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, [...]
With the Christmas season underway, gardening takes a backseat to decorating—and with good reason, since Christmas comes only once a year! In this season of celebration, though, many of the decorations you use indoors and out are perishable and can start to look worn before the last of your Christmas get-togethers are over. To keep your home looking festive and fresh through the holidays, here are a few tips I’ve [...]
Although we’re officially only halfway through autumn, the weather we’ve experienced in the last couple of weeks has felt decidedly like winter. And, if long-range forecasters are correct, this could be just the beginning of another long winter here in the Pacific Northwest. This month, take some time to wrap up the last of your yard projects for the season and prepare your lawn and garden for the wintry [...]
A year ago, we ended a warm, dry summer with a splash of sorts—October’s arrival brought a drastic change in the weather that began one of the wettest winters on record in our area. This year, we’ve once again experienced a dry summer and pleasant early fall, and while rainy weather is arriving, it's now the perfect for getting some extra lawn and garden projects done. Here are a [...]
After a seemingly-interminable dry streak, we’ve finally been blessed with rain again here in our corner of the Pacific Northwest, and with it, the transition to a new season. With autumn here, now is the time to once again begin planting shrubs and trees, rehabilitating your lawn and sprucing up your containers for autumn. Even though it can still feel like summer in the afternoons, step outside early one [...]
With the warm weather of the last couple of weeks and the dry conditions we've experienced this summer, your flowers may be starting to look a little worn and it might be time to start thinking about freshening your pots up for a new season. Autumn isn't far away, and now is the perfect time to begin planting winter pansies for color through fall and again next spring. At Vander [...]
