Main Location, North Branford 203-488-2110
Clinton Garden Center 203-433-5555
Guilford Garden Mart 203-204-1540
Milford Garden Mart 203-298-0716
Old Saybrook Garden Mart 860-339-5345
Recipes inspired by your garden
Fresh and quick recipes using veggies and herbs right from your garden. Experiment with different flavors and see what you can create! Balsamic roast tomato and ricotta pasta Toss torn lasagna sheets with balsamic roasted tomato, fresh ricotta, and basil pesto for a quick, weeknight meal! Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups vine-ripened cherry tomatoes 1 […]
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Van Wisdom: Which tomato should I use?
Choosing the type of tomato to grow for what you are making in the kitchen.
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Healthy Soil, Healthy Plants… Garden Prep
Every great garden starts with great soil just like healthy soil grows healthy plants. Soil is just as much living as your plants and believe it or not they work together 24/7. When I had the opportunity to make our line of premium soils even better, I JUMPED on it! Our bagged soils and […]
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Van Wisdom: What can go out and when?
We get this question a lot this time of year. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as simple as giving you a date—it’s driven by nighttime temperatures, so staying on top of the daily weather forecast is crucial. Since Mother Nature is unpredictable, we stick to the following rules of thumb, knowing that it’s all about being […]
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Van Wisdom: Caring for Your Tree
Trees do some impressive things for us – so we should do something for them right? Trees clean the air of carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen necessary for human life. They improve soil quality, provide shade, prevent erosion, and support wildlife and ecosystems the world over. All of these amazing feats are only possible […]
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Happy 150th Arbor Day!
Someone said we should create a machine that soaks up all the carbon in the air and fixes back into the soil. The response is… we already have them! They are called TREES! This week we celebrate the 150th Arbor Day. I thought we were doing great being 102 years old! This special day was […]
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VanWisdom: Our New Van Wilgen’s Soil Mixes
Temperatures climbed higher this week and we’re itching to lay the foundations of a great garden. That foundation is your soil. However, your soil may not be perfect for your needs, and at Van Wilgen’s we offer a variety of soil mixes to help prepare your garden for planting. The BIG news at Van Wilgen’s […]
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Rose Care 101
Roses are synonymous with love and gardening! Rose enthusiasts are a discerning bunch –some gardeners go for conventional growing and some go the more organic route, but neither is right nor wrong. At Van Wilgen’s we want you to have beautiful roses and with a little TLC they are not as hard to maintain as […]
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VanWisdom: Soils 101–What, Where & When?
Most people probably don’t give too much thought to the ground beneath their feet, but green-fingered enthusiasts know all too well that understanding Soil 101 is vital to a healthy garden. What Yeah, the soil is the “What”. This layer of ‘dirt’ is a complicated mix of insects and decomposing organic matter that is full […]
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Pruning Guide
Pruning seems counter-intuitive to plant growth. Why would you snip off limbs or twigs? Well, targeted pruning can help with improving both the structure of a tree or shrub as well as the health, e.g., If branches, or woody stems, are rubbing against one another or if there is the presence of dead branches/twigs. There […]
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