Judy’s garden shop springs into its fourth season
After impatiently waiting through winter-enforced idleness, Judy and Jeff Dalnes are back at their garden shop on Northwest Boulevard, almost completely recovered from their bout with spring fever.
They made a brief trip to a large annual garden show in Seattle during February and that just intensified their spring fever, Judy said, adding that they did get some new ideas from the “fun show.”
This will be the fourth season for the couple at Judy’s Enchanted Garden at 2628 W. Northwest Blvd., and their entry into business has obviously been successful so far. Judy acts as the gardener, Jeff as the general factotum.
The Dalneses have been married 25 years, and Judy has spent much of her working life in various garden shops in the city. Jeff has worked in construction and on remodeling projects, experience that came in handy when they were reconfiguring the building on their business property.
The couple purchased what had been one of the many service stations that pocked the boulevard before being closed down by various oil companies to become street-side eyesores.
With the help of “a lot of family and friends,” several weeks of applying elbow grease, adding fencing and brightly colored paint plus the addition of numerous plants and other garden features, they transformed the site, allowing for a somewhat late opening on May 1, 2004.
“Several people from the neighborhood have dropped by to tell us how much they appreciated what we have done to the place,” Judy said.
Jeff, by the way, recently finished work on giving the remodeled building an appropriate rustic look.
Their garden shop offers every thing from seeds to plants, Judy said. “Perennials, annuals, house plants, trees, shrubs, specimen evergreens, herbs, vegetables and heirloom tomatoes, a little bit of everything,” she said
And they offer some other items that don’t grow: Concrete benches and stepping stones, bird baths, a selection of flower pots and garden art, plus fertilizer and potting soil.
Also important, some worthwhile advice is always available from Jim King, “our one full-time employee,” Judy added. “He has a lot of knowledge and some college background that I don’t have. He can consult with people on plans for their yards.”
The Dalneses have a short commute to their long days at the business. They live with sons Tanner, 19, and Levi, 17, in a house on a double lot north of Audubon Park that they have occupied most of their married life. The boys, of course, help out at the business.
Like their business site, they have transformed their home, remodeling the house to add a second floor. Additions to the yard include numerous trees and shrubs and various perennials. The house sits on the back of the lot so that when the shrubs and trees leaf out and everything else is in bloom, it is difficult to see the residence from the street.
One of their admiring neighbors noted that they really had to begin selling plants because there wasn’t room for any more at their home.