APRIL NEWSLETTER

APRIL NEWSLETTER

APRIL NEWSLETTER

Spring has sprung, and boy, am I feeling it!

As I rolled up to work this morning with my four-legged squad in tow, I couldn’t help but chuckle at their hilarious antics. Sargent, the brave one, staked out his claim in the front seat while Lily sat up tall and proud in the back like a little school girl on a bus. Colby, on the other hand, looked like he hit the snooze button a few too many times and was sprawled across the back seat. But no matter – once we arrived at Samantha’s Gardens, they were all business.

So come on, Spring, let’s see what you’ve got – we’re ready for anything!

Spring Cleaning

It’s time for some serious spring clean ups over here at Samantha’s Gardens. We’re talking fertilizing, pruning, and mulching like there’s no tomorrow! And don’t even get us started on those gorgeous pansies and spring flowers that are about to make their grand entrance.

 

Easter Arrangements

Speaking of Easter, are you ready to hop to it? April 9th is right around the corner, so if you’re in the market for a beautiful arrangement, let us know ASAP. We’ve got everything you need to make your celebrations extra special. If you’re as excited as we are, click on over to our Easter arrangement samples and prepare to be dazzled.

 

>> CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARRANGEMENTS

This one’s for the party people

In case you hadn’t heard, we’ve got a super fun contest going on over here at Samantha’s Gardens. If you’re hosting an Easter or Spring outdoor soiree or just enjoying some quality time around the fire pit or watching the kids on their Easter egg hunt, snap some pics and send them our way. We’re talking the more people, the better! We’re offering 50% off your next two containers for photos that help us build up our website and social media portfolios.

So come on, get outside and show us how you’re using your gardens!
And don’t worry, if you don’t want your face shown, we can blur it out on request. Let’s make some memories, folks.

 

Turf Troubles

If your turf took a beating from all that pesky snow, don’t fret. We’ve got some tips and tricks to help you get your turf back in the game. First things first, make sure to reach out to your snow plow company ASAP to request that they come back to fix any and all turf damage. Any large pieces of turf that have been rolled by the plow just simply need to be rolled back into place

Next up, it’s time for some vigorous raking action. Say goodbye to all that matted or damaged grass foliage, and hello to a beautiful, healthy lawn. If your company isn’t providing this service, no worries – just give us a shout and we’ll get you on the schedule.

We’re ready to help you get that turf looking lush and lovely once again.

 

Peony Lovers, Get Ready

Peony Season is almost here! And to celebrate, we’ve got some seriously sweet wrought iron peony rings that are just dying to be added to your gardens. (see in the picture)

But here’s the thing – if you want those peonies to be supported in style, you’ve got to act fast. When these babies start popping up out of the ground we want to make sure they’re supported well before they get too big so they’ll stay looking their best. So let us know if you want some of this pretty, functional garden art in your life. Your peonies will thank you!

 

Bugging Out With Bill & Brian: Monthly Plant Health Care Update

Are you ready to bug out with Bill and Brian? ‘Cause we’ve got some seriously helpful tips to keep your trees and shrubs in tip-top shape this season.

While most tree and shrub insects are in the overwintering stage at this time of year, those pesky black-legged ticks (deer ticks) are going to be out anytime temperatures are above 32 degrees and they are looking for humans and other large animals to attach to through early spring. Keep this in mind when doing any early spring garden work or walking in brushy areas.

Early Spring is also the time that Hemlock woolly adelgid is also hard at work laying eggs. If left untreated, hemlock woolly adelgid can kill hemlock trees, but don’t worry, we’ve got some serious solutions up our sleeves. Spring is the perfect time to break out the horticultural oil and get to work. We’re talking aphids, mites, and scale insects – they don’t stand a chance!

So let’s get down to business and make sure those plants are thriving like never before. If you’re not sure where to start, just give us a holler. Our plant health care team is always here to help you bug out like a pro.

Get useful facts and tips about tick bites and repellents from UMass.

 

Spring Containers

Oh boy, it’s time to get our container gardening on! We just made our first trip to the nursery and loaded up on a ton of springtime goodies. We’re talking pansies, nemesia, verbena, daffodils, and a whole lot more. And guess what? We are officially ready to get this container party started!

Our expert gardeners Eric and Jennifer are already rolling up their sleeves and getting down to business.

 

Greenhouse Diaries with Laurel

It’s time for another installment of Greenhouse Diaries with yours truly, Laurel. And let me tell you, things are really starting to sprout up in here!

We’ve got baby plants galore – some of them just peeking out of the soil, while others are already tall enough to wear their first true leaves with pride. Our Zinnias were the first babies to make an appearance, but now we have more friends joining the party.

I’ve already had to thin the Kale, the broccoli, beets, basil, and Karen and Emma’s fennel. Ed’s tomatoes are just starting to show. The peppers, which were the first seeds I planted, are finally starting to pop, and the shallots are all up.

It’s like a big baby shower in the greenhouse, except instead of babies we’ve got a bunch of adorable little floral seedlings popping up. The marigolds are leading the pack – they’re the biggest and strongest of the bunch. But that’s not all! We’re also seeing the asters, snapdragons, hollyhocks, and seed dahlias all popping up. And if that’s not enough to get you excited, we’ve even potted our first crop of dahlias and we’re getting started on the perennials this week. So get ready to embrace the magic of these little plant babies. They may be small now, but they’re destined for greatness and may soon be the talk of your garden.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true greenhouse without a few overzealous plants trying to take over the joint. Our elephant ears are going wild and the giant Australian tree ferns are spreading pollen like it’s going out of style. And we have oranges, lemons, and figs galore. I am about ready to kick out the tropicals to make room for new plants!

Stay tuned for more updates from the wild world of our greenhouse. Who knows what kind of crazy plants we’ll be growing next!

 

Plan Your Raised Vegetable Beds

Have you been thinking about adding a raised vegetable bed to your garden this year? Look no further than our raised vegetable beds! Now is the perfect time to start planning and get everything set up so that you’re ready to plant when the season arrives. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to create your very own garden-to-table experience. Get ahead of the game and let us help you create the garden of your dreams!

 

SG Spring Squad Update

This week we welcomed a new Garden Apprentice to our team – Blake and a new Account Manager – Brian. We’re thrilled to have them on board and can’t wait to see what kind of magic they will bring to our gardens.

And what better way to get to know each other than by doing a good old-fashioned team building day, the SG way? We decided to kick things off with spring cleaning and flower planting at the local library and firehouse. Not only does it feel great to get our community looking beautiful, but we also get to bond over our love of gardening.

So let’s give a warm welcome to Blake and get ready for a bloomin’ good season ahead!

That’s all for our April newsletter. We are all excited to be back, and Vlasta and I have missed everyone. And are very excited for 2023.

Look forward to visiting soon.

Garden Blessings,
Samantha, Vlasta and the whole Team

 

EASTER ARRANGEMENTS

EASTER ARRANGEMENTS

EASTER ARRANGEMENTS

Easter arrangements

April 9th is right around the corner, so if you’re in the market for a beautiful Easter arrangement, let us know ASAP.
We’ve got everything you need to make your celebrations extra special.

Easter arrangements

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

Happy almost Spring!

Even though it doesn’t quite feel like it, spring is on the way. 42 days to be exact. Everyone at Samantha’s Gardens has been working hard to be ready for the spring flood gates to open.

Vlasta and the lead gardeners have been working on the 2023 maintenance contracts. Wes, Kate, and I have been pricing up all the wonderfully designed projects that Jen and Jack have been working on, which will be on the schedule for this spring.

Please keep in mind if you are one of those lucky clients who will be getting their dream garden and landscape installed this spring we need to start when the nurseries get in their plants, and this happens when weather allows them to be shipped. This could happen anytime in May.

For anyone who got a new install last year but didn’t talk with us about a maintenance program to keep all the plant babies happy and healthy, make sure to reach out.

If existing clients want to schedule a yearly review, would like to add a veggie garden, or make your existing garden bigger, now would be a good time to schedule a meeting.

Vlasta and I are also busy interviewing our new gardeners and crew leaders to join our amazing SG team. We are very excited to introduce them and be able to have them work on all your properties.

Spring

A reminder about last-minute seed orders:
Laurel has all the seeds ordered for the veggie gardens and cutting beds. It’s not too late for any last-minute requests.

Here is what we’ve ordered so far:
Herbs: Greek Oregano, Bouquet Dill, Calypso Cilantro, Fino Fennel, (Emma and Karen’s Fav), Italian Large Leaf Basil, Red Rubin Basil, Dark Opal Basil, Giant Italian Parsley

Veggies: Tomatoes: San Marzano (my favorite), Sun Gold cherry, Golden Sweet Plum, Black Prince, Big Beef Plus (this one’s for you, Ed), Sakura, Purple Brandy Bumble Bee, Early Girl, Five Star Grape, Yellow Brandywine.
Beets: Touchstone Gold (yummy) and Red Ace
Broccoli: Green Magic
Beans: Provider, Trilogy Mix, Amethyst
Carrots: Atlas (small and round), Negovia, and Rubypak
Celery: Tango (another Ed and Karen Fav)
Cucumbers: Citadel, Little Leaf, Picolino
Kale: Kalebration Kale Mix
Lettuce: Salanova Premier collection, Butter crunch, Encore Lettuce mix
Peas: Sugar snap, Avalanche, Royal Snow
Peppers: Sweet Sunrise, Intruder Bell, Early Jalapeno
Radish: Sora, Bacchus
Swiss Chard: Bright Lights
Spinach: Lizard
Squash: Honey Bear Acorn, Delicata JS, (Karen’s must have), Patty Pan (one of Rachel’s favorites), Spaghetti Squash, Dunja Zucchini Squash, Tempest Yellow Squash
Cutting Garden Flowers: Dalia’s Strawflower, Celosia, Echinops, Calendula, Chabaud Dianthus, Zinnia’s in all colors, Celosia, Marigolds, Scabiosa, Snapdragon, Sunflowers

Holiday Shoppe Photo Contest Recap
Wow! It was a tough one. All the photos were so wonderful, it was nearly impossible to choose a favorite. Thank you again to everyone who submitted their photos and for sharing their holidays with us.

If you think you can handle all of the sweetness, you can check out the photo submissions and winners on our site. See the Photos >>

Show Off Your Gardens
Speaking of photos, I have a request for you. As many of you know, we’ve been working hard to update our website and improve our marketing. We’d like to give our website visitors the ultimate experience like you have now. I would love it so much to have photos of you all enjoying your gardens and outdoor spaces that we designed, installed or maintain for you, with your permission to use them on our website and marketing materials.

For anyone who submits photos, we will plant 2 of your seasonal flower containers for 50% off. So, let’s see all those amazing pictures. Family around the firepits. Party’s on the terrace, summer gatherings, picking yummy veggies in the garden, enjoying the garden from your home office windows, you get the idea. The key is showing how you actually use and enjoy the spaces rather than the peopleless, empty gardens. Below are a couple of examples of photos we would love to see.
(Submit your photos to photos@samanthasgardens.com with the subject line: “My SG Photos”)

Your Online Reviews Mean the World To Us
It’s also hugely important for our business to be able to show reviews online. So the same goes for anyone who would lovingly take the time to post a review on Google. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I am ending this letter by saying that we have very exciting and fun stuff this year and look forward to sharing all of it with you.

Thank you and look forward to seeing everyone soon.
Samantha and Vlasta

Holiday Shoppe Photo Contest Winners 2022

Holiday Shoppe Photo Contest Winners 2022

Holiday Shoppe Photo Contest Recap

Wow! It was a tough one. All the photos were so wonderful, it was nearly impossible to choose a favorite. Thank you again to everyone who submitted their photos and for sharing their holidays with us.

Runners-up

Samantha’s Gardens  End of Year Newsletter

Samantha’s Gardens End of Year Newsletter

Samantha’s Gardens End of Year Newsletter

I would like to start by saying “Thank You!” to all our clients for an amazing 2022.

We had so many wonderful projects this year. We added so many new maintenance clients and several spectacular garden renovations. For anyone who is still on our waiting list, we promise, we will get to you this season.

Our amazing team is working hard. Kevin as our new account manager, Kate in the office and Wes, overseeing operations, are all doing a wonderful job. Wes has hired a crew specifically for our enhancements which will lighten up the construction crews.

Successful Cutting Garden
Our cutting garden was so successful this year. We had beautiful cut flowers and bouquets for sale on the side of the road in front of our HQ. It seemed like a new favorite for all of the local folks. This year, we are excited to be introducing more varieties of cut flowers and we’re looking forward to joining the local farmer’s markets, where “Rosey” our 1947 red Dodge Pickup will be proudly displaying our magnificent array of flowers. We hope to see you out there! Stay tuned for my information.

Cutting-Garden

Christmas Cheer
Samantha’s Gardens Christmas Tree and Holiday Shoppe was a blast. We had so much fun with all of the kids drinking hot cocoa, making s’mores and being creative in the Kid’s Craft Corner. They made adorable ornaments and “Chet” the super cute Pinecone Reindeer. All of our workshops were completely booked, including the additionally requested private workshops (which were a shocker to me). What a huge success this was! I am already thinking about what incredible workshops we are going to add for next year.

If you have ideas or requests for next year, please reach out. We would love to hear your ideas. Let’s get creative!

Holiday-Shoppe

Holiday Photo Contest – Will You Be A Winner?
Speaking of the holidays, we are holding a photo contest of all the photos taken during the holiday at Samantha’s Gardens. So send us your photos of Santa’s Sleigh, photos with Rosey and any other pictures from your holiday experience at Samantha’s Gardens Christmas Extravaganza.

• First prize will win their choice of Premium Fraser Fir and wreath next Christmas
• Second Prize will win a decorated 14” wreath of your choice for your door or window
• Third prize will win a $25.00 gift certificate.

Please send all photos to photos@samanthasgardens.com with the subject line “Photo Contest” by January 15, 2023.

Our esteemed judges are Elizabeth and Jessamyn from our Marketing Team. All winning photos will be on our website and social media. Please keep that in mind when submitting your photos.

All of us at Samantha’s Gardens had so much fun during the holiday season that we were sad to see it come to an end. Please check out all of the great photos on Instagram and Facebook.

What’s Happening in the Greenhouse
The temperature is comfy for all of our client’s plant babies. We are diligently working on ordering all of the seeds for the cutting garden and client’s veggie gardens. We will be starting the seeds accordingly.

Please get your requests to me ASAP. All orders are going in by January 15th. We are looking forward to getting back to work and our next growing season.

Preparations for the Upcoming Season
Maxsuell will begin welding the garden art. His garden art includes flower supports and peony rings. They will be available for purchase on our website soon. If you are thinking of any other garden enhancements or larger scale projects, now is the time to reach out so that we will be sure to add it to our drawing table and get the job done in time for Spring.

During our downtime, Wes is available for interior painting. He has several years experience and does an amazing job. He has done several jobs for myself and other clients and comes highly recommended. So if you are thinking of giving a room a facelift, contact me and I will have Wes get in touch.

On a sadder note, some of you may have already heard, our dear bookkeeper, Terie of 16 years suddenly passed away this fall. Vlasta and I have not yet found a replacement for helping us with invoicing so please bear with us because we are a little behind. No worries, it will get to you.

We’re Nothing Without You
All of us at Samantha’s Gardens want to thank you for all of your continued support and being a part of the SG family. We love what we do, but it is so much more fun and rewarding when we have families like yours to work with.

Samantha Mannarino
Samantha’s Gardens, Inc.
Office: 978-409-2079
Cell: 978-423-3482
www.samanthasgardens.com