Gardening in the PNW with lots of shade: we mostly love living among the trees. We recognize the importance of preserving and restoring our diminishing urban canopy. But trying to grow colorful flowers, fruits or vegetables under trees can be a challenge. And increasing urbanization brings taller buildings and more shade at ground level. This blog post will help illuminate the types of shade you may be dealing with, discuss other design considerations, and offer sample shade garden designs and plant lists.
For many of us, the choice of which tomatoes to grow can be daunting. We've boiled down the tomato decision process into a few helpful questions and our suggestions: a secret (tomato) sauce, if you will, of how to make the right choice for your individual tomato needs. At the end of this post are a handy infographic and a link to our tomato variety list.
Colorful spring containers celebrate the start of the gardening season and creating them is fun and easy if you know which plants to choose. Look for these great gems to create a new spring container or refresh an existing pot.
Spring gardening is in full swing and we’ve teamed up with our friends at Dunn Lumber to bring you a great DIY building and gardening project you can do at home - no backyard needed! Kirsten will teach you how to make two wooden planter boxes. I’ll help you decide what to plant in them and show you how, step by step!
One of the first activities I want to do outside in early spring is to plant my early spring vegetable garden. There’s nothing like the smooth, clean surface of prepped garden beds, the soil still pristine and just waiting to nurture rows of bright green spring vegetables, carefully planted in perfect rows. It’s like a fresh school notebook - full of promise. But what to plant? Here are a few of my favorite vegetables to plant in spring, with tips on when and how to plant them.
Swansons Nursery has Scandinavian roots and so do two of our veteran employees: Inger and Rolf. Both of whom have been with us over decades and have helped shaped Swansons to be the warm and welcoming place it is today. As the holidays approach, we would like to share the stories of their Christmas traditions. God Jul!
All of us at Swansons struggle with finding the perfect gift sometimes, too - but we're lucky to have a multitude of amazing items all around us every day. So we decided to offer up a curated gallery of our favorite gifts.
You'll find something for everyone on your list - from gardening fanatics to little brothers to your one true love. Click on each image to see the items in more detail.
Saturday night was our annual Holiday Party, a night of socializing, shopping, toasting the upcoming holiday season with wine and cider, and taking camel and reindeer selfies - usually after a glass or two ;) Check out our slideshow of party photos at the bottom of the post.
This year was even better because we were lucky to be able to partner with Whole Foods Market to throw a benefit event for the Ballard Food Bank. After our Summer Nights at Swansons events, which helped support both Ballard Food Bank and Whole Kids Foundation, it was a little like a reunion!
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