Gardening Publications and Resources

A list of some of our most popular and useful publications.

Articles and Publications

Get Actionable Results from a Soil, Plant or Environmental Testing Lab

Learn how to work with an analytical laboratory to get useful results from your plant tissue, soil or water samples.

Shannon Cappellazzi, Clare Sullivan, Gordon B. Jones, Linda Brewer | May 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

A Guide to Collecting Soil Samples for Farms and Gardens

Laboratory soil tests help you develop your soil and increase crop production by providing information on available nutrient content. Soil testing helps you select the correct kind and amount of fertilizer and ...

Melissa Fery, Jeff Choate, Elizabeth Murphy | Nov 2022 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Soil Test Interpretation Guide

This publication provides an overview of soil testing and general guidelines for interpreting soil test results for nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, zinc, copper, manganese, iron, ...

Donald A. Horneck, Dan M. Sullivan, Jim Owen, John M. Hart | Jul 2023 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Training and pruning your home orchard

A visual guide to training and pruning apple, pear, sweet cherry, sour cherry, peach, plum, apricot, fig, persimmon, walnut, hazelnut and chestnut trees.

Jeff L. Olsen, Neil Bell | Feb 2025 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Growing Your Own

This intro to gardening in Oregon covers all the bases: site selection, soil improvement, raised beds, planting, watering, pests, plant diseases and weeds. Regional tips cover every area of Oregon. Now available in English and Spanish in one publication!

Gail Langellotto | Jun 2023 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Vegetable and Specialty Seed IPM

About Oregon Vegetables and the Vegetable Cropping Systems Program.

Apr 2018 | Online resource

Managing diseases and insects in home orchards

This pest management guide is for the home gardener. It recommends management practices for controlling diseases and insects in home orchards. It doesn't meet the exacting requirements of the commercial fruit grower.

Jay W. Pscheidt, Heather Stoven, Ashley Thompson, Brooke Edmunds, Nik Wiman, Richard Hilton | Jun 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Growing Blueberries in Your Home Garden

Learn to grow your own sweet, juicy blueberries in your Oregon home garden! Find out which types and cultivars of blueberries grow best where you live, and which part of your yard is best suited for ...

Bernadine Strik, Emily Dixon, Amy Jo Detweiler, Nicole Sanchez | Dec 2020 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Growing blackberries in your home garden

Home gardeners can enjoy a choice of blackberry varieties with fruit far superior to that of wild blackberries. What’s more, home gardeners can pick fruit from early summer all the way to the first frost. ...

Bernadine Strik, Emily Dixon, Amy Jo Detweiler, Nicole Sanchez | Nov 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Growing Table Grapes

This pictorial guide will teach you how to plant, prune and train grapes to maximize your harvest and keep vines free of pests and disease. Find out which cultivars grow best in Oregon, and learn what it ...

Bernadine Strik | Apr 2023 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Practical Lawn Care for Western Oregon

Describes options for different levels of lawn care – from keeping a lawn lush and green year-round to allowing it to go partially dormant in the summer. Discusses mowing, watering, fertilizing, and dethatching, ...

Doug Voderberg, Alec Kowalewski | Mar 2023 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Spotted Wing Drosophila: A Quick, 7-Step Guide to Detecting SWD Larvae in Fruit

This brief guide illustrates how to test fruit for the presence of larvae from the Spotted Wing Drosophila.

Amy J. Dreves, Adam Cave, Jana Lee | Mar 2023 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Resources

Swarm List

Information on how to handle and who to call about bee swarms.

Jul 2018 | Online resource

Jul 2018

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Sustainable Gardening: The Oregon–Washington Master Gardener Handbook

Learn about home horticulture, botany, soils, plant pathology and entomology. The handbook includes a full-color slip cover and spine and 3-hole-drilled body. Binder not included.

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Ecological design of urban landscapes: Economic, social and ecological benefits

An ecological approach to landscape design incorporates natural systems as an integral part of urban landscapes. Learn how to bring ecology and design together to form a sustainable urban landscape.

Signe Danler, Gail Langellotto | Oct 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Waterwise gardening in Central Oregon

You can have a colorful and beautiful landscape while conserving water and saving time, energy and money. Learn innovative conservation techniques for waterwise gardening in Central Oregon.

Amy Jo Detweiler | Jun 2020 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

When to start seeds indoors in central Oregon

Wondering when to plant vegetables? Use this handy table to figure out the optimum time.

Amy Jo Detweiler | Apr 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Dandelions: living with, or without, them

Bright yellow dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are a common sight in lawns and gardens across Oregon, mostly in undisturbed areas. Whether you love them or want to get rid of them, it helps to know more about dandelions—how they grow, what good they can do, and how to manage them if needed.

LeAnn Locher, Srijana Shrestha | Apr 2025 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Gardens Are For Everyone

Accessible gardens for home and community garden locations allow everyone to reap the benefits of gardening.

Corinne Thomas-Kersting, Weston Miller | May 2023 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Should I wait to clean up the garden in order to help conserve insects?

Addressing a current popular meme in social media encouraging waiting to clean up your garden until temperatures reach 50º F or higher, in order to help conserve insects. We address the claim that if you clean your garden ...

Gail Langellotto | Mar 2025 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Are my old garden seeds still usable?

How long are old garden vegetable seeds still usable? Packed for "--" season?

Larina Hoffbeck | Mar 2021 | Featured question

Hummingbird visitors to Pacific Northwest gardens

There are more than 300 diverse species of hummingbirds. Anna’s hummingbirds can be spotted year round in the Pacific Northwest. Rufous migrate from areas of Mexico all the way to Alaska. Here are facts about them and how to attract them to your yard.

Brenda Holmes-Stanciu | Feb 2025 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Get Actionable Results from a Soil, Plant or Environmental Testing Lab

Learn how to work with an analytical laboratory to get useful results from your plant tissue, soil or water samples.

Shannon Cappellazzi, Clare Sullivan, Gordon B. Jones, Linda Brewer | May 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Using Pesticides Safely

Are pesticides hazardous? That's up to you! Understand the safe use, storage and disposal of pesticides.

Tim Stock | Jun 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

What's a petiole? Botany terms explained

Axil, cambium, chlorophyll, dicot — the science of botany has a language all its own. Learn what these words mean and more in this glossary of botany terms.

Jun 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Gray level)

OSU Extension establishes Master Gardener program in Malheur County

OSU Extension agricultural educator Russell Smith-Ollivierre worked with local residents after conducting a needs assessment.

Francesca Lear | Jul 15, 2024 | News story

Give the garden a facelift with six shrubs sporting dramatic foliage

Add colorful shrubs to the palette of plants you use to give color and texture to the landscape.

Kym Pokorny | Apr 5, 2024 | News story

Garden Future

What's the future of gardening in Oregon? Changes in climate are impacting gardening. We're talking about it and gathering solutions to support gardeners now and into the future. Learn how Oregon gardeners are experiencing climate...

LeAnn Locher, Brooke Edmunds, Erica Chernoh, Megan Wickersham, Amy Jo Detweiler, Signe Danler, Amanda Woodlee, Heather Stoven, Grace Florjancic, Shannon Rauter, Sarah West, Srijana Shrestha, Otillia Schreuder, Amy Espinoza, Marcia McIntyre, Kendal Johnson | Project Peer reviewed (Gray level)

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