Knecht’s

The Elms are back!  There are now many varieties of Elm back on the landscape market that are disease resistant to the Dutch Elm disease.  The Elm is a tree that can handle difficult soil conditions, is a fast grower and a wonderful shade tree.  It just doesn’t show a lot of vibrant colors in the fall just more of a nice yellow color.

Some of the varieties that we are carrying now are Discovery, Danada Charm, Vanguard, Prospector, Frontier, New Horizons, Accolade, Princeton and Triumph Elm.  Some of these are hybrids and others are true American Elms.  This weekend, Mary Schier and her husband Steve, were in and purchased a Triumph Elm to be planted in their front yard.  Mary is the editor of the Northern Gardener magazine and has been a customer of ours for many years.   After doing research for articles and knowing the wonderful attributes of the Elms now with so many being resistant to Dutch Elm, they came in search for a new elm.  With the help of Leif, Mary and Steve picked out the Triumph Elm.  Triumph Elm is a hybrid between the Vanguard and Accolade Elm - features an upright oval to vase-shaped growth habit and has glossy dark green foliage.  In the next week or so - our crews will be installing this new tree in their yard here in Northfield!

We have taken our first shipment of the Minnesota hardy fall Mums!  In several shades of yellow, purple, and bronze get yours now for those fall color displays.  We also have a limited number of straw bales for fall decorating and plenty of the ever popular purple fountain grass to accent with for fall!  Get a head start on your fall decorating! 

This is the time of the season that the hydrangeas are doing their thing with the gorgeous flower balls in colors from white, pink and blue.  The Pinky Winky Hydrangea, pictured here, is a newer introduction onto the hydrangea scene.  It has two-toned flower heads with large 12"-16" flowers that emerge white, then turn pink.  The dark green foliage provides a great contrast for the flowers - which makes a stunning statement in your garden.

We have many other hydrangeas in stock as well.  The reliable Annabelle, Pee Gee, Tardiva, Quik Fire, and the blue Endless Summer.  Hydrangea flowers are also wonderful to cut, dry and use in arrangements indoors.

Now is a great time to start planning your beds for the spring of 2009!  By now you know what did and didn’t work this season and you can also see what other people have done and how it’s doing.  I can take full credit for very few combinations of annuals and perennials - most have been found by trial and error on my part or on the part of a fellow gardener.  So, make those notes now, take those pictures, and let yourself start dreaming about those colors, textures and combinations that are yet to be.

Pictured here is a glorious Morning Glory.  A blue that true will make anyone stop and take notice.  It’s like the sky dropped a little piece of itself and it landed on our trellis.  These Morning Glory vines may be annuals but they are wonderfully vigorous and fast growing climbers that can make quick work of a trellis or an arbor.  This year we planted them on the same trellis as our porcelain vine so that the trellis would fill in more quickly but also to extend the bloom season.

(The above article was submitted by Heidi Gervais - our retail manager)

We are right in the middle of our summer sale!   We have blocks of plants that are 30% off which are marked with yellow flags and other blocks of plants marked with pink flags which are 50% off. 

Perennials - these plants are 50% off!!

Prairie Sky Panicum Grass, Candy Tuft, Joicus and standard Joe-Pye Weed, Plume Poppy, assorted Iris, assorted garden lilies, Silver Lace Vine, Porcelain Vine, Yellow Japanese Sage, Pink Chimes Campanula, Superba Campanula, Joan Elliot Campanula, Virginia Water Leaf, Oriental Limelight Sage, Bergenia, Barren Strawberry and assorted Yarrow. 

The shrubs and trees that are at 30% off include -

Lilacs (except for Dwarf Korean), Tri-Lights Azalea, Magnolias, #1 container Pines and Spruce, #5 container Colorado Spruce, #3 container Norway Spruce, Black Hills Spruce, White Pine, Scotch Pine and Colorado Spruce, #7, #10, #15 container White Pine and Fir trees, and #2, #3, #5 container Fat Albert Spruce.

The shrubs and trees that are at 50% off include -

White Knight and Rumba Weigela; Arnold’s Red Honeysuckle, Alleman’s Compact Dogwood, Assorted roses, Little Lamb, Pee Gee, Tardiva Hydrangea, Elderberry, Azaleas, (except Tri-lights), selected Viburnums, selected Winterberry, Spiral Junipers, Sester Dwarf Blue Spruce, #2 Techny Arborvitae, Honeylocust, Wahoo trees, Pagoda Dogwood, Harvest Gold, Lancelot & Lollipop Crabs, #3 container trees of the following varieties: Prairiefire Crab, Pin Oak, N. Red Oak, Blue Beech, Whitespire Birch, Autumn Blaze Maple, Sienna Glen Maple, Northwood Maple, Ironwood, Chokecherry, Bur x Swamp White hybrid Oak

All of our 2008 spring dug balled and burlapped trees are 20% off through August and we still have a few 2007 dug balled and burlapped trees that are 50% off.  On these larger trees - this is an exceptionally good buy.  

With the cooler temperatures predicted for the next week or so - people are planting!!  Our August has been very, very busy!  Stop in soon and pick out some plants for that late summer or fall planting project!

 Northfield retailers will be promoting their annual Crazy Days Sale on Thursday, July 24th starting at 7 am.  We will be having over 50 varieties of trees, shrubs and perennials on sale at 50% off!  

The following are some of the items that we’ll be discounting - and we’ll be adding onto this list up until Thursday morning!

• Many varieties of perennials including selected hostas.
• At least ten selected rose varieties
• Water plants
• All remaining annual 4 paks will be closed out at 10 cents a pak!!
• Spiral Junipers
• Sester Dwarf Blue Spruce
• #2 containers of Techny Arborvitae
• All sizes of Harvest Gold, Lancelot and Lollipop Flowering Crabapples
• Honeylocust trees
• Wahoo trees
• Pagoda Dogwood
• Many, many trees are on sale throughout the nursery and are designated by PINK flags - there are hundreds of trees on sale
• Selected #3 container trees at $9.99 including these varieties -

• Prairiefire Crab
• Pin Oak, N. Red Oak, and Bur xSwamp White Hybrid Oak
• Blue Beech
• Whitespire Birch
• Sienna Glen Maple, Northwood Maple, Autumn Blaze Maple
• Ironwood
• Chokecherry

• Little Lamb Hydrangea, Tardiva Hydrangea
• Elderberry
• Azaleas
• Rhododendrons
• Selected Viburnums
• Most lilacs except Dwarf Korean
• Heather Bun Charmaeyparis
• Selected Winterberry

Also - if you haven’t gotten on the bandwagon for Northfield’s promotion of the America in Bloom campaign yet - it’s not too late.  The national judging is taking place the last week of July.   We have all of our remaining America in Bloom color theme planters on sale at 50% off.  What a great way to edge Northfield to the top!!!

Sale items are limited to quanities on hand and does not extend to any plants that are special ordered or already on order or have been recently purchased.  Most items are on sale for one day only - 7-24-08 with some sale prices extending longer.

Today, my son Jared and his wife, Jenn stopped by for a quick visit at the nursery with our new little granddaughter - Addision.  Addy was born right before Christmas and was adopted by Jared and Jenn in February.   As you can see, she is absolutely adorable and the apple of her parents’ eyes.

We have three grandsons so a new little granddaughter is so much fun! 

We would like to wish everyone a wonderful 4th of July.  If you are traveling - please drive carefully or perhaps you are staying at home and taking in the fireworks locally or having friends or family in for a picnic - Enjoy! 

The 4th is the only day we are closed during the season so our employees can celebrate the holiday as well.  We will be open all weekend - Saturday from 8 to 5 and Sunday from 10 to 4. 

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.