This summer’s long stretches of hot weather, little to no significant rain, and days of heavy forest fire smoke have made it a season for the record books. Now, with relief here in the form of cooler temperatures and more regular rain, it’s time to transition to a new season. Here are a few tips to get your yard and planters in shape for autumn. First, now is the [...]
To people who don’t live in the Pacific Northwest, it almost sounds unreal to say our summers are dry. So stereotyped is our corner of the world as an always-drizzling moss-covered region that many don’t realize how dry it can be from July through September. One look, however, at the heat-stressed pots on your patio reveals the truth: summer is dry! To keep your hanging baskets and pots going [...]
Summer is in full swing in the Pacific Northwest, and with long days and warm weather, you’re likely finding yourself spending more time outside than in. As you enjoy evenings on your deck and weekends in the garden, here are a few tips to keep your plants looking their best. First, midsummer is the time to start keeping a close eye out for pests and disease in the garden. Up [...]
With summer just around the corner, it’s prime season for working around the yard. June’s long days are ideal for tending to the yard and landscaping around the house. Whether you’re working to ensure a healthy lawn through summer or planting shrubs and trees around your home, here are a few tips to ensure success in your endeavors. First, June is the perfect time to feed your lawn before summer. [...]
After a cool, wet start to spring, pleasant weather has finally arrived, and with it, the opportunity to once again plant a garden and watch your flowers grow. As you enjoy time spent outside this month, here are a couple of my favorite plants to find a spot for this year as well as some tips to keep your garden growing and healthy. First, May is the best time to [...]
As a lawn and garden enthusiast, I find spring particularly invigorating—new life is bursting forth throughout the garden, shrubs and trees are in bloom and the lawn is waking up from a winter’s sleep. As you start to tend the yard and work up your flower beds again this spring, here are some tips to keep things looking their best as well as a few of my favorite new plants [...]
As a gardener, I’ve learned to cherish each of the four seasons for the changes they bring to the yard and garden. With the plants around your yard starting to grow once again, now is the time to begin rejuvenating your lawn, feed your plants, and discover the benefits of beneficial pollinators for your fruit trees and bushes. First, March is the ideal time to get started on lawn [...]
With gradually-improving weather and daylight hours getting longer, spring is in the air. Look outside and you’ll be sure to find your bulbs growing, trees and shrubs starting to bud and life bursting forth throughout the garden. As you start your spring clean-up around the yard and make the first gardening to-do lists, here are some early-season jobs you’ll want to accomplish. First, it’s time for spring pruning. Keep [...]
Late on February 3, Ada Vos, the second-generation owner and long-time face of Vander Giessen Nursery passed away at the age of 91. For 50 years, Ada designed floral arrangements for weddings, funerals, holidays and husbands who needed to get out of trouble. Also during that time and in the years to follow her retirement from floral work in the late 1990s, Ada and her husband John ran the [...]
Days of sub-freezing temperatures, a dusting of snow, stiff winds, and a north-county ice storm for the record books. Suffice it to say, winter is in full swing in the Pacific Northwest, and whether you’re in the midst of cleaning up after the last storm or just want to be prepared for the next time wicked weather hits, here are some tips to take care of your trees. First, [...]
