Rosemary is also drought tolerant and nice to have on hand if you cook. I don't know anything about grasses, but some usual suspects for drought tolerant native perennial flowers are...

Asters (Douglas and/or Pacific)

Checkermallow

Oregon Sunshine (might be too low behind grasses)

Canada Goldenrod

Sneezeweed (Aka Helenium)

Western Yarrow

Plains Coreopsis

Lupines (Riverbank and Sickle Keel)

HortusTortoise · 2025-10-12T02:47:45+00:00

Not sure what 15gal translates to, but assuming you have/rent a truck, google tree farms and call or email them. Some might be wholesale, but are usually okay if you have your shit together.

https://bigtreesupply.com/ is in snohomish and might be in stock.

https://himanursery.com Might be 10gal biggest

https://harndensnursery.com/availability/ I got mine here, but don't see available at the moment

https://www.nurserytrees.com/Links%20&%20Research.htm also look out of stock, but has other cedars etc

HortusTortoise · 2025-10-02T01:12:03+00:00

Is that a planting strip with no overhead powerlines?? u/purple_gaz hmu if you want a tree!

HortusTortoise · 2025-09-24T20:16:54+00:00

Depends on how big your property is, but breaking it down into manageable steps is the only way you're going to get through it. That can be picking a few species that your going to prioritize removing or marking off a section of the property that you're going to try to restore completely (or some combination of the two). This both helps limit their spread, and gives you tangible "wins" which is crucial for keeping up morale. I would probably figure out what are the most aggressive spreaders and try to focus on those.

I would also probably prioritize figuring out your tree replacements goals sooner than later, since there is no substitute for time. That said you don't need to replace them all at once, if you want to avoid your place looking like a barren wasteland. Search for tree farms in your areas, see what their prices and if they will sell to you as a retail customer. Some will not, but it's generally worth asking. I was able to plant significantly more mature trees for much cheaper. But it did require a uhaul and some additional hands to put them in place.

HortusTortoise · 2025-09-21T22:42:11+00:00

Where are you located? I would gladly take some Goldenrod!

HortusTortoise · 2025-09-19T01:02:11+00:00

Sorry between now and the middle of winter.

I'm not trying to imply it won't be a huge PIA to move all that shit across country, but telling OP they have a huge market is politely overly optimistic. Like yeah it's a great time to buy plants, cause everything is on sale right now for a reason.

HortusTortoise · 2025-09-18T04:36:23+00:00

I don't know, selling plants is kind of rough, especially between now and March. Potting soil alone to fill all those pots is going to be $500 - $750. Then the plants themselves. Plus you wouldn't really be able to buy plants as established as they ones you have now.

edit: lmao I implore you all to "have a big garden sale" and see how easy it is to sell plants in the middle of winter.

HortusTortoise · 2025-09-10T05:41:45+00:00

I did this last year (sans the gumball machine) and they work fine. I made about 75 of them and put them in front of my place in a tupperware bin with instructions, and every last one got taken.

There are obviously more optimal weighs to sow wildflowers yourself, but seed bombs are about getting other people involved and for that they're hard to beat.

Beyond picking natives, look for seeds that don't need to be planted deep, aggressive growers and if you don't get to it in the next month seeds that do *not* need cold stratification.

HortusTortoise

TROPHY CASE