This Weekend at West Coast Gardens...

FAMILY DAY IS TOMORROW!  We are all filled with anticipation for this event as it is the first time we have ever had a family day.  We have a little bit of an addition, between 10-11 we will have a FIRETRUCK here.  We have a local fire hall bringing their truck down to the Garden Center to join in on the fun.  Other things going on that day...Other than super duper great deals and a beautiful atmosphere, there will be a great art show with local artists, free pony rides, a grooming station, face painting, a large inflatable slide, a hot dog stand (at a low and affordable cost).  So don't miss out....

 In other news...a fresh shipment of flowering perennials arrived this week--some gorgeous blue salvias, heuchera Snow Angel and lovely fresh new ferns.  We also have a great selection left of clematis and other items in the perennial, trees and shrubs area.

For the rest of this weeks blog we wanted to show you some of the great planters, home decor and hanging baskets we have still available in store but first a quick gardening tip to follow the rain we had this week....

GARDENING TIP:

STAKING & SUPPORTS:

After the last rainfall, are your plants leaning dangerously forward and about to do a face plant?  They are letting you know that they are needing some kind of support.  Some plants that usually need this are peonies, delphiniums, aconitums (monkshood), some of the taller heleniums etc.  

Some shrubs also may need support such as the Annabelle hydrangeas with their big poofy balls of white blossoms. Personally, for shrubs that need staking, I would rather replace them with the newer compact varieties such as hydrangea Little Lime that do not need support.

For supporting perennials, there are lots of different methods from peony rings to good old bamboo poles.  The trick is to not wait too long before doing this, otherwise you are wrestling with a mass of greenery that will end up looking like an untidy bag of laundry!

Now for whats going on at West Coast Gardens this week....

Fairy gardens are the new thing...We have a selection of items so you too 

can create your very own whimsical fairy garden oasis!  

Check out how unique and just simply CUTE these fairy gardens are 

we have available to purchase already created!

Beautiful Potunia baskets NOW ONLY 2 for $40 (regular $30 each).  

These will be sure to add a great pop of colour to your house, and at such a great price!

This is a new basket for us this year, the double take geranium basket, found in pink, white and red.  Easy maintenance, and sure to be bright all summer long!

Been looking for that perfect pot?  Well here is your chance...

All our empty garden pots are now on for 20% off the original price! 

Great container patio trees

The perfect containers for your patio and yard can be found here. We have a large and absolutely stunning variety of container gardens sure to suit your needs.

 

These are amazing.....I'm sure you have heard of whopper begonias, but did you know that they are edible?  Perfect addition to add a little pop of colours and taste to your summer salads and drinks!  Try it out if you don't believe us:)

 

We still have a great selection of baskets still available ranging from 12" Plastic, to cedar baskets to fiber baskets!  They are looking absolutely stunning, so come by to get yours this weekend!

We are looking forward to seeing you this weekend at our 1st annual family day!

-West Coast Gardens

What are those little packets on my basket?

We were so happy to see a lot of you this past weekend at the garden center. Although it was a little crazy busy, it was a great day with beautiful weather and great customers! Even though the weather has taken a turn this morning, we are looking forward to this weekend. We have a ton of great sales in store some of them being 20% off all home decor, 2 cedar baskets for $75 (regular $45 each), 2" Bacopa 5 for $5 and much much more.

Many of our customers have asked what those little packets are on your basket or container that you purchased at West Coast Gardens?  They look like this...

NOTE: They are not fertilizer, so don't sprinkle it on your basket:) If you did already, it won't harm your baskets! 

 At West Coast we are proud to be stewards of the environment! We use biological pest control 95% of the time versus the conventional pesticides. We use BioBest, which is a leading authority in biological pollination and pest control with more than 25 years of experience. Essentially what those packets are are predator bugs which are used to fight the harmful bugs to your plants! In our greenhouse we use beneficial bugs as much as possible unless forced to due to the BioBest bugs are not working, or the pest pressure is simply too much for the beneficial bugs to handle. This is such an exciting program for us!

You can be sure you are getting great quality, not only because of the care and biological control we use, but because we take it straight from our very own greenhouse. From the growers bench, to the garden center, to your very own home. We take great care of our plants, and are proud of the quality we have to offer our customers.

If you haven't heard already Family Day is just around the corner. This is going to be an amazing FREE event from 10AM-2PM. We are going to have a hot dog stand, a huge inflatable slide, pony rides for the kids, face painting, a great art show in store with local artists, and some great in store specials. If your looking for something to do and need to get your summer garden ready, you should bring your kids, bring your grand kids, bring your nieces and nephews and head over to West Coast Gardens! This is going to be a great event!



Our Moss basket program and custom planting program are in full swing. We have released 90% of the moss baskets and they are looking fabulous. We are so excited to be able to release them as they are such a beautiful basket that we grow for months in advance. We pre-order these baskets and actually still have some available to buy in store, so if you are interested come on in and ask our staff to to point you towards the moss baskets! These are some of the varieties we have available-better hurry though, because these are hot ticket items and may disappear!

Calibrachoa Double Mix

Full Sun

Streptocarpella

Shade

West Coast Special (full sun)

12" & 14" Available

Calibrachoa Cabaret Mix 

Full Sun

Memory Lane

Full Sun

Our custom planting program is also one of our more popular programs. We have some of the most talented designers available to create your perfect container garden. It's as simple as bring your EMPTY, CLEAN pot to us, and we will help customize your design sure to suit your individual space, lighting situation, etc. Come in and speak to our wonderful staff to place your order or get more information. Check out some the beautiful product our designers created-so much more where these came from too!















Before we let you sit go enjoy a cup of coffee while listening to the sound of trickling rain, check out these 3 top tips to make your garden look fantastic from one of our gardening gurus Jean:

1) Weeding: removing weeds in spring before they flower and set seed is critical to weed control. If you do this every spring, gradually your weed population will lessen I promise.

2) Top dressing: Adding a layer of compost, Sea Soil, or weed-free top soil will simultaneously feed your plants, suppress weeds and retain moisture in the soil - and it looks terrific!

3) Edging: Define the edges of your garden beds with an edger so that there is a noticeable 'trench' between the grass turf and the edge of the garden bed. Visually, this will enhance your garden bed like a picture frame setting off a painting.

So don't try to do all this in one weekend. Remember that gardening is meant to be fun, so go at your own pace, listen to the birds and enjoy the fresh air of spring.


Have a great weekend and we hope that you come for a visit!

West Coast Gardnes

Help your annuals SHINE!

Thanks to their instant beauty and low cost, many gardeners will choose a variety of annuals for a beautiful burst of colour in their yards!  To help them look perfect and last all season long we recommend you practice a few basics:

1) Proper cleaning of your flowers

After a flower has bloomed to its full potential it should be removed.  This will force the plant to produce another flower. Pinch the dead flower back to the main stem ensuring the removal of the seed pod. If a plant grows leggy

or out of proportion to the rest of the basket, do not hesitate to trim it back into shape.   If this is done regularly your basket

should flower until October or the first frost.  

2) Water properly

Your basket will need watering every day during the warm summer months, but in early spring it is important to first test the weight of the basket before watering.  Place your hand under the container and check the weight by lifting slightly; you will be able to tell whether your basket needs water or not.  If it does, water until it flows freely from the drain holes on the bottom.  On hot summer days a basket in full sun may need two waterings.  Try to water in the morning as evening waterings can put a basket to bed with wet foliage which can promote mildew.  Note:  more plants are killed by over watering than under watering so always check the weight of your basket.

3) Apply slow release plant food

Watering pulls the nutrients out of the soil so it is important to replace them with a fertilizer.  Mix fertilizer (15-30-15) according to directions and feed to your basket AFTER a good watering.  The roots are open for drinking and will absorb the fertilizer much better.  We recommend fertilizing 1-3 times/week.

Here is a little bit more information on the basics of fertilizing (from Terra Link/GardenPRO).  I'm sure you have all wondered what those three little numbers mean on a fertilizer, well check it out:

"Plants require 16 essential nutrients in varying quantities in order to produce their own food through photosynthesis. The three nutrients required in the greatest quantity (called primary or macro nutrients) are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). Every fertilizer label will show the analysis as N-P-K. An analysis such as 18-6-12 contains by weight 18% Nitrogen, 6%Phosphorus (present as Phosphate) and 12% Potassium (present as Potash). 

N- Nitrogen: Provides plants with the ability to produce more chlorophyll, allowing them to grow quicker. Responsible for overall plant size and dark green color. 

P- Phosphorus: Aids in root development and increases flower and fruit production and bloom size. Useful during plant establishment and for encouragement of flowers. 

K- Potassium: Guards the plant against diseases and aids in drought protection and cold tolerance. Also aids in root development and photosynthesis. Useful at the beginning of summer and winter to protect from temperature extremes and to ‘harden-off’. 

Secondary nutrients required in lesser quantities are Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Sulphur (S). Calcium: Aids in formation and division of cells, encourages soil microbes, increases fruit set, prevents blossom end rot in tomatoes. Magnesium: A key element of chlorophyll production. Makes phosphorus more available to plants. Sulphur: Aids in development of amino acids, enzymes and vitamins. Increases seed production. Micronutrients needed in very small quantities include Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese ( Mn), Molybdenum (Mo) and Zinc (Z). Also known as trace elements, micronutrients are often quickly leached out of sandy soils or in areas of high rainfall. Although needed in miniscule quantities, they are an integral part of plant health and development. Rounding out the list of 16 essential nutrients are Chlorine, Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen."

A couple noteable things to look forward to at West Coast Gardens.  We have our very first FAMILY DAY coming up on May 31st.  This is a FREE event.  Check out the poster below and mark it in your calendar!

We have a ton of FABULOUS sales in store right now, so stop on by to get your annuals, perennials, and patio decor!  We are excited to see you in store!  

We are getting in another shipment of 4' perennials and grasses this week, and we have a great Mix & Match sale option for our 4" Perennials, Grasses:  3 for $10, regular $4.00 each.

If you haven't done so yet check out our custom planting program.  Its a great program where you can bring in your own EMPTY pots, or buy pots in store, we will plant them up exactly how you want it.  We have a group of amazing designers that do a fabulous job making beautiful container gardens perfectly suitable for your yard.

Before we let you go for the long weekend here is a gardening tip:

What looks frothy and elegant in the shade garden, and will fill in the spaces between shrubs?  Astilbes!  This is an underused hardy perennial that adds texture and colour from spring to fall.  The leaves uncurl at first in a beautiful bronze shade, turning dark green, then there appears spires of white, pink or red in late spring.  For fairly shady areas, choose white, pink or salmon varieties to stand out against the dimness, and if there is an area with a little more sun, choose a red variety such as 'Fanal'.  Astilbes require a moist soil (i.e. not at the base of cedar hedges!) and can be divided every 3 - 4 years.  We highly recommend them.

We will see you soon:)

West Coast Gardens

Make it an extra special mother's day

May madness is underway here with Mother's day coming up this weekend, and may long weekend the following weekend. 

With all the planning and celebrating around Mother’s Day, have you ever wondered how this holiday began? Well here is a little information for you: In 1908, Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia, whom she had lost 2 years earlier. Her mother was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War.  Anna missed her mother deeply, so started campaigning by writing letters to ministers, businessmen and congressmen to make Mothers Day a holiday. With each letter she wrote, she sent a white carnation. In May of 1914, President Wilson decided he agreed with her, and that mothers should be officially celebrated.  We love to celebrate all the moms in town at West Coast.  To do that We have a lot of great specials and deals going on so stop by if you haven't bought your mom something nice yet!  All our home decor is on for 20% off as well as great sales on our beautiful premium 12" baskets and cedar baskets!  One other exciting addition this Saturday for Mother's day is:

Here are a few ideas for you that we have in store, or just got in:

Raymond Evison clematis - Large blooms on specially bred compact clematis for containers and small gardens.  A variety of colours from double white, pink, purple to red available.  Raymond Evison is an internationally famous breeder of clematis from Britain, winner of multiple Chelsea Garden Show awards.

Lilac time! - Fragrant and showy, lilacs come in different sizes at maturity and are suitable for containers.  Compact ones include Bloomerang, a rebloomer, and regular size ones include Ludwig Spaeth, a dark purple and very fragrant variety.

Need a privacy screen?  We offer many options and styles at West Coast.  Living screens can include bamboo, narrow shrubs or vines.  Decorative screens can be metal, wicker or wood and these are all available here.

Check out these photos below for whats going on in store right now! Its so beautiful and full of colour here, definitely worth checking us out.

One quick thing, we have a GREAT FREE event coming up soon, Family day!

Heres a gardening tip before you head out to enjoy the sunshine:

When shopping for plants for your outdoor containers, don't forget to stop at the houseplant section.  Many plants that are usually in this section can make showy additions that add a different note to your creations.  For instance, the ordinary spider plant, when added to a combination of flowering annuals, look spectacular with its strong green and white stripes.  Most houseplants do great outdoors in summer and then as winter approaches, just bring indoors to become welcome greenery for the winter ahead.

We hope to see you this weekend, otherwise HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

West Coast Gardens