Folks, here is an opportunity you do not want to pass up. On Saturday June 20 from 10 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon Sunnyside Nursery is going to host a meet the designer day. This is an absolutely free event where you can sit down with a professional garden designer for 30 minutes and go over plan concepts for your yard.

We have brought together 8 of the top local designers from the Snohomish area to help you create that yard of your dreams. Want to plant a perennial border? No problem, we’ll match you up with one of our perennial specialists. How about some raised beds for veggies, a few fruit trees and some berries. We’ve got just the person for you to talk to. Roses your passion? We can do that one too. Or maybe a hot, dry slope, or damp boggy area, or windy site with salt spray. Yes, we can help you there. Interested in installing a rain garden? We’ve got all the information for that project. What about a green roof or living wall. No problem. Want to go native or create a wild life sanctuary? Yup, we got just the ticket. Deer driving you nuts? Help is on the way.

All you have to do is call the nursery before June 20th and set up an appointment time between 10am and 4pm. Then to get the maximum benefit from your consultation you need to do some homework. Take lots of digital photos and print them out on 8.5 by 11 paper. Please don’t bring in your cell phone and ask us to decipher your pictures, it’s just too hard to see in the daylight. Next you will need to take some measurements of the area you are interested in designing and plot them out on a piece of paper.

When you do your plotting be sure and notate which way is north so we can figure out if your site has morning sun or afternoon sun or no sun at all. Make some notes about slopes or wet areas or utilities that need to be worked around or windows that can’t be blocked or views that you want to preserve. The more information you can bring in the better. Don’t worry about exact measurements unless your husband is an engineer. In that case let him do all the measuring. It will be a sneaky way to get him involved in the project.

Don’t expect a full blown landscape plan. After all, this is just a 30 minute visit. The concept here is to help you out with specific projects or perhaps help you develop an overall concept for your yard that you can then further develop on your own or with an appointment with one of the designers.

In short, June 20 is the day to come to Sunnyside Nursery with all your questions and photos and measurements, ready to sit down and hammer out a plan so you can go back home and get to work. Many of the time slots have already filled up so call today to reserve a spot. Remember, this event is absolutely free. The only cost is your time.

Hope to see you at the nursery on June 20.

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville and can be reached at 425-334-2002 or online at info@sunnysidenursery.net.