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Get ready for Evergreens!
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Evergreens coming next week! |
Fall is a great time to offer evergreens to your customers - whether they need a specimen in the front landscape, screening from a neighbor's house or an evergreen hedge. With the slightly cooler night temperatures and welcome rains, we are able to start digging evergreens from our tree farms in Woodbury and Watertown. We will be digging a variety of sizes of Dark American and Techny Arborvitae, White Pine, Spruce and Canadian Hemlock. We will also bring in additional selections to round out our stock. Give us a call for availability, pricing and sizes. Here are a few evergreen planting tips for fall:
- Plant in well drained soils with a pH 0f about 5.5-6.5. Other than some Arborvitae selections, they do not do well in overly moist spots.
- All evergreens should receive a deep watering every week, either by rain or supplemental watering during the first year after planting. Remember to water up until the ground freezes. It's very important that they have received adequate water throughout the fall so they don't burn from dessicating winter winds. On the other hand, too much water can also cause problems - remember, the roots need oxygen too!
- An ideal way of planting evergreens is on a soil berm or mound, it allows for easier water management, maximizes their immediate screening potential, and often allows for better layering effect when underplanting.
- It's a good idea to spray your evergreens with an anti dessicant like Wilt-Pruf or ClearSpray to protect them from drying winter winds. It should be noted that anything in the Cedar family, which includes Arborvitae, Cryptomeria, Hinoki/Leyland Cypress and Juniper, should only be sprayed when absolutely necessary, as these plants sometimes don't properly harden off, and the spray can cause significant damage.
- Apply mulch to newly planted evergreens, but take care to keep it away from the trunk as that can cause the bark to soften and rot, creating the right environment for insects and disease. A thickness of about 3" and kept about 6" away from the trunk is perfect.
- Be very careful with the use of melting salts near any evergreen. Salt spray from di-icing trucks can burn them. Be careful with salts from walkways and driveways that will leach into the soils damaging plant material.
- We strongly suggest getting them off to a good start by using either PHC 3-4-4 which has elemental sulfur, which will promote soil acidity and beneficial bacteria - good for sustaining soil fertility, or even better, PHC Tree Saver which has mycorrizae, bacteria, wetting agents, hydrogels and soil conditioners!
- Over time, evergreens can have a tendency to thin out a bit on the bottom. A good way to plan ahead is to plant broadleaf evergreen shrubs like PJM Rhododendron, Andromeda or Leatherleaf Viburnum. They also offer an excellent textural contrast!
Call for availability, they'll be arriving soon! |
Staff Picks! Susan: The Three Lives of Malus sargentii 'Tina'
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Malus sargentii 'Tina' | This is my 3rd year working at Planters' Choice in Newtown and my 8th in this industry. My home garden looks best in spring, then goes downhill from there as time and energy all but disappear in the busy season. Maybe I should hire a landscaper...
"One of my all-time favorite ornamental trees is Malus sargentii 'Tina' (sometimes called 'Sargenttina'). Its a dwarf crabapple that is base-budded and top grafted...fancy terms for 3 plants in one! The roots are Malling Sprout-Free Dwarf used for its cold hardiness and to control its size, the trunk is M. 'Sugar Tyme' and the top is the true M. sargentii 'Tina' which, by itself, would be a short plant, only about 1.5' high x 3-3.5' wide. However, it's the sum of those three parts that equal what I love best... deep pinky-red buds all along its branches, small pure white flowers, red fruit in fall and an awesome winter structure - all at eye level!
Maybe it's the promise of what's coming, but in my opinion it's while in this budded stage that it's the most beautiful. It gets me every spring. Use them in a deep perennial border or near patios and walkways where the buds, flowers, fruit and winter structure can really be enjoyed."
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NOW
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Rosa 'Coral Drift'  | Incoming this week:
Azalea 'Delaware Valley White', Gumpo 'Pink' & 'White', nice 3g.
Chamaecyparis pisif. 'Golden Mop' 3 ga. Euonymus alatus 'Compactus', fortun. 'Emerald Gaiety', 'Emerald Surprise' Hydrangea petiolaris (Climbing Hydrangea) 5 ga.
Ilex opaca (American Holly) 4-5', 5-6' Ilex pernyi (Perny Holly) 6-7' I. x meservae 'Blue Maid', 'Blue Stallion'
I. x 'Dragon Lady' Beautiful large plants, limited!
Juniperus 'Gold Lace', 'Gold Star' 3 ga.
Rosa 'Bonica', 'Sunny Knockout', 'White Out'
Taxus baccata 'Repandens', T. x densiformis, T. x m. 'Hicksii' (Spreading and Upright Yews)
Groundcover!
Hedera helix (English Ivy) flats
Liriope 'Big Blue', 'Variegata' (Lilyturf)
Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese Spurge)
MUMS, MILLET and ASTERS - Both yards received the first shipment of fall color!
Looking Good in Newtown:
Rosa ' Coral Drift' (seen above) A great color that's almost irridescent on a cloudy day. Very nice clean foliage on compact plants that reach 1-2' tall x 2-3' wide. Wonderful for small gardens or grouped together for slopes. Great color from spring to frost! Dan's Perennial HOT List!
Heuchera 'Kassandra'  | Looking great and in good supply!
Aster 'Blue Autumn' Deep blue, compact, mounding. Full sun. 12-20" tall.
Coreopsis 'Zagreb' (Tickseed) Bright yellow flowers, compact plant. Full sun. 12" tall.
Echinacea 'Harvest Moon' Golden petals around gold-orange cone. Full sun. 24-30" tall.
Heuchera 'Kassandra' (Coralbells) Multi-color foliage. Part-shade to shade. 16-18" tall, full plants that are picture perfect! (seen at right)
H. 'Plum Pudding' Plum-purple ruffled foliage, white flower, part-shade to shade. 26" tall.
Hosta 'Guacamole' Green foliage with large white flowers, part shade to shade. 24 x 36" tall.
Kalimeris 'Blue Star' Pale blue daisy-like flowers, full sun. 18" tall.
Leucanthemum 'Becky' (Shasta Daisy) Strong grower, heavy bloomer, full sun. 36" tall.
Matteucia strutheropteris 'The King' (Ostrich Fern) 4-5' tall, sun to part shade.
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage) Lavender-blue flowers, fine, silver foliage. Full sun.
Tiarella wherryi (Foam Flower) White and pink flowers, green foliage. Part shade to shade.
Consider these for your next job!
and...remember to think BULBS! Let us know your special needs soon!
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 Planters' Choice, LLC
Visit our two locations:
140 Huntingtown Rd. Newtown, CT 06470 Tel. 203-426-4037 Fax 203-426-8057
496 Bunker Hill Rd. Watertown, CT 06795 Tel. 860-945-6588 Fax 860-945-9282
Hours:
March 15th - June 26th Mon.- Sat. 7 am - 4:30 pm
June 28th - Nov. 20th Mon. - Fri. 7 am - 4:30 pm & Sat. 7 am - 1 pm
Winter Hours Mon. - Fri. 8 am - 4:30 pm | |
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