Knecht’s

This past week we started construction on a fountain down at Millstream Commons here in Northfield. Millstream Commons - an assisted living complex recently built by Northfield Construction is an asset to Northfield. Built along the Cannon River - close to downtown - it offers a wonderful living facility for seniors!

Jim Westlund, our landscape division manager and Jacob Kohn worked hard this week on the fountain. In the next week or so - wall caps, sidewalks and nighttime lighting will be added to finish off the project. Tucked away on the side of the building - it is going to delight the residents for years to come.

Here’s Leif’s Yard & Garden Notes for July 1st. Check out Leif’s articles every weekend in the Saturday Northfield News in the Home and Garden Section (Sec. C) of the paper.

Labels: Yard and Garden Notes by Leif

Here’s Leif’s Yard & Garden Notes for June 24th. Check out Leif’s articles every weekend in the Saturday Northfield News in the Home and Garden Section (Sec. C) of the paper.

The last two weeks we have had quite a few questions asking what kind of trees were showing off beautiful large white blossoms. Japanese tree lilacs have once again fulfilled their role as an early summer provider of plenty of flower power at a time when spring flowering perennials and shrubs are fading out, and annuals are just beginning to put on their first massive flushes of color. An added treat had been the intense fragrance that Japanese Tree Lilacs can send through a large area of the landscape.

Sometimes wind storms or birds or insects can damage or break the central leader stem of a tree. If this has happened to one of your trees just as it was getting nice, or during its period of establishment, don’t despair. Carefully bend a side branch up alongside the damaged central stem, and tie it to the stub in several places, like a splint. Over the next 12 to 18 months, it is likely that the side branch will take over as the new central leader, adding stem thickness, and setting in place in its new vertical position. There will be a job in the trunk, but over time this will be less and less noticeable as the trunk grows in thickness!

Want lots of summer color at a very low cost? Annuals are still available in good numbers and a bargain prices. Grab some pots and high quality potting mix and pot up a bunch of annuals. Let your creativity flow, creating different combinations. Timed release fertilizer beads in a well drained growing mix, combined with dilute applications of water soluble fertilizer once a week will give you mountains of moveable color to grace patios, walkways, steps and other nooks and crannies in the landscape.

Keep planting a row of green beans every 7 to 14 days through mid-July to keep a nice supply of these healthy, delicious, and easy veggies coming all the way into mid-fall.

Don’t be afraid to container grow vegetables. With lots of people living in condos and townhomes, this might be one of your few options to be able to continue the pursuit and enjoy the fruits of the garden, even when you don’t have one. You might be surprised what you can produce for the table out on a balcony, deck or patio. An added benefit is that with a high quality soil less growing mix of peat, pine bark and perlite, weeds in your mini-garden will usually be very few compared to native field soils.

Plant Spotlight: Impatiens. These prolific bloomers are one of my all time favorites in the summer garden. Easy to grow, and versatile in fairly sunny to somewhat shady locations, impatiens with a good moisture supply and regular light fertilizer applications will provide non-stop color right to first frost. Remember that they actually do not like heavy shade. Impatiens perform best in locations with mixed sun and shade. To promote heavier blossom set, try to avoid episodes of dryness.

Labels: Yard and Garden Notes by Leif

We have people purchase trees from little tiny trees just knee high to large in ground trees moved with a tree spade truck. Some folks want larger trees but are afraid to plant them themselves and do not want a large truck driving on their lawns. To solve this problem - two years ago we purchased a Mult-trak machine for planting larger balled and burlapped trees at customer’s sites. This light-weight machine is articulated so each wheel operates independently enabling it to operate on lawns with no marks or ruts.

Click on the thumbnail photo of our machine and you’ll see a larger version which shows the machine in great detail!

We have a large supply of larger balled and burlapped trees in stock now - from Oaks and Maples to ornamental trees such as flowering crabapples to Japanese Tree Lilacs.

Here’s Leif’s Yard & Garden Notes for June 17. Check out Leif’s articles every weekend in the Saturday Northfield News in the Home and Garden Section (Sec. C) of the paper.

Following the second heat wave this past Memorial Day weekend we received calls from several people who had a recently planted tree or shrub that developed many crispy leaves. Some had left them for the holiday weekend, and others simply unaware that over just a couple extremely hot days, all the moisture available to the plant was used up.

The key term here is available moisture. Until a newly planted tree or shrub that was purchased in a plastic pot is able to extend new roots a few inches into the surrounding soil, the moisture available to the plant is limited for the most part to the water in the plug of roots that came with the plant.

Even if you have watered the plant heavily, and the soil around the root mass is moist, there are no roots yet out in the surrounding soil, and the plant is only able to utilize the moisture in the root mass itself. Under high heat and high wind conditions, the plant very quickly pulls all the moisture out of that plug of roots. Capillary action does allow some moisture to move from moist surrounding soil into the root mass, but this can be a very slow process, and not nearly enough to keep plant leaves supplied with the amount of water they need during a heat wave.

The solution is simple. For newly planted landscape plants that were purchased in a plastic pot, water more often. Apply enough water to completely wet the plug of roots, but do not over water. During high heat and windy periods, we give the potted plants a dose of water every day.

With a watering wand on the end of the hose, and the valve fully open, we give plants from a second to six or eight seconds of water full flow, depending on pot size. Keep in mind that we have pots that range in size from one quart to 27 gallons in volume.

During the four to six weeks when the new landscape plant is gradually extending new roots into the surrounding soil, these frequent and modest waterings will keep moisture inside the root areas, where the plant is able to utilize it. If you have root pruned aggressively prior to planting, tiny new roots should be able to extend out a few inches or more into the soil during the first month and a half. This means moisture is available to the plant from a much larger area, and consequently, the frequency of waterings can be reduced.

In order to make sure that the modest and frequent watering you apply moisten the root mass and don’t run off to the other areas, create a ring of soil around each plant when planting is done. This ring dike will allow the water you apply to soak directly down into the root plug, thoroughly moistening the entire plug. I like to mulch over the dike with 2″ of bark mulch to keep the ring dike intact for the first season.

If you do not aggressively root prune potted plants prior to planting, extension of new roots into the soil may be very slow, which extends the period of time you will need to water frequently and modestly. If you see any matted roots on the outside of the root plug when you slide your plant out of the pot, root prune aggressively with a utility knife, cutting an inch deep or more thorough the root bound mass, at close intervals, all the way around and underneath the root ball. From these cuts, new roots will quickly extend into surround soil.

Note: Watering of balled and burlapped trees and shrubs is very different, usually requiring one or two waterings per week, and more water each time. Never the less, do not leave your hose running on the balled and burlapped plant, and leave the area. You may forget to go back, end up applying too much water, and drowning the plant.

Plant Spotlight: May Night Meadow Sage Salvia. A staple of the perennial garden - this hardy plant with its dark blue flower spikes provides a wonderful focal point to the late spring, early summer garden. Companion plants of yellow Primrose or pink Penstemon offers an interesting palette of color. May Night Salvia will reach a height of 24″ by 18″ wide and with dead-heading, will offer blooms until August!

Labels: Yard and Garden Notes by Leif

We receive many calls this time of year asking “What is that beautiful tree with the white flowers?” The Japanese Tree Lilac is a wonderful ornamental tree that blossoms with big white bouquets of flowers that are exceptionally fragrant. It produces no fruit and is very hardy to our Minnesota winters. It reaches a mature height of between 18 feet and 25 feet - depending on variety. The regular lilacs bloom in May and when we are still hungry for our lilac fix - this tree goes into high gear.

This tree is planted in the Long Term Care Garden at the Northfield Hospital. Click on the image for a larger version.

One Wednesday, June 21st, our nursery will be on the Garden Center Tour for members of the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association.
Fellow industry folks will tour our facility and take back a few ideas of how we do things that might work for them and they’ll share some of their ideas as well. We look forward to having this tour at the nursery.

The Northfield Garden Club will hold their monthly meeting here at the nursery tomorrow evening - June 13th. They will check out the plants here at the nursery, and Leif will give a talk on the new trees and shrubs offered this year.

On Saturday, June 24th, we will welcome the Mower County Horiticultural Society from the Austin area. They are going on their annual bus tour and will be stopping in for a couple of hours after being in the metro area.

We enjoy having the gardening clubs, etc. at the nursery. These folks are “excited” about gardening and always provide a fun time.

Leif is an alumni of St. Olaf College, having graduated in 1973. In May, the current issue of the St. Olaf Magazine featured an article on Leif. On the cover is a photo of David R. Anderson, the new President-Elect who will assume his duties in July of this year. Following the article on the new President, was the one about Leif, titled “Close to His Roots” . The article tells the story of how we began the nursery from it’s start to the operation we have today. We are exceptionally proud of the article and hope that you find it interesting as well.

Here’s Leif’s Yard & Garden Notes for June 3rd. Check out Leif’s articles every weekend in the Saturday Northfield News in the Home and Garden Section (Sec. C) of the paper.

This spring at the nursery we have received quite a few calls about leaf blemishes and falling leaves on ash, oak and maple trees. Back in early to mid-May we experienced a long stretch of wet and cloudy weather that allowed anthracnose fungus to grow in the leaves of many trees.

The brown and blackened portions of leaves and curling leaves result from this common fungus which usually does not kill the tree. They main problem is unsightly leaves, and a little less growth potential due to less leaf surface creating food for the tree. In another year you might see little or no anthracnose fungus damage if weather conditions are different. If you want to prevent or stop the spread to newly emerging leaf surfaces, you can spray the tree with a broad spectrum fungicide. This is usually practical only on small and medium sized trees.

I’ve also noticed some tar spot fungus on maple leaves. Again, while unsightly, these dark black spots 1/8″ to ½” in size are not a threat to the life of the tree, but a mostly cosmetic problem. Where practical, a fungicide treatment right after the tree leafs out may help prevent the problem, or you may decide to just accept some blemishes.

On ash trees, both ash plant bug and anthracnose have been active. Ash plant bugs suck juice out of the leaves, causing pin prick sized light brown spots, and leaf curling, and sometimes leaf drop. An insecticide spray right after leaves emerge may help reduce populations of this pest. Again, the problem lies in spraying large trees, and the unappealing prospect of chemical applications. If both ash plant bug and anthracnose affect a tree for many years in a row, the tree may lose vigor gradually, and eventually die. Sometimes the owner decides that enough is enough and chooses removal and planting of a less susceptible variety of tree.

One way to reduce problems with trees in the urban landscape is to diversify. By planting a wide variety of trees, there is less tendency for pest infestations. Plant diversity also protects against catastrophic and almost complete loss of the urban tree canopy should a tree disease as devastating as Dutch Elm disease work it’s way through our forests and towns. A balanced mix of Maple, Ash, Oak, disease resistant Elms, Hackberry, Linden, Thornless Honeylocust and ornamental trees will preserve much of the look and feel of a neighborhood even if a really bad tree disease hits us someday.

Plant Spotlight: Briotii Red Horsechestnut.

Largely unknown, but deserving of consideration for us in Minnesota landscape, the Briotii Red Horsechestnut is among the flowering trees that are possible to grow in our challenging climate. The huge 10″ tall red blossoms of the Briotii would certainly draw lots of attention - possibly even stopping traffic!

Producing large leaves, it creates a bit of a tropical atmosphere. The tropical theme is accentuated by the large red flowers that stand erect on sparse and coarse branches. This offers the viewer an exceptionally open and direct visual feast. Height 30′ - Width - 40′. Zone 3.

Labels: Yard and Garden Notes by Leif