By Ava Green

As soon as warm weather and sunshine arrive in Southern Ontario, it’s time to head to the garden centre and pick up all the plants we’ve been dreaming about all winter long! May 24th is generally the date we look forward to — the unofficial marker when frosty mornings are behind us and the promise of summer is ahead. 

By now, cool-weather plants like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peas, and lettuce should be well established in the vegetable garden. And for everything else, it’s go time!

TIP: Before you start planting, this is the ideal time to amend your soil. Top up your garden beds with fresh topsoil or enrich them with compost to improve soil health, add nutrients, and promote vigorous plant growth. Don’t forget to refresh the soil in your containers as well, with potting mix or compost.

Warm Weather Vegetables

When soil temperatures are consistently 60°F (15°C) or higher, it’s safe to plant all the warm-weather vegetable crops we’ve been waiting for! Plants that thrive in warmer weather include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, zucchini and corn.

At Eising Garden Centre, you’ll find vegetables in 6-packs, 4” pots, trellised patio containers, patio bowls and hanging baskets - while supplies last, of course!

Herbs also love warm weather, and tender varieties like basil are safe to plant once all danger of frost has passed. Whether you plant herbs directly into the ground or create a potted herb garden near the kitchen door, they’ll add fresh flavour to your meals all season long. A container of herbs also makes a wonderful gift when visiting friends and family for a summer BBQ.

While you’re in the vegetable and herb aisle, keep an eye out for everbearing strawberries in planters and containers of tropical fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges.

Annual Flowers

Winter-weary flower beds can be revived almost instantly with a burst of colourful annuals! If you’re looking for an immediate impact and blooms that last all summer long, annual flowers are the answer.

Whether you plant them in beds, containers, window boxes, or hanging baskets — or choose from one of our gorgeous pre-planted options — just add water and fertilizer, and you’ll be rewarded with a vibrant display that keeps on giving.

Perennials

While perennials may not bloom all summer, many offer extended bloom periods, and by combining different varieties, you can create a succession of flowers that lasts for months. Perennials also provide essential greenery to anchor your garden and enhance the look of your flowering plants.

You can plant perennials from spring through fall, but getting them into the ground now gives them a strong start. From hostas and ornamental grasses to daisies and delphiniums, there’s a perennial for every style of garden — and the best part is, they’ll return each spring like dependable old friends.

Trees, Shrubs and Vines

Often called “the bones” of the garden, trees, shrubs, and climbing vines add essential structure, height, and seasonal interest. Planting them now allows you to design your garden layers thoughtfully, incorporating annuals and perennials around their base.

Spring is also the prime time to purchase and plant fruit trees and fruiting shrubs. At Eising, spring offers the best selection for starting your home orchard. Are you thinking of adding a few edible shrubs? Gooseberries, haskaps, hardy kiwi, rhubarb and raspberries are excellent choices.

Mulch

Okay, it’s not a plant, but this is a reminder to add mulch to your garden beds or containers. After planting, adding a layer of mulch to your garden beds or containers helps retain soil moisture, reduces transplant shock, and suppresses weeds. Even if a few weeds manage to sneak through, mulch makes them easier to pull.

Water Garden Plants

If you have a garden pond, spring is the perfect time to add water plants. Floating plants, such as water hyacinths and water lilies, help shade the pond’s surface, reducing algae blooms. Marginal or bog plants, such as water iris, papyrus, and cattails, also help keep the water healthy and clear by improving oxygen levels and providing habitats for beneficial wildlife.

Time to Grow!

May is one of the most anticipated and exciting months in the garden. Whether you’re dreaming of fresh vegetables, a lush landscape, or a colourful flower display, planting now sets the stage for a beautiful, bountiful season. Visit us at Eising Garden Centre to find everything you need — and let’s get growing!

Growing Vegetables in Pots!

A few years ago, I was walking through town with a friend as we discussed planting vegetables in our tiny front gardens. It seemed like an unusual idea until we spotted not one but two front gardens with pumpkin vines rambling amongst the shrubbery. What a novel way to cover the ground without mulch and have the bonus of showy, bright blossoms and bold foliage! Of course, this is eventually followed by the standout feature of brightly coloured pumpkins. It’s built-in fall decorating!

Right now, everyone is looking for ways to reduce grocery bills, and growing a few vegetables amongst the flowers and shrubs can make a big difference. If your garden is on a patio or balcony, there are lots of ways to add edible plants to maximize your space and beautify it at the same time. Who says vegetables can’t be ornamental and beautiful?!

Gaps and Small Spaces

If you have a new shrub and flower garden that has gaps or there’s a space in your garden where you’re not sure what to plant, consider tucking in a potted vegetable. In a cool, shady space, try some luscious lettuce bowls. Shade allows lettuce to grow more slowly in the heat of the summer. Keeping lettuce in a cool, shady spot will prevent it from bolting and becoming bitter.

If you have a small garden, a patio or a balcony, pots with compact varieties and hanging baskets are a terrific alternative for growing vegetables, herbs, and some fruits. These are some of the options we offer at Eising Garden Centre (based on availability) that can be purchased fully planted, or you can grow your own from seed if you have time, space and lights.

Trellised Planters and Patio Pots

For patios, balconies, or even a gap in the garden, there are lots of vegetables that can be grown in a trellised planter.

Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplant all love warm soil and growing in pots provides the heat to help them thrive. Eising trellis pots are planted with specific varieties that are smaller but pack a flavourful punch.

Patio Snacker cucumbers.

Sweet Snackabelle, Candycane Chocolate Cherry or Red, Mocha Swirl and Fresh Bites peppers.

Little Sicily, Patio Hybrid, Candyland Red, Rapunzel and Tidy Treats tomatoes.

Eising Greenhouse also carries eggplants in trellised pots - a patio pot with Patio Baby eggplants is a perfect choice if ratatouille is on the menu!

All of Eising's trellised planters would look lovely plopped into one of our decorative outdoor cover pots!

Herb Planters

Many herbs thrive in a sunny and warm spot with well-drained soil, making a pot the perfect container for them. Herbs also make great companion plants with other vegetables and can be tucked into other pots. Most herbs also love to be harvested frequently, especially when they’re given these ideal conditions.

Lettuce Bowls

Lettuce bowls are a great way to grow greens in small spaces. Our 10” bowls are chock full of a variety of lettuces and are never boring! 

👍Tip: Try the “cut and come again” method for harvesting lettuce, which prolongs the plant’s life. Simply pinch off the outer, mature leaves each time you pick the lettuce and leave the centre of the plant to keep growing.

Hanging Baskets

If there’s a spot to hang a basket or place a shepherd’s hook, you will want to grow one of the edible options we offer. 

Topsy Tom tomatoes.

Pot-a-Peno and Peppers From Heaven peppers.

Tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries are all available in hanging baskets. Our deliciously sweet everbearing strawberries are also available in 4.5" pots and bareroot, which are great options for window boxes.

👍Tip: Pick strawberries as they ripen to encourage your plants to produce more. Also, remove runners as they grow to allow your plants to send energy into growing fruit instead of bigger plants. Painting rocks to look like strawberries is said to deter birds from feasting on ripe berries.

Citrus and Figs

Consider growing a beautiful and fragrant lemon, orange, fig or grapefruit tree in a patio pot. Just keep in mind that it will need to come indoors in the fall. 

Container Plant Care

Whether you’re growing edible plants in the garden, a pot or a hanging basket, don’t forget to give them the care they need to maximize productivity:

• Water regularly, deeply and in the heat of the summer, frequently. Watering early in the morning is ideal. Pour water on the soil, not the foliage to prevent diseases like powdery mildew.
• Feed your vegetables and fruits throughout the growing season with fertilizer or compost.
• Remove dead foliage and prune plants as needed. Especially herbs.

Once you start foodscaping by including vegetables with your flowers and ornamental plants we’re sure you’ll want to keep looking for innovative ways to grow your own food! Who knows, maybe even pumpkins by the front porch!

If you think a small space and a small garden are limiting when it comes to shrub choices, think again! Colour and texture, structure and seasonal interest are all available in many small shrubs. Whether you’re looking for beautiful blooms or evergreen foliage, you’ll love what our favourite small shrubs have to offer!

Follow the 5 links for more on our 5 favourites!

My Monet Purple Effect Weigela - Weigela florida

A deciduous shrub that’s deer resistant, colourful and low growing. This plant checks lots of boxes!! Variegated mint green and cream foliage with purple tones and pink blossoms, it makes a great companion to perennials, and as an edging plant. My Monet Purple Effect Weigela grows 18” to 2 ½ feet tall and wide in partial or full sun.

Little Gem Spruce - Picea abies ‘Little Gem’

This compact evergreen has dark green needles, making it attractive all year round. Its pyramidal shape makes it a great choice as an accent feature or in a border. It’s drought-tolerant and requires little care, making it a very appealing low-maintenance choice! Little Gem reaches a mature height of 10” to 1’ and a spread of 1’ to 2’. Plant this shrub in full sun.

Blue Star Juniper - Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’

Sun-loving and slow-growing, Blue Star Juniper graces the garden with steel blue evergreen foliage that’s a beautiful contrast to many plants. It’s also drought-tolerant and requires very little pruning, making it an easy to care for naturally small shrub. Growing 1 to 3’ tall and 1 ½ to 3’ wide, its shape makes it great as ground cover or as an edging plant.

Bluebeard - Caryopteris

Classified as a shrub or as a woody perennial, either way, it deserves to be on this list. Bluebeard loves full sun and grows anywhere from 2 to 4’ in a compact mound. Sweetly scented and long blooming, it attracts all the pollinators: bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Bluebeard foliage and blooms come in various colours depending on the variety, so it’s easy to fit into your landscape plans.

Inkberry Holly - IIlex glabra

Native to North America, Inkberry has lots to love. It looks similar to Boxwood and can be trimmed to shape, but this slow-growing evergreen also forms a tidy mound, and it blooms in the Spring! It will grow in full to part sun, and smaller varieties reach 3 to 4’ high.

While this list contains 5 of our favourites, we have lots more to offer in the garden centre. Come by and take a look! Discover how growing small shrubs in containers or small spaces adds beauty and texture, enhancing your garden bed, patio or balcony.

TIP: April and May are the best months to plant shrubs in Southern Ontario.

At some point, garden life calls to many of us. Even if you’ve never nurtured a plant before, planting something and keeping it alive offers a fun, low-cost, and highly rewarding experience. Whether you opt for a few potted plants on a patio or balcony, join a community garden, dedicate part of your yard to flowers, herbs, trees, or vegetables, install raised beds, or set aside a corner of your property to attract pollinators, it’s exciting to consider the possibilities!

The Benefits of Gardening

Stress Release

Nature has a calming effect, and gardening helps you stay grounded in the present moment, freeing your mind from worries about the past or future. For example, the repetitive task of weeding allows your brain to focus, turning the activity into a form of mindful meditation. Meditation doesn’t always involve sitting in solitude on a mountain—it can be as simple as engaging in repetitive tasks like planting or weeding. This process reduces stress and anxiety, ultimately leading to greater happiness.

Boosting Happiness

Speaking of happiness, research shows that certain bacteria in the soil get under fingernails and also get inhaled while you garden. This bacteria can boost your healthy gut flora and release happiness chemicals like serotonin. A healthy gut flora supports a strong immune system, making that dirt-under-the-nails gardener’s manicure well worth it.

Strength & Flexibility

At the start of each gardening season, you might hear from fellow gardeners about their sore muscles—backs, hands, shoulders, hips, and so on. The physical demands of gardening can be challenging at first, but over time, they help build muscle strength and improve flexibility.

If you find working in the garden too strenuous, try kneeling on a soft pad or using a small stool to sit on. Consider using a shovel or rake to assist you in moving up and down to your knees or the stool. Opt for smaller pots and smaller bags of soil and mulch - they’re easier to carry.

Growing Food & Healthy Eating

Anyone who’s tasted fresh, homegrown vegetables knows just how delicious they can be. Growing your own produce also encourages you to eat more fruits and vegetables, which naturally leads to better health. The fibre in these foods supports the healthy gut flora mentioned earlier, too!

The Perks of Being Outdoors

All the benefits of gardening—stress relief, happiness, strength, flexibility, and healthy eating contribute to your overall physical and mental well-being. But there’s more.

While outdoors, you absorb vitamin D from the sun, which boosts calcium levels in your body, promoting strong bones and a robust immune system.

Being outside and working in the garden also improves your sleep. After a day of gardening, you’re likely to feel pleasantly tired, helping you fall asleep faster and enjoy a deeper rest. Good quality sleep is essential for overall health, just as important as diet and exercise.

Finally, spending time outdoors encourages deeper breathing, which increases oxygen levels in your blood and boosts serotonin. Deep breathing also aids digestion and helps clear stagnant air from your lungs. Try stepping outside and taking a nice, deep breath. It just feels good, doesn’t it?

While your initial goals for gardening may include harvesting delicious vegetables or creating beautiful bouquets, you’ll also be improving your health in ways you might not have expected!

The sight and sound of water in the garden can bring life to its surroundings and a sense of calm that we all seem to need right now. 

A water garden can be created in many forms with varying degrees of simplicity or complexity. A small water feature in a half-barrel-sized container on a patio. A small to medium one in a preformed fibreglass pool or pond in the ground. An old stock tank or bathtub. A pool liner laid over a hole dug into the ground. A natural pond fed by springs. A fountain, stream or waterfall for moving water. Planning is key, but there are endless options! Just be sure to check any local zoning restrictions before you build.

Whatever the pond form, water can immediately attract nature even in the middle of an urban space. Dragonflies, birds, and frogs will show up to sip, dip and enjoy!

Water gardens also provide a space to garden with plants that bring unexpected beauty and intrigue. It’s a whole new world of native and tropical, annual and perennial plants that exist in the water or on the edge of a pond.

Three Categories of Water Garden Plants

1. Underwater or Submerged Plants

Oxygenating plants are not showy but are also found underwater, and they are essential. Anyone who owns an aquarium knows the importance of good oxygenators to improve water quality. They compete with algae for nutrients and win the battle each time. Elodia canadensis looks a little bit like seaweed, but it’s a hardy and vigorous water perennial here in southern Ontario, which makes it a very popular choice.

2. Floating

3. Shallow water or Marginal Plants

This is the bog folks! The plants grown here are also known as marginal plants. While the term bog doesn’t conjure dreamy Monet water lily paintings, the plants in this area of a pond or wetland can be beautiful, interesting and beneficial. Marginal plants and moisture-loving perennials, grow in the soil just below the water's surface or in consistently wet soil. They are beneficial because they keep water clear by keeping algae at bay. However, as previously mentioned there are many beautiful and interesting plants that grow on the pond's edge.

Here are just a few:

Growing plants in and around a water garden can be a very satisfying project. Curious guests will love to chat about it and ask questions making it a great conversation starter. It also provides a peaceful spot in your backyard to relax and watch the dragonflies whiz by! 

Tropical Hibiscus evokes all of the best descriptions imaginable when you see one. Showy, stunning, exotic, vibrant, impressive, large, lush, colourful and flamboyant flowers grace branches of dark, glossy, green leaves. It just seems unreal! This plant conjures up images of the tropics, but it will grow in a pot on your sunny patio or inside your home!

Tropical Paradise

If you’re looking to create your own tropical paradise, this surprisingly low-maintenance plant is a great addition. Its showy trumpet-shaped blooms make it a great focal plant and the wide variety of shapes and colours available is astounding!

Tropical Hibiscus flowers are rich in nectar, attracting hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and other beneficial pollinators to your garden.

Planting tropical Hibiscus in a pot makes it easier to move the plant to a sunny, warm location, which provides the conditions for it to thrive. Be sure to ease your plant outside by hardening it off though. If it’s been indoors or in a greenhouse, give it time to acclimate, or it will become scorched or worse, die. Hardening off is a simple process of slowly easing your plants into life outdoors.

Blooming Good

Tropical Hibiscus will bloom all summer long here in southern Ontario when provided with sun, warmth, ample water and nutrients. During the growing season, water the soil regularly to keep it evenly moist. While it loves full sun, the sun’s rays can be dehydrating. Hibiscus is a thirsty plant when it’s in bloom so don’t let the soil completely dry out. Of course, there’s a limit to how much water you use. Too much water will cause the roots to rot. The key word is “moist”  - not monsoon wet! Using mulch will help to retain moisture in the pot.

To provide your plant with proper nutrition, use a time-release fertilizer in May or a balanced, diluted water-soluble fertilizer like fish emulsion about once a week over the summer months.

Each blossom lasts one day. They are short-lived, but don’t worry - Tropical Hibiscus will produce a succession of flowers during the growing season with ample light, water, and fertilizer. Once a faded bloom wilts, remove it from the plant to make way for the next one.

Looking Ahead

If you’re planning to keep your Hibiscus over the winter, here are a few tips to help.

Before the first frost, inspect the plant thoroughly for any bug hitchhikers or pests like aphids or spider mites. Give the entire plant a thorough shower and then bring it indoors. If you’ve found that your plant needs constant watering and has outgrown its pot, this is a great time for repotting before it comes indoors. Find a pot that is only 1-2” bigger than the pot it’s currently in and transplant it with some fresh, tropical potting mix.

This is another big transition for your plant, and you may find it loses some leaves unless you slowly migrate it from outdoor to indoor conditions. Place your Tropical Hibiscus in a warm, sunny window. Don’t move it to a cold basement right away, even if that will ultimately be its winter home. Just as you hardened it off in the Spring, slowly move it to a cooler location for winter storage if you don’t have a sunny, warm location. Be sure though that it ends up in an area where it’s getting at least 3 hours of direct sun each day.

At this point, stop fertilizing your tropical Hibiscus and reduce the amount of water used. Allowing the soil to dry out between waterings while the plant is dormant and not blooming is okay.

Enough talk of winter! While the weather is warm, pop an umbrella into a fruity summer drink and enjoy your beautiful tropical Hibiscus oasis!

Fall, also known as Pumpkin Spice Season, is well underway.  The leaves are changing colour and we’re saying so long to another garden season.  But wait!  There’s still plenty of enjoyment to be had from your hard-working garden.  Temperatures may be falling, but Autumn is the perfect time to squeeze in a few more plants, and to slow down and connect with family, friends, and neighbours by hosting a backyard party.

Autumn Entertaining Ideas

This is a list of our favourite ideas to inspire your outdoor party plans and keep us in mind if you’re looking for decorations like pumpkins, gourds and flowers for your next event. Eising Porch Packages make decorating fun and easy!

Outdoor Movie or Game Night

Bring the patio furniture close to the house to protect everyone from a fall breeze, grab the basket of blankets or throws, warm some cider, and pop the popcorn. There’s nothing like a beautiful Autumn evening, now that the bugs are gone, to enjoy a night under the stars watching a great movie, your favourite team sport, or cracking open a fun board game.

Candy Apples Extravaganza

Create a self-serve candy apple bar with slices of apples on wooden skewers, bowls of dips like caramel, chocolate, hazelnut spread, and almond butter, and small bowls of toppings like mini marshmallows, sprinkles, and chocolate chips.

Harvest Abundance

Fall is the perfect time to enjoy a potluck featuring everything in season, or preserved from the garden.  Sweet potatoes, squash, and yes, even Pumpkin Spice. Decorate the table with seasonal fruit, flowers, potted fall plants from Eising Greenhouses  and fairy lights to add to the ambience. Maybe even a grazing board packed with favourite snacks.

Wreath or Garland Making Party

Looking to layer your Fall décor on the front door or a fireplace but don’t have a wreath or garland? Pick out a design with friends, and have everyone contribute one item for everyone to use. Forage for items in your yard, or buy them, then get together and create! 

Backyard Bonfire

If you’re lucky enough to have a fire pit, or chiminea, Fall is the perfect time to host a backyard bonfire on a cool night. Marshmallows and hot chocolate will make it super cozy!

Oktoberfest Party

You may not want to hire the polka band, but soft pretzels, sausage, and local apple cider should definitely be on the menu. Fill a galvanized tub with ice, and add mason jars with premade drinks to make hosting a breeze.

Pumpkin Painting Party

All you’ll need is a pile of pumpkins and gourds, an inexpensive tablecloth,  paint supplies, and some inspiration. It’s a canvas that can be painted over and over, so don’t be afraid to get creative.  Kids love this, but so do adults!

Whatever you’re planning, we hope that you enjoy the season. You know where to find us: 814 Cockshutt Road in Simcoe, ON

P.S. Autumn is also the perfect time to plant perennials, shrubs and trees - stop by and peruse the garden centre to find some great last minute garden additions! 

Ah, the sanctuary of a nice, cool shade garden on a hot summer day. Lush foliage comes to mind, and maybe a nap in a hammock. But what do you do when you have a shady spot in the garden that isn’t so lush and could use a boost? A planted container or two can be just the thing! 

Here’s a scenario that can happen to any of us. A plant isn’t doing well and needs to be moved. Or maybe something just didn’t survive. Now what to do with that gap? The beauty of planting in pots is that you can move them around, but also create conditions for plants that you might not have in the garden. For example, one of the toughest places to grow anything is in dry shade - tree roots can compete for space and for moisture. That’s when planting in a container, or several is the way to go.

What is a Shade Garden?

In general, a shade garden is an area that gets less than six hours of sunlight in a day. When choosing plants, remember that some will tolerate shade better than others. When it comes to plants, shady areas are divided into three categories:

• Full shade - no direct sunlight, only reflected sunlight from surrounding areas
• Partial or Semi shade - in the sun for part of the day and shade for the rest
• Light shade - sunlight that is filtered, like under a tree with smaller leaves

Choosing Containers and Pots

While containers can be made out of a variety of materials like plastic, concrete, wood or fiberglass, the key is using a pot with at least one drainage hole. 

Keep in mind that smaller pots will dry out more quickly. Larger pots retain moisture longer, but when they’re full of soil and plants they get heavy. Look for a Goldilocks pot that’s “just right”, or splurge on a Schwarzenegger-sized pot if you’re looking to build up those biceps!

Whatever pot size you choose, always use a growing medium that’s designed especially for containers. At Eising Garden Centre you’ll find potting mix which is light and airy, unlike garden soil, which will compact and retain too much moisture. If you’re using a big container, you may want to use a smaller, more shallow pot as an insert, or put natural mulch in the bottom before you add potting soil. Doing this will reduce the amount of soil used, and keep the container lighter as well.

Plant Selection

This is the fun part! While many plants do well in pots, here are just some of our favourite shade plants for containers:

Coleus

Coleus is an annual that will grow in full shade and comes in a variety of very interesting leaf colours. This plant is known for its vibrant leaf colours, not its blooms.

Begonia

Begonias come in a wide variety of shapes and colours, making them a versatile annual for containers. Some varieties are happy in full shade, while others like light, or filtered shade. Most begonias like good drainage so their roots are not too wet.

Impatiens

These annuals are popular for a reason!  They come in a wide range of very brightly coloured flowers that do well in full shade.

Trailing Lobelia

The trailing type of Lobelia is an annual that grows well in shade. The masses of prolific blooms come in many pretty colours to mix and match with other plants.

Caladium

A showy annual with vibrantly coloured leaves that will illuminate any shady area. Caladiums like partial to full shade but if you’re a pet owner be careful - this plant is toxic to cats and dogs.

Heuchera or Coral Bells

Coral Bells are perennials that also come in a wide variety of beautiful leaf colours. This plant will thrive in shade, but can also tolerate some sun and they are drought tolerant.

Hosta

Known for its lush foliage, this perennial comes in such a wide variety of sizes, colours, and sun tolerance, and is by far a favourite. Many people don’t think of it as a container plant but for all of the features mentioned, it makes a great choice as a potted plant.

Fertilizer

Like all plants in containers, check the moisture levels often and provide water and fertilizer throughout the growing season. This article contains more information on caring for annuals and perennials.

Design

While you can mix and match any plants for shade containers, this article about container design ideas for sun-loving annuals may inspire you! 

As mentioned above, many plants will do very well in containers. It’s also fun to experiment with annuals and perennials you can’t necessarily grow in the garden, or for anyone with a patio or balcony. Don’t be afraid to mix annuals and perennials together in a container, or to use one statement plant. Some potted plants will need extra protection in the winter like perennials, small trees, and shrubs, but growing plants in containers is a great way to add a splash of colour, or include some bold foliage in tough-to-grow areas.  

Father's Day is conveniently held right at the start of summer, so that gives you all sorts of options for a creative gift that he can enjoy right away. This year, treat Dad by giving him a chance to relax in a gorgeous yard—instead of toiling away at it himself!—by hiring our pro landscapers to do the work for him.

Our many different landscaping services are varied and customizable, so you can call up our team to help you find the best plan for backyard landscaping that Dad will absolutely love. Or, if Dad likes to have some creative control over projects, we can collaborate with him to develop a design plan that suits his ideal vision. This will certainly be a Father's Day to remember, with a gorgeous new yard that Papa Bear can enjoy for many years to come. Here are some of the services we can provide to make it all happen:

Trees and Shrubs

At Eising, our landscaping pros know a thing or two about planting new trees and shrubs. Instead of fumbling through planting them yourself, which might not guarantee the best results, hire our experts to do it for you! 

There are so many awesome benefits to planting trees and shrubs in the yard—Dad will definitely be on board! Sure, they're beautiful to look at, and they provide some nice shade to lounge around in, but they also increase your home's value significantly! You could even opt for some trees or shrubs to grow Dad's favourite fruit, like peaches or raspberries, so he'll have a steady supply of summer snacks year after year. Plant two trees spaced eight feet apart, and in a few years, you can get him a Father's Day hammock! There, now you've got two Father's Day gift ideas covered!

Perennials and Grasses

If you want some consistent, reliable plants and flowers to add some beauty to the yard, and you aren't too concerned with switching up the scenery every year, then consider planting some perennials and ornamental grasses. Talk to our experts, and we can help pick an assortment of spring, summer, and fall-blooming perennial plants, so there's never a shortage of colour throughout the season. 

Ornamental grasses are such an underrated landscaping staple, adding height, texture and movement to the garden. Plus, Dad will appreciate having some grass in the yard that he doesn't have to cut! We can help you pick out the best varieties for your landscape style and colour palette, and help you find the best places to plant them to create a balanced, aesthetically-pleasing design.

Tropicals and Annuals

Spice things up with some exotic plants, vibrant colours, and tons of variety by opting for sun-loving tropicals and annual plants to enjoy for the summer. Dad will be totally floored when he sees that his old yard has been transformed into a lush, tropical oasis. Who needs a vacation when you've got the perfect getaway right at home?

Whether you think hanging baskets and container arrangements will do the trick, or you'd prefer a fully-loaded garden bed, we can help you choose stunning assortments of flowers that can thrive throughout our Southern Ontario summers. Even if your yard doesn't get much sunshine, we can still make some magic happen! Plenty of rainforest-dwelling tropical plants prefer the shade and will be right at home in your yard underneath a canopy of tree foliage.

Small Space Design

Don't have a ton of space? No problemo! Our creative team is great at making the most out of small spaces. We strategically place plants throughout the yard in a stylish and functional way, so Dad will have plenty of room to stretch out on his favourite lounger. A smaller space can feel much bigger with a layout that sections the yard into different living areas and draws the eye to unique focal points throughout the space. A small patio set is always inviting and will get plenty of use, so it's a pretty smart use for the space you have!

Develop Design Ideas With On-Site Consultation

If Dad's a take-charge guy who likes to take the lead, let him have some input on the landscape design by setting up an on-site consultation with our landscaping pros! We can work together to create the best possible design by combining Dad's big ideas and the most practical, cost-efficient ways to make them happen. That way, you'll be sure that he absolutely loves the final product.

 

The cost of a professional landscaping consultation with our team is $150 plus taxes, which we’re happy to apply to a gift card—perfect for surprising him on Father’s Day! To purchase a gift card or get more information about our landscaping services, give us a call and we'll be happy to help. Or, you can gift Dad some gorgeous new perennials with our brand new online store! We have delivery and curbside pick-up options available, so getting everything you need for the garden is easier than ever before.