PASCO, Wash. | September 2026 — Twenty years ago, Everett and Sandra Wray took a chance on a new kind of crop.
They had spent years farming hay in the Columbia Basin when, during a drive together, they began talking about doing something different. They knew farming. They knew the land. And they were looking for an opportunity that could build on what they already knew while creating something new for their family.
Then Everett had an idea.
"We could call it Garden Gate Nursery!"
And almost as quickly, they had a tagline:
"Meet you at the Garden Gate."
That conversation ultimately became Garden Gate Nursery, a family business that has spent the past 20 years growing trees, serving landscapers and communities throughout the Pacific Northwest, and becoming known for high-quality, large container-grown trees.
This year, Garden Gate is celebrating 20 years in business.
From 450 trees to a Pacific Northwest nursery
The first Garden Gate trees were planted as an experiment in 2005. Everett and Sandra started with just 450 trees, hoping to fill a growing need for high-quality landscape trees in the Tri-Cities.
The experiment worked.
The following year, they planted approximately 6,000 trees, and in July 2006 Garden Gate shipped its first order of trees.
"It just grew from there," Everett recalled.
What started as a small diversification from hay farming eventually became a full-scale nursery operation.
Today, Garden Gate grows tens of thousands of trees across its operations in Washington and Oregon, with hundreds of varieties available for landscapes throughout the Pacific Northwest. The nursery primarily serves landscape contractors, retail nurseries, cities and other professional customers, while also periodically opening its farm to local homeowners.
The nursery's primary location is at 2761 W. Sagemoor Road in Pasco, where rows of container-grown trees now stand among the farmland that has been home to the Wray family's agricultural work for decades. Garden Gate also operates a growing location in Boring, Oregon, where the climate is particularly well suited for growing many of its conifer trees.
Learning to farm trees
Starting a nursery was not simply a matter of replacing hay with trees.
It was an entirely new type of farming.
The Wrays had to learn how to grow, prune, fertilize, transplant, irrigate and protect a crop that could take years to reach its final customer. Unlike a traditional agricultural crop, every tree requires individual attention, and the finished product may spend years moving through progressively larger containers before it ever reaches a landscape.
Today, Garden Gate's trees are grown in a bark-based container mix and receive individual care, including irrigation, pruning, fertilization, staking and disease management. Depending on the tree, the process from propagation to the customer can take several years.
That long growing process is a large part of what Garden Gate believes sets its trees apart.
"Our goal is that every tree that comes from our farm is in perfect health so that the end user will never have to worry about its survival," the Garden Gate team says.
When properly cared for after planting, the nursery reports that its trees have a near 100% survival rate.
Growing trees for the Northwest
Garden Gate has built its reputation around container-grown shade and ornamental trees, offering a wide selection of varieties suited to landscapes throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The nursery grows trees ranging from maples and other large shade trees to flowering ornamentals and conifers. Its container-growing system allows trees to be transported and planted with fewer seasonal restrictions than many traditionally grown trees, which has made them particularly useful for landscape contractors, municipalities and retail nurseries.
Over the years, Garden Gate's customers have expanded well beyond the Tri-Cities.
The nursery now ships trees throughout Washington, Oregon and Idaho, with customers and projects extending into areas including Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Seattle, Portland and beyond. Garden Gate delivers directly to job sites and businesses throughout the region.
The result is a somewhat unusual sight in the Columbia Basin: a forest growing in the middle of farmland.
A family business
Although Garden Gate has grown substantially over the past two decades, it remains a family business.
Everett and Sandra started the nursery together, and their children have become part of the operation over the years. Their family has been involved in everything from growing and caring for trees to managing the business and building the technology that helps Garden Gate serve customers.
For Everett, the decision to start the nursery came later in life. He was 56 years old when Garden Gate opened.
Looking back, he sometimes jokes that starting a nursery at 56 may have been part of a midlife crisis.
Twenty years later, however, it is hard to argue with the results.
What began as an experiment with a few hundred trees has become a business that has provided decades of work, relationships, challenges and fulfillment for the Wray family and the people who have worked alongside them.
Celebrating 20 years
To celebrate Garden Gate's 20th anniversary, the family has created a special website telling the story of how two hay farmers started growing trees and how that small experiment developed into the nursery it is today.
The anniversary website includes the history of Garden Gate and the people behind it.
Visit the 20-year celebration at:
20-years.gardengatetrees.com
Garden Gate is also celebrating by giving Tri-Cities homeowners an exclusive opportunity to purchase trees directly from the nursery.
For a limited time, local homeowners can receive 35% off online orders of five or more trees.
The Garden Gate online shop allows customers to browse the trees currently available and see photographs of the actual trees being offered. New photographs were taken on September 7, 2026, so customers can see what the trees look like as they enter the fall planting season.
Shop Garden Gate trees:
gardengatetrees.com/shop/trees
Although Garden Gate is primarily a wholesale nursery, the family has enjoyed finding ways to connect directly with local homeowners. The nursery periodically opens to the public and offers appointments during appropriate times of the year, giving Tri-Cities residents the opportunity to walk through the farm and select trees for their own landscapes.
Twenty years later
Garden Gate's story began with two farmers wondering what they might do next.
It continued with 450 trees, a lot of trial and error, thousands of hours of work and a willingness to learn an entirely new kind of farming.
Today, the nursery's trees can be found in residential landscapes, commercial developments, city projects and streetscapes throughout the Pacific Northwest.
For Everett and Sandra, what started as an idea during a drive has become a 20-year family legacy.
And there are still trees growing.
Meet you at the Garden Gate.
About Garden Gate Nursery
Garden Gate Nursery is a family-owned wholesale tree nursery located in Pasco, Washington, with an additional growing operation in Boring, Oregon. Founded by Everett and Sandra Wray, Garden Gate specializes in high-quality container-grown shade, ornamental and conifer trees for landscape contractors, retail nurseries, municipalities, businesses and homeowners. The nursery serves customers throughout the Pacific Northwest and offers local delivery to Tri-Cities homeowners and businesses.
Garden Gate Nursery
2761 W. Sagemoor Road
Pasco, WA 99301
509-547-2254
gardengatetrees.com
