Westland Gardens

Located in Fort Worth’s westside, Westland Gardens is a nursery, retail shop and event venue. Owners Stephanie and Bourke Harvey and Gigi Howell have created a plant haven enchanting enough to host dinners and events while also maintaining a wide variety of plants, planters, gardening supplies and even home-grown produce. The Harveys and Howell own JD’s Hamburgers and the soon-to-open Margie’s Original Italian Kitchen, and both use produce grown at Westland. The nursery hosts two family-friendly festivals each year: a spring festival (2-4 p.m. April 12) and a fall festival. 

Thriller, Filler, Spiller

Stephanie shared her fool-proof method for creating impressive potted plants. She follows the “Thriller, Filler and Spiller” method. 

The “thriller” plant is a tall, eye-catching plant to add height. Stephanie suggests the lemon cyprus as they tend to thrive in the Fort Worth climate. Plus, their bright chartreuse coloring makes them a focal point in a container.

“It likes to be outside and can even take the cold—just not freezing,” she says. 

Next, a “filler,” or a medium-sized plant provides fullness in the container. Stephanie chose pink splash for a pop of color. Button ferns are also a great choice to take up space.

The finishing touch for a show-stopping potted plant is a “spiller,” or a plant that cascades over the edge of the container. A classic choice for this is ivy, which will grow in almost any conditions. Another low-maintenance, high-impact option is lantana. Lantana comes in several colors and is a hardy perennial shrub, meaning it goes dormant when cold and returns in the spring.

Westland Gardens provides customers with personalized assistance when creating their customized potted plant arrangement as needs may shift depending on sunlight and overall directional orientation of the home.

“We can show [customers] how to put it together,” Stephanie says. “We can always suggest what plants to use.”

Marshall Grain Co. 

Marshall Grain Co. opened its flagship store in Colleyville a little over a year ago but is by no means new to serving the public’s gardening and landscaping needs. The retailer will celebrate their one-year anniversary with a two-day fair, March 29-30, complete with guest speakers, vendors, food, beverages and raffle prizes.

The almost 80-year-old locally owned retailer carries a wide variety of native plants, herbs, organic gardening products and pet supplies. Marshall Grain Co. is owned and operated by Jim and Joyce Connelley who purchased the business in 2005. 

Where to Start

“A lot of people do raised beds with compost, sands and so forth to help with the quality of the [North Texas] soil,” Jim says. Composted soil assists in providing the proper nutrients for produce while also allowing proper drainage. 

Fertilizing is of the utmost importance when it comes to produce gardening, but that doesn’t mean that you have to drench your crops in chemicals. They recommend alfalfa meal and blood meal instead of synthetic fertilizers.

Soil pH also plays a huge role in what your garden can yield. For example, blueberries require acidic soil and therefore should be grown in pots for monitoring.

North Texas as a whole has difficult soil because it contains so much clay.

Beginning gardeners will want to carefully choose the location of their garden to ensure the right amount of sunlight on their plants. A sunny spot is ideal, but be sure that the late afternoon sun isn’t too harsh in that spot. No one—including plants—wants to be in the late afternoon summer sun in Texas.

However, most herbs thrive in more shaded areas.

If you begin a produce garden in March, the Connelleys encourage you to plant warm-season crops, including tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans and corn. Full sun is necessary for these crops making them ideal for Texas’ Zone 8 climate on the USDA hardiness map, which means the local lowest temperature is usually around 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit. Knowing your zone is integral to your plant’s survival rate. 

 The Connelleys advise starting with seedlings for tomatoes and peppers as they can be more difficult to grow from seeds. Tomatoes will go dormant when it gets hot enough but can be revived in the fall if nursed through a hot summer. 

“You can go back to your cool-season vegetables in mid-September,” Joyce says. “Broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces and other leafy greens like spinach, kale and Swiss chard will actually grow into the winter.” 

Companion Planting

The concept of companion planting in agriculture is the planting of various crops close in proximity to each other for many reasons including weed suppression, pest control, pollination, maximizing space, increasing crop activity and even providing a habitat for beneficial insects. 

The Native Americans referred to this method as The Three Sisters where they would grow corn, beans and squash together because the crops provided a symbiotic environment for one another.

“There’s a whole science behind companion planting,” Joyce says. “One of the most common ones that we recommend is to always plant marigolds with your tomatoes and peppers.”

Marigolds are generally beneficial to have near anything you’re growing as they attract pests away from crops.

Mint is another great repellent for pests, but needs to be planted separately because it can be very invasive.

Another beneficial pairing is tomatoes and basil. Not only do they play well in the kitchen together, but it is thought that the plants help each other grow healthier and more productive. Furthermore, basil repels pests like aphids, flies, mosquitos and spider mites. Tomatoes and basil can also be harvested together.

Avoid planting potatoes and tomatoes together as they are both from the nightshade family and share diseases.

 

Archie’s Gardenland

Founded in 1934 by N.E. Archie Sr. as a landscaping business, Archie’s Gardenland primarily focused on large trees. The business is still family-owned and operated by his children, Vicki Archie Dossey and Rick Archie, and grandson Randall Archie.

The Archie family philosophy is to provide quality plants while offering the best customer service possible. The company moved to its current location off of Camp Bowie Boulevard in 1952.

While the scenic nursery carries plants, trees and other gardening items; indoor plants are another facet of the business that has recently taken off.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and it’s been fun for me to see the popularity of indoor plants growing,” Randall says. “It expands our demographic of customers. So, a lot of younger gardeners are coming in and learning the ropes.”

Indoor gardening has multiple benefits including a boost in mood and better air quality.

A 2017 National Institute of Health study found that horticultural therapy increased feelings of well-being among patients with depression, anxiety, dementia and other conditions.

Steve McCoy is the resident indoor plant expert at Archie’s. 

“Our number one seller by far is snake plants or the mother-in-law tongues. They’re super easy and will grow in bright light or low light,” McCoy says. “We also sell a lot of ficus tree varieties like fiddle leaf fig trees.”

Fiddle leaf fig trees have a tricky reputation because they require lots of direct sunlight.

Steve explains an easier alternative is a ficus named Audrey. It’s a close relative of the fiddle leaf fig but is easier to care for indoors with a comparable appearance and growth habit.

For customers looking for air purification, McCoy suggests a family of plants called aroids. Snake plants belong to the aroid family but so do ivy, spider plants, Chinese evergreen, dracaena and dieffenbachia. Peace lilies are a flowering option of aroids. Many of these easy-to-grow variants sport beautiful variegated leaves in either white or pink.

Black Thumb?

Many customers complain they struggle to keep their plants alive. 

“In the industry we call it deny and neglect. Two-thirds of people kill their plants because they give them too much TLC,” McCoy says. “Try to leave your plants alone and let them do their thing.”