Organic Gardening News

Creeping thyme has an incredible citrus aroma as well as pretty purple flowers: plant it in your driveway or entrance path to greet visitors and welcome you home with a heady burst of lemon scent.

A simple household item could save you from pesky wasps dive-bombing your backyard barbeques this summer.

Are you a heavy-duty weeder, or more of a fashion-first sower? Why not both? No matter what kind of gardener you are, we've got the gloves for you in this buying guide.

A few well-timed May jobs can transform your roses – encouraging repeat flowering, stronger growth, and healthier plants through the summer months.

There are plants that ask for attention… and then there are the ones that quietly get on with it. These are the latter.

Yes, you can fill your patio with wonderful color, year after year, without having to water every day.

Weekly roundup of three properties that recently sold in Metro Vancouver.

1621 Adanac St., Vancouver

Type: Eight-bedroom, three-bathroom detached

Size: 2,854 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,615,100

Listed for: $1,598,000

Sold for: $1,625,000

Sold on: March 3

Days on market in this listing: Eight

Listing agent: Dickson Yau at 1NE Collective Realty

Buyers agent: Bob Bracken at ReMax Real Estate Services

The big sell: Buyers’ agent Bob Bracken reports that five offers were received for this East Vancouver property that had been in the same family since being bought from the builder 70 years’ ago. Located close to all the amenities that line Commercial Drive and next to Woodland Park, the house provides income revenue thanks to three separate rental suites that consist of three-bedroom units on both the top and main floors, and a two-bedroom unit on the lower floor alongside a shared utility room with laundry. A number of big-ticket updates have been undertaken recently including a newer roof and windows, modernized kitchens, a heat pump with air conditioning, and upgraded electrical, gas line, and furnace. The top two floors have city views as well as private outdoor space, and there is open parking to the rear of the property.

10331 Mortfield Rd., Richmond

Type: Four-bedroom, three-bathroom detached

Size: 3,307 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,703,000

Listed for: $1,699,000

Sold for: $1,525,000

Sold on: March 16

Days on market in this listing: Six

Listing agent: Shafik Ladha PREC at ReMax Westcoast

Buyers agent: Shuai Peng at Real Broker B.C. Ltd.

The big sell: This four-bedroom home resides in Richmond’s South Arm district in a residential neighbourhood bordered by Steveston Highway to the south and No.4 Road to the east. It was constructed in 1981 and offers four spacious bedroom upstairs alongside an office/recreation room which, at 19-by-20 feet, could easily be a fifth bedroom. The ground level comprises a tiled foyer complete with a semi-circular staircase leading to the upper floor, a bay window and focal point gas fireplace in the living room, a kitchen with eating area nestled between a formal dining room and a family room, and corridor access to the attached double garage off which is a laundry room, utility room, full bathroom and a sauna. Outside, the 7,335-square-foot lot is mainly laid to grass with mature landscaping and fencing around the perimeter, and both a covered and open patio for entertaining.

1 – 301 Klahanie Dr., Port Moody

Type: Three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse

Size: 1,751 square feet

B.C. Assessment: $1,266,000

Listed for: $1,349,900

Sold for: $1,349,900

Sold on: April 7

Days on market in this listing: Three

Listing agent: Terry Tea, Kevin Kam PREC and Kevin Chen PREC at Oakwyn Realty

Buyers agent: Rod Bahari PREC at Sutton Group – West Coast Realty

The big sell: This end-unit three-bedroom townhouse occupies a position within Currents, a 32-unit complex that forms part of Polygon’s master-planned Klahanie development. With Suter Brook Village, Newport Village, the West Coast Express and other amenities nearby, it more than checks the convenience box. Inside this home there are overheight ceilings, expansive windows, a kitchen with custom storage solutions, stainless-steel appliances including a gas range, stone countertops, and a large island, while the living area is resplendent with a new electric fireplace and built-in cabinetry, and the renovated primary ensuite has heated floors and bespoke storage. Outside, there are upgraded tiles, turf, and a gazebo in the backyard, while the garage offers additional flex space. A further bonus is that residents of the development enjoy exclusive access to the Canoe Club, a 15,000-square-foot facility with resort-style amenities. This home’s monthly maintenance fee is $534.96.

These transactions were compiled by Nicola Way of BestHomesBC.com.

Realtors – send your recent sales to nicola@besthomesbc.com

Related

• Sold Bought: Upgrades and versatile layout draw strong interest in Richmond home
• Sold (Bought): Competing offers push sale price of Kitsilano house over asking

If you find a Bradford pear tree growing in your yard, it's important to act fast to prevent this highly invasive plant from spreading. Here's what to do.

The most comfortable homes to live in or visit often have a certain je ne sais quoi , that indefinable quality that gives spaces an easy-going and calm ambience. Sometimes imbuing that relaxed atmosphere into a home just requires a few tweaks and one way to find the missing pieces of the puzzle is to consider how all five senses are integrated in the interior design.

Sight is usually the first way a person interacts with a space, and it shouldn’t be overwhelming, says Natalia Kwasnicki, partner at Vancouver-based Portico Design Group .

“You want the space to wash over you and allow your eye to consume it for all its parts and then enjoy those parts together. Things like balance, proportion and alignment help to build up the narrative of the space in a gentle, smooth way. It’s like a lightbulb slowly glowing brighter versus it suddenly turning on at full volume,” she says.

Oriana Gagnon Martinez, colour specialist at Sico Paint also notes that within seconds of entering a room, the human brain processes visual stimuli to determine if a space feels safe, clean, energetic or chaotic. Colour is a way to immediately assess that space, Martinez says, adding there is a shift in neutrals from whites and greys to greiges and soft browns, as well as an increase in popularity of greens and blues.

“Greens, blues and earthy tones mimic the natural world, which has been scientifically proven to reduce cortisol levels,” says Martinez.

While people still want neutral paint colours, they want warmth and to feel grounded, she says. Earthy browns and greens bring a sense of cosiness that greys or whites simply cannot provide, says Martinez, adding neutral tones and earthy colours suggest stability and cleanliness and lowers the cognitive load, making the space feel more inviting.

Job booking platform Taskrabbit, launched in Canada in 2020, released its first trend report earlier this year, The Five Senses of Home: How Canadians Are Designing Spaces in 2026 . To compile the report Taskrabbit evaluated year-over-year growth in specific task categories and keyword search frequency within service requests. For sight it found tasks featuring neutral tones are up (+53 per cent), including greens (+35 per cent), browns (+23 per cent), and blues (+17 per cent).

While it’s difficult to separate sight and touch when talking about texture, touch is vital when it comes to items that you physically interact with.

“The feeling of a carpet underfoot, the softness of a sofa, the fluffiness of a throw pillow creates a certain cosy mood in a home. Texture creates a feeling of something that you can tuck into, like a sweater,” says Kwasnicki.

Charyle Ross, principal of Burnaby-based Ross & Company Interiors says including different textures of fabrics, woods and metals gives a space visual depth.

“Without the combination of multiple textures, spaces can become very flat and one dimensional,” she says noting if you are designing a minimalist home, it’s important to add texture such as a wool throw so that it creates contrast with the clean, simple lines of the other contemporary pieces in the room.

Kwasnicki says a desire to be close to nature and the earth has brought a lot of texture into the home.

“When we think about that in the sense of texture, what we are seeing is more matte or leather finishes in our stone and tiles so that it feels more like it does in nature and not so manufactured,” she says. “We’re seeing a lot of handmade-looking tiles as well – moving away from the manufactured and pristine look and letting the material look more varied and unique.”

Ross says if a space lacks textiles, increase the sense of touch by adding pillows, a throw and rug by applying the “three texture rule” – one soft, one natural and one structured – and use a stripe to balance out a busier pattern.

Lighting evokes many senses and in a dining room it plays a major role in how food is enjoyed, impacting the sense of taste.

Ross believes lighting shapes the mood of a meal.

“Well lit dining areas create ambiance allowing meals to be more enjoyable, visually appealing and comfortable,” she says and suggests adding a memorable chandelier or pendant to enhance the space.

Kwasnicki notes warmer light versus cooler light will make everything on the table look more appetizing, and suggests portable movable lights (LED candles, or small lamps) as added layers and texture to the tablescape.

Sound is sometimes an overlooked sense in the backdrop of a home.

“The idea of ambient sound, like ambient light, is actually a really healing feature,” says Kwasnicki. “Think about sound machines, or speakers that provide gentle music throughout the home. When we’re thinking about finishes in a home, we never want a space to be full of hard surfaces only – softening a bathroom with a beautiful mat on the floor or creating some sound ambiance at a dining table with a fixture made of textiles versus glass helps to cut through the harshness of some sounds. The more texture you have in a home, the softer the soundscape will be and, similar to sight, will be soothing and less jarring.,”

Moving to the sense of smell, Kwasnicki connects it back to discussions about texture and the cosy factor.

“When I think about smells in a home I think about laundry, baths, flowers and diffusers. The more you live in a home, the more your home will smell like you and the life you live. Cooking, going to the farmers market, washing new bedding, watering your plants, opening the windows are all ways that we infuse scent into our homes without even thinking about it,” says Kwasnicki.

Ross says natural scents can determine a mood and add a sense of cleanliness and freshness.

“Room scents should barely be noticeable and avoid too many competing scents across rooms,” she advises.

Taskrabbit’s report found tasks that include rose (+34 per cent), flowers (+33 per cent) and scented (+29 per cent) show natural aromas are increasingly popular indoors.

The sense of smell is also closely aligned with taste and leads directly to the kitchen, typically the heart of the home.

“Green in a kitchen is having a moment, and I think it’s because it feels fresh and alive,” says Kwasnicki, adding neutrals also create a great setting. “You can infuse your own blast of colour into the space – a big bowl of fruit from the farmers market, the oil bottle you bought on your trip to Italy, the dish towels you inherited from Grandma – the kitchen is often where you see a lot of someone’s personality and taste.”

Martinez says when it comes to kitchens and food related spaces, the goal is to balance appetite stimulation with cleanliness. She suggests the best colours for these spaces include a deep forest green, like SICO’s 2026 Canadian Colour of the Year, Boreal Forest (6167-83) that provides a sophisticated, farm-to-table feel. For a coffee station or breakfast nook, warm browns evoke the richness of coffee beans and toasted grains – consider colours like, Café Glacé (6191-42) and Arabica (6191-83).

Creamy off-whites and soft yellows make the kitchen feel lived-in, joyful, and appetizing while still looking clean. Light blues are a good choice for morning people, says Martinez.

“They feel fresh and energizing. These hues also reflect more light, making a small or medium kitchen feel significantly larger and more open,” she says adding Natural Spring Water (6201-31) is a great choice for a coastal esthetic.

Smell can also correlate with air quality. Newer buildings have an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV)that improves indoor air quality by replacing stale air with fresh air from outside while homes without an ERV can use High-Efficiency Particulate Air filters (HEPA) in portable air purifiers to improve indoor air quality by removing airborne particles such as dust or pollen.

Indoor plants can improve air quality while also introducing another layer to create visual depth – a must for any of the interiors Ross designs.

Kwasnicki says while the addition of plants improves air quality, having something that is growing and alive will bring life to a space.

“It becomes the contrast to the hard surfaces, the boldness to the neutral tones and the texture we all want and love,” she says.

Related

• Home decor and heirlooms: Walking the line between curated and cluttered can be tricky
• Finding their fit: four designers, four pivotal turning points

An easy, effective gardening technique that is sustainable and great for plants. Can't get much better than that!

From improved drainage to easier harvesting, these herbs perform better in pots – making them perfect for patios, balconies, and small spaces.

If your garden sits on the darker side of the fence, look this way...

May can be a frenzy of bird activity with nesting and fledgling chicks so make sure your yard is ready for the rush. These little gestures will be hugely appreciated by your feathered friends and guarantee they keep coming back for more

There's one vegetable that common squash pests can't resist. Grow it just outside your garden to entice them away and keep your precious plants safe.

This elegant solar light fire bowl arrives in the middle aisle on May 6 and it's a backyard bargain – I’m wagering it won’t take long to sell out.

Easy and effective. That's what we like to see from a propagation hack! Take air layering to the next level with a simple water wick.

The tradition is back for another summer: Tickets are now on sale for the PNE Prize Home, this year in a new location in Surrey.

“We’re excited to introduce this year’s prize home in a brand-new community,” says PNE spokeswoman Laura Ballance in a news release. “Each year, we look for ways to evolve this long-standing tradition, and the 2026 home reflects that with its thoughtful design, vibrant setting and incredible prize package. We’re proud to continue creating something that captures the imagination of our guests year-after-year.”

The new residence, built by Foxridge Homes, is at 10100 Elderberry Cres. in Surrey’s northeast between Tynehead Regional Park to the west and Barnston Island to the northeast. It’s valued at over $2.3 million.

The 4,117-square-foot home is on three levels with seven bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms, and includes a separate two-bedroom legal suite.

“The space is designed as a bright and welcoming family haven, complete with an art room and games room, blending soft neutrals with warm woods and playful pops of colour to create a home that is both stylish and livable,” says the PNE.

It includes furnishings from Paramount Home & Design, appliances and electronics from Samsung, a B.C. Hydro EV charger and a Husqvarna yard maintenance package.

Tours of the prize home begin June 20 and run until Aug. 15, every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Get free tickets through TicketLeader starting in June.

Tickets for the PNE Prize Home include the Surrey house package, and are eligible for a bunch of other prizes, including five vehicles from Chevrolet and Cadillac; five $10,000 cash prizes; two $10,000 Metropolis at Metrotown shopping sprees; two seven-day cruises for two with Celebrity Cruises, plus $1,500 cash; a 2026 Suzuki Boulevard M109R motorcycle; a Beachcomber hot tub package; and a Woody’s travel trailer.

There are also four bonus draws throughout the summer, each with a prize of a seven-day cruise for two with Celebrity Cruises, plus $1,500 in cash.

Tickets are on sale now with prices the same as last year: two for $35, six for $80, 15 for $165 and 30 for $285. They can be bought online, through the PNE call centre at 604-678-4663 or toll free at 1-877-946-4663, and at select mall locations after June 1.

Related

• FIFA Fan Festival free concerts: Here's the lineup
• Freedom Mobile Arch amphitheatre: See the new venue

Give your lawn the boost it needs this spring with a handful of practical tasks that improve growth, reduce weeds, and fill in bare spots.

Traditional Japanese homes often follow the philosophy of wabi-sabi, an appreciation for imperfection and asymmetry. If elements are flawed, worn out or unbalanced, rather than scrambling to fix them, the theory goes, it’s better to not only accept but celebrate a place’s peccadillos. The pursuit of perfection, after all, is an exercise in futility and an express train to stress.

The couple who commissioned the Sakura Estate in Coquitlam back in 1963 were not known to be Japanese themselves, but they obviously embraced the wabi-sabi sentiment when envisioning their new mid-century modern home.

“Its luxury comes from the materiality: it’s simple, reduced, peaceful,” says listing agent Trent Rodney, co-founder of West Coast Modern real estate agency. “Everything is locally sourced with a Japanese sensibility.”

That sensibility starts with the property’s namesake, the Sakura, a 60-year-old cherry blossom tree that presides over the front yard. Adjacent to the entrance courtyard, the covered two-vehicle carport’s eaves curve up like a pagoda. After passing through two motor court gates and continuing along a curved driveway, then over circular paving stones that look like lily pads, and across slate tiles, you pass underneath translucent tōrō lanterns, historically used to line and illuminate paths around Buddhist temples and shrines.

Hand set, locally sourced Squamish granite columns frame the entrance courtyard, and a skylight illuminates the pebbled pathway leading to the home’s double mahogany doors.

“Each element slows movement and creates a staged arrival in the entrance foyer that feels like you’ve entered the insides of a supersized Japanese lantern,” says Rodney.

The California-style pool in the backyard was inspired by American landscape architect Thomas Church, characterized by the kidney-shaped design that blends with the surrounding landscape. “Granite monoliths, tall vertical stones near the pool and outdoor fireplace, function as sculptural landscape elements and reference traditional Japanese stone garden placement,” says Rodney.

Japanese maples, cedar and wisteria ensure privacy, while a small balsam fir edging the pool evokes the bonsai and standing stones in many temple gardens.

“The architect for the Sakura, G. Douglas Wylie, collaborated with landscape architects Muirhead and Justice, both heavily influenced by Japanese planning,” says Rodney. “They approached the landscape and building as one, (which) are all linked to the Japanese origin hundreds of years ago.” In fact, this residence is one of only two of Wylie’s known designed homes, the other being the Taylor residence in New Westminster.

An outdoor living space with a built-in fireplace makes for a peaceful place to take in the property’s expanse of green lawn year-round.

What’s inside

The Japanese influence carries into the bungalow’s interior with sliding shoji screens that open onto a sunken living room encased in glass and cedar planes reminiscent of a Kyoto tea house. The exterior Squamish granite walls extend to the fireplace wall inside.

“The primary fireplace itself is described as “Wrightian” because its design recalls the fireplace compositions of Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1940s and 1950s, where the hearth functioned as the structural and visual anchor of the home,” says Rodney. “While Wright never built in British Columbia, his influence shaped many West Coast modern architects.”

During a later renovation, slate flooring was added to the kitchen and bathrooms to match the original material palette, while refined marble covers the entrance and formal areas, and new carpets were laid in the bedrooms.

Other improvements over the years include kitchen upgrades such as granite countertops, teak cabinetry with iron hardware balances, Thermador appliances, and a built-in coffee station. A suspended glass cabinet and shelving that divide the kitchen from the dining space reflects the mid-century design.

Rodney says this type of home is an endangered species, particularly in Coquitlam. “The highrises in the distance aren’t so distant anymore, they’re coming in closer. It is in a fast developing area, and when we have fast developing that’s when we lose these things. There’s no protection; the track record for these types of homes is demolition, a reality of the last 10 years. We’re trying to celebrate living with more intention and maximizing your sense of space, integrating indoor and outdoor with the Japanese principles, living in the entire site (and) maximizing available square footage.”

He says the home would appeal to creatives — filmmakers, musicians, art dealers, tech entrepreneurs — anyone looking for a sanctuary from the outside world. “These places can be inspiring, not just because they’re cool looking from an esthetic perspective but because they encourage us to slow down and embrace nature.”

In the neighbourhood

There are many public and private elementary, middle and high schools nearby, some within walking distance. The Vancouver Golf Club is a few minutes away, as are shops, restaurants and other services along Austin Avenue and North Road. A bit farther away are Lougheed Mall and Costco.

The Lougheed SkyTrain Station is also close by, as is access to the Trans-Canada Highway that takes you west through Burnaby and into Vancouver, or east into Surrey and the Fraser Valley.

Location:701 Dansey Avenue, Coquitlam

Listed for: $3,850,000

Year built: 1963

Type: Five bedrooms, four bathrooms

Size: 5,372 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Trent Rodney, West Coast Modern Real Estate

Related

• Property Watch: Ocean-view Bowen Island home’s expansive decks are perfect for year-round outdoor entertaining
• Property Watch: Oak Bay heritage home sprung from farmland to coveted neighbourhood

These are my ride or die gardening gadgets that help to make my backyard low maintenance.