Category Archives: Community

Tree Donation for Tornado Victims

May 12, 2012 – 8:43 am

On Friday, May 11th, Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping was able to partner with Taylor Truck Line of Northfield to donate over 140 trees to residents of north Minneapolis who lost so much in the devastating tornado last year.  The Tree Trust and the City of Minneapolis received the trees donated by Knecht’s Nurseries, and will facilitate the distribution to families who lost most or all of their trees on May 22, 2011.

Rob Taylor, of Taylor Truck Line in Waterford Township graciously agreed to donate the cost of shipping the trees from our Northfield nursery to Minneapolis.  The Tree Trust is providing assistance and training on planting and care techniques that will help assure successful establishment and the eventual return of cooling shade and beauty to a community in need.

At Knecht’s Nurseries we are pleased to have this opportunity to continue our long standing tradition of giving something back to the larger community of Minnesotans who support our nursery.  It’s always a good thing to help neighbors in need, and we consider oruselves fortunate indeed to have gained so very many friends who support us and travel with us as we explore the wonderful world of beautiful plants.

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By Deb Knecht | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

The Greening of Northfield

April 26, 2012 – 2:46 pm

Last year, the Northfield Garden Club’s President – Mrs. EdDee Imm, helped the City secure a MnDOT grant for $10,000 to be used to  beautify the City.  It was determined that one of the areas that needed “help” the most was along the Hwy 3 corridor from the Cannon River to Jefferson Parkway.

EdDee approached us regarding the trees.  The City of Northfield and the Northfield Garden Club, in a cooperative effort,  purchased the 64 trees from us and we donated all of the labor and other materials used to plant the trees.  Each year we give back to the City of Northfield with  donations and this year, it is the Hwy 3 beautification project.  This donation amounted to $4,000 in labor, equipment costs and materials. 

The Garden Club also has received funds to be used to cover the costs of watering these trees for two years which is a committment under the grant.  We will be working with the Garden Club on keeping these trees well watered for the next two years!

Our crew – Jim Westlund, Todd Marnie & Ben Danielson planted these trees which consisted of Elms, Maple, Hackberry, Birch, Crabapples and Oak trees.  Once again we are very pleased to have the opportunity to give something back to the community that supports our business each and every year.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Trees | Tagged , | Comments (1)

What’s Your Favorite Garden Center?

April 19, 2012 – 11:08 am

The Northfield Patch website is conducting a survey on what’s your favorite garden center in the Northfield area.   We would appreciate your vote!

At Knecht’s you will find our extremely large selection of plant material – over 1000 varieties of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals allows a customer to find almost anything they desire.   Just this spring, we have had folks from Omaha, Nebraska and Chicago purchase trees that we have in stock that they have not been able to find in their local markets.   Our plant material was protected from the freezing temperatures earlier this month and is looking great!   Thanks goes to our great crew for all of their extreme efforts!

Our retail staff includes 5 Certified Nursery and Landscape Professionals, a graduate of the Landscape Architecture Program at UW-Madison, and a current student from the  Dakota County Vo-Tech – Horticulture Program.   Another very important reason we are able to offer excellent products and service to our customers is the great attention to detail and effort supplied by our other employees working in retail sales, nursery production, and landscape design and installation.

Heidi Brosseau – our retail manager – who is on her 10th season at Knecht’s Nurseries, is excited this year to bring our annual plant offerings to the next level.  We are exclusively offering locally grown annuals.  All of our annuals including the bedding plants, Proven Winners, hanging baskets and specialty annuals are produced within a 50 mile radius of Northfield.   The 4-pak bedding plants are produced in extra-large cells which produce a better root system!

A reminder that our 4th Annual Kid’s Planting Day will be held next Saturday, April 28th, from 10 am to 11:30 am here at the nursery.  We encourage you to register your child(ren) ahead of time so we are sure to have enough supplies on hand.

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By Deb Knecht | Comments (2)

An Extraordinary Spring demands Extraordinary Measures

April 18, 2012 – 10:30 am

The mild winter and extremely early start to the 2012 growing season has been both very enjoyable and extremely challenging at Knecht’s Nurseries.  A very warm February and early March forced us to uncover protected plant materials almost a month early.  More abnormally warm weather throughout March got most trees and shrubs to break dormancy and begin growing – something which has not happened in recent record keeping memory.

During recent cold waves, all our staff members have had to really work hard to bring trees and shrubs with tender new growth into every nook and cranny of our greenhouses, or group, tip and cover plants once again.  The happy result of all this activity is that we have lots of beautiful trees, shrubs and perennials in great condition.  The downside is that we are on our third round of uncovering, organizing, recovering, uncovering, etc.  We are grateful for the extraordinary efforts of our employees.  They are the ones who make it possible for us to provide you with excellent landscape plants and knowledgeable customer service.   We also want to thank our customers who bear with us when we are still organizing – re-organizing, etc.

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By Leif Knecht | Also posted in Employees | Comments (0)

Popcorn Blossoms

April 2, 2012 – 11:12 am
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At the Northfield Home and Garden Business Showcase held at the Northfield Arena this past weekend, a local garden club member made these creative and fun branches with “popcorn” blossoms. What a fun idea for spring decorating! I asked her where she got the idea and she told me that her mother used to make them when she was young. After the Business Showcase they were given to a local retirement center to decorate around the outside of their chapel. The birds are going to love them! She just splotches on a little food coloring with a paint brush to give the popcorn the appearance of a blossom and then glues them onto bare branches. They can be pretty convincing as I saw more than one person smelling them to see if they were real:)
 
It won’t be long and we will have the real thing in full bloom here at the nursery. The buds are already starting to swell.   This blog was submitted by Heidi Brosseau – our retail manager.
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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in How To Advice | Tagged | Comments (1)

Northfield Home & Garden Business Showcase

March 27, 2012 – 12:35 pm

This Saturday – March 31st , 2012,  the Northfield Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Home & Garden Business Showcase at the Northfield Arena, 1280 Bollenbacher Drive (Hwy 3 South) in Northfield.  The show runs from 9 am to 3 pm.  There will be over 40 exhibitor booths to visit. 

This year’s speaker is Don Engebretson – The Renegade Gardener!    He’ll be presenting 3 different seminars during the day on gardening, cool plants and landscape design.

Stop at our booth – we are booth #1 – and visit with Leif, Heidi and Amy.  We’ll be handing out  a special Home Show coupon.  Our Knecht’s Bonus Bucks are back for another season and what better way to kick off our promotion by giving out a Bonus Buck to folks who stop by our booth this Saturday!

We’ll be open at the Garden Center also this weekend!  Saturday we’ll be here from 8 am to 4:30 pm and on Sunday – 10 am to 4 pm.  Starting next week – April 2nd – we’ll be open our regular hours!

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Events | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Part-time Position

February 6, 2012 – 4:43 pm

Irrigation System Operator/Technician.  Experience not needed.  Perfect for the retired/semi-retired person.  Work 12-20 hours per week April thru October in the mornings.  Must be able to do a lot of walking, bending and stooping to activate valves and make corrections/replacements and/or repairs to the system on poorly functioning irrigation spray stakes and lines.  Closely observing plants to determine how much to irrigate and where to make the upgrades.  We will train the person hired.  This is a fairly light duty work position requiring the ability to be detail oriented and consistent.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Employees | Comments (0)

New Zone Hardiness Map – USDA Update – 2012

January 25, 2012 – 4:18 pm
From the USDA – Minnesota

The USDA released it’s new Hardiness Zone Map.   Minnesota now can claim a portion of the State being a Zone 5!  (a small part – but a part nonetheless).   A big change is the portion of Zone 4a which now extends further north.  Mary Schier, editor of the Northern Gardener magazine, has a blogpost on this subject - ‘Big Changes for Minnesota in New Hardiness Zone Map.’

 

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”.
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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in How To Advice, Landscaping | Comments (0)

Jim Westlund, Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional

January 22, 2012 – 1:29 pm
Jim Westlund

Congratulations to our Landscape Division Manager, Jim Westlund, who recently was awarded his certification as a Minnesota Certified Landscape Professional.  A great depth of knowledge and real world hands on landscaping experience is necessary to pass the daunting test that has earned Jim the Landscape Professional designation.

Jim Westlund’s elevation to the top tier of his profession as a Minnesota Certified Landscape Professional is a natural outgrowth of his incredible work ethic, natural smarts, leadership skills and attention to detail in every aspect of landscape installations for our customers.

 

The certified designation is achieved with cooperation through the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association.  “The objective of the MNLA Certified Professional program is to uphold, improve, and promote standards of professionalism and excellence within the industry. By focusing on individuals rather than companies, the program encourages self-improvement among industry professionals.” 

Jim is the fifth person at Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping to earn certification as a nursery and landscape professional.  He joins owners Leif and Deb Knecht, retail manager, Heidi Brosseau, and Landscape Designer, Amy Voight among the recognized leaders in the industry.  Very few nursery and landscape businesses our size have this many certified professionals available to help serve their customers!
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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Employees | Comments (0)

Shaping the Future

January 22, 2012 – 1:06 pm

Leif Knecht participated in a workshop on January 19th & 20th to help chart the future of the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association.  Eighteen selected industry professionals from all parts of the state worked intensively with the staff of MNLA to zero in on the best ways to continually improve the knowledge, offerings, tools, resorurces, networking and professionalism we all need to offer our customers the very best goods and services.

It was a dynamic and energizxing opportunity to do our part to help assure that Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping  will always b e at the leading edge of the world of beautiful plants, and how best to use them in the landscape to create inviting and enjoyable outdoor spaces.  When the growing s eason starts and you make your first trip of the year to our nursery, you will begin to see how we are growing and changing to help you grow and change your landscape into an evermore beautiful place.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Employees | Comments (0)

Rice County Master Gardeners

January 17, 2012 – 12:32 pm

Leif Knecht, owner of Knecht’s Nurseries, will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Rice County Master Gardeners. on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.   The meeting is at 7 pm at the 4-H Building on the Rice County Fairgrounds.

Topics covered will be what’s new in trees, shrubs and perennials and how nurseries are using a new technique to produce better plants for landscape use.  Attention will focus on plant materials that are a little to a lot more compact so they can be used in smaller spaces such as the Crimson Spire Oak and the Apollo Sugar Maple.

If you are interested in becoming a Master Gardener, contact the Rice County Master Gardeners or the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Events, Trees | Tagged | Comments (0)

Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Assn. Convention

January 9, 2012 – 1:31 pm
Belinda Jensen and Bobby Jensen
Senator Al Franken

We attended the annual Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association Convention last week held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  There is a trade show where we visit the booths of the industry vendors on plants, machines, technology and more, and there are many, many educational seminars which we all attend and are able to bring back new and exciting ideas for our business.  We were fortunate to have 9 of our staff attend this year’s convention  – which were Leif & Deb Knecht, Heidi Brossueau, Jim Westlund, Amy Voight, Luis Olave, Ben Danielson, Connie Rew and Kathy Lewis.

This year, Senator Al Franken addressed the group right ahead of the keynote speaker’s message.  It was an unexpected treat to be able to see and listen to the Senator for a few moments.
Bobby Jensen and Belinda Jensen from KARE-11′s Grow with KARE  spent time at the Bailey Nurseries booth.  With the weather being unbelieveable this winter and the enthusiasm of all of the people at the Convention, we are all definitely excited for spring!
We do have limited office hours in January – however – we do return phone calls and e-mails everyday so if you have a question on anything – please do not hesitate to contact us!
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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Employees, Events | Comments (0)

Memorial Trees

October 16, 2011 – 1:20 pm

On October 13th, we planted two Apollo Dwarf Sugar Maple trees on the north side of Way Park as memorial trees for three special Northfielders.

One tree honors the life and memory of Kristi Ann Rasmussen Knecht, a long-time Northfielder who died tragically on September 12, 2011, as a result of a bicycle accident.  Kristi was a studio music teacher of rare ability who helped hundreds of students blossom as people and musicians of accomplishment.  She will be greatly missed by friends, family and students who enjoyed her wit, warmth, intellect and musical talent.

The second tree honors Howard and Edna Hong, who called Northfield home for over seven decades.  Together they helped a wider world benefit from the wisdom of the Danish Christian philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, by spending much of their lives translating his works into English.  This allowed the entire field of philosophy to be a richer and deeper area of great thought.

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By Leif Knecht | Comments (1)

Fun Alert — Opening on our Bowling Team!!

October 6, 2011 – 9:37 pm

The Knecht’s Nurseries Men’s Bowling Team has an opening for an adult male to join us for lots of good fun on Thursday nights at Northfield’s Jesse James Lanes.  This is a handicap league so on any given night, even beginning bowlers have a good chance in this friendly and wholesome competition.  The  bowling alley is smokefree, and brand new lanes were installed this past summer.  It’s a refreshing atmosphere, becuase we often cheer on our competition which is almost as much fun as cheering on our own team members!  If you haven’t bowled for a long time, you might be pleasnatly surprised.

If you’re interested, give Leif a call here at the nursery – 507-645-5015 and he’ll get you more details!

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By Leif Knecht | Comments (0)

Crazy Daze – Thursday July 28th

July 21, 2011 – 6:01 pm

Crazy daze is less than a week away!

Take advantage of “Crazy Daze” Thursday July 28th.  Snap up some crazy deals on all kinds of plant material.  Selected varieties of trees, shrubs and perennials will be discounted 20%, 30% or even 50% OFF!  As you can imagine, the crazy weather this season has made us all a little crazy down here at the nursery, (Yeah, pull your hair out crazy.) so be sure you leave some time in your crazy schedule next Thursday to take advantage our temporary insanity and get yourself some crazy deals on plants!  Gates open at 7:00 am for all you early birds and close at 6:00 pm.  You’d be crazy to miss out on these savings!

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Retail Sales | Comments (0)