Now that the holidays are over and we are entering the winter months of January and February, it is time to dream about planting a new garden or redoing our present garden(s). It is so much fun to look thru all the garden pictures on Pinterest and other sites. Sit down and start drawing or writing notes of what you would like your garden to look like. Colorful? Calm? Shady? Sun? there are so many types of plants available to help you get the garden you dream of. You can do all the reading you want to do, but what it comes down to is to plant YOUR garden, a garden that YOU like. Yes, there is advice out there to plant in three’s, to mass plant, to color coordinate, etc. These are just ideas to aid you, but in the end your garden should reflect you! On our website, under Plants and Products, we have a huge selection of some of the plants that we have carried in the past. We have not updated it yet this year, but this can give you a pretty good idea of most of the plants that are available at our nursery, from perennials to shrubs to trees. Sketch a design or jot notes down and bring them to our garden center this spring and one of our sales staff will be happy to tell you if these ideas will work or perhaps suggest alternatives. So dream January and February away and come visit us this spring.
Hooray for Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas are perhaps the most showy, prolific and easy growing shrub around. They come in many sizes, colors and appropriateness for different soils. The shrubs are long living and extremely vigorous. The mopheads offer up some astonishing huge blooms that you can see from some distance. Some want only morning sun whereas others want full sun. They make great foundation plants or look terrific in pots. Some of the types of hydrangeas that grow in our area are the big leaf mophead (Endless summer), the smooth (Annabelle), and the panicle (the woody type like Limelight). Because there are so many varieties we recommend you talk to a staff person who can direct you to the right hydrangea to plant for your conditions. The following plants are some of the hydrangeas that we have carried. These plants may or may not be in stock.
hydrangea paniculata strawberry shake
hydrangea seaside serenade newport
Endless summer summer crush hydrangea
Invincible Ruby hydrangea
Berry White
Vanilla Strawberry
Hydrangea blue enchantress
Staff Designs
Our staff is very talented with putting together flowers and shrubs that go together. If you need help, they are here to help guide you to choose plants that go together not only in appearance, but plants that have the same requirements for water, soil and light. They are more then happy to assist you. Below are two designs they did. They are very conscience in determining how colors blend together.
Display features Congo Line sedum, Russian sage, Scotch moss and Evolution Fiesta coneflower.
Fountain, Scotch moss, Pandora ligularia and Younique silvery pink astilbe.
September has Arrived
Some of us are happy and some of us are sad to be leaving summer behind. How did your garden do this summer? Lots of mildew due to all the rain we had? The heat and torrential rains were hard on gardens this year. Some of us even had to deal with hail.
Currently roses are blooming, (after August 15 they should no longer be fertilized as they need to go dormant), asters are just beginning their fall show, Black Eye Susans are still blooming, and grasses are spectacular (especially the Shenandoah). Coneflowers are fading fast. Be sure to leave some dried coneflower heads on the stems for the goldfinches to eat over winter.
Were you satisfied with the way your garden looked this summer? If you feel it was missing something, it may be that your garden needs some shrubs. Monrovia Nursery says that experts agree that shrubs are essential to a beautiful garden design. If you are starting a new yard/garden, trees and shrubs should be the first things to be planted. It is also recommended to plant a couple evergreens, shrubs or trees, in your garden for winter appeal and for some summer texture. Also, your house will probably have more curb appeal if you add a few evergreens to the foundation plantings. So, take a look around your garden and if you need some shrubs, Trees Today Nursery has a multitude of shrubs. September is a great time to plant as they will have plenty of time to take root before winter. Come see us for some shrubbery ideas to make your garden look spectacular next year.
Gardening in August
As the garden season is winding down, following are a few suggestions on “Gardening in August”:
Quit fertilizing rose bushes, shrubs and trees after August 15th.
Start dividing flowers that need it, i.e. irises, hostas, daylilies, grasses, etc.
Continue watering evergreens until a hard freeze.
Continue weeding your garden.
Continue deadheading flowers that will continue to bloom.
Remove deceased plants from your garden.
If the annuals in your planters are wore out, consider replacing them with fall mums.
Harvest your herbs.
Sapphire Clematis
If you like clematis, this is one you should try. It is a unique clematis that has long lasting dark purple blooms that fade to deep blue with dark purple to black anthers. On top of that, it is a continuous bloomer, blooming from June through September. It can be trained as a climber, grown as a shrubby ground cover with no support, or container-grown to a height of 4′. It also can be grown in partial shade. Some gardeners claim it blooms wave after waves, and love it as a ground cover
Dreaming of Annuals
Are you dreaming of planting a flower bed, window box, hanging basket or a planter with annuals? Then stop at Trees Today Nursery. We have ordered over 180 varieties of annuals. To help with questions, we have a chart for these annuals that gives you information about height, bloom time, sun or shade, pollinators, etc. Just Click Here for this chart.
Deer and Rabbit Protection
Protect the bark of young shade trees, ornamental trees and shrubs this fall and winter from deer and rabbits. We recommend using trunk guards on your trees to keep deer from rubbing on the trunk. The white plastic trunk protectors are inexpensive, easy to install and reusable for several years, and will also protect tree bark from damage by mice, rabbits and winter sun. You can use tree wrap to keep rabbits from eating your tree as well. Make sure to protect newly planted shrubs and trees that are still tender to the rabbits and deer. Fence in the plants if possible. There are great spray repellants to use year round to keep the critters from snacking on your plants. This spring remember to get the systemic granular repellent into the garden as soon as your see leaves coming out and planting emerging from the ground!
DeWitt Tree Wrap protects trees from scorching, and from trimmer and mower damage. Tree Wrap is made of polypropylene fabric and easily conforms to fit any tree shape or bark texture. Tree Wrap slowly photodegrades to prevent girdling of the tree’s trunk.
Young trees are at risk of sun and animal-related trunk injury during the winter, so be sure to apply tree guards as part of your yearly process for preparing trees for winter.
Scent deters deer and rabbits from lawns and flower beds. Rain resistant formula that can be applied year-round. Covers up to 500 sq. ft.
• PROVEN by independent research to out-last and out-perform all other repellents—up to 6 months over-winter! • EFFECTIVE against: deer, rabbits, voles, elk, moose, chipmunks, squirrels, nutria, opossum, and mountain beaver. • RAIN-RESISTANT—no need to re-apply after every rainfall. • SAFE for use in vegetable gardens, on fruit trees and food crops. • ORGANIC—first animal repellent OMRI Listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute for food production.
It delivers a hot pepper concentrate through plant roots at the molecular level, making the plants inedible to animals. Because the active compound is protected inside the plant cells, it doesn’t washoff in the rain or degrade in sunlight. One treatment typically lasts the entire growing season.
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Pollinator Weekend
Sunday
Join us to learn more about helping our pollinators! We will help you shop for pollinator attracting plants, show you what a butterfly puddler is and get a free seed bomb while supplies last!
Enjoy our Buy 4 perennials get your 5th perennial free sale!
See you Sunday June
Check our Facebook page, sign up for email, and visit us at treestodaynursery.com
November Chores
Happy Fall!
We are enjoying this beautiful fall weather! Is it really November? We have been busy doing our fall clean up and plant protection. We are still watering our plants a couple times a week. It is still a great time to plant trees! Stop in and see us for tree guards, deer and rabbit repellents and Wilt Stop!
Some of us are already looking forward to the holiday season. We will be getting our spruce tops, fresh cut christmas trees, wreaths and roping in! We will also have beautiful pre-made holiday planters!
Remember to:
Water~
Remember to keep watering your new shrubs and trees this fall until freeze.
Clean~
Trim off and throw away any foliage from your plants that might have suffered a disease or fungus this summer.
Mulch~
Once we have a week of freezing, use leaves, cocoa bean mulch, grass clippings or straw to help protect plants and improve your soil quality.
Leave It~
Coneflowers, Black-eyed Susans, Sunflowers and all other seed producing flower heads can be enjoyed by birds all winter. Fall and Winter is a great time for you and your birds to enjoy your perennial grasses.
Protect~
Use trunk guards and tree wrap to protect your tree trunks from deer, rabbits, sunscald and frost cracking. Use repellents to spray your shrubs and trees to keep animals from munching on them this fall and winter. Wilt Stop is a great product that stops winter kill, wind burn, sunscald, salt damage, and drying out.
Cut~
Fall is a great time to trim back spent perennials that are hiding slugs and snails, like hostas and daylilies.
Rake~
Rake up and throw away leaves under roses, fruit trees and plants susceptible to powdery mildew and other pests and diseases that persist through winter into spring.