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 [...]
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 [...]
The fact that in recent years Autumn Blaze Maple has been one of the nation’s most popular selling trees should be little surprise due its rapid growth, lovely shape and fabulous red/orange fall color. Used successfully in zones 3 to 8, this versatile hybrid quickly matures into a handsome tree of good proportions that is [...]
After a dry early summer and some nice rains in August, a three week dry spell has pulled soil moisture levels back down to levels that are stressful for many plants. A good soaking with sprinklers or irrigation systems will help reduce stress on landscape plants as they begin the process of going dormant, and [...]
Successful planting projects to improve your landscaping can take place throughout the Fall! Nights are growing longer, and days cooler which means reduced stress and moisture demands on new plantings.
If you are able to get your project area prepared, and the plants installed in September, many of them will be able to send out some [...]
This is the time of the year when customers often ask us if it is too late to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. The short answer is a definite – NO IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO PLANT!
Success with summer plantings is easy to achieve. Trees, shrubs and perennials have the same needs whether it is [...]
Leaf tatter on certain varieties of trees has caused them to look as if they are diseased, sick or being attacked by insects. For the last several weeks I have taken a steady stream of calls about trees that are looking bad. The calls started coming in a couple of days after we had 2 [...]
Summer planting is successful planting. Long warm days give newly planted trees, shrubs and perennials all the daylight they need to establish new root systems over the remainder of the summer and fall.
Simply provide each plant with adequate, but not excessive moisture and nutrition, and they are sure to follow their internal genetic programming that [...]
The establishment of the highly destructive emerald ash borer in Minnesota will once again force us to re-evaluate what type of trees we should be planting. When Dutch Elm Disease devastated our urban and native forests starting in the 1950’s the same question was asked since so many communities had planted such large numbers of [...]
Have you ever admired a group of white barked birch trees in the North Woods? Or perhaps you’ve noticed a graceful clump of white birch serving as a focal point in a neighbor’s landscaping.
Wherever they are found in our natural woodlands or urban landscapes, white barked birches of many varieties seem to catch our attention. [...]
With the serious pest – Emerald Ash Borer – now present in the State of Minnesota, people will be interested in ways to protect their trees. A once a year soil drench of a solution containing Imidacloprid will prevent the Emerald Ash Borer from doing significant damage. Application is extremely easy for homeowners, and quite [...]
It’s time to water your landscape plants. Mother Nature has been pretty stingy with rainfall these past couple of years, and the subsoil is now pretty dry.
In normal times when the surface soils dry out, subsoil moisture is available to gradually percolate up, or be drawn out by the large root systems of established plants. [...]
Now that spring is sprung and the growing season is well under way, we can enjoy some of the real glories spring has to offer.
Flowering crabs have been putting on a show in recent days, and one of my all time favorites for eye popping color is the Prairiefire Crab. Prairiefire seems to blossom just [...]
The last 2 to 3 weeks, your eye may have caught the lovely red blossoms of the Red Maples that are trying to make seed. Each spring when rubrum maples wake up, the first thing they do is push out their flowers and pollinating structures. This creates a beautiful red glow throughout the entire crown [...]
The first 3 ½ weeks of April was very dry, but a nice slow soaking inch of rain in the Northfield area on April 26/27 has really helped green things up and add moisture that will be needed to get spring gardens off to a good start.
It’s time to plant grass seed in the bare [...]
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