September 22, 2010 – 9:28 am
The fabulous Firefall Maple is finally available, and offers homeowners and professionals alike a great new option for placement in the landscape of a fast growing, well structured maple of moderate width that shows eye popping reddish fall color.
Firefall Maple becomes ever more handsome as it matures, sporting a distinctive cutleaf foliage, lovely oval shape, and sturdy 45 degree angle branching that attaches strongly to the trunk for excellent long term durability. Branches sometimes develop a slightly wavy appearance that adds to visual interest, particularly during the long 6 1/2 months when there are no leaves on the trees here in Minnesota.
Versatility is another hallmark of Firefall Maple. Firefall will grow well in pretty moist soils, somewhat sandy/gravelly soils and most everything in between, and will be a good fit for smaller yards with a rated width of approximately 35′-40′ compared to most shade trees that commonly spread from 50′ to 70′ wide.
We have Firefall Maple available in #3, #7 and #15 pot sizes with 2010 Fall Sale prices ranging from $13.99 to $97.30. Heights of these trees cover a range from 4′ to 15′, with a caliper thickness of 1/2″ to 1 1/2″. Prices valid during 2010.
September 22, 2010 – 6:48 am
Paper Birch have long been one of the most striking landscape trees available, sporting beautiful white bark and golden yellow fall color. One limiting factor in the use of paper birch has been an uncertain life expectancy due to the possibility of infestation by birch borers. These insects tunnel through bark, interrupting sap flow, and over a period of years can eventually result in the loss of a prized tree.
Evergreen Nursery 
in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin has had a 35 year breeding program to develop paper birch with increased resistance to birch borers. I have grown all the paper birch varieties that resulted from this program, and have concluded that Renaissance ‘Oasis’ Paper Birch is the most beautiful, and the most resistant to birch borers and drought.
‘Oasis’ Paper Birch has brown bark in youth, but within just a couple of years begins to develop nice white bark, ultimately becoming a really pure white, and growing quickly into a nice size shade and ornamental tree!
With increased resistant to birch borers, ‘Oasis’ Paper Birch merits consideration for placement in an important place in the landscape. I recommend a very simple one minute, once a year treatment with the systemic insecticide – Imidacloprid – to be sure that your paper birch will delight your eye for decades to come. Just pour the solution on the ground around the trunk and for a few dollars per year, you can protect against birch borers. No spraying or injecting is necessary.
September 2, 2010 – 6:21 am
‘Fox Valley’ Dwarf River Birch – Betula Nigra – Over the years many people have admired the beautiful cinnamon color peeling bark of the River Birch. Handsome as both a single stem, or clump, this Minnesota native has been a staple of beautiful landscapes.
One difficulty with normal River Birch has been that they are sometimes too large for smaller areas of our landscapes. Fox Valley Dwarf River Birch solves this problem with a mature size rating of 12′ tall by 12′ wide. Fox Valley sports an interesting bark similar to regular River Birch, can handle damp soils, and can be used as a focal point around which to artfully group shrubs and perennials.
The ‘Fox Valley’ Dwarf River Birch prefers neutral to acidic soils, and with just a bit of supplemental watering, can prosper in upland soil. Check out this new and interesting birch for small spaces.
I have also shared this post with the Northfield News.
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.
Japanese Tree Lilac is an ornamental tree that sports showy fragrant white blossoms in early to mid-June. Pictured on the left is about the prettiest one that I have seen. It’s a mature specimen that grows at a home in Dundas, MN. Pictured to the right, is one that we planted as part of a landscape project a few years ago for the Northfield Hospital. Even as a young tree, you get the visual impact right away!
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.
Early summer is an excellent time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials to make your landscape beautiful. Approximately 130 days remain in the growing season and this provides a long period of time for establishment of new root systems that will power vigorous growth for years to come.
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!
Air pruning nursery pots produce trees and shrubs with better root systems. Here at Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping we have been using air pruning pots for several years to avoid producing trees that are root bound.
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.
The Magnolias are blossoming at the nursery now! WOW! We have about the prettiest Royal Star Magnolia tree that any of us have ever seen. It is perfect, and it is full of the whitest, fragrant flowers! It is in our Creative Corner right now and we are sure it won’t be here long!
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.
April 10, 2010 – 10:05 am
We are well underway with tree planting for this landscape season. Jim Westlund, our landscape division manager, and Todd Marnie are planting an Autumn Blaze Maple along the boulevard for Evergreen Townhome Association. We have an incredible sale on our balled and burlapped trees from 2009 right now and even with hiring our crews to plant them for you – it’s still a tremendous bargain!
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!
We normally think of beautiful spring flowers as crocus, tulips, daffodils, flowering crabs, magnolias, plums, cherries and redbuds. One of my spring favorites is often overlooked.
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.
Spring tree harvest is under way at the nursery. This means that if you have been thinking about moving some trees or shrubs around your property, the next 15 or 20 days will be your best opportunity of the year for most varieties.
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.
March 17, 2010 – 11:29 am
What’s so exciting about this picture? This is what the crabapples (berries) on our Red Jewel Flowering Crab are looking like today! March 17th! They are still a very bright red – with a few a little bleaker looking. What a fantastic tree! The Red Jewel is an ornamental tree that fits in smaller spaces. We have it planted right next to our front door, so going in and out all year we see it. In the spring, we are delighted with the white flowers while it is blooming, in the summer it sports the glossiest green leaves and mid fall, the apples start to turn a brilliant red which lasts all the way to spring. The name ‘Red Jewel’ promotes the color of the fruit and not the blossom.
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.
Did you know that there are many new varieties of Elm trees now available that have very high resistance to Dutch Elm Diease? At long last, we will once again begin to see stately Elms offering the benefits of their rapid growth and cooling shade. Elms are fast growing trees that offer plenty of shade.
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.
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 pruning Oaks and Elms, since there is a far lower chance of infection of the pruning cuts to cause Oak Wilt and Dutch Elm disease, than during the warm season from may through mid-October.
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. Read More »
The fabulous Firefall Maple is finally available, and offers homeowners and professionals alike a great new option for placement in the landscape of a fast growing, well structured maple of moderate width that shows eye popping reddish fall color.
