Garden guides
A little know-how.
A garden you love.
Practical growing advice for your plants, containers and garden, from our team in Andover. Find a topic, follow the seasons, or bring us your question.
Family-grown in Andover since 1959
Hands-on knowledge, from the greenhouse.
Where to begin
Start with your space and the season. These resources will help you choose your next step.
A good entrance starts with the right plants in the right spots and beds that hold their shape all year. Our team plants to New England’s seasons and delivers bulk mulch and loam in and around Andover — so your front walk looks cared for from the first thaw to the holidays.
A year of planting, tending and planning. Use these seasonal notes for your garden, and check our current hours before visiting.
Cool-season color leads the way — pansies, violas and ornamental kale shrug off a light frost. Clean up beds, sharpen tools, and dream up this year’s containers.
The big one. Once frost danger passes, plant geraniums, hanging baskets, mixed annuals, basil and patio tomatoes. Bring Mom and plant something beautiful.
Fill in the gaps with heat-lovers like mandevilla, and keep everything thriving: water deeply in the morning, deadhead often, and feed containers regularly.
The greenhouse takes a rest. Keep watering and deadheading, mulch to hold moisture, and start planning your fall beds. Landscaping and gift cards run all summer.
We reopen. Hardy garden mums, fall asters and ornamental kale carry the color. Fall is also a good time to plant shrubs and set spring bulbs, giving roots time to settle before winter.
Tuck in the last bulbs, empty and store your containers, and give beds a final tidy. Time to swap summer displays for cool-weather greens and evergreens.
Greenhouse-grown poinsettias, fresh greens and handmade wreaths take over. Keep a poinsettia happy in bright, indirect light and away from cold drafts.
The greenhouse sleeps and so should the garden. Care for your houseplants — a Boston fern loves humidity — and start sketching next spring. Gift cards are available year-round.
The guide library
The same practical advice we give across the greenhouse bench, organized by topic.
Watch a spot for a day before you plant it. Six-plus hours of direct sun is full sun — think geraniums and patio tomatoes. Dappled or morning-only light is shade, where impatiens and Boston fern are happiest. Match the plant to the light and you’ve won most of the battle.
Find sun & shade picks
Baskets dry fast up in the breeze. Water until it runs from the bottom, most mornings in summer — sometimes twice on a hot day. Feed lightly every week or two, and pinch off spent blooms so mandevilla and petunias keep pushing new color instead of setting seed.
See our baskets
The old rule still works: a thriller, a filler, and a spiller. One tall focal plant, a mound of color around it, and something to trail over the edge. Keep every plant on the same light and water needs, and use fresh potting mix — not garden soil — so roots breathe.
Custom planters
When the nights cool, hardy garden mums, fall asters and ornamental kale carry your porch to Thanksgiving. Fall is also a good time to plant shrubs and tuck in spring bulbs — giving roots time to establish before winter.
Plan your fall
A poinsettia lasts weeks in bright, indirect light — away from cold drafts and hot vents, watered only when the top of the soil feels dry. For fresh wreaths and mixed greens, join a workshop and build your own, or let us make one to match your door.
Explore workshops
Good beds start under the plants. Loam gives roots something to grow into; a two-to-three-inch layer of mulch holds moisture, keeps weeds down and feeds the soil as it breaks down. Keep mulch off the stems and trunks. We deliver bulk mulch and loam all year.
Bulk mulch & loamGuides only go so far. Tell us your light, your space and what you’re hoping for, and our growers will point you to the right plants — or design a custom planter to match your porch. Three generations of answers, from the people who grow it.
For three generations, our family has grown seasonal plants and helped Andover gardeners plan for New England's real seasons. That is why this guide is honest about frost dates, the greenhouse's summer and winter rests, and fall planting for shrubs and bulbs.
When you’re ready, come see it for yourself. We serve the Merrimack Valley, New Hampshire and Maine, with a flat $20 local delivery in Andover and free pickup.
We’re a seasonal greenhouse, so timing matters. Here’s the plain version.
Spring, summer, fall and the holidays. We close for a summer break (Jul 5–Sep 2) and deep winter (Dec 26–Mar 31), and reopen for fall on September 3.
Landscaping, bulk mulch & loam, and gift cards are available all year — even when the greenhouse is on a seasonal break. Free pickup, or $20 flat delivery in Andover.
Our team has been answering “what should I plant?” in Andover since 1959. Browse the plant library, plan a project, or reach out and we’ll help you make the most of the season you’re in.
(978) 375-9303 · konjoiansghls@gmail.com · 225 Chandler Road, Andover MA · Serving the Merrimack Valley, New Hampshire & Maine