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closeGarden season
Local garden shops are well aware that spring is here
Joan Cronk / for The Herald
As we edge into spring, folks are anxiously moving toward the time they can begin to stuff garden pots with local annuals and move their busy lives from inside their homes to the outside.
Local nurseries are gearing up for this busy time of year with new products, lots of professional advice and flowers galore.
Vassey Nursery is best known for their beautiful, overflowing baskets. Owner Steve Vassey said that because the nursery is at the end of Tacoma Road, a sort of out of the way location, word of mouth and returning customers keep their operation thriving.
“We offer a full range of perennials, woody plants and shrubs, but we are known more for our baskets,” Vassey said.
They sell more than 3,000 of those beauties each year. The nursery grows and plants all of the baskets, which will be ready for sale on Mother’s Day.
Vassey said their gift shop is focusing more now on the outdoor room.
“It’s an old concept using the outdoor room as an extension of the house,” he said.
Vassey offers a long line of products to make that area interesting and help define the room.
“People are staying home and not traveling as much,” he said, “so they try to improve their yard and create a space.”
Vassey said the biggest problem people face in the garden is a lack of good soil and added, “You just need to start with the basics.”
Windmill Gardens is just finishing up a remodeling job to better meet the needs of their customers.
Nursery Manager April Goffena said the nursery grows their own plants and that buying from a local nursery will give you a stronger, healthier, product.
“Plus you are supporting your local community,” Goffena said.
Customer service is high on Windmill’s list and the nursery has potting stations to help folks get started. You can bring in your own pot, or buy one there and someone from the designer staff will help you get started with suggestions of plants and the arrangement of the pot.
Windmill also has a large outdoor room area with a line of patio furniture.
“We call it our garden lifestyles area,” Goffena said, and they have a supply of items that can help create a porch that is an extension of the outdoors.
Windmill also has a gift shop, a pond shop and a tea shop, plus Mama Stortini’s restaurant that will be reopening in mid-April.
Monika Watson came to work at Watson’s Greenhouse and Nursery 21 years ago.
“I was just going to help out for three months,” said Watson, who is of no relation to the nursery owners. She is still there, working every day and loving it. She has retired three times, but keeps coming back.
Watson’s has a new collection of hydrangeas called Endless Summer that bloom on both new and old growth, so they produce all summer. They also sell the Ultimate Rose Collection by Jackson & Perkins.
These products, said Maidee Watson Gregory, can’t be purchased at the big box stores.
Watson’s grows most of their own annuals also, nurturing and tending to the plants so that when customers take them home, they have a healthy and thriving product. They harden their annuals off before they sell them and don’t use growth retardants.
They have found that folks are moving toward gardening “green” and sell many organic products, from lawn fertilizer to pest control supplies.
One of their new lines is Fresh Wave products that are a natural way to mask house odors. Gregory said that customers are requesting more earth friendly products and Watson’s is meeting that need.
They also offer a large outdoor living area with a line of concrete products and patio furniture.
“People’s yards are smaller,” Gregory said, adding that if folks want their concrete pots planted, they will do so on the spot for them.
Watson’s is also offering a tree planting service. The fee is 50 percent of the price of the tree, plus applicable delivery charge. There is a $50 minimum charge.
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Local nurseries
> Vassey Nursery Address: 2424 Tacoma Road E., Puyallup Phone: 253-841-3550 Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
> Windmill Gardens Address: 16009 60th St. E., Sumner Phone: 253-863-5843 Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Web site: www.windmillgarden.com
> Watson’s Greenhouse and Nursery Address: 6211 Pioneer Way E. Phone: 253-845-7359 Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Web site: www.watsonsgreenhouse.com