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 [...]
After a dry early summer and some nice rains in August, a three week dry spell has pulled soil moisture levels back down to levels that are stressful for many plants. A good soaking with sprinklers or irrigation systems will help reduce stress on landscape plants as they begin the process of going dormant, and [...]
This is the time of the year when customers often ask us if it is too late to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. The short answer is a definite – NO IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO PLANT!
Success with summer plantings is easy to achieve. Trees, shrubs and perennials have the same needs whether it is [...]
Leaf tatter on certain varieties of trees has caused them to look as if they are diseased, sick or being attacked by insects. For the last several weeks I have taken a steady stream of calls about trees that are looking bad. The calls started coming in a couple of days after we had 2 [...]
Summer planting is successful planting. Long warm days give newly planted trees, shrubs and perennials all the daylight they need to establish new root systems over the remainder of the summer and fall.
Simply provide each plant with adequate, but not excessive moisture and nutrition, and they are sure to follow their internal genetic programming that [...]
The establishment of the highly destructive emerald ash borer in Minnesota will once again force us to re-evaluate what type of trees we should be planting. When Dutch Elm Disease devastated our urban and native forests starting in the 1950’s the same question was asked since so many communities had planted such large numbers of [...]
Have you ever admired a group of white barked birch trees in the North Woods? Or perhaps you’ve noticed a graceful clump of white birch serving as a focal point in a neighbor’s landscaping.
Wherever they are found in our natural woodlands or urban landscapes, white barked birches of many varieties seem to catch our attention. [...]
With the serious pest – Emerald Ash Borer – now present in the State of Minnesota, people will be interested in ways to protect their trees. A once a year soil drench of a solution containing Imidacloprid will prevent the Emerald Ash Borer from doing significant damage. Application is extremely easy for homeowners, and quite [...]
It’s time to water your landscape plants. Mother Nature has been pretty stingy with rainfall these past couple of years, and the subsoil is now pretty dry.
In normal times when the surface soils dry out, subsoil moisture is available to gradually percolate up, or be drawn out by the large root systems of established plants. [...]
Now that spring is sprung and the growing season is well under way, we can enjoy some of the real glories spring has to offer.
Flowering crabs have been putting on a show in recent days, and one of my all time favorites for eye popping color is the Prairiefire Crab. Prairiefire seems to blossom just [...]
The first 3 ½ weeks of April was very dry, but a nice slow soaking inch of rain in the Northfield area on April 26/27 has really helped green things up and add moisture that will be needed to get spring gardens off to a good start.
It’s time to plant grass seed in the bare [...]
In my blog last week on planting a potted tree, explaining root pruning prior to planting, I promised that the next blog would cover the width of the hole.
Dig wide holes – no deeper than the height of the root ball of the tree, shrub or perennial you are placing in your landscape. How wide [...]
The two most important things you will want to do when planting a tree that has been grown in a plastic nursery pot are to root prune aggressively prior to planting, and to dig a hole of the correct depth and width.
Root pruning? What’s root pruning you say? Root pruning cuts or removes tree [...]
While modern methods of raising and packaging trees for use in the landscape have enabled homeowners and landscapers alike to successfully plant trees all season long, there is no doubt that spring is thought of as prime time for tree planting.
Once a tree has been properly planted, the name of the game is enabling the [...]
Perhaps you’ve been thinking about digging and dividing some of your perennial flowers, or found that you planted some kind of shrub in a spot that is too shady, and now after a year or two want to move it to a little sunnier spot. The time of transplanting is upon us.
Some sunny areas have [...]
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