50% off Trees, Shrubs & Perennials

It's the last week of our fall clearance sale at the nursery, and we've made one last markdown on our selection of plants. Through Saturday, October 31 save 50% off nearly all of the plants in-stock at the nursery.

Exclusions include the following:

25% off only

• All topiaries
• Monkey puzzle trees
• Mountian hemlock trees

Not on sale

• All winter & Cool Wave pansies
• Emerald Green arborvitae
• House plants 

Take advantage of the deep discounts on our plants while they last and get some planting done yet this fall. Sale ends October 31.

Four Garden Tasks for Fall

Check out the great selection of bulbs
in stock at Vander Giessen's and enjoy
spring color for years to come!

By all accounts, autumn has arrived. Although we continue to see unseasonably warm weather, rain has returned, leaves are falling, and plants are beginning to go dormant. Although your mindset for the yard may be one of winding down, here are some easy tasks to accomplish before the season passes you by.

1. October is still a great time to plant shrubs, trees, and perennials as well as colorful, hardy winter pansies. This summer proved particularly challenging in the watering department, and if you lost a few shrubs or trees, don’t feel too bad—you’re certainly not alone. 

As you work in your yard this month, use the more regular rains we’re getting to your benefit and replace your lost shrubs and trees. Given the continued warm weather, our soil temperatures remain high enough to allow for good root development. In other words, whatever you choose to plant should get nicely established before winter arrives.

When you plant, keep in mind that while you don’t need to fertilize your plants this time of year, you should treat whatever you plant with a transplant solution like Superthrive. Doing so will encourage healthy root development without forcing additional plant growth. 

2. Mid-autumn is the perfect time to plant bulbs for a great show of spring color. Admittedly, in our instant-gratification society, bulbs are a bit of letdown—after all, you’ll leave the nursery with some packages of rather ugly, brown bulbs—but oh, are they worth the wait!

Depending on what types of bulbs you plant, you can look forward to your bulbs multiplying and returning year after year, called ‘naturalizing’. Daffodils (which, by the way, are deer-resistant) are especially good at naturalizing, but many other types will naturalize easily as well. If tulips are your thing, Darwin Hybrid varieties will naturalize the best. Check out the selection of bulbs available at Vander Giessen Nursery and let us help you choose the best, most colorful bulbs for your setting.

When you plant your bulbs, throw some bone meal in the hole before you plant; if you already have existing garden areas or pots with bulbs from last year, now is also the time to sprinkle some bone meal on the soil surface. Simply scratch it in lightly and let the rains wash it into the soil to feed your bulbs as they gear up for next spring. 

Apply Scotts Turf Builder Winterguard
in late October or November for a
healthy lawn this winter

3. Now is the time to begin preparing your lawn for winter. Our dry summer stopped most moss growth, but as the rains return, you’ll likely see moss begin to reestablish itself in your lawn. If some of the forecasts I’ve seen are right, we’re in for another mild winter, and that makes for ideal moss-growing conditions. 

Head off any future moss problems now by applying Super Sweet lime to your yard. Not only will moss problems be minimized, your grass will be better able to utilize the fertilizer you apply. Late this month or sometime next month—after your last mowing of the year—feed your lawn with Scotts Turf Builder Winterguard to keep your grass healthy through winter and ensure a quick green-up in spring. 

4. Keep your winter and trailing Cool Wave pansies looking their best with a couple feedings of Jack’s Classic Petunia Feed this fall and winter. While formulated for petunias, this fertilizer has the extra iron pansies need to keep dark green leaves and large flowers. Don’t worry about feeding as regularly as you do your summer flowers, but if you remember to fertilize even once a month, you’ll see a marked improvement in how your plants look.

As you begin to put your yard to bed this month, take the opportunity to plant for spring and keep your yard looking its best—and enjoy the chance to savor autumn’s beauty!

40% off Shrubs, Trees & Perennials!

Fall is in the air! With cooler temperatures, shorter days and more regular rains, there's no doubt that autumn is in full swing. And right now, the fall clearance sale at Vander Giessen's is in full swing as well!

Through October 31, the remaining shrubs, trees and perennials at Vander Giessen Nursery are on sale at 40% off. Exclusions include the following (applicable to all fall clearance coupons as well):

25% off only

• All topiaries
• Monkey puzzle trees
• Mountian hemlock trees

Not on sale

• Fall flowers
• Emerald Green arborvitae
• House plants

Included in this sale are many hard-to-find conifers, gorgeous blooming shrubs and a great selection of perennials--among plenty of other plants as well. Supply is limited, though, and once it's gone, it's gone until next spring, so stop in soon for best selection.

It's Time to Renew Your Yard

It's time to overseed to fill bare and dead patches in
your lawn. Image courtesy bobvila.com

In the spirit of all things weather-related in 2015, it’s looking like we're starting autumn earlier than normal this year. Sure, September rarely passes without good stretches of nice weather, but after the rain and stormy weather that came at the end of August, you’ve likely seen a lot of your plants starting to show the weariness of a season nearly over. As you gear up for autumn, here are some tasks to set about doing around the yard and garden.

First, it’s time to show your lawn a little love. Whether you’ve let your grass go brown over summer or kept it somewhat green with regular watering, now is the time to feed. Especially if you haven’t fed your lawn since spring, once your grass starts to grow again this fall, it’s going to be hungry!

Chances are, you’ll soon start to see ads for winterizing fertilizer, but like I’ve written before, it’s still way too early for that. Right now, your lawn is waking up from summer dormancy, so give it a hearty feeding with Scotts Turf Builder or Turf Builder with Moss Control. Later this fall—anytime from late October until early December—you can apply winterizing fertilizer, but given the stress of this summer, your grass needs the extra nutrients that a spring and summer fertilizer like Turf Builder offers. 

Second, September is the time to overseed your lawn to fill in bare, dead or thin spots. Typically, homeowners who choose not to water their grass during summer still have healthy lawns come fall; even during dry summers we usually get enough rain to sustain a lawn’s root system. This year was different, however, and as your lawn starts to green up with the milder, wet weather, you might be surprised to see areas of your lawn that don’t come back. 

If entire swaths of your yard stay brown this fall, you may have to consider replacing your lawn altogether. If the brown spots are minimal, though, you can overseed. In those areas, use a stiff landscape rake to remove as much of the dead grass as possible and expose some soil. Spread grass seed and starter fertilizer and then crumble a light layer of peat moss over top to hold in moisture. Lightly water the areas you’ve seeded regularly to avoid wide swings between wet and dry and in approximately a week you should see grass sprouting. 

At Vander Giessen's, we carry all the supplies you need for reseeding your lawn, including our own Vander Giessen Mix grass seed blend, as well as starter fertilizer, peat moss, and if you need it, topsoil. And if you're planning to redo your yard entirely, we rent out large landscape rakes and lawn rollers to help you get the job done right. 

As autumn approaches, now is also the time to start planting shrubs, trees and perennials around your yard. Autumn’s cooler weather is ideal for transplanting just about anything into your yard, so take advantage of the changing seasons to get some new plants in the ground. 

Whatever you’re planting, remember that the soil you plant in will make a huge difference in the longevity of your plants. Whether you have heavier clay soil or very sandy soil, your plants will benefit from some organic compost or Black Gold soil conditioner mixed in the hole around each plant. Both compost and soil conditioner help to loosen clay soils and hold moisture in sandy, porous soil.

'Cool Wave' pansies come in several colors and with their
impressive trailing habit bloom all winter long

Finally, add some fresh color to your porch or patio! If you’ve kept your flowers going strong through the heat of summer, kudos to you, but even the best care is no match for a windstorm or heavy rains like we’ve had. Replant your pots with winter pansies—or better yet, Cool Wave trailing pansies—and be rewarded with an abundance of flowers through fall, winter and well into next spring.

At Vander Giessen's, our greenhouse is full of fresh color for autumn, whether you're looking for pansies, mums, asters, cabbage, kale or ornamental grasses. Stop in, pick out a pot and let us help you fill it to make your front porch look beautiful.

A new season is upon us, so make the most of it this fall and enjoy the opportunity to work in the yard and garden without the risk of heatstroke!  

Fall Clearance Sale!

Autumn is traditionally regarded as the best time of year to plant, and that may be especially true this year after the hot, dry summer we've had. Unlike spring and summer planting, autumn planting comes with the benefits of regular rains to help ease watering, cooler temperatures to reduce transplant stress and the natural habit of plants to go dormant in the coming weeks and months, further easing the shock of transplanting.

Right now, nearly the entire selection of plants at Vander Giessen Nursery is on sale at 25% off! The only exclusions from this sale are our 'Emerald Green' arborvitae, fall flowers and house plants.

Now is also the time to begin planting bulbs in your garden for beautiful color come next spring. Check out our great selection of bulbs from Netherland Bulb Company. Grown in Holland, these bulbs will give you a great show next spring and for years to come. Stop in to see our selection of tulips, deer-resistant daffodils, hyacinths and crocus.

After a very dry summer, now is the time to take stock of what plants need to be replaced in your yard--and with cooler weather here to stay, it's time to start planting shrubs, trees and perennials once again. Stop in to see what we have that would suit your yard and save 25% off today!

Perennials on Sale!

For a limited time, our entire selection of perennials and ornamental grasses is on sale—Buy 3, Get 1 FREE! Take advantage of the discount on any of the items listed below. Sale is limited to stock on hand and may not be combined with any other discounts. Sale ends 9/5/15.

• Ajuga 
• Arabis (Rock Cress) 
• Armeria (Thrift) 
• Asiatic Lilies 
• Astilbe 
• Bleeding Hearts 
• Brunnera 
• Campanula (Bellflower) 
• Cannas 
• Columbine 
• Coreopsis 
• Crocosmia 
• Daylilies 
• Dianthus 
• Echibeckia 
• Echinacea (Coneflower) 
• Euphorbia 
• Ferns 
• Gaillardia 
• Hardy Fuchsias 
• Hardy Ice Plant 
• Helenium 
• Hellebores 
• Heuchera (Coral Bells) 
• Hibiscus 
• Hostas 
• Lavender 
• Leopard's Bane 
• Monarda (Bee Balm) 
• New Zealand Flax 
• Ornamental Grasses 
• Peonies 
• Phlox 
• Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan) 
• Salvia (Sage) 
• Sedum 
• Shasta Daisies

Plant Now for a Fall Harvest

Echinacea 'Sombrero Salsa Red'--perfect
for late-summer color!

I love the month of August for many reasons—the upcoming Northwest Washington Fair, late-summer perennials full of color in the garden, and the slight change in the air that signals a new season drawing near. This year, as we anticipate the arrival of autumn (perhaps more eagerly than usual after a long, hot season!), we have much to look forward to. As you seek to revive a summer-weary garden, here are a couple of things you can do now. 

First, it’s time to start planting your vegetable garden. Yes, you read that right. Rightly so, we often focus on planting vegetable gardens in spring, but autumn can be just as productive in the garden for cool-season crops, and August is the time to plant. Chances are, if your garden turned out like mine this year, your spinach, lettuce, peas and other cool-weather crops wilted, went to seed or simply finished out much too soon in the early-summer heat. If so, now is the time to replant. 

The best crops to grow for an autumn harvest are cool-weather lovers. These include lettuce and spinach, “cole” crops such as kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, and other favorites like peas, beets and radishes. Depending on what you plant, some of these crops will produce well into autumn and even beyond the first frost, which typically arrives in late October or early November. Talk about extending the gardening season! 

Now, as with spring planting, your fall garden will only be as good as your preparation. Reinvigorate your soil before planting by amending it with Black Gold Soil Conditioner, available now at the nursery. This powerful soil amendment provides organic fertilizer, earthworm castings and peat moss to loosen hard soil and provide fresh nutrients to your plants as they grow. Spade this soil amendment into your garden before planting and revive soil that’s depleted from your spring and summer crops. 

When it comes time to plant—to be clear, that’s anytime yet this month—one significant difference you’ll find from spring gardening is the lack of availability of vegetable starts. While you’ll find veggie starts at every nursery, farm store and supermarket in spring, there’s not much to be found in late summer. But that’s okay! Summer’s warm garden soil makes for an ideal environment for growing plants from seed, so save the money you’d spend on veggie starts and stop by Vander Giessen's to pick up some packs of seed to plant. 

If you’re like many of the gardeners I’ve talked to, the vegetable garden isn’t the only area looking tired after a long, hot summer. Like so many things, flower pots and hanging baskets are looking worn, too. For the next couple weeks, we’re in the no-man’s land of flowers—you won’t find any summer annuals for sale anymore, but it’s still too early for fall flowers. So, what to do?

Echinacea have been hugely popular for the last several years, and rightly so. Commonly called coneflowers, these perennials come in a myriad of colors and sizes, and if your pots or gardens are looking tired, add some color with one or more of these great plants. ‘Sombrero Salsa Red’ is a compact variety that grows just two feet tall with fiery red blooms that will spice up your summer container and blend well with fall flowers. Gaillardia is another perennial with all-summer color. At just over a foot tall, its shades of red, orange and yellow look stunning in late-summer container plantings.  

With just over a month left before autumn arrives, now is the time to begin planting for a bountiful and beautiful season ahead!