Knecht’s

Our retail center is now officially closed for the season. All of the plants are tucked away for the winter! We will continue to have our balled and burlapped trees and some container trees available for sale for those late fall planting projects for a couple of more weeks! We would ask that you call to be sure someone is here to meet you - we come and go alot this time of year!

In Northfield - 645-5015
Metro Area - 507-645-5015
Outside Metro - 800-924-5015

Our design services are available year round! It is a great idea to work with our designer over the winter when the schedules are less hectic - and it puts you on top of the list come spring.

We have Gift Certificates available for Christmas giving! What a great way to give a present to someone that keeps on growing! They can be purchased in any amount - we can send them out for you, to you or you can pick them up here at the office! (Please call ahead since we don’t have regular office hours this time of year!) They are good for one year and can be used in increments if the recipient wishes as well!

This very disease resistant, modest sized flowering crab can be an interesting feature of the landscape year around. Masses of white blossoms in May are followed by medium green leaves that stay crisp and blemish free the entire growing season. In early September, small 3/8″ diameter crabapples turn fire engine red, and persist on the tree all through the entire winter. The color display is simply outstanding all fall and early winter, with somewhat more muted red in mid to late winter. With a height of 15′ and a width of 12′, the Red Jewell is very uniform and shapely, and it fits well in smaller spaces, and delights the eye throughout the four seasons.

See more crabapple trees on our Ornamental & Flowering Trees page.

Leif has a new article posted (pdf) in the library. Here is the first paragraph:

I recently replaced two small maple trees that had died when the bark was completely girdled by the careless use of a string trimmer. It was especially sad because the energetic woman I planted them for is about eighty years old, and had hoped to see her trees grow to a nice size before she moved out of her home in a few years. We compensated by picking a fast growing variety that would still show nice fall color, but I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. It is so unnecessary. Just a little care when trimming will help keep bark intact and the tree healthy.

(continued…)

Leif’s articles appear in the Saturday edition of the Northfield News, in the Home and Real Estate section. All his previous articles are archived in our web library, going back to 2001.

Leif Knecht is interviewed by host Jon Gordon on today’s Future Tense radio show (MPR/American Public Media).

The entire 5 minute show, More businesses consider blogging, is available on the show’s web site (listen using Real Audio) but here’s a snip:

Recent entries on the photo-rich blog of Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping of Northfield, Minnesota concern preparing plants for winter, creating plant-filled windows boxes, and a new landscape employee. Owner Leif Knecht says the blog is a good way to reach out.

“We try to, as much as we can, have a conversational tone, sort of down-to-earth, this-is-us, we’re kind of a mom-and-pop business. It’s a way of people getting to know us a little bit in a personal way.”

Insiders know, however, that the best blogger (and photographer) in the family is Deb!

This native vine is in its glory right now. The dazzling orange fruit is sure to brighten the muted late fall landscape, and carefully snipped pieces make for lovely decorative arrangements when combined with oak leaves, cattails, red and yellow twig dogwood and a few sprigs from evergreen trees. Give bittersweet plenty of sunshine and a large wire mesh fence, trellis or arbor to climb on, and you will be treated to a color explosion every fall for years to come. Plant about five plants together to make sure you get both male and female vines for adequate cross pollination. Good drainage is preferred.

Leif has a new article posted (pdf) in the library. Here is the first paragraph:

With soil moisture levels running a little on the low side due to several dry periods during the 2004 growing season, most landscape plants will benefit from one more good watering prior to the onset of winter. Plants will generally go through winter in slightly better condition with the extra moisture. If you’ve been waiting to prune oaks and elms, the recent hard frosts have made it safe to go ahead. Prune these varieties between now and about April 15th when the bugs that can transmit disease might become active. Remember to leave the slightly flared area at the base of the branch when making your pruning cut. When left in place, this “collar” tissue heals quickly and secretes phenols to prevent rot in the wood exposed by the pruning cut. Avoid the use of pruning sealants. Pruning sealant can actually prevent rot resisting phenols from the bark collar from soaking into the bare wood of the pruning cut. (continued…)

Leif’s articles appear in the Saturday edition of the Northfield News, in the Home and Real Estate section. All his previous articles are archived in our web library, going back to 2001.

We are excited to announce that Amy Voight has joined our team as our new Landscape Designer!

Amy comes to us with several years of experience and a passion in landscape design. She has already started visiting with customers and doing consultations! We look forward to working with Amy. For more on Amy or any of our other staff, see the About Us page.

Over the winter is a great time to start discussing new landscapes and avoid the rush in the spring and it’s a good way to get on the top of the work list! If you would like to visit with Amy, use the form on the Contact Us page and she will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

The question that we get from our customers now is “What do you do with all of your plants that you haven’t sold yet before winter?” The answer is that we group all of the plants into blocks, tip them, and cover them up for their long winter’s nap! It is quite a process of over-wintering our plant material but well worth it. They come through the winter without missing a beat.

Shar Jacobsen and Andrea Braun are grouping and tipping our production spireas. When we are all done over-wintering our trees, shrubs and perennials, we will have between 30 and 40 big white “pillows” here at the nursery protecting our plants until spring!

Once our plants are covered, we will still be open to sell our in-ground trees and balled and burlapped trees until Thanksgiving. There will be a limited amount of container trees also available.

Probably the most popular ornamental tree is the flowering crabapple. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and spring blossom color. The blossoms in May will last for a week or two. When I think of a flowering crab, I think of the fruit that hangs onto the tree throughout the fall and winter when I want some extra color in the landscape!

The pictures here show three different flowering crabapples - the top photo is of a new crab in our inventory that we have this year - “Harvest Gold” - bright yellow fruit cling to the branches, while the second photo is the “Professor Sprenger” crabapple with its orange fruit. The bottom picture is of the “Firebird Dwarf” crabapple. This tree is a small one - reaching a height of only approx. 6 feet. What a wonderful way to keep some color late in the season!

The annuals in our window boxes have long since given up with the hard frosts we have had. I went on a journey through our wildlife cover plot at home and came up with a fall window box with no flowers…cuttings from the red twig and yellow twig dogwood, clippings from bittersweet, white pine cones, white pine boughs, a sprig of oak leaves, some ornamental grass and an acorn squash make for an atrractive fall window box. Take a walk in the woods and see what you can come up with!

In years past, the lovely white barked paper birches have been a problem in the landscape due to their susceptibility to bronze birch borers. A rigorous Wisconsin breeding program over the last thirty years has resulted in the availability of several hybrid paper birch varieties with increased resistance to the borers. Lovely in form, contrast and fall color, these wonderful additions to the modern landscape can transport you and a bit of your property into the spirit of the North Woods. Three and four stem clumps are the most popular form, as their graceful white stems contrast against the greens, browns and grays of the landscape as the four seasons roll along. Excellent varieties are Reflection, Oasis, Upright, Compact and the purple leafed Royal Frost. All are complex hybrids, most with good yellow/gold fall color, and the Royal Frost showing a striking addition of orange and red into the color show as the leaves put on their autumn spectacle. Plant in fertile soil for best results.

See more birch trees on our Shade Trees page.

Leif has a new article posted in the library. Here is the first paragraph:

A cool summer, warm September and mild October combined to bring us an autumn season with very nice color. As leaves make their final statement in blazing shades of gold, orange and red and soon flutter to the ground, the bittersweet feelings of a growing season ending begin to be felt. In less than three weeks Thanksgiving will bring families together to celebrate the blessings of a land with abundant resources and opportunities. Though winter is but a cold north wind away, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your landscape before frost creeps deep into the soils.

Leif’s articles appear in the Saturday edition of the Northfield News, in the Home and Real Estate section. All his previous articles are archived in our web library, going back to 2001.