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Recent Blog Posts

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The Greenhouse Café Is Now Open at MRT North Venice

We are excited to share something that has been almost two years in the making: the Greenhouse Café at our MRT North Venice location is officially soft open. The idea behind the café is simple. We want to make shopping at MRT even more enjoyable by giving our customers a place to grab a drink,...

Hurricane Prep for Your Home, Your Family, and Your Sanity

Last week we talked about getting your landscape and garden ready for hurricane season, which is important because nobody wants their patio chair, potted hibiscus, or half-dead hanging basket to become airborne and introduce itself to the neighbor’s lanai. This week, we’re moving closer to the...

Hurricane Prep for your Yard

Hurricane season officially starts June 1, which means it is time for every Floridian to begin the annual tradition of saying, “I should probably get ready,” while also hoping that somehow counts as getting ready. It does not. When most people think about hurricane prep, they think about water,...

Memorial Day BBQ Prep

Memorial Day weekend is one of those weekends that sneaks up fast. One minute you’re saying, “We should have people over this year,” and the next minute there are twelve people in your backyard, someone is asking where the bottle opener is, the cooler is somehow already out of ice, and the person...

Memorial Day Yard Prep: Make the Outside Look Good Before Everyone Comes Over

Memorial Day weekend is almost here, which means cookouts, company, cold drinks, and the official start of “everyone is coming over, so now we have to fix all the things we ignored since January.” Memorial Day is more than the unofficial start of summer, a long weekend, or an excuse to gather...

This Week at MRT: Mother’s Day, Community Milestones, and Local Nonprofits Worth Celebrating

Before we get started, a quick reminder: Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 10. If you have not already picked up a card, flowers, a plant, or something thoughtful for Mom, this is your friendly nudge to do it before the weekend rush. Last week, we spent time talking about some of the seasonal...

Mother’s Day Gifts That Look Thoughtful Because They Actually Are

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10, which means there is still time to get something beautiful, useful, and not purchased in a panic from the endcap at the grocery store. Mom has kept things alive for years. You, your siblings, probably a few questionable houseplants, and maybe even that one fern...

Summer Lawn Expectations

If you’ve been around Southwest Florida long enough, you can feel the shift this time of year. The weather starts leaning a little more serious, the humidity creeps back in, and just like that, some of our favorite seasonal residents start packing up and heading north. To all of our snowbirds...

Get Your Landscape Ready Before the Summer Rains

April in Southwest Florida is always a bit of a gamble. Some years the rain shows up right on schedule like clockwork, and other years…well, it keeps missing its flight. If this winter and early spring felt especially dry, you’re not imagining it. We’ve had a stretch of weather that’s left a lot of...

Mulch and Weeding for Spring in SWFL

Spring has officially sprung in Southwest Florida… and if the longer evenings haven’t tipped you off yet, daylight savings time definitely has. With that, our store hours have shifted a bit, so here’s the quick rundown: our South Venice and Port Charlotte MRT ACE locations are now open Monday...

When Should You Fertilize Shrubs & Palm Trees in Southwest Florida?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after talking to customers about their yards for years, it’s that palm trees seem to confuse people more than just about any other plant. Folks will fertilize their lawn religiously, but the palms towering over the yard haven’t been fed since the day they were...

Best Vegetables & Flowers to Plant in March in Southwest Florida

If you’ve lived in Southwest Florida for more than five minutes, you know March isn’t “spring” the way the rest of the country thinks about it. Up north they’re just starting to thaw out. Down here? We’re already sliding toward heat, humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms. And that’s exactly why...

Springtime Lawn Fertilizing

Spring Lawn Care in Southwest Florida Here in Port Charlotte and Venice, March is when we really start to see lawns wake up. As temperatures warm and days get longer, St. Augustine, Zoysia, and Bahia grasses begin pushing new green growth. It’s usually about this time that customers start coming...

Winter’s “One More Thing…”

Just when we all started putting the jackets away and confidently saying, “Well, that’s over,” here we are again. Tuesday morning is expected to dip to around 36° in Venice and Port Charlotte. Not brutal, not historic — just enough to remind us that Florida winter likes to send one last “just...

Roses Are Red, Your Hibiscus Is Brown – Now What?

February in Florida usually means sunshine, blooming plants, and maybe picking up something red for Valentine’s Day. Instead, we found ourselves covering plants and wondering why the weather decided to test our commitment to this area we love. Cold weather has a way of slowing everything down —...

Because Florida Likes to Keep Us Guessing

Every time Florida gets a cold snap, we all have the same reaction: questioning our life choices. This is not why we live here. We signed up for palm trees, flip-flops, and complaining about the heat — not dragging plants into the garage and wondering why Florida suddenly forgot its own identity....

New to Southwest Florida?

New to Southwest Florida? Here are some things you should know about gardening in the subtropics- Are you a gardener and don’t understand why some of your plants aren’t surviving, or maybe you’re confused about Florida’s sandy soil, the blazing heat, and the high humidity? Maybe you were born in...

Thrillers, Fillers, Spillers Planting in Containers

When is the right time to add a new potted container at your house? In our opinion, it is always the right time to add a new potted container into the mix! First, you’ll need to decide the location of where you'll put your container and how much light it will receive. The most important question...

Winter Care For Your Plants

Florida weather conditions can be extreme or mild, one thing we do know, it’s very unpredictable. First off, we don’t really have a dormant season here like up north. Plants will grow year-round, all 12 months, (except for seasonal annuals of course)however, growth does slow down in the...

Shop Local This Holiday Season

Whether you need to purchase gifts, greeting cards, dinner fixin's, baked goods, twinkle lights, decorations or even just some extra chairs, a new welcome mat, spare bedding or one more air mattress, the holiday season can seem like it's all about shopping. It is easy to get overwhelmed with sales...

Pet Dangers During the Holiday Season

The holiday season is a stressful, hectic time, but it can also be a downright dangerous season for pets. Being aware of the hidden dangers that lurk in everything from holiday food and decorations to family visits is essential for all pet owners to safeguard their furred, feathered and scaled...

Hurricane Recovery

Hurricane damage and recovery in the garden: If you live in Southwest Florida, you and your garden has probably been through a few (to many) hurricanes – especially in the last month. This blog post will help you recover your garden and landscaping, if possible. As Floridians, we are all too...

MRT Announces The Addition Of A New Venice North Location!

Here we grow again! MRT Lawn and Garden Center is excited to announce the addition of a new location at 385/395 US 41 Bypass N., Venice, FL 34285. With an expected opening of 2025, this location will offer a full-service retail garden center with home decor, apparel, pottery, outdoor furniture, and...

Summer Gardening: Keeping Your Plants And Garden Healthy

Pests: Monitor your garden weekly for harmful insects. Knowing which insects attack a plant can allow for faster identification and easier treatment. Bugs often hide on the underside of leaves, on new growth and at the base of leaf stems. If you see bugs on your plants, take a clear photo on your...

Heat Advisories! Protecting Your Plants From Heat Stress

Watering your plants deeply in the morning will help to combat heat stress during the day. Thorough watering also encourages the roots to grow downwards, plants with deep roots are much more resilient and capable of withstanding dry spells and extreme heat. (Water your plants slowly and...