Garden Gate Nursery: 20 Years

Our Story

From a dream on the road to rows that stretch for miles

Garden Gate Nursery began with Everett and Sandra, and a slogan that still greets every visitor.

1985

Kansas roots, Washington horizons

Everett and Sandra came from Kansas after years managing their family dairy farm through hard financial times. In Washington they farmed hay, and kept dreaming of what might grow next.

Early 2000s

Named on a drive

Their son Chris remembers Everett and Sandra dreaming up a nursery while driving. They landed on the name Garden Gate Nursery, and Everett shared the slogan with Sandra: “Meet you at the Garden Gate!”

Everett and Sandra holding hands and smiling at each other in the nursery — Everett & Sandra

2005

Three rows in the ground

We planted three rows of trees and began the long learning curve of growing high-quality container trees in Eastern Washington: trial, error, and care, season after season.

July 2006

First order shipped

The nursery sold its first order, the start of serving landscapers, retailers, cities, and homeowners across the Pacific Northwest. We also plant 3 acres of pot-in-pot container trees. The whole family pitches in.

Long rows of young trees in pot-in-pot containers with a central dirt path — Rows of young container trees

2007

A family business

Grandkids, siblings, and grandparents all pitch in—planting, shipping, and growing together, with lot's of dining room table meetings. Rachel, Everett and Sandra's soon to be daughter in law, starts working at the nursery, who will one day become office manager.

Young woman in muddy work clothes standing under a nursery barn — Rachel hard at work

2008

A lot of work

Work continues at the nursery—planting bare-root trees, irrigation, staking, pruning and more.

Family and crew potting bare-root trees beside a mulch pile under the nursery barn — Potting bare-root trees

2011

Open to the public

Garden Gate hosts our first open to the public week, inviting Tri-Cities WA customers to tour the nursery and pick out large trees.

Young girl on a bicycle beside a Garden Gate Nursery Open to Public sign — Open to the public

2014

We open our Oregon nursery

To support our growing demand for conifer tree varieties, we open our Boring, Oregon growing location. In the Willamette valley, it's the ideal place to grow evergreen varieties.

Rows of young conifer trees in dark soil at the Boring, Oregon nursery — Conifers in Boring, Oregon

2015

Ismael joins the nursery full time

After being a crucial hay farm employee, Ismael is hired on the nursery to help his dad Pancho with production and management. He ends up managing production at our nursery location in Pasco.

Ismael smiling in front of a flatbed trailer loaded with balled evergreen trees — Ismael at the nursery

2016

Eric joins as nursery manager in Oregon

Eric, Everett and Sandra's son in law, takes the lead at our growing location in Boring, Oregon.

Eric smiling among rows of young trees at the Boring, Oregon nursery — Eric in Oregon

Today

Over 70,000 trees

Garden Gate has grown into a Tri-Cities company known for container trees shipped throughout the PNW and beyond: still family, still local, still glad to meet you at the gate.

Long rows of purple and green container trees at Garden Gate Nursery — Growing over 70,000 trees

Rows of maple trees with red and orange autumn leaves at Garden Gate Nursery — Fall at Garden Gate

Children smiling on a red golf cart among nursery tree rows — Rachel and her crew

Watch

A look at Garden Gate

See the nursery, the trees, and the people behind twenty years of growing.

How We Grow

High-quality container trees, season after season

From bare root to delivery, every tree spends years in our care before it reaches your landscape.

We bring in most of the trees we sell as two-year bare-root stock, plant them in containers with a soilless bark mix, and keep growing them for one to seven years.

Countless hours go into irrigation management, pest control, pruning, transplanting, and order fulfillment: the quiet work behind trees that thrive in the Pacific Northwest.

We deliver quickly across the PNW, and as a Tri-Cities company we are glad to serve local businesses and homeowners. Over the years we have hosted open-to-the-public events and welcome scheduled nursery visits.

Purple and green container trees lining a nursery path

Young trees in containers with drip irrigation lines

Close-up of white blossoms and pink buds on a nursery tree

People & Place

Pictures from over the years

Family, friends, and the trees that fill our fields: a look at life at Garden Gate.

Fall Anniversary

Celebrate 20 years with us

This fall we are offering a selection of our high-quality trees at a 35% discount on orders of 2 trees or more to Tri-Cities area homeowners..

Shop our online store for containers ready for your landscape, the same trees we have been growing with care since 2005.

Shop on gardengatetrees.com Call 509-547-2254

Local homeowners are welcome toschedule a nursery visit.

Maple trees in fall color along a nursery row

From Google

What customers say

Five-star reviews from neighbors and landscapers who have shopped Garden Gate.

Thank you for this beautiful tree, it's a perfect fit. I am pretty sure all of our trees came from your tree nursery.
William CrossGoogle review
Garden Gate Nursery has numerous tree species to choose from. During my visit, I couldn’t help but notice how healthy all trees looked, and how the grounds were so well kept. The staff was amazing to work with, and provided sound insight when deciding on the perfect tree for my space. I highly recommend using Garden Gate for your next tree purchase 👍😊👍
Kristina MarquardtGoogle review
Such a great experience and so happy we found this nursery! All of the people there were super friendly and the dogwood tree that we purchased is very healthy and beautiful! We will be going back.
Kristi SmithGoogle review
This is the 3rd year we've bought trees from Garden Gate Nursery, each time we've been impressed with the knowledge, friendliness and helpfulness; even telling us, in one instance that what we need we could get somewhere else. We look forward to when they open to the public each year. We've bought 10-12 trees so far and all are doing great. We won't buy a tree anywhere else! Thank you! PS Even if I wasn't going to buy a tree, I'd still go out there every year just for the experience, it's huge and amazing!
Valerie SchatzGoogle review
Amazing quality trees, incredible customer service. There is a reason Garden Gate has all 5 star reviews. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thanks so much for all of your help and for these beautiful trees!
Tiara DersGoogle review