Dear Friends,
Spring greetings! Things are starting to get crazy around here. We are getting ready for the official Opening Day coming up this Saturday, April 19th and the trucks are starting to arrive with all kinds of good stuff.
There are all sorts of changes going on at the nursery too. First up, we had to say good-bye to our Christopher Law as he took on the job of the MidAtlantic Sales Representative for Iseli Nursery. Chris was the Nursery Manager at OGS for quite a long time, and is a very talented landscape designer as well as very knowledgeable about all things horticultural. His work brought us many awards at GardenScape in past years. Some of you may also remember seeing him at the Public Market. Luckily, he still lives in Rochester and has promised to show his shining face around here occasionally!
On the other hand, we have acquired a new Office Manager! Some of you may remember Michele Slominski from the old Country Way Nursery in Penfield. Read more about Michele below. We are very fortunate to have her on board and she is whipping the office into great shape. Here is a sneak preview of the new office space! 
You may notice from the image above that we are moving into the digital age! We have a large screen TV to run slideshows on and we are initiating a new point-of-sales system to use instead of writing out sales slips. This system will be tied into the website and will help us keep better track of our inventory. This also benefits our customers since you will be able keep track of all your purchases made either at the nursery or online, make wishlists, plus search and compare, and get more information on plants. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for an account. We have entered the Social Media arena and are now on Facebook and Google+. Go there and "like" us or "follow" us to get the latest information, pictures, quizzes, and other fun stuff. There are also links from the lower left sidebar on the website. Be on the lookout for some exciting events coming up at the nursery on Thursday nights that Michele is planning. More information below. Survey: We will be sending separate email with a link to an online survey to ask your opinions on various things. Things like, do you use Facebook? where do you see our ads? why do you come to OGS? why don't you come to OGS? Do you use our coupons? Do you buy Groupons, or Amazon Local, or . . . ? This should take you about 5-10 mins to complete and we would appreciate your feedback on the survey. However, feel free to shoot us an email at any time with whatever thoughts you might want to share. Poll is open until April 30.
Remember, the new season opens this Saturday, April 19th. When you come, bring your boots - the spring season means lots of mud at the nursery! Something to set your plants on in the car is advisable, but we do have delivery available for those larger items if needed. Come out to the nursery, say hello, and poke around to see what goodies the trucks have been bringing us this year. We look forward to seeing you here at OGS!
Cheers,
Al Pfeiffer, Owner
Oriental Garden Supply
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Meet Michele:
Some of you may remember Michele and Tony Slominski as the former owners of Country Way Garden Center in Penfield . . . or even further back, at Country Way Garden Center in Batavia. Michele brings a strong background in office management, customer service, sales and marketing skills to the plate. In addition to her green industry experiences in nursery/garden center operations, she has degrees in Biology, Chemistry and Education and maintains her NYS CNLP certification. With this addition to the OGS team, you should see a lot more of Al out in the nursery instead of at his desk! He'll be the guy with the big smile on his face! Welcome, Michele!  | | Fothergilla gardenii |
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Be careful about getting out there in your gardens too early. Stomping around on ground that has not quite thawed out or is still soggy will compress the air pockets that plants need to draw from to grow. Earliest spring chores include cutting back ornamental grasses, perennials with evergreen or persistent foliage (like Acorus 'Ogon', hellebores, epimediums, or European gingers), and the early bloomers like euphorbias, and cleaning up plants that grow from a dense crown like Sedum spectabile 'Autumnn Joy.' Call us or stop by the nursery if you have any questions.
 | | Polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven' |
Plants and site selection - It's spring and we all want to get out there and start planting! Proper selection of plants for our area is key, but sometimes there are microclimates on our properties where we can get away with placing somewhat less-hardy plants. Be aware of elevation, soil properties, canopy cover, proximity of structures or other plants, and light requirements when choosing your new plants. If you need help with selecting the right plant for the right location, just ask!
 | | Japanese Katsura 'Morioka Weeping" |
Pruning - We often get questions about pruning shrubs or trees. First of all, ask why you are pruning in the first place. If you are pruning because the plant is too big for the site, then it might be better to just remove it and replant with something more appropriate. For example, burning bushes generally want to grow to be 12-15 feet and people are forever wanting to grow them in a space 3 ft x 3ft because they just loooove those red leaves in the fall. Well, I have news for you - there are better plants with red fall leaves for those small spaces than burning bushes! Pruning to remove dead branches, crossing branches or otherwise promote good plant health is a good reason. Pruning to force a plant to conform to an unnatural form unless you have in mind to espalier or topiary is not a good reason. Pruning to judiciously enhance a plant's natural appearance is best and, not surprisingly, easiest to maintain. Evergreens (conifers) normally require little pruning, but different types of evergreens should be pruned according to their respective growth habits. Here are some more notes on pruning:
- Don't ignore it - examine your plants annually. Plants will respond with regular pruning to keep the plant in bounds, keep its growth vigorous, and keep it looking beautiful.
- Pruning is not difficult. Educate yourself on how your plant grows and what it should look like afterward.
- Remove any dead, broken, injured, diseased, or insect infested branches. If you are working with diseased wood, clean your pruners or saw after each cut with bleach or rubbing alcohol. This is particularly important with highly susceptible plants such as peach trees. Now step back and look - if the plant looks good, you're done!
- Prune out any undesirables like crossing branches, watersprouts, suckers, or too long or too low branches. Now step back and look again.
- Any further work falls in the realm of thinning, heading back for size control, or corrective pruning. Start this type of pruning when the tree is young after it has established itself in the landscape for 2 or 2 years and it will require less maintenance at maturity.
- Plants won't die if pruned at the wrong time of year. Injury may occur, but they won't die. Usually pruning is performed during the winter because this is when the plants are dormant, but many are best pruned right after blooming. Learn about your plants.
- Do NOT top your trees. This only leads to weak aftergrowth and may also encourage more wood rot.
- Removing a tree or shrub is NOT a crime against nature. If they are not in the right place and have gotten too large or are suffering in that spot, move or remove. Don't let them be mutilated beyond recognition by the utility companies, for example.
- Hedge trimmers are NOT proper pruning tools for shrubs except for pruning shaped hedges. Learn to use the hand pruners and pruning saw properly.
- Don't worry about doing it all at once! Aim for removing no more than 25%. Sometimes less is more!
  
Critter damage? Deer, rabbits, mice, moles, voles, what have you - they are getting more active in the spring. Take a walk outside and check your plants. Look for telltale tracks and bite marks - do you need to place some effective deterrents? We've got Plantskydd at the nursery to help with that.
If you have any questions about how to care for your plants at any time, be sure to ask us. Before you know it, things will be looking like this!
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Winter 2013 Photo Contest Winners:
We had some wonderful pictures submitted to the contest and it was hard to choose. The idea was to send in a picture of a special plant (or plants) you've purchased at the nursery or included in the catalog on our website showing its beauty in the winter. We have selected a winner for the single plant category and for the landscape category. Each winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the nursery and have been notified by email. Single plant category:  | | Sciadopitys verticillata by Flwr |
Landscape Category:  | | Winter garden by Thomas P. |
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing your gardens with us!
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Upcoming & Ongoing
Exciting news! We will be hosting some informal Thursday evening gatherings throughout the season. We are putting together some ideas and possible topics, and would welcome any ideas you might have. The first one will be a Meet and Greet on April 24 starting around 6 PM where you will be able to meet Al, and Michele, and Dave, and any others of the staff that happen to be around and chat about plants.
Mother's Day is coming up - Gift Certificate? Or better yet, bring her out to the nursery and let her pick out her own plant for the yard.
Opening day at the nursery will be Saturday, April 19th. See you soon!  | | Azalea 'Girard's Hot Shot' |
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