January 25, 2012 – 4:18 pm
Despite these changes, caution is advised if you don’t want to run the risk of losing plant materials that may be marginally zone hardy. On the other hand, it can be an awful lot of fun to experiment with marginal plants that can sometimes be a nice surprise on hardiness and a visual delight. We’re happy to visit with you about this subject concerning plants you might consider that are “on the edge”.
January 23, 2012 – 12:24 pm
In 5 short weeks – we start up our greenhouses and hit the ground running. Next week, we have two full-time people coming back already! We are beginning our hiring process for the upcoming season. The following are the jobs available at the current time:
Retail Sales Asst. Manager – Fulltime Previous sales expereience and knowledge of plant material IS REQUIRED!
Nursery Production Asst. Manager – Fulltime Previous horticulture experience is required
Watering – Parttime Work hours would be mornings – 3-4 hours per shift. Watering container plants and plant maintenance
All positions are outdoor positions. Must possess the ability to tolerate all weather conditions. Must be able to safely lift up to 60 pounds. All positions will require weekend hours. Weekends are rotated. Wages are commensurate with experience.
Job applications can be picked up here at the nursery. Week of January 23rd – Mon – Fri. – 9 am to Noon. Week of January 28th and after – Mon – Fri. 8 am to 4 pm. Job interviews will be scheduled starting the week of January 28th.
January 12, 2012 – 10:08 am
- ‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed Grass
Now that winter is here – finally – we can think in terms of winter. Now is the time to look around at your garden, at gardens of others, in parks, around commercial buildings – anywhere you see plants that catch your eye. We need to plant in the growing season with winter in mind.
Ornamental grasses have become one of my favorite perennials since they offer so much – for such a long time. You cut these down in the late winter – early spring depending on the weather – and they then start their new growing season. After 6-8 weeks – you will again see your ornamental grass and you will be enjoying it for 10 months! Amazing for perennials in Minnesota!
‘Karl Foerster’ – officially known as Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ is a stunning example of ornamental grasses. This grass will reach a height of approximately 5′ once the blooms come out in mid-summer. The spread is only about 2 feet in diameter. The blooms are a soft beige tone and once opened up – will be almost white and feathery. We have found this grass to have excellent standability after snows here in Minnesota, bouncing back to continue to delight the gardener.
They make excellent background plants with shorter perennials in the foreground and also can provide a natural fence of sorts. Tolerating partial shade – reed grasses tend to flop and bloom less if not in full sun. This variety of ornamental grass will adapt to moister soil conditions but do best planted in well drained soil conditions. Karl Foerster was named the perennial of the year in 2001 by the
Perennial Plant Association. To be selected as perennial of the year, a plant has to demonstrate the ability to grow in a wide variety of situations, multi-steason interest, availability and more!
This picture was taken in our meadow last winter. You can see the beauty of the grass against the snow, and beyond is our collection of dogwood and flame willow with their red to orange stems giving the winter landscape a pop of color! We’ll have ‘Karl Foerster’ available come spring! Start making your wish list now!
January 2, 2012 – 8:09 pm
Blue Beech in Big Woods State Park
Blue Beech is a lovely small native understory/edge tree that is not well known, but deserves to be used more often in southern Minnesota landscapes. Characterized by smooth grey/blue bark that covers the undulating wavy trunk wood, an appearance developes that resembles the rippling muscles and sinews of a body builder’s forearm, earning this interesting native tree it’s other common name of Musclewood.
Fall color of the Blue Beech
Botanically named Carpinus Caroliniana, Blue Beech occasionally can be found growing wild in remnants of the Big Woods deciduous forest dominated by Oak, Maple and Basswood. A native size of 20-30 feet tall by 20-30 feet wide, makes Blue Beech a good choice where a native tree of modest size is desired for a small area, perhaps to lend a mid-level architecture to a shade garden.
My favorite features of Blue Beech are the very pronounced veins that give the leaves outstanding texture, and the lovely ornamental seed heads that hang on the tree for several months with splayed petals similar to a fuschia. An outstanding mix of yellow/orange and red fall color is yet another reason to consider including Blue Beech in your landscape
December 8, 2011 – 1:54 pm
Do you have a special friend or loved one that absolutely loves plants? Is there someone you know that is in need of a tree for their yard? We have Gift Certificates available for all of your gift giving needs this year! Gift Certificates are available in any amount and from the 8th of December through the end of the month of December, 2011 - we are offering a 10% discount on Gift Certificates? What does that mean? For example - you can purchase a $50 Gift Certificate for only $45! You pay $45 and the recipient will receive $50 in merchandise.
We do have limited office hours in December – but if you leave us a message or send us an e-mail, we will get back to you quickly and we can arrange for it to be picked up, we can mail it to you or to the recipient. We can also provide a plant catalog published by the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Assn. which will add a little excitement to your gift. The recipient can “dream” all winter about what to use the Gift Certificate on! Be sure to put a Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping Gift Certificate on your Shopping List!
November 30, 2011 – 7:49 am
Our December office hours are Monday through Thursday – 9 am to 1 pm. We do answer phone messages and e-mails 7 days a week – so if you’re in need of firewood or gift certificates – we’ll get back to you right away! Gift Certificates can be mailed out (to you or to the recipient) anytime or we can arranage a time for them to be picked up if the office hours don’t work for you!
We’ll be closed from December 23rd through January 1st. We’ll be back in the office on January 2nd!!
November 30, 2011 – 7:41 am
We have a limited amount of super dry firewood left for sale. This is all hardwood that has been cut, split and drying for three years. A fireplace cord – or face cord – when stacked is 8 feet long, 4 feet high and 15″-18″ wide, sells for $175 delivered to a Northfield address. Outside of Northfield – call for delivery costs. This is exceptional wood! Most of the wood in this photo has been sold – except for just a few loads.
Firewood makes a great Christmas gift as well!
November 23, 2011 – 10:28 am
We want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
We will be closed from Wednesday November 23rd through Sunday, November 27th.
November 21, 2011 – 2:00 pm
We have gift certificates available for your holiday gift ideas! What’s better than to give a gift that can be used for flowers in the spring – a tree for the yard – for shrubs around the house .. the list could be endless! We can do gift certificates in any amount. We will mail them to you – to your recipient – or if you need to pick them up on hours we aren’t here – we can usually make arrangements to be here for you to pick one up! Give us a call or drop us an e-mail and we’ll take this one off your list!
November 5, 2011 – 2:56 pm
November 5th – 8 am – 5 pm
November 6th – 10 am to 4 pm
Week of November 7th – 11th – 8 am until 4:30 pm
We will be closed on the weekends starting November 12th and 13th – and will be closed for the 5 day Thanksgiving holiday.
Our weekday hours for November will be Monday through Friday – 8 am to 4 pm.
If you need to pick up plant materials already purchased, look at trees that are still available or purchase a gift certificate and these hours don’t work – please give us a call. We can see what we can do to accomodate a time for you.
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’™
