VIDEO: Planting Evergreen Trees and Shrubs 🌲🌳 | Gardening with Creekside

Jenny from Gardening with Creekside is transforming her front yard landscape by planting a mix of evergreen trees and native shrubs for year-round beauty. In this video, she explains why fall is a great time for planting and how she builds healthy soil with Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus and Espoma Organic Land & Sea Gourmet Compost. These organic gardening essentials give her plants the strong foundation they need to flourish naturally.

Tips for Successful Fall Planting

1. Fall is for Planting
Cooler temperatures and consistent rainfall make fall a great season for planting trees and shrubs. Roots can establish ahead of winter and before the heat of summer returns, helping your plants thrive long-term.

2. Start with healthy soil
Jenny emphasizes that soil health is everything. Even in tough clay conditions, adding organic matter improves aeration and water movement—key for strong roots and healthy plants.

3. Amend your beds with organic compost
Jenny top-dresses her entire planting area with Espoma Organic Land & Sea Gourmet Compost. This nutrient-rich compost, made with lobster and crab meal, improves soil texture, boosts microbial life, and naturally enhances moisture retention and drainage.

4. Give roots the best start with an organic starter fertilizer
Jenny never plants without a high-quality organic starter fertilizer like Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus! Bio-tone is packed with essential nutrients, beneficial microbes, and mycorrhizae. that encourage rapid root growth, better nutrient uptake, and stronger, more resilient plants.

5. Choose the right plants for your conditions
 Jenny selects plants suited to her North Carolina climate and light conditions— thoughtful plant placement matters.

6. Layer for four-season interest
By combining evergreens, native shrubs, and colorful foliage, Jenny builds structure and texture into her garden so it looks beautiful all year long.

*****

Learn more about Gardening with Creekside:

Website

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Featured Products:

 

Where to Buy

 

The post VIDEO: Planting Evergreen Trees and Shrubs | Gardening with Creekside first appeared on Espoma Organic.

from Espoma Organic https://www.espoma.com/espoma-videos/2025-planting-evergreen-trees-and-shrubs-%f0%9f%8c%b2%f0%9f%8c%b3-gardening-with-creekside/

from
https://summerblakeley.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/video-planting-evergreen-trees-and-shrubs-%f0%9f%8c%b2%f0%9f%8c%b3-gardening-with-creekside/

VIDEO: Hydrangea Care Tips 🌿🌸 with Summer Rayne Oakes

Hydrangeas have a way of stopping gardeners in their tracks—those full, dreamy blooms that shift from creamy whites to rosy pinks or cool blues. Summer Rayne Oakes @flockfingerlakes takes us through her upstate New York garden to explore five types of hydrangeas and how to help them flourish year after year.

Throughout her tour, Summer highlights two of her go-to Espoma Organic products:

• Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier – for achieving those iconic blue blooms naturally

• Espoma Organic Potting Mix – for building strong, healthy roots in containers

Each supports her eco-friendly approach to gardening—feeding the soil, not just the plant—while keeping the process safe for people, pets, and the planet.

Learn more about Flock Finger Lakes here:

Website: flockfingerlakes.com

Instagram – @flockfingerlakes

YouTube –Flock Finger Lakes

X – @flockny

Facebook –Flock Finger Lakes

Featured Products:

Where to Buy

The post VIDEO: Hydrangea Care Tips with Summer Rayne Oakes first appeared on Espoma Organic.

from Espoma Organic https://www.espoma.com/flowers/2025-video-all-about-hydrangeas-%f0%9f%8c%bf%f0%9f%8c%b8-with-summer-rayne-oakes/

from
https://summerblakeley.wordpress.com/2025/10/06/video-hydrangea-care-tips-%f0%9f%8c%bf%f0%9f%8c%b8-with-summer-rayne-oakes/

6 Fun & Easy Pumpkin Decorating Ideas For Kids

Our kids are very much into the traditional Jack-O-Lantern-style pumpkin carving, often trying to make a scarier, grosser, or goofier face than last Halloween. But we still remember a time when toddler-friendly (even baby-friendly!) pumpkin “carving” was the name of the game over here. So we wanted to highlight six simple, fun, but unconventional pumpkin decorating ideas for kids that we’ve used in the past. Including a “romantic” one we made pre-kids (yes, I’ll pause while you ponder what exactly can be romantic about a pumpkin…).

We’ve included a brief description of each below, but you can also follow the link to the original posts for more photos and details about each pumpkin-carving project.

“Baby’s First” Handprint Pumpkin

Materials Needed:

• Paper or cardstock
• Pencil or pen (for tracing on hand)
• Sharpie or marker (for tracing onto pumpkin)
• Scissors
• Pumpkin carving tools

Our daughter was only 5 months old by the time her first Halloween rolled around, meaning there wasn’t much she could do to lend a hand in the pumpkin decorating process.

Continue reading 6 Fun & Easy Pumpkin Decorating Ideas For Kids at Young House Love.

from Young House Love https://www.younghouselove.com/pumpkin-decorating-ideas-for-kids/

from
https://summerblakeley.wordpress.com/2025/10/06/6-fun-easy-pumpkin-decorating-ideas-for-kids/

5 Ways To Upgrade S’mores – Including Savory S’mores!

We love having friends over to our backyard firepit, which means we eat A LOT of s’mores. That means A LOT of opportunities to try unique twists on traditional s’mores. There’s nothing wrong with the tried-and-true recipe, but introducing new ingredients and combos keeps things fun, interesting, and even better tasting. So here are 5 of our favorite “upgraded” s’more ideas for your next firepit gathering.

Continue reading 5 Ways To Upgrade S’mores – Including Savory S’mores! at Young House Love.

from Young House Love https://www.younghouselove.com/savory-smores-ideas/

from
https://summerblakeley.wordpress.com/2025/10/02/5-ways-to-upgrade-smores-including-savory-smores/

VIDEO: Planting Boxwoods & Hydrangeas with Garden Answer

Follow along as Laura from Garden Answer refreshes her entryway garden bed with Hydrangeas and Boxwoods. She shares her process for spacing, layout, and digging tough soil while planting with Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus.

Featured Product:

Where to Buy

The post VIDEO: Planting Boxwoods & Hydrangeas with Garden Answer first appeared on Espoma Organic.

from Espoma Organic https://www.espoma.com/trees-shrubs/2025-video-planting-boxwoods-hydrangeas-with-garden-answer/

from
https://summerblakeley.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/video-planting-boxwoods-hydrangeas-with-garden-answer/

VIDEO: Edible Landscaping 🫑 🍓🌿 | Flock Finger Lakes

Summer Rayne Oakes @FlockFingerLakes takes us on a tour of her garden packed with edible plants. From fruit trees and berry bushes to roses and kale, Summer shows how beauty and function can grow side by side. Along the way, she nourishes her plants with Espoma Organic products to build strong roots, vibrant blooms, and thriving harvests.

Espoma Products Summer Uses in Her Edible Landscape:

• Bio-tone Starter Plus
  Summer uses Bio-tone Starter Plus when planting apple trees and preparing new beds. With mycorrhizae and beneficial microbes, it jumpstarts root growth and helps plants establish quickly—like “planting insurance” for long-term success.

• Espoma Organic Potting Soils 
  To build the foundation of her new garden beds, Summer used a mix of Espoma Organic Soils, including Raised Bed Mix, Potting Mix, Land & Sea Compost, and others. These mixes improve soil structure, boost microbial life, and provide the organic matter plants need for healthy growth.

• Rose-tone
  For her roses, Summer sprinkles Espoma Organic Rose-tone around the root zone. With its 4-3-2 blend, it encourages lush foliage and beautiful blooms while being safe for the soil and pollinators.

• Soil Acidifier
  Blueberries thrive in acidic soil, and Summer keeps them happy with Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier. Made from elemental sulfur and gypsum, it naturally lowers pH to match the needs of acid-loving plants.

• Tomato! Liquid Fertilizer
  Summer gives her tomato plants a boost with Espoma Organic Tomato! This easy-to-use liquid concentrate provides balanced nutrition and added calcium to prevent blossom end rot, ensuring plump, juicy fruits all season long.

Bringing It All Together

Summer’s edible landscape is proof that food gardens can be as beautiful as they are bountiful—with the right soil, thoughtful plant choices, and natural care. Ready to start your own edible landscape? Explore Espoma Organic products and discover how to feed your garden naturally.

*****

Featured Products:

 

 

Where to Buy

The post VIDEO: Edible Landscaping | Flock Finger Lakes first appeared on Espoma Organic.

from Espoma Organic https://www.espoma.com/fruits-vegetables/2025-video-edible-landscape-%f0%9f%ab%91-%f0%9f%8d%93%f0%9f%8c%bf-flock-finger-lakes/

from
https://summerblakeley.wordpress.com/2025/09/29/video-edible-landscaping-%f0%9f%ab%91-%f0%9f%8d%93%f0%9f%8c%bf-flock-finger-lakes/

VIDEO: Planting Hydrangeas 🌸 with Wyse Guide

When it comes to hydrangeas, every gardener dreams of full, colorful blooms that light up the landscape. Watch as Kaleb Wyse of Wyse Guide shares how he plants and transplants hydrangeas in his Iowa garden. He walks us through his process step by step—using Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus to help roots establish, Espoma Organic Holly-tone to feed acid-loving plants, and how using Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier can create the perfect conditions for iconic blue blooms.

Here are six top tips and takeaways from Kaleb’s hydrangea planting project:

1. Choose the Right Variety for Your Climate

Not every hydrangea will thrive just because it’s rated for your USDA zone. Kaleb explains how some bigleaf hydrangeas struggled in his area, so he swapped them for hardier Seaside Serenade Cape Cod hydrangeas, better suited for his Zone 4 garden. Always match your plant choice to both your climate and the light conditions in your garden.

2. Protect Roots During Transplanting

Whether moving a shrub or planting a new one, Kaleb emphasizes the importance of keeping the root ball intact to reduce transplant shock. He carefully lifts and moves hydrangeas with as much surrounding soil as possible, ensuring minimal stress on the plant. 

3. Always Plant with a Good Organic Starter Fertilizer

Every hydrangea Kaleb plants gets a helping of Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus in the hole. Packed with beneficial microbes and mycorrhizae, Bio-tone encourages strong root development and helps plants adapt quickly to their new home. As Kaleb puts it, he treats transplants like brand-new plants—and Bio-tone gives them the best start possible.

4. Feed with Fertilizer for Acid-Loving Plants

Hydrangeas love soil on the acidic side. That’s why Kaleb sprinkles in Espoma Organic Holly-tone, a slow-release organic fertilizer crafted specifically for acid-loving plants like hydrangeas, azaleas, and blueberries. Holly-tone not only provides balanced nutrition but also contains elemental sulfur to help gently acidify soil over time.

5. Adjust Soil pH 

If your soil isn’t naturally acidic, hydrangeas may need a little extra help. Kaleb mentions how his soil leans neutral, so he often turns to Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier. Made from natural sulfur, it safely lowers soil pH, creating the right conditions for healthier growth and, in the case of bigleaf hydrangeas, can even shift blooms from pink to blue.

6. Prioritize Drainage and Consistent Moisture

Hydrangeas thrive in soil that’s both well-draining and consistently moist. Kaleb demonstrates checking drainage by filling the planting hole with water. If it drains well, you’re set! He also reminds us that even established hydrangeas benefit from supplemental water during dry spells to keep blooms from wilting or scorching in summer heat.

You Can Do It!

Healthy soil, the right plant food, and a watchful eye on moisture make all the difference in hydrangea success. With Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus, Holly-tone, and Soil Acidifier in your toolkit, you’ll be well on your way to lush, colorful hydrangea blooms—year after year.

*****

Featured Products:

 

Where to Buy

The post VIDEO: Planting Hydrangeas with Wyse Guide first appeared on Espoma Organic.

from Espoma Organic https://www.espoma.com/flowers/2025-video-planting-hydrangeas-with-bio-tone-starter-plus-feeding-with-holly-tone%f0%9f%8c%b8-with-wyse-guide/

from
https://summerblakeley.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/video-planting-hydrangeas-%f0%9f%8c%b8-with-wyse-guide/