EUGENE, Ore. — Before your start planting your favorite veggies and flowers this season, you need to prepare a garden bed.

Caleb Johnson at Johnson Brothers Greenhouses shares his secrets for having the best soil for planting in the garden.

If you’d like extra help getting your vegetable garden started, you can attend a free workshop Saturday, May 25th. That starts at 11 a.m. at Johnson Brothers Greenhouses on Coburg Road.

EUGENE, Ore. — Hydrangeas are a great plant to grow in the Willamette Valley, but did you know you can change their color?

Caleb Johnson at Johnson Brothers Greenhouses explains how easy it is to do in the garden.

If you’d like to learn more about hydrangeas, you can attend a free class at Johnson Brothers Greenhouses on Saturday, May 18 at 2 p.m.

EUGENE, Ore. — Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and if you’re still stuck on what to get her, we can help.

Caleb Johnson of Johnson Brothers Greenhouses shows some special, easy techniques to use when planting a container garden.

EUGENE, Ore. — Before you start planting anything in your garden, take the time to make sure your soil is ready.

Caleb Johnson from Johnson Brothers Greenhouses shows in this week’s In the Garden how to test the acidity level in your soil and what to add to to it so your plants are happy and healthy all season long.

If you’d like to get your soil tested for free, you can stop by Johnson Brothers Greenhouses on Saturday, May 4 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

EUGENE, Ore. — Herbs are a great way to spice up your cooking, and they’re easy to grow too.

Gina Gartley from Johnson Brothers Greenhouses shows how quick and easy it is to plant you own herb garden using sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary and more.

Click here for more gardening tips.

EUGENE, Ore. — One of the questions heard most at the nursery at Johnson Brothers Greenhouses is how does one keep their hanging baskets looking full, lush and beautiful.

Gina Gartley shares what you need to do to achieve this in this week’s In the Garden.

If you’d like more information about hanging baskets, you can attend a workshop at Johnson Brothers Greenhouses on Saturday, April 20 at 11 a.m.

EUGENE, Ore. — Berries are such a treat for gardeners to plant in the Willamette Valley, and you can do it too.

Gina Gartley at Johnson Brothers Greenhouses has some tips on how to grow the best blueberries and strawberries.

EUGENE, Ore. — Spring has sprung, and that means it’s time to get your garden started.

In this week’s episode of In the Garden, Gina Gartley from Johnson Brothers Greenhouses shows us how you can plant seeds.

She says Johnson Brothers Greenhouses is also hosting a seed-starting class month at its nursery at 91444 Coburg Rd, Eugene, OR 97408. Click here for more information.

EUGENE, Ore. — Western Oregon is getting a couple of days off from rain. It is a great time to prep the garden for winter.

Jim Graham is closing up his garden plot at Amazon Community Garden. He uses a tarp as a cover. Other gardeners use leaves as mulch, putting about  two inches on top of their soil.

“This is a perfect example of how to use leaves in your garden,” said Chris Girard, Eugene Parks and Open Space South Region Supervisor.

Those leaves haven’t just fallen from a tree. They come from a massive pile located at East 27th and High Street. When the city of Eugene collects leaves each fall, that’s where they go. They will decompose over the course of winter, spring and summer.

Previously, the pile of leaves were only available to gardeners at the Amazon Community Garden. In recent years, the city has opened up the pile to everyone. You just have to come and get it.  Many garden experts call it ‘black gold.’

“There is an opportunity for people to come and add a lot of nutrients to their soil. These leaves have a lot of trace minerals that they got from the roots of the trees and that can be added to the soil and it really benefits your garden,” said Girard.

According to Rodales Book of Composting, decomposed leaves have the ability to hold 300 to 500 percent its weight in water, which means less water is needed when mixed up to 25 percent into the soil.

Another benefit to mulching with these leaves–it can prevent soil compaction caused by winter rains and will keep weed seeds from germinating next spring and summer.

Click here for more information.

EUGENE, Ore. — Some people think they are gross and slimy, but for gardeners worms are gold.

Barbara Dumesnil is a master gardener and in her home, nothing goes to waste.

“We’ve got basic vegetable scraps, coffee and coffee filters,” said Dumesnil.

After eating, the scraps serve two functions, standard composting and vermicomposting or feeding the worms. Dumesnil says vermicomposting is not only easy, but it’s a great set up for apartment living. Her worms are located right outside her house in a relatively small system of three bins.

“You can have a worm bin in your house, under your sink or in some out of the way place or by your back door,” Dumesnil said, “This worm bin probably has about 2,000 worms; that’s about two pounds of worms. Worms will eat about half of their body weight in a day.”

Dumesnil feeds her worms by placing the food in the top bin about once a week and the rest of her scraps go to composting. In the second bin layer are worm castings, which are rich in nutrients.

“This is a long established worm bin so it kind of has a lot of life in here. I love to use it for starting my seeds,” Dumesnil said.

A bin and worms are all that is needed to get the system going; once the worms are fed, they do the work. Results from the system can be seen in about four months.

Dumesnil is an expert on worms and will teach a class through OSU Extension on Saturday, October 13.