The keys to success are:   Good quality plant materials, proper site preparation that eliminates soil compaction in the areas where new roots will be growing, aggressive root pruning of any matted roots that have developed inside the container, avoiding planting too deep, and consistent watering that is just enough, but not too much.  (most plant death we see is from over-watering)

At Knecht’s Nurseries we have developed our own new one page planting guide that gives the simple, easy to follow steps that you can follow to achieve summer planting success.  Our experienced sales staff can help you select the right plants for your special site conditions.   It’s available under our instructions page – just click and print!

When we are hired to plant the trees for you – the only thing left for you to do is to keep it watered.  We plant it, fertilize, stake and rope it if needed, and apply a layer of mulch.  

If a larger tree is not in your budget – we have trees in small #1 containers all the way up to a #25 container, in addition to the larger balled and burlapped trees.  We try to have a selection available to fit most any budget.  For even larger trees- we do have hundreds of in-ground trees as well. 

Check out our plant list for the many varieties of trees we carry – over 300 varieties.  Stop in soon for the best selection!

Red Maple trees (Acer rubrum) quietly put on a wonderful show of beautiful red flowers each spring, long before their leaves emerge.  Preferring mildly to strongly acidic soil, Red Maple trees and their popular hybrids push out early spring flowers that cover the canopy of the trees in a beautiful mantle of lacy red.

The spring color show generally lasts for one to two weeks, and depending on the way spring weather breaks, can begin at the end of March or as late as mid-April.  Take time this early spring to enjoy the show put on by rubrum maples.  The lovely spring color is a good reminder of the fantastic fall colors of yellow, orange, red and magenta that Red Maples give us every autumn.

 I have also blogged this article on the Northfield News website.

If you are able to move plants before they leaf out, the buds that swell up after you transplant will send a hormonal signal to the cut roots to begin very rapid growth of tiny new roots out into the surrounding soil.

Make sure to dig your planting holes extra wide so the new roots will have plenty of soft soil through which they can penetrate.  Avoid heavy packing of the soil you fill around your relocated plant.  Waterings and rainfall will settle the soil just fine.

Your plants will be especially happy if you mix some slow release fertilizer into the backfill soil before you bank it in around the roots.  Be sure to plant no deeper than the depth at which the plant was growing in its previous location.  Remember – even though it’s not a “new” plant for you, it has been newly transplanted so you will need to water it all season as if it were a brand new plant. 

You’ll find this blog also posted on the blog post for the Northfield News.

It reaches a height of only 15′ and a width of 12′ – meaning 6′ in any direction.  This enables you to plant it closer to either the house, deck, patio area – whatever you have which makes it the perfect tree for smaller places.   The fruit is smaller – 1/2″ in diameter and is persistant.  It hangs on all the way to spring (pictured) and will simply dry up and fall off when the tree starts it’s new growing cycle.  Our tree is closer than 6′ to our house, and we know we will need to prune the back branches more frequently, but for the effect we wanted, we chose to plant it closer. 

Spring is almost here and the crabapples will be blossoming before we know it!  When you’re looking to plant a new ornamental tree – keep this little “jewel” in mind!  We will be having a great selection of the Red Jewel available.

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!

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.

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.

It’s time to cleanup and prepare your landscape for the explosion of spring growth.  Spot seeding or over-seeding of the lawn, removing the spent tops of perennials, picking up twigs and branches and getting ready to plant potatoes and onions are things most of us put on our to-do lists in early to mid-April.  Pre-season pruning of shrubs is another task that we usually think of before new growth starts.

There is one landscape chore that otherwise diligent property owners seem to consistently forget, avoid or kid themselves they can ignore.  People mow their grass, pull weeds, plant flowers, prune shrubs, build patios, retaining walls, firepits and ponds and completely miss one important part of landscape maintenance.

It’s tree pruning.  Plain old tree pruning.  Once every year or two, prune your trees.   On fairly new trees that have been in the landscape ten years or less, it’s fairly easy tree pruning that so often gets left undone.  Until it’s too late!

I see the unfortunate results of delay in tree pruning everywhere I go.  It is common – very common – to see properties that the owners keep in immaculate condition except for good and timely tree pruning.  The sad thing is that when tree pruning is delayed too long, it may not be possible to get tree structure that is as good as trees that get pruned regularly from an early age.

 If you are unsure about tree pruning consult an experience nursery professional or arborist or read books and pamphlets and research pruning on the internet and then go at it. 

By pruning yourself every one to two years during the first ten years you have the trees, and later when the tree is large enough to be beyond your safe reach, hiring the professional arborists or tree service to prune every three to five years, you will likely have a tree of great stature, beauty and durability.

 On ornamental trees such as Flowering Crabs, Lilacs, Magnolia, Plum, Cherry and Mountain Ash that have mature heights of 25 feet or less, people sometimes decide to leave low branches on the tree between three and six feet above the ground.  If the ornamental tree is a real dwarf with a mature size of ten feet or less, these low branches can be an integral part of the purpose of having a dwarf tree:  small size and various kinds of unusual structure such as clumps, topiary, sphere on a stick, and low, horizontal or undulating lines.  Prune these trees with a sense of creative freedom and adventure. 

It is also just fine to prune ornamental trees that mature at 15-30 feet, so that it they have a higher canopy with the first branches at 7-12 feet.  While you don’t see these somewhat higher tree canopies as often on ornamental trees, there is nothing wrong with this approach. It allows people to walk freely underneath and sunlight to penetrate enough to keep grass growing nicely.

For shade trees, it is advisable to prune for higher canopies unless you have a specific reason to leave lots of low branches on your tree.  You may want to have a great climbing tree for your children or grandchildren, or feel you absolutely need the low level branches for screening.  If this is your decision, begin planning for some type of deep shade landscaping below the tree, since the canopy of a shade tree with branches 3-6 feet off the ground will allow only a very limited group of plants to survive in the heavy shade.

In most cases, when shade trees get to be 18″ to 48″ in diameter or more, the first branches ought to be at ten feet to twenty feet or more above ground level.  This allows for some sunlight penetration to ground level and keeps branches from touching vehicles and roof lines.  Over the years, prune out the steeply angled branches and branches rubbing on each other.  Keep branches that are more horizontal or angled up to 45 degrees to 55 degrees.  The lower angled branches are stronger. 

In summary – prune early and often during the first ten years of the life of your tree.  After that, hire professionals every 3-5 years to safely continue the pruning process.  In this way, you will have  beautiful, strong, long lived trees.

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.

Traffic Flow.  A patio can provide surface area for traffic flow between buildings, and can help direct visitors to main doors or gathering areas.

Destination.  A patio tucked into a garden or a corner of the yard becomes a welcoming destination.   Just add a couple of chairs or a bench, and you have a little get-away within your own yard.

Recreation.  Patios can include many built-in recreation features as well.  Firepits, benches, sand boxes, ponds, pergolas, hot tubs and fireplaces can all be built right into the patio, adding many recreational possibilities.

 If creating outdoor rooms in your yard appeals to you, but you don’t know where to begin, give us a call.  We’ll be happy to help you create a beautiful, functional outdoor living space.

This week we started a renovation of a front yard here in Northfield.  Their current landscape had become a little over-grown and needed a facelift.  We are creating an intimate coffee patio for them.  A one tier boulder wall will provide definition to the area, and when it is done – will have plants that offer privacy from the street and a place where they can enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning and enjoy the sunrise, or after a busy day at work – unwind and discuss the day.  We’ll complete this next week, and with the warm Indian Summer days (and evenings) to come - they will be able to enjoy their new patio. It  holds many holiday decorating ideas and will be ready for those spring days when we’re all anxious to get outside.