Tag Archive for: potting soil

VIDEO: Bringing In Your Plants for Winter 🪴❄️ with Summer Rayne Oakes

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When the mornings turn chilly and frost threatens, it’s time to bring your non-cold-hardy plants indoors. In this video, Summer Rayne Oakes demonstrates how she gathers her Aloes, Pelargoniums, Euphorbias, air plants, and more, refreshing containers with Espoma Organic Cactus Mix, and Espoma Organic Perlite to help them settle in for the winter months.

Here are six quick tips to help you do the same.

1. Bring Plants In Before the First Freeze

Any tender plant—succulents, tropicals, Pelargoniums, air plants—needs to move indoors once nighttime temperatures dip into the 30s and low 40s °F. Cold snaps can damage foliage fast.

2. Check for Pests and Outdoor Debris

Before carrying your plants inside, give them a quick inspection:

  • Look for ants or insects in the soil
  • Remove spent leaves
  • Trim away any mushy or damaged growth

This keeps your indoor environment clean and your plants stress-free.

3. Give Overgrown Plants a Gentle Trim

A light haircut helps plants transition into winter dormancy. Summer trims her Pelargoniums to remove dead growth and tidy the shape, making them easier to overwinter.

4. Refresh Soil With a Fresh Organic Potting Mix

After a full season outdoors, potting soil can become compacted, washed out by rain, or depleted of nutrients. Refreshing the top few inches—or fully repotting—gives plants the clean, breathable foundation they need to stay healthy indoors.

For most houseplants, reach for Espoma Organic All-Purpose Potting Mix. It’s rich, airy, and packed with organic ingredients that support strong roots through winter.

Summer uses Espoma Organic Cactus Mix for her succulents because they need faster drainage and extra airflow around their roots. This helps prevent rot during the cooler months when succulents naturally take up less water.

Adding a scoop of Espoma Organic Perlite boosts drainage even more—great for Aloes, Agaves, and Euphorbias heading into low-light, low-growth winter conditions.

5. Repot or Divide Crowded Succulents

Aloes and other succulents often outgrow their pots by fall. Take a cue from Summer and divide offsets or repot into fresh soil so each plant has room to breathe indoors.

6. Feed Indoor Plants Through Winter

Even during slower growth, indoor plants still appreciate gentle nourishment. Use a high-quality organic liquid fertilizer—like Espoma Organic Indoor! —to keep roots strong and foliage healthy all winter long.

A little effort goes a long way!

A little trimming, a pest check, and a refresh with Espoma Organic potting soils and a little liquid fertilizer is all it takes to help your plants thrive indoors this winter.

Let’s get growing—indoors! 🌿

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Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Potting MixOrganic Potting soil -Espoma Organic Cactus MixEspoma Organic PerliteEspoma Organic Indoor! liquid fertilizer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Final Fall Plantings & Tips for Bringing Plants Inside for Winter 🍁🪴 with Wyse Guide

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Fall might feel like the end of the gardening season, but as Kaleb from Wyse Guide shows, it’s actually a perfect time to plant and bring in your favorite tropical plants for the winter months.

In this project, Kaleb refreshes the front of his home with hydrangeas, using Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus to support strong root growth, then replants a massive elephant ear and pots it up in Espoma Organic Potting Mix so he can enjoy it again next year.

Kaleb’s late fall gardening tips:

1. Plant for Roots, Not Blooms
Kaleb takes advantage of fall’s warm soil and cool air to give hydrangeas time to establish. Adding Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus helps new shrubs settle in quickly and build the strong root systems that lead to better growth next spring.

2. Build Healthy Soil & Keep Watering
Hydrangeas thrive in rich, well-draining soil, so Kaleb amends where needed and uses drip irrigation to keep moisture consistent on his sunny, south-facing porch. Even with drip, he checks soil weekly and waters during fall—and even winter warm-ups—so new roots never dry out.

3. Store Tropicals to Enjoy Them Again
Instead of letting frost take his elephant ear, Kaleb trims it back and pots it into Espoma Organic All-Purpose Potting Mix. Over winter, it rests indoors with minimal watering, ready to return outdoors next season.

Even as the season slows, there’s still so much you can do to care for your garden. A little fall planting, some root-focused feeding, and thoughtful winter storage of warm-season plants can set you up for an even more beautiful spring. 

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Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus Bag Image Espoma Organic Potting soil Mix Big bag

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Simple Fall Plantings 🪴🌻🍁 with Garden Answer

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Laura from Garden Answer brings a burst of fresh autumn color to the garden! 🌻 She shares an update on her sunflowers, plants new boxwoods with Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus to help the roots establish naturally, and refreshes her fall containers with vibrant ornamental kale, rudbeckia, and pansies. Using Espoma Organic Potting Mix, Laura ensures every plant has the rich, healthy soil it needs to thrive this season.

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Learn more about Garden Answer: 

🪴 YouTube

🪴 Website

🪴 Facebook

🪴 Instagram

Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus Bag ImageEspoma Organic Potting soil Mix Big bag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Video: How to Manage a Wild Garden with Summer Rayne Oakes 🌿🌸

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Watch as Summer Rayne Oakes @flockfingerlakes tours a small, shrub-forward garden that’s brimming with enthusiasm—thanks to a few “thuggish” growers that love to spread. She shows how her garden beds were built with cardboard, compost, and Espoma Organic soils, and how planting densely with Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus helped everything establish beautifully. The result: a thriving space that just needs smart, seasonal management.

Summer’s Tips!

1) Decide the goal, then manage to match
Before you pull a single plant from your wild garden, define your vision. If shrubs are meant to be the stars, reduce anything blocking sightlines or competing for height. A clear goal makes every adjustment easier.

2) Build living soil from day one
Build a garden bed using organic soil like Espoma Organic Potting Mix, Raised Bed Mix, or All-Purpose Garden soil to create a rich rooting zone. Healthy soil grows resilient plants. Plan for light, regular maintenance.

3) Plant with a quality Starter Fertilizer for confident establishment
At planting, mix in Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus. Its slow-release nutrition, beneficial microbes, and mycorrhizal fungi help roots colonize quickly, reduce transplant stress, and set plants up for long-term success.

4) Manage early and often
Make quick passes a habit. Trim seed heads after bloom, thin young growth before it crowds, and lift runners that wander into paths. Small, frequent efforts prevent big overhauls later.

5) Read the site and group accordingly
Let the garden tell you what it wants. Moisture-loving plants often reveal wetter spots; cluster them there and relocate dry-site growers to sunnier, leaner areas. Use edging and pathways to reinforce boundaries.

6) Give energetic growers a job
Channel that vigor. Move fast spreaders to meadows, back corners, or containers where they can thrive freely. Use groundcovers as living mulch in designated zones, but keep stepping stones and entries clear for structure and flow.

Healthy soil and thoughtful plant management help any garden strike the right balance between wild and intentional. With organic soil building and mindful upkeep, you can enjoy a garden that’s full of life—and still beautifully under control.

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Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus Bag Image Espoma Organic Potting soil Mix Big bag Espoma Raised Bed Mix bag Espoma Organic All-Purpose Garden Soil image

 

 

 

 

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VIDEO: Planting Beautiful New Plants and Feeding the Lawn Organically 🌸🚜🌱 with Garden Answer

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Laura from Garden Answer is back in the garden with three beautiful new plants—hydrangeas, calycanthus, and stokes’ asters—giving them a strong start using Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus.

Then it’s husband Aaron’s turn to step in with lawn care. He’s using Espoma Organic All Season Lawn Food to keep their grass lush and green. His tip? Fertilize monthly to keep the lawn healthy and thriving!

Learn more about Garden Answer here:

https://www.youtube.com/@gardenanswer/featured

https://www.gardenanswer.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gardenanswer

https://www.instagram.com/gardenanswer/

 

Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus bag

Espoma Organic Lawn Food

 

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VIDEO: Hydrangea Care Tips 🌿🌸 with Summer Rayne Oakes

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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:

Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus Bag Image Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier Bag

Espoma Organic Holly-tone Organic Fertilizer for all acid loving plants Espoma Organic Potting Mix

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VIDEO: Edible Landscaping 🫑 🍓🌿 | Flock Finger Lakes

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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:

Summer Rayne with Bio-tone Starter Plus

  • 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.

Summer Rayne with Raised Bed Mix

  • 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.

Espoma Organic Rose-tone in a garden

  • 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.

Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier

  • 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.

Espoma Organic Tomato! liquid fertilizer

  • 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. 🌱

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Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus Bag Image Espoma Organic Rose-tone bag Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier BagEspoma Organic Potting soil Mix Big bag Espoma Raised Bed Mix bag Espoma Organic Land and Sea Espoma Organic Tomato! Liquid Plant Food Image

 

 

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VIDEO: Planting in BIG Reused Planters 🪴🌿 with Summer Rayne Oakes

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Summer Rayne Oakes of Flock Finger Lakes turns three massive terracotta planters—rescued from a second-hand store —into statement containers for the garden. Because the pots are deep and heavy, she creates a lightweight false bottom with Espoma Organic Perlite, then tops it with Espoma Organic Potting Mix before planting a mix of ornamental grasses, pollinator favorites, and trailing accents.

Why Espoma Organic Potting Mix?
Espoma Organic Potting Mix is crafted for container success—indoors or out. It’s rich and fluffy for easy root growth, holds moisture without getting waterlogged, and drains well to keep roots happy. The blend includes organic ingredients and Myco-tone, a proprietary blend of mycorrhizae that supports strong root systems and helps plants use water and nutrients more efficiently. In large planters where every inch counts, that balance of aeration, structure, and organic nutrition is exactly what new plantings need to establish quickly.

 Tips & Takeaways from Summer’s Container Build

  1. Use Perlite as a False Bottom. 
     A layer of Espoma Organic Perlite can work beautifully as a false bottom in oversized containers for shallower-rooted plants when you don’t need the full depth of soil. It also reduces the planter’s weight. But for deep tap-rooted or tree-like plantings, it’s best to skip this method. 
  2. Choose Plants for Season-Long Interest.
    Summer anchors the pot with Pennisetum ‘Ginger Love’ for structure and gorgeous backlit plumes into fall and winter, then layers in Verbena bonariensis ‘Meteor Shower’ (pollinator magnet), sneezeweed ‘Morheim Beauty’ for warm tones, Beautyberry ‘Pearl Glam’ for three-season appeal, ornamental oregano (Oregon Kent beauties) for texture, and a trailing annual morning glory to spill over the rim.
  3. Design for the View.
    Think about the angle most people will see. Summer places taller plants toward the back and lets trailers cascade in the foreground to create depth and a “finished” look from the main viewpoint.
  4. Shop Smart in Mid-Summer.
    July–August can be slim pickings at local nurseries. If inventory looks tired, consider ordering online, mixing annuals with perennials, or planting what you can now and editing later. Containers are wonderfully changeable.
  5. Plant for Pollinators and Wildlife.
    By mixing grasses, flowering perennials, and nectar-rich annuals, Summer builds a container that feeds bees, butterflies, and other pollinators—bringing life and movement to her garden space.

Share your container build with us using #EspomaOrganic on IG—we’d love to see what you create!

Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Potting Mix Espoma Organic Potting Mix

 

Where to Buy

10 Time-Saving Tactics for a More Efficient Garden | Growing Joy with Maria

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Has your garden started to feel like a tedious task on your never-ending to-do list? Here are 10 ways to avoid garden burnout by making gardening more efficient and simple, so you can enjoy it without feeling weighed down.

This blog is inspired by Episode 266 of the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast, where Maria chats with CaliKim, YouTube gardening educator and author of The 10 Minute Gardener. Together, they share time-saving hacks to help you enjoy gardening again—without the stress.

Start Small, Stay Consistent

One of Kim’s foundational philosophies is to break down large tasks into smaller, manageable ones (3-, 5-, 8-, 10-, or 30-minute jobs), which is the basis of her book. The 10 Minute Gardener also organizes these by season (early, mid, late, dormant), so you can adapt them no matter where you garden.

Practical Time-Saving Tactics You Can Try Today

3 minute tasks

3-Minute Gardening Tasks

  • Fertilizer Fridays – Every Friday, while your tea kettle is boiling or you’re sipping coffee, take 3 minutes to fertilize your plants with an organic liquid fertilizer like Espoma Organic Indoor! Houseplant Food. You can also water them or pick off brown leaves.

  • Swift Growth Seed Sowing – Keep a small basket of seeds handy by your back door or in your pocket. During a quick break, pop a few pea seeds along a trellis or lettuce seeds into a container to keep succession planting going.

  • Three-Minute Tool Tidy – Clean and oil a few garden tools, like pruners, that may be getting rusty or sticky.

5-Minute Gardening Tasks

  • Tie-Up Tuesday (and Thursday!) – Dedicate a few minutes twice a week to trellis plants like cucumbers. Keep tie tape or twine in your pocket so you can do this quickly while walking through the garden.

  • Shade Cloth Oasis – Pre-clip shade cloth to trellises so you can dash out and cover plants when the sun is blazing.

  • End-of-Season Cleanups – Pull out dead plants and toss them into nearby trash bins or pop-up bins to keep your garden tidy.

8 & 10-minute tasks

8- & 10-Minute Gardening Tasks

  • Summer Salad Station – Plant a container with salad greens, a tomato or cucumber, and herbs for a quick, ready-to-harvest dinner garden.

  • Hustle & Bustle Garden Bed Prep – In spring, refresh your garden beds with soil amendments like Espoma Organic Land & Sea Gourmet Compost and worm castings.

30 min tasks

30-Minute Gardening Tasks

  • Compost Pile Refresh – Toss together kitchen scraps and yard waste to build your compost pile. Give it a splash of water, then walk away and let nature do the work.

  • Tree Branch Trellis – Gather a few sturdy sticks and lash them together to create a simple, rustic trellis for climbing plants.

Be Consistent and Keep Things Within Reach

The key is to keep everything handy and accessible. You don’t need complicated strategies to make gardening easier. Keep a basket of seeds by the door, stash pruners in multiple spots, and have tie tape at the ready. Making tools and supplies accessible ensures you stay consistent and efficient.

Listen to the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast

For more time-saving tips, listen to Episode 266 of the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast!

Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Land and Sea Espoma Organic Indoor! liquid fertilizer

 

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VIDEO: Planting Shrubs & Harvesting Onions 🌺🧅🌿 with Garden Answer

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Spend an early morning with Laura from Garden Answer as she plants hibiscus and silverthorn, adding vibrant blooms and silvery foliage for fresh contrast in her garden. To give these new shrubs the best start, she uses Espoma Organic Bio-tone  Starter Plus, ensuring strong roots and healthy growth from day one.

Later, Laura moves to the vegetable garden to harvest onions—planted with Bio-tone and later fed with Espoma Organic Garden-tone—while sharing her favorite tips for growing, curing, and storing a successful harvest.

4 Key Takeaways from Laura’s Garden Day

  1. Start with a high-quality starter fertilizer
    Using a starter fertilizer like Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus at planting gives shrubs and perennials a strong foundation. It promotes quick root establishment, reduces transplant shock, and sets the stage for healthier growth and more abundant blooms.
  2. Planting shrubs: water, spacing, and layout matter
    Place shrubs where they’ll have room to grow to full size, then step back to check balance and flow in the garden. After planting, create a shallow watering basin around the root zone to ensure deep, even moisture while they establish.
  3. Feed onions consistently through the season
    Laura planted her onions with Bio-tone, then followed up with Garden-tone to keep them growing strong. A steady supply of organic nutrients helps onions size up properly and develop great flavor.
  4. Harvest onions at the right stage
    Onions are ready when their necks soften and the tops flop over. Gently pull them, then cure in a shaded, airy space for 7–10 days to allow skins to dry and harden for better storage.

From thoughtful planting to a plentiful harvest, Laura shows how preparation and care lead to success. A starter fertilizer like Bio-tone Starter Plus sets new plants up for stronger roots, while follow-up feedings with Garden-tone keep vegetables productive and delicious.

Ready to put these tips into action? Try Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus on your next planting day, and don’t forget to keep edibles thriving with Espoma Organic Garden-tone. Share your garden moments with us @EspomaOrganic on IG—let’s grow together! 🌱

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Learn more about Garden Answer here:

🪴 YouTube

🪴 Website

🪴 Facebook

🪴 Instagram

Featured Products:

Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus Bag Image

Espoma Garden-tone

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