Dakota Pinnacle Birch is beginning to make a statement in landscapes across the Upper Midwest.  Slender and upright in it’s form, and very uniform in growth habit, Dakota Pinnacle Birch is extremely hardy, thriving in climate zones 3 to 7 and tolerant of many soil types including those with alkaline pH.  Growing quickly to a mature size of 30′-35′ tall by 8′-10′ wide, Pinnacle becomes an eye catching feature of the landscape as its bark changes from brown in youth to a striking white.

 This nice hybrid birch can serve as a focal point specimen tree, or being clumped with 3-5 trees close together, or in a grove of randomly scattered individuals.  It is a perfect tree for narrower spaces where you want a tree, but a larger one just won’t work.   In just 3 to 5 years, a modest sized Dakota Pinnacle Birch will develop into a lovely tree.  Pinnacle has been touted as having better resistance to birch borer than other white bark birch varieties, but we still recommend a once a year, one minute treatment with the systemic insecticide, Imidacloprid.  Imidacloprid is now widely available under a variety of name brand labels. It’s very easy to apply.  Pour a few ounces in a 5 gallon pail, add a couple of gallons of water, and pour the solution onto the soil within 12 inches of the trunk.  The tree roots will absorb the protection and send it throughout the tree.

We gave Dakota Pinnacle Birch available in containers – single stem and some in clump form.

I have also shared my blog here with the Northfield News.

The Japanese Tree Lilac grows to a height of 25′ and a width of approximately 20′ to 25′.   Blooming after the other lilacs have finished, it is a great way to extend bloom time in your yard.  This is one tree that has shown to be pest and disease free. 

We have potted ones and larger balled and burlapped Japanese Tree Lilacs available here at the nursery.  All of them are blossoming and providing that wonderful fragrance.

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!

This simple technology of having dozens of air pruning openings built into the design of a molded plastic nursery pot prevents root circling inside the pot.  The result is a well balanced, properly shaped fibrous root system that prevents trees from becoming root bound. 

When you plant trees and shrubs produced with an almost perfectly formed and vigorous root system, the trees become established very quickly following planting on your property, and as a result are healthier and grow more quickly than trees that have been grown in traditional plastic nursery pots.

Chris Siems of Northfield who has a web blog -  Oak-Watch.blogspot, did a segment on Ron Schara’s Minnesota Bound shown on KARE 11 May 2nd showing the benefit of Oak trees and also discussed the benefits of air pruning nursery pots.   We have over 2000 potted trees available here at the nursery that are produced using these air pruning nursery pots.  Stop in soon to see the difference in this better growing technique.

I have also shared my post here with the Northfield News for their blog section.

We are carrying four different varieties of Magnolias this year.  The Merrill Magnolia, Royal Star Magnolia, Ann Magnolia and the Leonard Messel.   The Merrill and Royal Star have white flowers and the Ann and the Leonard Messel have pink flowers.    There are shrub form and  tree form available with several different price points!  

The main difference in these different varieties are the heights – so if you are wanting to plant a Magnolia but are concerned about the mature height of the tree – one of these will definitely fit the bill for you.  All four of these plants are hardy in Zone 4.   They prefer slightly acidic, moist soil conditions.  When planting a magnolia, you should avoid southern exposures which may lead to buds freezing in the early spring with a sudden drop in temperatures.

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.

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.