Knecht’s

Today, Jim and Todd finished up a residential "make-over".  More and more people are re-doing their existing landscapes.  A family here in Northfield added onto their home last fall and with the addition came two egress windows on the lower level.  We created a limestone wall to solve the elevation change and add a stunning compliment to the home!

  The front entrance needed a makeover as well and we created a little sitting area with new plants that in just a year or two will offer a little more privacy as well as a relaxing focal point for which the owners can sit and enjoy themselves in. 

Amy Voight, one of our landscape designers, created the design for this project and Jim Westlund and Todd Marnie did the installation with an assist from Amy.

If you are considering just a little fine-tuning to your landscape or have a large project in mind - or anything in between - give us a call and we can assist you with your project!

The last phase of the landscape installation after the plants were installed, is the application of a 3" layer of mulch.  The Vincent’s chose a deep chocolate brown colored mulch and it sets off the plants beautifully.  Mulching plants after they are planted serves so many purposes.  It obviously creates a finished look to the bed, but if applied at a depth of 3", it does help to control weeds from growing up, and it also retains moisture.  It does provide a winter time insulating blanket for the plants as well. 

This yard will be having irrigation installed and as soon as that is done and the guys have finished the final round of clean up - we’ll be trying for that "final picture".

On today’s journey over to the home of Vince and Lynn Vincent - where our landscaping project this week is taking place - I find that Jim and Todd are doing the bed prep.  Backing up in time a little, our landscape designer, Kristin Lucas, outlined the beds and sidewalk about 2 weeks ago.  She then sprayed the areas that we would be working with Roundup to kill out the unwanted vegetation.  When doing the sidewalk and the edging, we had to remove the dead sod, however, we are leaving that sod down where we are putting the plantings, and amending it with our premium landscape soil mix.  The dead grass will simply decompose and by doing this - will add some nutritional value to the soil, but it also has soil that is attached to the grass which stays in place rather than disposing of it if we don’t need to.  This provides a much better soil base than to remove some of the soil that is attached to the grass if we removed all of the dead sod.  Soil is everything to your new plants.  By giving them a supplement of some good planting mix - especially when you’re working on lots where a lot of the original soil is no longer even there - it gives the plants such a boost! 

Kristin is working with Jim and Todd for a little while this afternoon placing all of the plants she and the Vincents have chosen for the yard.  This is the fun part, because you know that it is only going to look better from here on out!  If the weather holds this afternoon, we should get the majority of the planting done and then on Monday they’ll finish up with the mulching of the beds!   Stay tuned next week for pictures of the completed project!!!!

Wow - says it when you look at the spring, early summer flower display put on by the Purple Robe Locust.  Leif came in the office yesterday all excited after checking one of our production blocks.  Grabbing the camera he took me back to the rack where the Purple Robe Locust were.  These trees are large shade trees -  - 50′ tall by 30′ wide with bronze-green leaves which turn yellow in the fall.  The tree is hardy to Zone 3.  The beautiful globe shaped locust has these dark rose-pink flowers and foliage that emerges a bronzy-red before turning a bronzy-green for the summer.  Another nice feature - it’s drought tolerant!  These trees are for sale - however - they cannot go home with you until mid-summer once they are fully rooted into their containers.  We’ll mark one sold and call you when they’re ready for their new homes!   These probably won’t be available for long - it seems to be a very popular tree this year!

We often here people remark at the nursery - this must be the most fun place to work - look at all these plants.  This is true when we have so many different trees blossoming or showing their colors throughout the season.  Right now, one of the trees with a very unique, very striking colorful  flower is the Briotti Red Horsechestnut - Aesculux x carnea ‘Briotti’.  This showy tree is hardy in Zone 4, reaches a mature height of 30′ and spreads a little wider- up to 35′.  A rounded mature shape it sports dark green leaves and has the beautiful red flower clusters shown here in the picture. 

Last week, Leif was asked by the Northfield News to submit an article for their environmental section.  He did an article detailing some of the best reasons to plant trees - Go Green!

"One of the simplest ways to go green and save greenbacks is to plant trees. When good choices are made for tree varieties and their location in the landscape, new trees can clean the atmosphere, reduce heating and cooling costs, improve property values, and beautify the neighborhood.

From an environmental standpoint, a growing tree converts carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into wood fiber, thereby reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Each tree planted helps a little bit, and if billions of trees are planted world-wide we will collectively help counteract some of our hydrocarbon fuel uses such as gas, diesel, coal and natural gas.

One of our wholesalers shared information that if each driver of a car plants several trees, that this can go a long way toward removing Co2 from the atmosphere that is produced by the operation of that car. If you don’t own property where trees can be sensibly planted, try to find a property owner or public institution that will accept your help with a tree planting project.

The shade from trees helps keep buildings cooler, reducing fossil fuel used to produce the electricity that runs air conditioners by 15% to 50%. Good windbreaks help reduce heating costs in the winter. I recommend that if you are unsure about how to position trees to get this benefit, that you contact a trusted nursery professional for assistance.

Growing trees also produces oxygen. One tree can produce enough in a year for a family of four! Healthy trees can create a satisfying atmosphere that can help us feel rejuvenated from the wear and tear of hectic daily life. Well cared for trees that are well positioned in the landscape can add significantly to the value of a property. These trees are an investment in your property, and an investment that will appreciate over time with a modest amount of care. A nice feature is that you can plant a small tree that is available at a small cost, and in just 3 or 4 years time you will be the proud owner of a tree that would cost many times what was spent for the small tree. With bank interest rates at 1% to 4%, it may be a very good investment by comparison to plant a few small high quality varieties of trees if your lot is looking a little bare.

Over the past several hundred years mankind has devastated the world’s forests. We can all do a little bit to turn things in a positive direction by planting trees whenever you have the opportunity. Go Green – Plant a tree and stay cool. Trees are Cool!

I want to thank Bailey Nurseries for providing much of the information about the positive environmental effects of tree planting!"

Today, Jim and Todd are finishing up on the installation of edging blocks.  The typical edging that is used on landscape jobs is the heavy duty, black vinyl edging.  This homeowner has chosen the block because he wants to eliminate as much trimming of his lawn as possible and wants to have the wheel of his lawnmower go on the edging.   This is quite a bit more labor intensive than the vinyl edging and it  definitely does make a statement.

If the weather holds - the fun part comes tomorrow when we add the plants to the many garden areas.

This week we welcomed back the rest of our returning college and high school workers.  Pictured here are Peter Douglass, Kevin Vig and Kevin Borek and floating in air - Caitlyn Borek. 

The guys are all in college and Caitlyn just graduated from Northfield High School this past weekend.  Peter and Kevin Borek have been with us eight summers now, Caitlyn is starting her 6th season here, and Kevin Vig is on round three!

They don’t come much better than this crew!   Thanks for being a part of our success!

To quote Kevin Vig - "Here at Knecht’s, it’s Go Team!"

Todd and Jim completed the sidewalk today and it looks great!  Now they’re continuing work on the concrete edging material the customer selected.  The customer wanted something that would lay flat and was wide enough for their riding lawnmower.  Tomorrow - that will be done and then onto the plantings! 

We now have a limited supply of the Princeton American Elm tree.  This American Elm  is highly resistant to Dutch Elm Disease and has proven success in the landscape.  It is a true American Elm, and not a hybrid.  Other attributes that make it a great shade tree is that it is extremely tolerant of harsh urban conditions, thriving in any soil type.  A zone 3 to 9 plant - it is also fast growing.

When needing a good shade tree, don’t forget the elms and their return onto the landscape scene once again.  In addition to the Princeton Elm, we carry at least six other cultivars. 

Our landscape crews are busy despite the rain this week.  We are creating a backyard escape for a new home here in Northfield which includes stone edging with a flagstone sidewalk from the garage service door wrapping around to their new deck.  Jim Westlund (our landscape foreman) and Todd Marnie enjoy creating these unique, one of a kind sidewalks.  No two are the same.   I’ll be posting their progress as we go along the next few days until this backyard transformation is complete.   Once the sidewalk is done - we’ll be planting the gardens that will encompass the perimeter of the yard.