Knecht’s

We have gift certificates available for holiday giving.   What a great way to give a plant or a tree.   You may like crabapple trees - they may like maples.  You are fond of spirea - they are really into burning bush shrubs.  This way - you can be sure they get just what they want for their yard - and a plant will give them pleasure and remember you for years and years to come!

We have limited hours this time of year so all you need to do is give us a call or send us an e-mail. (Just go to the Contact Us page and you can send an email)   We can send the gift certificate out to you with either a credit card number or we’ll just enclose a bill.  It’s that easy.  You don’t need to venture out to pick it up.   We can even send it to the recipient if you like.  We can do the gift certificates in any denomination you want. 

Think gift certificates for holiday giving, birthdays, anniversaries, housewarming gifts, or memorials.

For the October 18th Northfield News, Leif’s article addressed the Sugar Maple.  This year has been about the best in recent memory for the myriad of colors that the sugar maples showed.  This picture here was taken on the St. Olaf College campus - right across from the nursery.

Here is his article….

In these turbulent economic times adding solid proven winners to your financial assets is said to be a wise strategy.  For many of us, our house is one of our biggest assets, and lately, values have been declining.  One way to preserve and increase the value of your property is to choose landscape plants that are high quality and have a proven track record.

The fall of 2008 has shown once again that when it comes to trees in the landscape, there are very sound reasons why sugar maples have frequently been called the King of the Shade Trees.  Also known as hard maple with the botanical name of ‘acer sacharrum’, sugar maples dominated the autumn explosion of leaf color this year with their wonderful mixture of yellow, orange and red color.

Sugar Maples have visually rich layering of color combinations that adds depth, complexity and a heightened sense of color intensity.  While the top part of the tree gradually changes from green to yellow to orange and red, the lower and inner parts of the canopy change later, creating a foundation gold and green that is a perfect counterpoint for the most intensely colored parts of the crown. (more…)

On October 11, 2008, our retail manager, Heidi Gervais became Mrs. Scott Brosseau at a lovely wedding ceremony held at the Valley Grove Church, rural Nerstrand. 

Heidi met Scott 2 1/2 years ago on a blind date in Duluth and as they say, the rest is history.   After a short honeymoon down to Ft. Lauderdale, Heidi will be back here at the nursery the end of next week.

Stop in and congratulate the new Mrs. Brosseau!

The maple tree with all it’s many varieties continues to be the most popular tree planted.  The question that we are asked the most is “What kind of fall color does this one have”.  We are showing a few of the popular varieties with the 2008 fall color display here.  We have these trees in stock and have several different sizes and price ranges in most varieties. 

Starting today - October 8, 2008 through October 12th we are putting our balled and burlapped (B&B) Autumn Blaze Maple on sale at Buy One Get One Free!  - that’s a heck of a savings!  Buy one at the regular price and the second tree is free!   (If you only want one Autumn Blaze - the trees are currently 30% off regular price - which is still a great savings!)

Autumn Blaze Maple - the most popular tree on the landscape market.   A hybrid - it’s fast growing - sensational fall color - and can grow in most soil conditions.   Print off the copy of this blog post and bring it with you when you pick out your new trees and receive the discount.   This sale ends on October 12, 2008 and applies only to the cost of the tree.  If you would hire our crew to plant them for you - you will need to pay the cost of the planting for the free tree.

There’s no limit on the number of free trees that you can get!  (except while supplies last!).   If you buy 5 Autumn Blaze Maple  B&B  at the regular price - you’ll receive 5 free!

Offer does not apply to any trees in black nursery containers - only to the balled and burlapped trees.  Free tree would be of equal or lesser value.

Now is the time to take advantage of all of our fall sale prices!  Leif is pictured here standing in front of some of our Autumn Blaze Maples.  What fantastic fall color!!!

These trees are now 30% off the regular prices so you can realize exceptional savings on an exceptional tree!  As with any of our plants - you can plant these yourself or hire our crews to do the planting for you!   If we plant the trees for you - all the is left for you to do is the watering!

Now is the time to stop in at the nursery and check out the fall colors.  Even if planting isn’t on your “to do list” this fall - you will still be able to see the fall colors which are so important to so many for our Minnesota landscapes.

Some of the other trees that are showing great color include the Celebration Maple, Sienna Glen Maple, and Firefall to name just a few.   Stop in soon and check these out!

 Leif’s article for the October 4, 2008, Northfield News was on Bittersweet!  Read on….

One of the native plants that can make a striking statement in the fall landscape is the bittersweet vine.  With brilliant orange clusters of fruit hanging on winding vines and curling tendrils, bittersweet brings its vivid display of color to the landscape just as other plants are fading.

 Out in the countryside around Northfield, wild Bittersweet vine can be found here and there growing on fence lines, along railroad rights of way and climbing up trees of many sizes to reach for sunlight.  While Bittersweet is sometimes found in heavier woodlands, it seems to prefer edges, openings, and areas disturbed by some kind of activity, where it can access more sunlight.

 Once the firm orange fruits - 3/8″ to 1`/2″ in diameter open to reveal a very deep orange flesh, they usually persist on the vines throughout the winter, or until they are eaten by birds and other wildlife.  This habit of persisting on the vine and retaining excellent color for many months makes Bittersweet berries one of the most visually stimulating native plants (more…)

We are now selling firewood!  We have prime hardwood firewood which comes from Rice County - oak, hard maple, hickory, ironwood, and black ash.  It has been cut, split, stacked and dried for two years!   We have found that by drying the wood for two years, performance in an open fireplace is far superior and creosote buildup in chimneys is far less.   We will deliver it to your site! 

The picture shows a fireplace cord of wood - 8′ long by 4′ high.  If you need firewood for fires in the fireplace, or simply an outdoor fire or two this fall - you will not be disappointed with this firewood.

Our pricing for a fireplace cord - delivered within the Northfield zipcode is $195.  If you have any questions or need additional information - please give us a call - 507-645-5015.

Leif’s article in last week’s Northfield News addressed the many different plants that put on a color show in the fall.  Read on….

“In a difficult real estate market it can be an advantage to be able to show prospective buyers that the house you have for sale has some appealing features that set it apart.  Top quality landscape plants that also show outstanding autumn color can be just the thing to trip the trigger and bring you a purchase offer.

If you have plants that paint the landscape in eye popping colors be sure you take plenty of good digital pictures this fall, and assemble them into an on-line slide show.  Your agent can then see that this selling tool gets included in the sales materials that people looking for a home can look through and any time of the year get a real feel for all the best the house has to offer.

If your landscape is a bit drab in the fall and you think you may be selling in a few years, now is a great time to put in some trees, shrubs and perennials that can add some amazing curb appeal.  This is the time of year when you can visit your favorite nursery and see plants in their fall glory.  Don’t wait too long to go and look because the autumn color show doesn’t last forever. (more…)

We have officially started our fall sale.   All plants are at least 30% off and many are at 50% off. 

There are shade trees, ornamental trees, evergreen trees all available and in all sizes and price ranges.  We still have availability on most varieties of shrubs - with a few having sold out for the season.   There are still many varieties of perennials available as well - with about half of the varieties at 50% off and the others at 30%.  This does include the hostas as well!

Fall is a great time for planting.  There are still a few weeks for the roots to begin their journey into the surrounding soil, and then they’ll be “sleeping” for the winter as they enter their dormant period.  The biggest thing to remember with fall planting is that you should be sure to mulch 2-3″ over the entire planting surface including about 2″ beyond where you started to dig.  This will ensure that you new plant is tucked in well for the winter.  With fall plantings - the plants are in the ground and ready to start their new season’s growth as soon as the weather warms up in March/April next spring.  You don’t lose any part of next year’s growing season.

We are right in the middle of our summer sale!   We have blocks of plants that are 30% off which are marked with yellow flags and other blocks of plants marked with pink flags which are 50% off. 

Perennials - these plants are 50% off!!

Prairie Sky Panicum Grass, Candy Tuft, Joicus and standard Joe-Pye Weed, Plume Poppy, assorted Iris, assorted garden lilies, Silver Lace Vine, Porcelain Vine, Yellow Japanese Sage, Pink Chimes Campanula, Superba Campanula, Joan Elliot Campanula, Virginia Water Leaf, Oriental Limelight Sage, Bergenia, Barren Strawberry and assorted Yarrow. 

The shrubs and trees that are at 30% off include -

Lilacs (except for Dwarf Korean), Tri-Lights Azalea, Magnolias, #1 container Pines and Spruce, #5 container Colorado Spruce, #3 container Norway Spruce, Black Hills Spruce, White Pine, Scotch Pine and Colorado Spruce, #7, #10, #15 container White Pine and Fir trees, and #2, #3, #5 container Fat Albert Spruce.

The shrubs and trees that are at 50% off include -

White Knight and Rumba Weigela; Arnold’s Red Honeysuckle, Alleman’s Compact Dogwood, Assorted roses, Little Lamb, Pee Gee, Tardiva Hydrangea, Elderberry, Azaleas, (except Tri-lights), selected Viburnums, selected Winterberry, Spiral Junipers, Sester Dwarf Blue Spruce, #2 Techny Arborvitae, Honeylocust, Wahoo trees, Pagoda Dogwood, Harvest Gold, Lancelot & Lollipop Crabs, #3 container trees of the following varieties: Prairiefire Crab, Pin Oak, N. Red Oak, Blue Beech, Whitespire Birch, Autumn Blaze Maple, Sienna Glen Maple, Northwood Maple, Ironwood, Chokecherry, Bur x Swamp White hybrid Oak

All of our 2008 spring dug balled and burlapped trees are 20% off through August and we still have a few 2007 dug balled and burlapped trees that are 50% off.  On these larger trees - this is an exceptionally good buy.  

With the cooler temperatures predicted for the next week or so - people are planting!!  Our August has been very, very busy!  Stop in soon and pick out some plants for that late summer or fall planting project!