Green spaces
April 2019
Special Pullout Section! Greenhouse & Nursery Guide Pages 3-6
What’s Inside • Tips for growing your own apples • Lawn care tips for a lush, healthy lawn • Things to consider before building a greenhouse • How color can affect your garden • How to control crabgrass before it appears
Tips and trends in flowers, garden décor and more By Andrea Busche
S
imilar to other forms of technology, horticulture continues to advance with each passing year. Plants are being bred to be more vibrant, more fragrant, and particularly hardy for our cold climate. Bonnie Stotts, owner of Beier’s Greenhouse – located on Highway 169 East, halfway between Grand Rapids and Coleraine – shared some of the hottest trends, along with several helpful tips, for helping your garden grow this season.
Popular Varietals As in past years, bright, vibrant colors continue to dominate the market. Stotts shared a variety of plants making waves for 2019. “It seems like people have always liked the bright, beautiful colors,” she noted. “Heliotrope are really pretty little blue flowers, and they are so fragrant. Dahlias, especially the tall, XXL series, are just striking with beautiful colors. The Supertunia, a breed of trailing petunia, come in a multitude of colors and you don’t have to ‘deadhead’ them. Continued on Page 8
Contributed Photo
Bonnie Stotts, owner of Beier’s Greenhouse, says combining plants in one container is as easy as using “a thriller, a spiller, and a filler.”