Besides being fun to discover and beautiful to look at, Ladybugs are great for getting rid of “bag bugs.” They feed on aphids, mites, scale, thrips, whiteflies, mealybugs and other slow-moving, soft-bodied insects, larva and eggs. A single ladybug can eat up to 5,000 aphids during its lifetime. They’ll stay in your garden as long as there’s “food” to eat.

2. Praying Mantis

These are purchased as “egg cases” that will hatch in your garden. Each egg case with hatch 50 to 200 baby mantids. Watch closely to observe hatching; the egg cases do not change in appearance when this happens. These good bugs are fascinating to watch, with their very slow moving, 3-inch long bodies, and prominent eyes. Praying Mantis feed on anything they can catch.

3. Red Worms

Not really bugs, of course, but extremely valuable for healthy gardens. Each red worm ingests its weight in organic matter every 24 hours. Its intricate digestive tract makes it possible for the earthworms to excrete highly nutritious fertilizer known as worm castings. They also create tunnels in your soil which is very helpful in creating aeration for plant roots.

4. Decollate Snails

Decollate snails are carnivores that feed on their cousins, the very bad brown garden snail. These killer snails actually attack brown snails, eating them and their eggs. Once the decollate snails rid your garden of brown snails, they feed on leaf litter and other organic material, helping the composting process. Note: snail bait will kill decollate snails. Wait 3- to 4-weeks after using snail bait before you release them. Decollate snails are invasive in some areas, but not in Southern California.

5. Green Lacewings

These good bugs are aphid exterminators, both as larvae and adults. They also feed on mealybugs, scale spider mites, thrips, whiteflies, small caterpillars, insect eggs, and larvae. They are sold as eggs that are perishable. For that reason, they are shipped as special orders.

Learn more about Ladybugs in our Garden Living Blog >

How-to video: Get rid of the most common California's garden pests >

View our Citrus Garden Guide for care tips >

View our Citrus Basic How To Video for planting tips >

Selection varies by store and season.

View our Citrus Garden Guide for care tips >

View our Citrus Basic How To Video for planting tips >

1. Some plants will die. We are working with nature and sometimes a plant that should work in your yard even if it has proper care will die. This happens to everyone! Don’t take it personally.
2. We are always here to help with your gardening questions. Don’t be afraid to ask us for help.

How to Determine Your Soil Type 

Watch our How to Determine Your Soil Video >

The first item to look at in the garden is your soil type. Thoroughly wet a patch of soil and let it dry out for a day. Simply pick up a handful and determine what type of soil you have.

1. Clay: when squeezed the soil will form a tight ball. Slippery and lumpy to the touch.
2. Sand: feels grainy to the touch. Won’t hold shape and crumbles when squeezed. Very free-draining, does not hold water well.
3. Loam: forms a crumbly, loose ball when squeezed. Well-draining and retains moisture. Ideal garden soil.

How to Improve Your Soil

All you need to do is add soil amendments for a quick and easy fix.

1. Clay: mix in E.B. Stone Granular Gypsum. It adds aeration and breaks down clay. Use E.B. Stone Redwood Compost. It also helps break down clay naturally.
2. Sand: mix in E.B. Stone Peat Moss to bind soil and help retain water. E.B. Stone Chicken Manure is also great for sandy soils. It maintains moisture within soil and is highly beneficial to overall plant health.
3. Loam: add mulch to retain soil’s moisture. Conserves water and lowers water will.

What’s the different between Planting Compost and Potting Mix?

Planting Compost is used in the landscape to amend soil, it aids in plant establishment, root growth and water retention. Potting Mix accomplishes the same things but is design for use in a pot.

Determining Your Sun Light 

Watch our Determining You Sun Light Video >

Before you start looking for plants you need to have a general idea of the sun exposure. Determine sunlight by checking out your planting spot(s) during various times during the day. Observe the amount of sun that each receives.

1. Full Sun: location receives 6-8 hours of full sun each day
2. Partial Sun: 3-6 hours of san a day, usually in the late morning to the early afternoon
3. Partial Shade: sun is filtered, usually by leaves and foliage, and peek through for most of the day.
4. Shade: area receives less than 3 hours of sun and is shady for most of the day.

Pick your Plants

This is where the fun begins! Choose plants that you’re drawn to. Play with color, texture and unique foliage – let the plants be a reflection of you.

What to Consider When Choosing a Plant 

Watch our Choosing a Plant Video >

The tags on plants are your friend and will usually tell you everything you need to make the perfect selection. However, if a plant doesn’t have a tag or you have questions you can always ask us for help. That’s what we’re here for!

1. Sun Requirements: grab your notes on the sunlight for the area you’re planting. Now take a minute to look at the plant tag to see its sun requirements.
2. Plant Height: don’t let the current height of the plant fool you. Take a look at the plant tag to find out how tall the plant will grow.
3. Placement: put taller plants toward the back of a display and smaller, descending-sizes toward the front. This will showcase all of your plant selections once they are established.
4. Spacing: leave plenty of space between plants so they can stretch out. The plant tag usually tells you how wide they will grow.

Annuals versus Perennials

Comparing annual and perennial flowers is a little like comparing apples and oranges. Each type of flower has its own characteristics and advantages.

1. Annual flowers complete their lifecycle in just one growing season. In other words, you plant a seed (or a seedling plant), it grows foliage, then flowers, seeds and then the plant dies, all in the same year. Annual flowers tend to bloom from spring until autumn frost. Although they must be replanted each year, annuals are hard to beat in terms of showy, season-long color.
2. Perennial flowers are those that grow for three or more years. Although most perennials tend to have a relatively short season of bloom, combining several species in your planting can yield season-long color.

Planting 101

You’re ready to get your hands a little dirty! Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball. Using the appropriate planting mix, combine one part soil and one part planting compost. Place a small handful of E.B. Stone Sure Start in the bottom of the hole and incorporate into the soil. Make sure the top of the original root ball is one inch above surrounding soil. Firmly tap soil to remove any air pockets. Done!

Watering

Plants are living just like humans and need water. The good news is they don’t get thirsty as much as we do!

1. When to Water: water in the morning or evening when the sun is going down to reduce evaporation
2. How to Water: people have a tendency to over water plants. Water thoroughly saturating soil and wait longer between watering.  Watch the plants signs (wilting, wrinkled leaves, etc) to determine the when it needs water.

Ultimate Guarantee

We want you to be successful in the garden and have fun with gardening. For this reason we have our Ultimate Guarantee on Trees and Shrubs.

Most garden centers and nurseries sell plants that are grown by a network of growers with varying quality and selection. And there’s no guarantee that certain plants are available when customers want them.

So, Armstrong Growers, a separate division of Armstrong Garden Centers, was created. We strive to grow a wide selection of plants that are new and different, thoroughly tested, and top-quality.

Consistently Top-Quality
All Armstrong Grown plants are monitored throughout the growing process to meet the very highest standards—Grade #1 plants. If plants fail to reach that standard or grow past their prime they are not released.

Tested for All Climates
California has many different climates. Armstrong Growers, with three growing facilities in very different climates (coastal, inland, desert) tests all our plants to determine which are worthy of the Armstrong name, and which are best for those climates. Only after succeeding in our test gardens is a plant grown for customers.

Wide and Varied Selection
Customers come to Armstrong for a great selection of flowers, vegetables and other plants. They know that they’ll always find what they’re looking for. That’s because Armstrong Growers plans its production from customer purchase data.

New and Exciting Plants and Flowers
Armstrong constantly seeks out new and exciting plants from top breeders all over the world. Each spring we visit the trial facilities of plant companies to choose the very best, new and improved plants and flowers to bring to our customers.

Sustainably Grown
Each of Armstrong Growers’ three facilities is designed to be sustainable. We capture all our runoff water, filter it, and reuse it. We work with pot and container manufacturers to recycle old containers. All of our colorpack containers are made of 100% recycled water bottles.

Certified Organic
Armstrong Growers’ Organiks line of vegetables and herbs are 100% Certified Organic, grown at our organic facility in San Juan Capistrano.

Hand-Selected for Your Neighborhood
Each Armstrong Garden Center manager hand-selects from Armstrong Growers’ plant list only those plants that will thrive in her store’s specific neighborhood. That removes the guesswork that can happen when shopping at national box stores. 

Select seeds for early spring planting. Spend some quiet, relaxed (and dry!) time poring over Armstrong’s amazing seed selection of vegetables, herbs, cutting flowers, bedding plants and organic gourmet edibles.

Repot Houseplants. Just the smell of the fresh potting soil will be rewarding on a rainy day. Choose a new, brightly-glazed pot and your old houseplant will look new and stylish. Revitalize houseplants by trimming brown leaf ends with sharp, clean scissors.

Clean and sharpen hand tools. Come the sunshine, you’ll be glad you did. Pick up a Corona blade sharpener at your local Armstrong—you’ll be surprised how easy it is to use on all sorts of tools. Once they’re clean (household cleaner 409 works great) and sharp, spray some WD-40 on all moving parts.

Grab an umbrella and take all the time you need to select a few new roses or a fruit tree. You don’t have to plant immediately. We’ve pre-planted them for you—wait for that sunny day!

 
Hang a new birdhouse or feeder under your front porch or patio cover. Your visitors will be appreciative and will brighten dull, winter days.

Feed all your houseplants. Bet you haven’t done this for a while—life just gets too busy. Well, a lazy, rainy day is the perfect time. Don’t forget to feed with Bonide Liquid Plant Food. Add 7 drops per quart of water each time you water for lush, healthy houseplants!

Shop for garden attire. Once the rain stops, Sloggers are the perfect garden shoe and the ideal time to shop is before that first “perfect weather” day. Choose a garden hat, too. Armstrong’s got a great selection of top-quality hats in many styles and materials from San Diego Hat Company.

Click HERE to find or contact your local Armstrong Garden Centers
for any of your gardening or outdoor living needs.

Benefits
• Reduces pollutants such as Benzene (paint, smoke, plastics), Formaldehyde (wood, carpet, foam) and TCE (cleaning solvents)
• Increases a room's humidity
• Five minutes a day spent caring for plants reduces stress levels
• Certain plants can reduce pollutants up to 87 percent in 24 hours
• The presence of plants can provide a sense of health and well-being

Paperwhite bulbs can be “forced” to grow and bloom in a very short span of time. Romantically fragrant flowers usually arrive 6 to 8 weeks after planting. Plant bulbs now (in the first few weeks of November) for Christmas blooms. 

Forcing Paperwhites
Paperwhites can be planted with soil or without. Here’s how: 

Purchase a pot, about 4-inches deep. (if it has drainage holes you’ll want to plant into potting soil. Without holes you’ll use gravel to hold the bulbs in place.) 

Place an inch of soil or gravel at the bottom of the pot. 
Crowd as many paperwhite bulbs into the pot as is comfortable, roots facing down. Allow a pinky finger to fit between the bulbs. (the more bulbs, the prettier it’ll look) 

Now fill the pot with soil or gravel until just the “noses” of the bulbs are poking out. 

Water. With gravel add just enough water to reach the roots – water covering the bulb itself can cause rot. With soil, simply keep moist. 

Keep in a cool, dry and indirectly lit location until the leaves begin to emerge. Then move to a sunnier location. Check water daily. 

Flowers should arrive in 6-8 weeks.

Wondering what to do with your pumpkin this year? Check out our top ten ideas for creative ways to use your pumpkin.

10. Make a Facial Mask: while this may sound a little crazy, pumpkins are rich in vitamins A, C and zinc which are great for sun damaged, dry or sensitive skin. To create the mask use cooked, pureed pumpkin, honey, and a splash of milk. Leave on your face for 15 minutes and then wash off and enjoy the results!

9. Turn your pumpkin into a vase. Cut the stem off the pumpkin and places fresh cut flowers from your garden.

8. Decorate it. Not everyone loves to carve pumpkins, so why not break out the craft supplies and create your own fall decorations.

7. Roast the Seeds. After cleaning out the inside, you have tons of seeds left over so why not use them? Baking pumpkins seeds is really easy, just toss clean seeds with butter, salt and bake at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes on a baking sheet. Stir occasionally and enjoy frequently.

6. Use pumpkins of all shapes and sizes for decorations around your home. Pumpkins are the essential fall décor item and will last.

5. Create a pumpkin family! We are sure you kids will have the most fun with this one, but why not create a pumpkin that looks like each member of the family.

4. Pumpkin Games? Turn some favorite party games into festive fall games by adding a little pumpkin pizzazz. Try pumpkin bowling, a pumpkin ring toss, or even guess the number of seeds inside a pumpkin.

3. Grow it! Use your pumpkin seeds from this year’s pumpkin to grow next year’s pumpkin. Pumpkins are easy to grow and fun to watch. Clean the seeds and plant them in full sunlight, rich soil during the spring. Watch the pumpkins grow through the year and when fall finally comes in, you will have your own patch to figure out what to do with! Another fun tip: create a growing contest between family members, place a stake near each member’s seeds and see whose pumpkins grows to be the largest.

2. Eat it! There are millions of pumpkin recipes, whether you are looking for a breakfast treat (Pumpkin Pancakes or Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins) or hearty meal ideas (Pumpkin Soup or Roast Pumpkin and Feta Risotto). We are sure you will find something the whole family would love. For recipes or more pumpkin creations, check out http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/pumpkin-recipes/Detail.aspx

1.Carve it! Of course the most popular pumpkin tradition, it is a great way to bring the whole family together. Whether you are creative or not, use a permanent marker to outline your design, download a stencil or purchase a pumpkin carving kit.

1 Minute Mums
If you need instant impact and only have one minute to spare choose a mum in a 12-inch pot. They have hundreds of blooms that form one large mass. Simply place them on a doorstep or place the entire pot in the garden.

5 Minute Mums
If you have a few minutes get creative with mums in a gallon or 4-inch pot. The smaller size allows you to tuck them in throughout the garden and play with different color combinations. Plant in mass to create a bolder statement in the garden.

The Basics: Sun, Soil & Water
Choose a place in your garden, entrance or patio that receives:
• Full Sun: Location receives 6-8 hours of full sun each day.
• Partial Sun: areas that receive 3-6 hours of sun a day, usually in the late morning to the early afternoon.

If you’re planting your mums in the garden make sure the soil has good drainage. If you have clay soil (determine your soil type) with poor drainage add E.B. Stone Redwood Compost to your soil. Plant your mums about an inch deeper than they were in the nursery pot. While it’s tempting to squish the plants next give each other, give them some breathing space to thrive.

Mums need to be watered frequently for a shorter duration then most plants since their roots are extremely shallow. In hot, dry areas they may need to be watered once a day. Try adding mulch on top of your soil to help lock in moisture and prevent water evaporation.

Keep in mind that your garden's chilling hours can be greatly affected by prevailing winds, mountain ranges or even buildings. If your garden is in an area with a very high winter chill (areas with snow), then all (including the low-chill type) fruits will do well for you.

Chilling hours by region

Northern California Inland Valleys
Dublin and Novato
Elevation 0 to 400 ft.
Chilling Hours - 500 to 800 hours

Coastal
From San Diego to Santa Barbara
Elevation 0 to 400 ft.
Chilling Hours - 100 to 300 hours

Coastal Valleys
Lemon Grove, Irvine, Brea, Whittier, Lakewood, Anaheim, Santa Ana
Elevation 400 to 800 ft.
Chilling Hours - 300 to 500 hours

Foothills & Inland Valleys
El Cajon, Temecula, Riverside, San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Glendora
Elevation 600 to 1200 ft.
Chilling Hours - 500 to 700 hours

Low Desert
Palm Springs and Coachella Valley
Elevation 400 to 500 ft.
Chilling Hours - 200 to 400 hours

Mountains & High Desert
Elevation 1200 ft. and above
Chilling Hours - 600 plus hours

Consult an Armstrong expert for chilling times of specific deciduous fruit trees.