We are back on West Broadway!!!

We are please to announce that we have found a new location on West Broadway for a garden center!

It has been just over two years since our store at 2084 West Broadway closed. The new store will be located at 2560 West Broadway between Larch and Trafalgar. The new store is located on only five short block away from our old location.

We have been looking for a new location for the past two years and are really excited to be back on Broadway to serve the Kitsilano neighbourhood.

Our new store will be opening in mid to late March. Please check back for more information.

New Address:

2560 West Broadway, Vancouver BC, V6K 3T3

Surrey Store

Our Surrey store continues to operate without interruption. It will continue to grow and be the cornerstone for future growth for David Hunters. Our Surrey store is located at the corner of 152nd Street and 72nd Avenue.

15175 – 72nd Avenue, Surrey, BC

If you would like to visit us at our Surrey location you can easily reach us by car or transit.

Directions from Vancouver – Driving

Approximate Time: 40 minutes

Option #1

Drive south down Oak Street onto Highway 99

Take the Highway 91 exit east

Exit highway 91 at 72nd Avenue

Follow 72nd Avenue to 152nd street

Option #2

Take Highway #1 East

Exit highway #1 at 152nd Street

Follow 152nd Street to 72nd Avenue

Directions from Vancouver – Public Transit

Approximate Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Saturday and Sunday

Option #1

Take the Sky Train – Expo Line to King George Station

Catch the “320 Fleetwood” Bus at King George Station to the Guildford Exchange

Catch the “375 White Rock South” Bus at the Guildford Exchange to 152nd Street and 72nd Avenue

Option #2

Take the Sky Train – Expo Line to King George Station

Catch the “335 Fleetwood” Bus at King George Station to the Guildford Exchange

Catch the “375 White Rock South” Bus at the Guildford Exchange to 152nd Street and 72nd Avenue

Monday to Friday

Take the Sky Train – Expo Line to King George Station

Catch the 345 Bus at King George to 152nd street and 72nd Avenue

Add colour to your winter garden with Witch Hazel!

Witch hazels, also known as Hamamelis, are excellent deciduous shrubs to add to your winter garden. Known best for their colourful flowers and beautiful fragrance no garden would be complete without at least one variety of Witch Hazel. The flowers are beautiful during late winter and early spring from December to February.

The stems of this plant also add structure to your garden. During the summer the green leaves provide an excellent backdrop for other flowering shrubs or excellent shade for your hosta’s or other shade plants.

Witch hazels are hardy to zone 5 (-15 F, or -23 C) and most will grow to 8 to 12 feet high and 6 to 8 feet wide. They are easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. They flower best in a sunny location. They prefer moist, acidic, organically rich soils and can tolerate heavy clay soils.

As they grow it is important to remove sucker shoots that grow from the root system to prevent them from spreading. For general pruning give them a light pruning in spring after flowering to control shape and size.

The x intermedia hybrids (H. mollis x H. japonica) are large deciduous shrubs which typically grow 12-20′ tall and feature mid to late winter flowers.

The witch hazels rarely have serious insect or disease problems. They occasional get insect galls (caused by small wasps) on the foliage. Japanese beetles may chew on the leaves in some areas.

You can choose from the following varieties this year:

• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Arnold’s Promise’ - bright yellow flowers
• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Diane’ – bright orange
• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Jelena’ – vibrant yellow flower
• Hamamelis mollis ‘Pallida’ – pale yellow flowers
• Hamamelis intermedia ‘Sunburst’ – bright yellow

It is time to spray your Fruit Trees, Roses, and other or other deciduous shrubs with a dormant spray!

The dormant spray kit contains Lime Sulphur and Horticultural Oil. The Lime sulphur helps to prevent the spread of fungal spores while the horticultural oil helps to kill the eggs of insects. The sulphur and oil can be combined and sprayed at the same time. You can use any type of sprayer including trigger sprayers, pressure sprayer, or tank sprayers.

Your Fruit Trees, Roses, and other ornamental shrubs can be sprayed on a clear day when the temperatures are above zero celcius.

Come in today to pick up your kit and have it ready for the next clear day.

Add colour to your winter garden with Primula!

If you are looking to add a little colour to your winter garden a fresh delivery of Primula have arrived. Also known as Primrose these hardy plants are great for adding colour to your pots, containers, and gardens. With a range of colours from Pink, Purple, Red, Yellow and White you can be sure to find the right colour for your garden. They make a great planting over your spring bulbs as they will not get in the way when your crocus, tulips, or daffodils grow through them. Be sure to stop by and check out the colours we have available for you.

Winter is a quiet time for your lawn. There is very little you need to do to a lawn in winter.

Starting a New Lawn

Once we start to receive frost at night it is too late to start a new lawn or over-seed your existing lawn. It is best to wait until warmer weather in the spring to apply lawn seed. Nigh time temperatures should be above freezing for 4 to 6 weeks continuously for the seed to successfully germinate.

Watering your Lawn

The cool wet weather means that you do not have to water your lawn again until the spring. However it is important to watch the lawn in the winter to determine if there are any low spots where water is collecting. Make note of these areas as you will need to aerate and add sand in the spring to improve drainage.

If you apply lime and/or fertilizer to your lawn it is best to water them in thoroughly. Usually an hour is enough to work the lime or fertilizer into the soil. Leaving the lime or fertilizer on the surface of the grass burns the tops of the blades.

Mowing your Lawn

Cold winter temperatures slow the growth of your lawn. This reduces the need to cut it at regular intervals. You likely do not need to cut your lawn at all during the winter. So one final cut in October or November should be all you need to do.

Applying Moss Control

Winter is not the best time to apply Moss Control to your lawn. The Moss has gone dormant and has probably already spread the spores that will grow next year. You can rake out the moss by hand or use/rent a power rake to do it more effectively. The best time to apply Moss Control is in the spring between March and April.

Fertilizing your Lawn

Winter is a time when the lawn does not need to be given any fertilizer. You will not need to fertilize your lawn again until the spring when it starts to grow again.

Lime should not be applied during winter either. An exces of lime too late in the season can cause diseases on your lawn.

Heavenly Helleborus!

Helleborus, or Christmas Rose, are an easy to grow perennial that bloom continuously for many months. Some varieties start in early December and can bloom until March. They grow best in a dry shady location. They are fairly disease resistent, drought tolerant, and deer resistent. For more infomation about growing Helleborus click here.

For 2011 you can choose from a number of the “Helleborus Gold Collection” (HGC) varieties as well as several varieties that have proven their worth over the years:

• Cinnamon Snow (HGC) – pink buds open creamy white
• Double Queen Mix – double flowers
• Ivory Prince - an excellent cream colour that blooms profusely
• Jacob (HGC) – pure white blooms, slightly fragrant
• Josef Lemper (HGC) – upward facing cup shaped pure white flowers
• Pink Frost (HGC) – burgundy and white blooms
• Silver Dollar - Corsican type with silver foliage
• Winter Bliss (HGC) – creamy white flowers with pink centres

Choose from a fresh selection of Seeds

Our seed suppliers have started to ship us their new seeds for 2012. These fresh new seeds are ready to grow. Now is a great time to to start many of them in your home to be ready to plant in your garden when the warmer weather arrives in April and May. Most seeds can now be started indoors in a sunny window.

You can choose from the following seed companies:

• Pacific Northwest Seeds
• Renee’s Garden Seeds
• West Coast Seeds

Click here for our Seed Starting Brochure

Click here for the list of our 2012 West Coast Seeds

Click here for the list of our 2012 Renee’s Garden Seeds

Winter is a time where very little needs to be done to your water garden. If you have a nice day and you want to get out in the garden the best thing to do is to clean out the debris that has built up in the bottom of your pond.

If tempreatures get too cold and the surface of you pond begins to freeze you should melt a hole in the surface of the ice to ensure that any fish in your pond continue to get oxygen.

Your shrubs will benefit if you take the time to prune them. Pruning should focus on enhancing the shape of the shrubs as well as removing any dead branches. You should be careful not to prune early spring blooming shrubs like Forsythia as pruning them too early might reduce the amount of blooms you see in the spring. When you come by the store pickup our Practical Pruning brochure and ask one of our staff about what you should be pruning now.

You can also spray your deciduous shrubs, like your roses, with the Lime Sulphur and Dormant Oil combination spray. This spray will help to reduce the fungal and insect infections that you may get during the season.

From all of us at David Hunter Garden Centers we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Thank you for being our customers. We hope that you are looking forward to spring when we get to see you all again. Let’s hope for a little more sunshine in the coming year to help our gardens grow and bloom.

Our Staff

Front Row: Rei, Phyuwin, Diane, Lindi

Back Row: Miles, Harry, Michelle, Christian

Missing: Jennifer, Kathy, Nadine, Sue, Cori Lynn