Anita's Greenscaping Inc.

08/27/2026

08/19/2026

Want a floral garden that provides beautiful, lasting vibrant color? Join us on Thursday, August 27 at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Room at the Alliance Public Library for a program on the benefits of gardening with perennials.

A well-designed garden remains colorful throughout the spring and summer months, into fall. Gardening with perennials provides colorful blooms that return year after year saving you time and money.

Perennials are versatile and well suited for the area, and many are ideal for attracting butterflies and bees.

Fall is a great time to plant. The cool air and warm soil help roots grow strong before winter.

Presenter, Katie Markheim, from Dirt Stix Nursery will share the benefits of perennials and share about their garden center.
Dirt Stix is family-owned and operated nursery located in Gering, Nebraska, offering a wide assortment of perennials and annuals, containers, plants, trees and shrubs. They grow all their own plants, including many hard to find-species, and provide planting advice and garden design guidance.

Learn more about making your garden beautiful for the years to come and plan to attend this informative program.

For more information on this or any of the adult services programming, contact Steph Hamilton at 308-672-1387 or [email protected].

08/09/2026

Good info, please pay attention to which soil type that you have!

As we shared yesterday, not all soils are created equal and therefore not all soils recover the same way. So, after spending much time talking about heat and drought stress, let's revisit the science of Plant Available Water (PAW). Because how quickly that underground reservoir is depleted—and how easily it's replenished—depends largely on your soil type. Here in Lincoln, that usually means heavy clay soil, which is made up of tiny, dense particles. This has some benefits—clay can hold nutrients well and retain moisture longer.

In Lincoln's heavy clay soils, frequent shallow watering often does more harm than good; here's why:

Poor Drainage. Clay holds onto water like a sponge. After rainfall or irrigation, it can quickly become saturated, leaving little room for oxygen. Roots need oxygen to function and grow—without it, they can suffocate or rot.

Compaction. Clay soils tend to be susceptible to compaction, which squeezes out air spaces, making it even harder for roots to breathe and expand.

Water Stress—Too Much or Too Little. Ironically, clay soils can swing between extremes. When wet, they don’t just feel damp—they can hold large amounts of water in the fine spaces between their tiny particles. Because clay particles have slight electrical charges, they cling tightly to both moisture and nutrients, making the soil sticky and dense when saturated.

As clay dries out, it behaves very differently. Hard-packed clay soils—and even ordinary garden soils with a high clay content—can form a crust that resists rewetting. Instead of soaking in, water often runs off the surface, leaving the roots beneath dry and stressed.

So after a good rain (even if it's been several days) focus on checking your soil first, then water slowly and deeply when the root zone needs it. Don't forget that if you've got clay soil, it may behave differently than you'd expect!

08/08/2026

08/08/2026

Here is an article on goldenrod from Plant Nebraska that Kirstee from the NRD Greener Gardens Greenhouse shared.

We had a special request for a goldenrod post (shout-out to Madeline!), so today we have 4 Nebraska native goldenrods in the spotlight. Nebraska actually has over a dozen native Solidago species -- these four are some of the more common ones. Typically goldenrods bloom later in the summer and into the fall, and they are terrific pollinator plants, attracting a huge variety of bees, wasps, butterflies, moths and more. They are also quite resilient, and many species are drought-tolerant. One downside is that some of the species can tend to be "weedy" or spread aggressively, so you might want to think twice about planting Canadian goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) or our state flower, late goldenrod (Solidago gigantea).

Not pictured here are two favorite cultivars among PlantNebraska staff: Wichita Mountains goldenrod and Fireworks goldenrod (Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks'). Both are less spready and shorter than many of the straight species but still hugely attractive to a variety of pollinator insects.

By the way, goldenrod gets a bad rap for causing seasonal allergies, but that's actually a myth; ragweed is the culprit!

07/23/2026

Some good information from the City of Gordon!