Knecht’s

For the October 18th Northfield News, Leif’s article addressed the Sugar Maple.  This year has been about the best in recent memory for the myriad of colors that the sugar maples showed.  This picture here was taken on the St. Olaf College campus - right across from the nursery.

Here is his article….

In these turbulent economic times adding solid proven winners to your financial assets is said to be a wise strategy.  For many of us, our house is one of our biggest assets, and lately, values have been declining.  One way to preserve and increase the value of your property is to choose landscape plants that are high quality and have a proven track record.

The fall of 2008 has shown once again that when it comes to trees in the landscape, there are very sound reasons why sugar maples have frequently been called the King of the Shade Trees.  Also known as hard maple with the botanical name of ‘acer sacharrum’, sugar maples dominated the autumn explosion of leaf color this year with their wonderful mixture of yellow, orange and red color.

Sugar Maples have visually rich layering of color combinations that adds depth, complexity and a heightened sense of color intensity.  While the top part of the tree gradually changes from green to yellow to orange and red, the lower and inner parts of the canopy change later, creating a foundation gold and green that is a perfect counterpoint for the most intensely colored parts of the crown. (more…)

On October 11, 2008, our retail manager, Heidi Gervais became Mrs. Scott Brosseau at a lovely wedding ceremony held at the Valley Grove Church, rural Nerstrand. 

Heidi met Scott 2 1/2 years ago on a blind date in Duluth and as they say, the rest is history.   After a short honeymoon down to Ft. Lauderdale, Heidi will be back here at the nursery the end of next week.

Stop in and congratulate the new Mrs. Brosseau!

The maple tree with all it’s many varieties continues to be the most popular tree planted.  The question that we are asked the most is “What kind of fall color does this one have”.  We are showing a few of the popular varieties with the 2008 fall color display here.  We have these trees in stock and have several different sizes and price ranges in most varieties. 

Starting today - October 8, 2008 through October 12th we are putting our balled and burlapped (B&B) Autumn Blaze Maple on sale at Buy One Get One Free!  - that’s a heck of a savings!  Buy one at the regular price and the second tree is free!   (If you only want one Autumn Blaze - the trees are currently 30% off regular price - which is still a great savings!)

Autumn Blaze Maple - the most popular tree on the landscape market.   A hybrid - it’s fast growing - sensational fall color - and can grow in most soil conditions.   Print off the copy of this blog post and bring it with you when you pick out your new trees and receive the discount.   This sale ends on October 12, 2008 and applies only to the cost of the tree.  If you would hire our crew to plant them for you - you will need to pay the cost of the planting for the free tree.

There’s no limit on the number of free trees that you can get!  (except while supplies last!).   If you buy 5 Autumn Blaze Maple  B&B  at the regular price - you’ll receive 5 free!

Offer does not apply to any trees in black nursery containers - only to the balled and burlapped trees.  Free tree would be of equal or lesser value.

Now is the time to take advantage of all of our fall sale prices!  Leif is pictured here standing in front of some of our Autumn Blaze Maples.  What fantastic fall color!!!

These trees are now 30% off the regular prices so you can realize exceptional savings on an exceptional tree!  As with any of our plants - you can plant these yourself or hire our crews to do the planting for you!   If we plant the trees for you - all the is left for you to do is the watering!

Now is the time to stop in at the nursery and check out the fall colors.  Even if planting isn’t on your “to do list” this fall - you will still be able to see the fall colors which are so important to so many for our Minnesota landscapes.

Some of the other trees that are showing great color include the Celebration Maple, Sienna Glen Maple, and Firefall to name just a few.   Stop in soon and check these out!

 Leif’s article for the October 4, 2008, Northfield News was on Bittersweet!  Read on….

One of the native plants that can make a striking statement in the fall landscape is the bittersweet vine.  With brilliant orange clusters of fruit hanging on winding vines and curling tendrils, bittersweet brings its vivid display of color to the landscape just as other plants are fading.

 Out in the countryside around Northfield, wild Bittersweet vine can be found here and there growing on fence lines, along railroad rights of way and climbing up trees of many sizes to reach for sunlight.  While Bittersweet is sometimes found in heavier woodlands, it seems to prefer edges, openings, and areas disturbed by some kind of activity, where it can access more sunlight.

 Once the firm orange fruits - 3/8″ to 1`/2″ in diameter open to reveal a very deep orange flesh, they usually persist on the vines throughout the winter, or until they are eaten by birds and other wildlife.  This habit of persisting on the vine and retaining excellent color for many months makes Bittersweet berries one of the most visually stimulating native plants (more…)