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Recent Articles
The Power of Plants: Improving Our Wellbeing
Recently house plants have skyrocketed in popularity, finding homes in kitchens, living rooms, offices, and our hearts. Although indoor plants may be Instagram-worthy, the biggest reason...
Summer Landscape Design Ideas
With warm weather beckoning you outside and cooler nights calling for family and friends to gather, summer may just be the absolute best time of year to enjoy your landscape. Make the most...
Common Houseplant Pests & Problems
Whether you have a large collection of houseplants or you are just starting to explore your green thumb, houseplant pests are something you will have to deal with, unfortunately. We...
Alocasia Care Guide
Plants in the alocasia genus are known for their stunningly large leaves that feature an arrowhead shape and gorgeous vein patterns. One of the reasons we love these plants is how many...
There’s No Place Like Home
As an owner of Dennis' 7 Dees, Dave Snodgrass takes great pride in his company, and his passion for landscaping and plants is unmatched. A few years ago, he went through the process of...
Our 7 Favorite Easy Care Houseplants
Even though we are onboard the collector plant train (and we’re never getting off), collector plants have more care and attention requirements than common plants, making us appreciate our...
Outdoor Living: Bringing the Indoors Outdoors
This beautiful summer weather beckons us to spend more time outdoors on the patio, enjoying al fresco dining, and laughing together around a fire pit. Your landscape should be an extension...
Why You Should Start Planning Your Holiday Décor Now
Decorating your space for the holidays has become something everyone looks forward to, especially after such a crazy last year, experiencing cheerful and beautiful holiday décor could make...
How to Care for a Cactus
Cacti may be one of the most underrated and unique plants in the houseplant world. Although often confused with succulents, cacti are completely different plants. You can tell them apart...
Front Yard Landscape Renovation
A crumbling brick wall, drainage challenges, and outdated plantings were just not going to do for this Dennis’ 7 Dees landscape designer's home. Since purchasing the 1970s rancher, Eric...
Designing With Plants in the Workplace
Access to nature is increasingly critical for employee mental health and overall wellbeing. Within the last decade, workplace design has embraced bringing the outdoor environment indoors...
The Latest Houseplant Trend: Variegated Plants and the Science Behind Them
Like any houseplant trend, variegated plants have plant lovers and connoisseurs going crazy. However, unlike other trends in the past, the love of variegated plants does not seem to be...
Made in the Shade: Successful Shade Gardening
In an area with an abundance of trees, one of the biggest challenges for gardeners is shade. Generally, a partially shaded area is one that receives 3 to 6 hours of direct sunlight daily....
Anthurium Care Guide
A beautiful and eccentric cousin to the philodendron, anthuriums are a favorite plant genus among houseplant collectors for their unique, veined leaves and neon-colored flowers. With an...
Warm Weather Planting Tips
Here we are in early June and temperatures have already reached over 90 degrees! The excitement of planting may be tempered by the need to keep plants hydrated and healthy through the...
Gardening by Moonlight: Ideas for Night Gardens
Summer evenings in the garden can be one of the best ways to end a busy day. There are many reasons to plant a night garden—to unwind after work, decompress once the kids are in bed,...
3 Ways to Use Plants for Social Distancing in the Workplace
As offices start to open and employees begin to re-enter the workplace, social distancing solutions in the office have come to the forefront of businesses' needs. The traditional solutions...
Edible Gardening for Beginners
Growing our own food has evolved over the years. What started as a necessity has now grown into a hobby for many people and a way to live more sustainably. Why should you grow your own...
How to Care for Hoyas
Hoyas, also known as wax plants, have grown in popularity due to their lust-worthy vines, star-like flowers, and ease of care. Hoyas are vining plants that can grow up any type of trellis,...
Summer Vegetable Gardening: Beyond Tomatoes
In the Pacific Northwest, we basically have three main growing seasons: two cool, wetter seasons (spring and fall) and the warmer months of summer in between. Early spring crops must be...
Backyard Bouquets
For many of us, our daily lives are fast-paced, hectic, and demanding. It can often be a challenge to feel like we have time to properly take care of ourselves and our families, let alone...
Tomato Variety Showcase
Over the years, we have offered classes on how to grow the best tomatoes at home. We followed each growing season with a tomato tasting event (except in 2020 😔) to sample and evaluate the...
The Importance of Green in the Workplace
The colors that paint the world around us have been proven to influence our mood and our behaviors. We are so deeply connected to color—the design of an environment can not only affect our...
The Latest In Houseplant Trends: Is Pink the New Green?
2020 was a crazy year… especially for houseplants. Being stuck at home with more free time on our hands created an opportunity for indoor plants to transform our interior spaces and our...
13 Fantastic Trees Under 20 Feet Tall
The list of small garden trees is a relatively short one—most trees will grow taller than 20 feet as they mature, and many trees become nearly as wide as they are tall over time. Most...
Complete Calathea Care Guide
With their bold stripes, patterns, and colors, calathea have become one of the most popular tropical plants to have in your home. However, they also have a reputation for being one of the...
The Green Industry: Creating a Better Environment to Live, Work, and Play
The green industry is much more than people growing, planting, selling, and maintaining plants—it is an art, a profession, a hobby, a science, and a lifestyle. It creates a better...
Incorporating Pantone’s Colors of the Year into Your Home & Office
After the crazy 2020 we’ve all experienced, Pantone (a universal language of color) thought we could use two colors for 2021’s “color of the year” and they were absolutely right! The two...
Is the Future of Landscape Design Lawn-Free?
Beautiful landscape design has long been associated with luscious green grass, vibrant flowers, and abounding trees. However, more and more property owners have been leaving the...
Going Back to Berry Basics
Our mild climate is perfect for growing sweet, juicy berries, and homegrown berries are a great way to save money while eating fresh and local throughout the year! Between blueberries,...
Creating Your Own Terrarium
What’s all the fuss about terrariums? Terrariums are mini masterpieces that you can enjoy throughout the year; they are easy to make and even easier to maintain. Terrariums make great...
How to Create Your Own Living Fence With Hedgerows
Sometimes called windbreaks, shelter belts, or conservation buffers, hedgerows are layers of trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses that create living fences with the ability to grow food,...
Versatile & Colorful Coleus
Although flowers are usually the stars of our summer containers and landscape plantings, foliage is also an important element that provides contrast and accents surrounding plants. When...
Beneficial Insects in Your Garden
In any well-balanced ecosystem, there are pests and there are natural enemies. For this reason, some pests must be present in the environment for natural enemies (beneficial insects) to...
Creating a Habitat for Bees in Your Garden
Bees pollinate ⅓ of our food supply and ⅓ of the feed for our meat sources. Want to "bee" part of the solution to increase awareness about bees and help protect our future food supply?...
Emergency Care for Indoor Plants During a Winter Power Outage
If a recent winter storm has left you without power or heat in your home, your indoor tropical plants may be shivering right alongside you. Most houseplants prefer temperatures between...
Mounting Indoor Plants to Wood
Plants on bookshelves, floor plants, countertop and coffee table plants, plants hanging from the ceiling… so many ways to display them! If you are like me and love to fill your indoor...
Basic Indoor Plant Propagation
Often, there may be more than one way to propagate a specific plant. The ideal time to propagate is during the growing season (March through September). Using rooting hormone can increase...
DIY Moss Poles for Indoor Plant Support
Trailing plants are fun to hang from macramé or display on high shelves, but for many of our favorite trailing plants, there is another way to grow... up! Popular selections such as...
Gardening to Attract Birds
The Basic Elements of Habitat Food: seeds, nectar, insects, fruits, and berries Water: bird bath, fountain, water feature, stream/pond, sprinkler Cover/shelter: thickets/hedges, dense...
What Are Aroids?
Botanically speaking, several of our favorite houseplants all belong to the same family, but in many ways look different from one another. Plants included in this large family are...
Pruning 102: Pruning for Shaping & Structure
Learn how and when to prune common woody landscape plants to improve health and productivity, and to enhance their beauty.Review of Pruning Basics Goals/reasons to prune Tools, Terms,...
Breathe Easy With These Great Indoor Plants
Since we have all been spending more time at home, thoughts about our indoor air quality might be coming up more often. Modern home-building has created a tightly sealed space for us to...
Tomato Tasting 2020
With so many festivals and events cancelled in 2020, it should come as no surprise that we will not be holding our annual Tomato Tasting Festival this year. The good news, however, is that...
Trees in the Landscape: Summer & Fall Focus
Summer has been long and hot, and for most of us, our time has been spent (very) close to home. Whether you’ve passed the time surrounded by towering Douglas Firs in Lake Oswego, admiring...
All About Outdoor Ferns
Most perennial ferns are understory plants and cannot tolerate very high light levels. As with tropical ferns, the same plant will have lush, dark green foliage at lower light levels and...
Entertaining in the Garden
I just have to say, I really love my garden. Sure, I have my share of bugs and slugs, weeds, and thugs—there is plenty of imperfection, but I see that as part of the beauty. My garden...
Carnivorous Plant Care
There once was a clever plant that swallowed a fly... and thought it was delicious! There are places in the world where the soil is so poor that plants have evolved ways of gaining...
Vines in the Garden
Discover the right vines for your garden space and learn how to best grow and support them! 3 Basic Growth Styles: Clinging, Twining & Climbing with Tendrils Clinging vines use...
Facts About Bee Pollinators
Look carefully for groups of bees crowded together in the evening or early morning. They may be hanging by their jaws from various plant parts, hidden inside flowers that are closed up for...
Setting the Stage for a Successful Container Performance
The weather is warming up, the bees are buzzing, and now is the perfect time to freshen up your exterior containers! Summer annuals, vegetables and herbs, and even some trees and shrubs...
Plants that Make Scents
One common request from garden designers is to engage our senses in order to enhance the entire experience and leave a lasting impression. Bright, colorful flowers or contrasting foliage...
Privacy Screens & Hedges
Do you feel like you've been gardening in a "fish bowl" or providing entertainment for the neighbors? Making a space that feels private and intimate in your urban garden can sometimes pose...
April in the Garden
For Fresh Color In April, we have warmer days and cool (even frosty) nights; average last frost date is April 15th! Many cool-season annuals can be planted this month, especially during...
Spring Lawn Care
Because of our cool, rainy winters and acidic native soil, your lawn may require a “spring tune-up” to help it look its best. After a little moss control and spot treatment for weeds, bare...
Kokedama: Our Favorite Mossy Balls
The Japanese word “Kokedama” literally translates as “moss ball”. It is an ancient botanical art form that likely originated in Japan during the Edo period (between 1603 and 1868)....
Celebrating 40 Years with Joe Kerzel
Joe Kerzel is a salesman at our Lake Oswego Garden Center, and back in March of 2019, he celebrated 40 years of service with Dennis’ 7 Dees! His charming demeanor, along with his...
Indoor Pots with No Holes… What’s the Deal?
“Why doesn’t this pot have drain holes?” is a question we hear quite often. Modern indoor plant containers are being designed without drainage holes and are best used by dropping in a...