With our cooler mornings and warm evenings it makes my heart so full. Speaking of full, have you seen the moon? Us dogs love to howl at the moon, just as much as you humans like to look at it too! But more importantly, you humans love to view your homes! The fall season has a plethora of missions you can accomplish not only to liven up your yard for the season but to also stay warm!

Topdressing plants is a great way to help them get through the cold weather catching up to our paws! Us dogs love to dig up some fresh soil, but so do your plants. Adding fresh soils, mulch or compost will help keep the roots of your plants protected help them have access to new nutrients! Just like us, soil can age much faster than you humans do so you should freshen it up to keep those plants wagging with life!

Winter Gardening isn’t as hard as you might think! A lot of plants will be hardy enough to dig through the winter months as long as you give them a bone to hang on to! Adding a layer of bark or mulch around your beds and the top layer of soil will help keep some of the heat of the day tapped in like a cozy bed. Remember too, I don’t need to splash around in our flower beds! Use less water in the colder winter months since our plant friends won’t be needing as much to get through! Nose through some books to see if some of your plants can stay dog bone dry for any period of time too. Lavender for example you can almost go 2 or 3 weeks without getting watered depending on our temperatures!

Firepits are an awesome way to keep your paws warm with this chilly weather stalking up on us! Not only will you be able to snuggle up around it, you’ll brighten up your yard and be a major bark piece for all your friends and family. Even us pups love to hang out with you around a warm flame enjoying the outdoors at the same time! Having a stone block firepit is a great accent all year round on top of being the top dog accessory to have to spend time with your favorite pooch or your loved ones too.

You can’t have a firepit without firewood! Using Oak or Almond firewood splits is the perfect choice for a firepit, whether that’s putting your paws up at home or out camping with the pack! Oak and Almond are hardwoods, meaning they burn for longer periods of time than a softer wood would. More barks for your buck means more time that you can enjoy relaxing rather than trying to sniff around in the pit to shuffle those logs around. These woods are also perfect for a wood stove you might have inside the house too. The smell of good firewood burning always makes me want to put up the paws and enjoy the cozy warmth they provide. Grab a bone or a good book and curl up knowing your fire fuel will last!

That summer breeze is always one of my favorite things in life. The heat of the our dog days are less, but still warm. And poor do these plants in my yard show it. Hear are just a few items you can work on to make your yard bloom again.

• Dead head your shrubs, plants and flowers. Prune off any damage, and remove any branches from trees that are a problem. You will know just by looking at them! Once your clean up is complete, top that soil off with some fresh planters mix, growers blend or compost. Your yard will reward you.
• Plant your cool-weather crops in some fresh soils to get them a head start going into the Fall season! Or mix in some compost to your old soil to give life back to the nutrients for the new plants.
• Spruce up your planter areas with some smooth Mexican Pebbles to give accent to your yard. We have a range of colors and sizes to fit any space; big or small! The La Paz and the Criva have a range of colors in each batch to give even more life to your yard!
• If you’ve got any cold temperature sensitive plants, you can wrap them in burlap or sheets to help protect them from the cold and weather the winter ahead!
• Keep an eye on your watering! You may have to water a whole lot less with the cooler weather coming, but you don’t want to dry your plants out either! Keep track of how wet your soil is, about an inch from the top, to determine how much you should be watering.

It’s that time of year pups. The weather is starting to heat up and both you and your fury friends, like me, need ways to cool down. My nose is telling me that there are some new Oregon Eagle Boulders coming in that would make great jumping rocks around your pools or ponds! My fur makes me great for cuddling, but a dog gets toasty in the heat just like you.

We even have natural Basalt fountains in stock that not only make our yard look great, but the birds love too! I’ve been lucky to even see tiny humming birds check those bad bones out! A dog sure loves to have things going on and to share the splashes. Who knows, maybe you’ll put your paws on some Mexican Pebble to woof up the place a bone or two!

So much to Bark about. Bark/ mulch comes in different colors, sizes and shapes. Below are the products we keep in stock.

The fibrous bunch:
Redwood Ground Cover – This Redwood product, really looks like it is related to a Gorilla! And boy does it stick to a sloped area. Redwood Ground Cover will mat down like a fine carpet. Orange/Red tones in color, RGC will also decrease soil erosion.
Shredded Cedar – The 2nd most fibrous is our Shredded Cedar. Cedar is a nice topping for your planter box mulching and around your plants. This will keep your plants happy on our cool nights. Red/Brown tones, SC is one the most commonly used products.

Dying for it:
Black and Brown Bark – Our Black Bark and Brown Bark are both color stained a vibrant color. The stain used is non-toxic and pet friendly. The Black really makes your plants pop, also great for that modern accent. While the Brown is a true Brown, both colors accent your home elegantly.

I’m so natural:
Walk-on Bark – A Douglas Fir product, WO is a natural Medium/Blonde toned chipped, slightly fibrous product. This multi-purpose, natural blend mulch works in pathways, garden beds and around ornamental plants.

Oh you little nugget – Our Deco nugget products come in two sizes. Small Deco is 3/4″ to 11/2″ and the Large Deco is 11/2″ to 3″. A premium product, our Deco’s are a rich brown color and are used in many homeowner association approved specs. Everyone loves a nice Deco Bark.

So mulch it up – Happy Digging!

The hot weather is finally behind us, cool nights are creeping in. We have been cooped up inside for so long to avoid the heat, we are finally starting to make our way back outside. My humans have started planning for fall planting. They stopped by Valley Rock and picked up Grower’s blend to put some nutrients back into the soil from all the summer planting. They also got shredded cedar to mulch the top of the garden beds to help with moisture retention, insulating the roots of the plants, and to keep me from digging.  We live in Zone 9 for planting so all the goodies we are planting are Broccoli, Corn, Spinach, Lettuce, and Cabbage. It will be a real treat.  

HAPPY DIGGIN’