We have a new landscape designer! John Oehlenschlager, along with our lead designer Kristin Lucas are both busy setting up appointments and booking landscape jobs! Check out our specials page – they are offering an early-bird discount for plans drawn before April 1st!
John comes with 24 years of experience – as a designer and a landscape installer! His specialty is hardscapes and we are very excited to have him on board!
Check out our Landscaping Page for more information on our design services! Even if you don’t need a landscape plan drawn up, our landscape consultations are a very valuable service! Give us a call and you can discuss your landscaping needs with Kristin or John!
Spring has arrived in the greenhouses! We have been planting perennial plugs for the last several days and the houses are filling up quickly. We’ll have the usual go-to perennials, but we have many of the newest releases coming this spring as well. I asked Heidi – our retail manager – what she was excited about so far in the ones that they have potted up, and she said the Jade Phlox and the Geums looked awesome, but the one she sounded most excited about was the Red Knee High Echinacea. A deep, deep pink color with a mature height of 24″ makes this an echinacea for use in front of the taller perennials or shrubs where a more compact plant is needed.
Our plant lists have all been updated with the plants available now in 2010, and our Plant Search has many of these plants on it and will be soon updated with many more.
Did you know that there are many new varieties of Elm trees now available that have very high resistance to Dutch Elm Diease? At long last, we will once again begin to see stately Elms offering the benefits of their rapid growth and cooling shade. Elms are fast growing trees that offer plenty of shade.
We have many varieties of the disease resistant Elms available including Danada Charm, Frontier, New Horizon, Princeton, Prospector, Triumph, Valley Forge and Vanguard. The two stand-outs on this list are the Princeton American Elm and New Horizon.
Princeton American Elm – a true American Elm with a classic elm vase-shape and large leathery foliage. The National Arboretum ranks the ‘Princeton’ Elm as one of the top American Elms that shows excellent disease resistance. When you purchase a ‘Princeton’ Elm ask for your “Owner Certificate” for planting an American Elm! 120 Princeton Elms were planted along Pennsylvania Avenue across from the White House – why not think of planting one at your house??
New Horizon Elm – This is an Elm hybrid with a compact growth habit and an upright form. It’s adaptable to a wide range of soils and is very tolerant of urban conditions.
The time period from mid-March to mid-April is especially good for pruning trees. With no leaves on the trees, it is much easier to evaluate the structure of the tree, choosing weakly attached branches for removal and leaving strongly attached branches to become the permanent framework. The next month is also a good time for pruning Oaks and Elms, since there is a far lower chance of infection of the pruning cuts to cause Oak Wilt and Dutch Elm disease, than during the warm season from may through mid-October.
Last April in my Blog Post, I discussed tree pruning — rather than re-writing another post – I am bringing it back this year. It is so relevant and after a long winter, everyone is anxious to get outside and get something done and pruning your trees might be on your list. The following is my blog post from April 15th of last year.
During late winter and early spring yards and gardens can often look their worst. The grass is brown and sometimes damaged by winter stress, pets, de-icing products leaking off sidewalks, driveways and streets, snow plows, squirrels, and even foot traffic. The tops of perennials that may have provided some winter interest are now tired and faded. Interesting shrubs, vines and ornamental trees such as Winterberry, Bittersweet, High bush Cranberry, Mtn. Ash and certain flowering crabs that displayed beautiful red fruits all winter long now have finally faded. Certain evergreen trees and shrubs show ugly browning foliage due to winter burn. Read More »
February 19, 2010 – 7:59 am
Baptisia australis
The following article is being submitted by Heidi Brosseau – our retail manager.
I am so excited about the 2010 Perennial Plant Associations pick for Plant of the Year! Baptisia australis, aka False or Wild Indigo. This is one of my all time favorite perennials. It is a hardy native prairie perennial that has never let me down. It reappears each year as a strong, healthy shrub-like clump. Beautiful small blue-green leaves on sturdy stems end in tapered spikes of indigo-blue flowers in early summer. The showy flowers turn into green pods that kind of blend in until late summer and fall when they start to dry and turn black. That’s when this plant becomes interesting to children (big and small) because the dry pods rattle when you shake them. If you put this plant in a location where a stiff wind might stir it in late summer and early fall, then the False Indigo will rustle and rattle for you all on its own! Read More »
January 21, 2010 – 7:46 am
January 19th brought amazingly beautiful hoar frost to our humble little office. Despite all the white – we’re thinking Spring! The days are getting longer, the sun is getting stronger and before you know it – the snowbanks will be melting. Now is the time to start thinking about plans to improve your landscape in 2010. Our designer, Kristin Lucas, is able during this winter period to help you with planning for a real special look and feel for a part or all of your home landscape!
January 12, 2010 – 12:06 pm
The following article was submitted by Kristin Lucas, our landscape designer.
The rooms inside our homes provide useable, functional spaces. We have spaces for eating, spaces for relaxing, spaces for working, and spaces for sleeping. Whether these spaces are large or small, divided by walls or defined by furniture and rugs, they make our living easier.
Just like the rooms inside the home, outdoor space can be divided into functional, beautiful “rooms.” With some planning, even the tiniest yard can provide space for eating, entertaining, relaxing and recreation. Spaces can be clearly divided with hedges, garden beds or fences. Or they can be defined with different surface materials and furniture.
One of the best ways to define a space is with the creation of a patio. Like adding an area rug to a room, a patio defines a space. Unlike a rug, a patio can also provide many other great functions, such as:
Relaxing. A small patio close to the house is a great space for morning coffee or evening wine. It can become an intimate space for reading or conversation, or a small perch from which to enjoy a beautiful view.
Entertaining. Larger patios can provide solid surface for a dining table, a grill or outdoor kitchen, and seating. They can lend enough space for guests to mix and mingle comfortably. Read More »
November 18, 2009 – 6:20 am
We have closed the retail center now for the winter. We do still have available about 200 potted trees and all of our larger balled and burlapped trees until there has been enough frost to freeze things up! We will have dry firewood and gift certificates all through the winter season!
For the balance of November – our hours are 8 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday. We will be closed for the 4 day Thanksgiving holiday. Starting in December, we will be here Monday through Friday – in the mornings – from 8 am to noon! We do check messages and e-mail several times a day so we can get back to you usually the same day!
November 18, 2009 – 6:03 am
We have gift certificates available for your holiday gift giving. We can issue them in any amount you need. Our office hours this time of year are limited, but we can mail them to you, to the recipient or arrange a time for you to pick it up if it’s not a time when we’re open! We try to be as flexible as we can!
Gift certificates for trees are especially nice since it allows the recipient to pick out just the tree for them! Some people love flowering crabs – while others love oaks, and the next person really likes the colorful maples. With thousands of trees to choose from they’ll surely find just the right tree for them!
Gift certificates are great for using toward spring annuals and hanging baskets or even toward visits by our Landscape Designer! Give us a call and we’ll assist you with your holiday shopping!
November 9, 2009 – 2:23 pm
With the wonderful November weather – we are staying open for at least another week! People have been coming in and purchasing plant materials – others are hiring us to plant for them – and one couple contracted for a patio yet this fall – we’re still going strong! The fall sale prices are great and if you’re thinking of doing some projects – take advantage of the fall sale prices!
Our hours have changed just a little – with the time change we are closing now at 5 pm during the week, and Saturday we will be here from 8 to 5, and next Sunday – 10 until 4.
October 21, 2009 – 8:11 am
Quite often when we have a stretch of poor weather in mid-fall people wonder if they can still plant trees and shrubs. The answer is YES! And we have a an additional bit of good news from the National Weather Service that the conditions in November are expected to be warmer than normal and with average preciptiation. This means that dormant trees and shrubs can be planted under comfortable conditions and will be ready and waiting next spring to start establishing new roots as soon as the weather warms.
Stop in and talk with our knowledgeable staff about picking the right varieties for your particular situation and have a look at the amazing selection that we still have available for your fall planting! As we speak, many of the varieties are showing their lovely fall colors and this will be changing daily. It looks like there’ll be another few days of cool moist weather, but we are looking forward to a good run of weather toward the end of the month and into November.
The trees pictured here are from one of our growing ranges that Deb took last week. It’s the Autumn Blaze Maple. What fabulous fall color! We have Autumn Blaze Maple in many sizes – to accomodate all prices points. Stop in and take advantage of our incredible fall sale prices! All of our plant materials are from 30% to 50% off!
October 21, 2009 – 7:04 am
We still have tulip, crocus & hyacinth bulbs available! On the radio this morning – the weatherman said that the National Weather Service is predicting a warmer than average November! This will mean that 
there’ll be plenty of time for fall projects. The bulbs are on sale at 30% off!
With Halloween coming next weekend – grab a pumpkin while you’re picking up a bundle of firewood for that campfire at your Halloween party! The pumpkins are on sale at 30% off also. The bundles of firewood are exceptionally dry, hardwood firewood! They’ll make a great fire and burn without alot of heavy smoke that you fnd when wood is wet.
Heidi Brosseau – our retail manager – has created the cutest Halloween display. Stop in for a special treat and see what she has come up with this year!
