An expanded plant sale and the return of a landscaper’s showcase area prompted a rejuvenated feel of inspiration for showgoers at the Clark Public Utilities Home and Garden Idea Fair April 25-26.
The landscaper showcase brought four area landscape design teams together to make a flowing interactive outdoor space surrounding a Battle Ground-built Wolf Industries tiny home.
“The landscapers have just done a fantastic job creating this whole interactive space, and it’s just been this huge draw that we were hoping it would be and it’s been so successful we hope to bring it back even bigger next year,” Clark PUD Communications Manager Dameon Pesanti said.
For Durant Fish, with Shovel and Thumb in Ridgefield, the Home and Garden Idea Fair is all about being a part of the community.
“We just love having the community be involved, walk through, see the potential, give people ideas,” Fish said, “talking them through what they can do themselves, or if we need to help them, you know. We can always offer that help, as well.”
In Shovel and Thumb’s display, everything they brought for their design was available either at their plant booth or back at their retail location at Northeast 199th Street and Northeast 10th Avenue.
The process to create the display put the Shovel and Thumb crew to work inside the Clark County Event Center for three and a half days, Fish said. The efforts were worth it, from both visitor feedback and the awards, such as best in show.
To learn more about Shovel and Thumb, visit shovelandthumb.com.
Neighboring Shovel and Thumb, Vulcan Design out of Vancouver put specialized pavers, custom water features, custom patio covers and more to the test for visitors’ inspiration.
For Vulcan Design, the Home and Garden Idea Fair is truly more than a home show.
“Everybody here loves this show more than the other shows across the Portland Metro area, and I kind of agree with it,” Derek Wyatt, with Vulcan Design, said. “Most of the home shows in the Portland metro area honestly are just kind of a big reverse sales pitch, whereas this one has like plants, which none of the other ones do. And then a lot of Clark County area businesses are here. People like to support locals, so that’s been good for us as well.”
Vulcan Design crafted some unique elements, such as a tapestry design with pavers underneath their crafted patio cover, as well as a metal water feature created by their own in-house fabricator, and more.
“So that kind of is our foot in the door to show them some of the design elements we can do,” Wyatt said. “... We do 100 percent free design consultations, and everything we do is 100 percent custom.”
To learn more about Vulcan Design, visit vulcandc.com.
