POULSBO — A change in location bore fruit as the Poulsbo Garden Club’s annual plant sale raised more than $2,000 for local beautification projects last year.

This year, club president Mary Carter is hoping for more of the same as the May 13 event will once again take root in the Northwest Design Center parking lot at the intersection of State Route 305 and Hostmark Street.

The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and admission is free.

Until 2005, the 6-year-old event had been held in the parking lot behind the Poulsbo Library on Iverson Street.

“The new location was wonderful and we made more money than we ever had before,” Carter said, noting that the site gave the event more visibility.

It also brought in more green in the form of dollars, which was another welcome boost.

“All of the money goes back into the community through grants and we send out applications to all the schools, Scout troops and whoever else we can think of,” she said.

Proceeds from last year’s sale funded North End groups and residents ranging from schools and a Girl Scout Troop to a botanist working toward her judges certification.

Breidalbik Elementary School received money to help students build a Zen garden on the school grounds, Carter said.

“A couple of years ago we gave them money to erect peace poles and now we’re helping with a Zen garden,” she said. “They’ve done their research and have a specific type of garden they’re building.”

With help from parents and other volunteers, students will complete a karensansui Zen garden, which is a dry garden composed of rocks and sand.

Students at West Sound Academy also benefitted from last year’s sale and in turn are using the grant help their neighbors in need.

“They are going to raise produce and donate it to a local charity,” Carter said. “It will also be a tool for the horticulture and culinary arts classes.”

Girl Scout Troop 517 will show its collective green thumb as its members are planting flowers, fruits and berries, vegetables and bulbs, which will be sold at the end of the summer. Proceeds from the sale of those items will be given to local charities as well.

One local dahlia enthusiast, Madeline West, received a grant to help in her quest toward her judge’s certification.

West will be planting irises and dahlias around the Crystal Grange building on Paulson Road.

Carter said she has even higher hopes for this year’s sale and noted the one thing that sets the club’s event apart from the rest.

“The nice thing about our plants is that you know what you’re getting because they’re from local growers and they’re guaranteed to grow,” she said.