Winter Garden Tips – Dec to Feb:

Winter Hours - Mon, Thurs, 10-6, Fri.10-7 Sat. 10-7 Sun. 9am - 5pm
Tues & Wed, Closed. (except holidays)

January 1st~ (Closed) Happy New Year!

Brush snow from evergreens as soon as possible after a storm. Use a broom in a upward, sweeping motion. Serious damage may be caused by heavy snow or ice accumulating on the branches.

Give suet to the birds to help give them energy. Peanut and berry flavors are the best sellers.

If you have some time this winter, paint the handles of your garden tools red or orange. This will preserve the wood and make the tools easier to locate next summer when you lay them down in the garden or lawn.

Check Van Bourgondien for firewood, firewood rings, fatwood, shovels, and ice melt. We carry a full line of bird food and bird feeders for our feathered friends.
Don't forget floral bouquet Gift Certificates for your loved ones!

Garden Tips - February:

Valentine's Day is on February 14th – don't forget Valentine bouquets and roses, or a gift certificate for your loved ones!

President's Day is a day off for many that can be spent in dreaming of your spring gardens.

Houseplants with large leaves and smooth foliage such as philodendrons, dracaena and rubber plants benefit from having their leaves washed to remove dust and grime.

When using salt to melt ice on walks and driveways, spread it carefully to avoid damage to nearby shrubs and plants. Consider using sand instead.

Consider purchasing a notebook to keep records of all your gardening information. Include information such as seeds planted, favorite vegetable varieties, and yardage of mulch used to make it easy to order next year.

Turn the compost pile.

Garden Tips - May:

This is the month to celebrate Mother's Day and Memorial Day!

Spring planting starts in earnest. We carry a full line of summer flowering bulbs, annuals, perennials, and shrubs.

May is the time to repair your lawn. Fill in any bare spots by loosening the soil surface and sprinkling down grass seed. Water the new seed daily for three weeks.

Bring indoor tropical plants outside for their summer vacation. Gradually accustom them to the wind and sun by putting them out for just an hour or two a day and slowly increasing the time outdoors.

Place a pot of herbs as close as possible to the kitchen for easy access. Chives, parsley, oregano and mint are all ready to go out now. Basil loves hot weather, so wait a couple more weeks before putting it outside.

Apply a layer of crushed eggshells in the area where you plan on putting tomatoes this year. Tomatoes love calcium and this is an easy way to recycle and have healthier tomatoes this season.

Garden Tips - June:

Remove old flower heads from annual bedding plants to keep them blooming.

Now is the time to feed your azaleas and rhododendrons with Espoma Hollytone. This will increase next year's flowers.

Be alert for snail or slug damage in your hosta garden. Leaves will have many holes, especially near the edges. Thin leafed varieties are more desirable to snails and slugs than thick, puckery-leafed varieties.
Give your flowers a boost with a plant fertilizer about once a month. This will provide you with a bounty of flowers for the rest of the summer.

Birds love blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries as much as we do! Protect your berries with netting before they ripen and are eaten by the birds.

Garden Tips - July:

Check often to see if containers are receiving adequate water. As the temperatures
rise, plants will need more water.

When cutting flowers for bouquets, use a sharp knife or shears for best results. Cut on an angle to provide more stem surface area for receiving water. Place cut flowers immediately into water.
For a fall harvest of lettuce, radish, carrots, beets, turnips, kale and spinach, sow seeds in late July to early August.

Begin scouting for Japanese beetles, especially on roses, rose of Sharon, birch, and linden trees. Use Bonide Eight for a quick kill.

This is the month when hydrangeas are looking their best. Spread 2 1/2 cups of Espoma 'Soil Acidifier' around the base of the plant and water in. This will lower the pH of the soil, promote dark green foliage, and turn the pink flowers to blue.

During the hot summer months, mulch can be especially useful for conserving water, and is a natural bug repellent. Add a thin layer of cedar mulch to your perennial beds and in your landscape.

Garden Tips - August:

Pick zucchini and summer squash every day or two to keep the plants producing.

Letting your lawn go dormant and dry in the summer months can discourage Japanese beetles from laying eggs in your lawn, which hatch into turf-damaging grubs. Try to limit watering to every 2-3 weeks.

Use BBQ grill ashes in vegetable gardens and flower beds. These ashes contain phosphorus, potassium, and calcium.

Hot peppers will keep best if stored after they dry. Thread the peppers on a string and hang in a cool, dry place.

If you are harvesting more vegetables than you can eat, we suggest you drop them off at your local food pantries.

Garden Tips - September:

Plant trees, shrubs, and evergreens now. Fall is an excellent time to finish any landscape projects that were put off because of the heat.

Control creeping Charlie, dandelions, and other broadleaf weeds in your lawn with a fertilizer/weed control.

Resist the urge to trim azaleas, rhododendrons, lilacs, forsythias and other early
spring blooming shrubs. They have already set their flower buds for next year's bloom.

Bring in houseplants before they start getting used to the cold weather.

Winter pansies, flowering kale, cabbage, and fall mums may be planted now to give a little color to the garden when summer flowers have faded away. This is when you'll
be glad you planted coneflowers, dahlias, and hostas.

We carry so much that relates to this season; fall decorations, Halloween decorations, blow ups, flags, outdoor mats, and mailbox covers.

Now is the time for cold vegetable seeding, for planting bulbs for spring, and for spending the weekends with the kids picking out pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn, and rewarding them with fresh apples and cider. We have a spooky indoor section that

will entertain the kids while you do your shopping. We also have an outdoor picture-taking section for the entire family, so don't forget to bring your cameras!

Garden Tips - November:

On Veterans' Day, honor our vets
Thanksgiving is on the way!

Keep your valuable landscape plants from becoming a "bunny buffet" by applying an animal repellant. To keep the animals from damaging the trunks of your young trees, wrap them with tree wrap or vinyl tree guards.

This is the best time of year for pruning trees. Now that the leaves are gone, you can see the framework of the tree. Use the DDD rule. Cut any damaged, diseased, or dead branches.

Before you put away all of your garden tools, make sure they are cleaned, and your pruners and shears sharpened. Rusty, non-functioning tools are no fun to play with in the spring.

Time to change out your fall container gardens to fresh greens. Place a spruce top in the middle, then fill in with boughs of balsam, white pine and cedar. Add winterberry, pine cones and curly willow for the finishing touches.

We carry a full line of Thanksgiving decorations – Thanksgiving arrangements will be available one week prior to Thanksgiving, along with our Gift Certificates, either of which is the perfect hostess gift for the big meal.

We also carry cemetery blankets/cones, bulbs for spring blooms, firewood, firewood rings, fatwood, fire starters, outdoor fire pits and chimaeras.

And as always, bird seed and bird feeders for our feathered friends.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Garden Tips - December:

50% off decorations begins December 26th
Chanukah
Christmas Eve – open
Christmas Day, December 25th we will be closed
New Year's Eve is Saturday, December 31st
New Year's Day we will be closed

We provide a full service holiday center featuring Christmas decorations, ornaments, gifts, lights, holiday bouquets, wreathes, and trees.

Check Van Bourgondien for firewood, firewood rings, fatwood, shovels, and ice melt. We carry a full line of bird food and bird feeders for our feathered friends. We also carry blowups, flags, outdoor mats, mailbox covers, and cemetery blankets and cones.

And as always, Gift Certificates for the gardeners in your life.

Happy Holiday and a very Healthy and Happy New Year.