When most people think of a holly, the traditional Christmas holly comes to mind. However, there are far more options now available to gardeners that can add much welcomed color throughout the winter months. This week we are featuring one of our favorite hollies, the 'Winter Red.'
Liven Your Winter Landscape Hollies are normally associated with moist areas, but the 'Winter Red' is very hardy and will thrive in normal soil. Choose an area that receives full sun to part shade and watch it thrive. You can expect your 'Winter Red' to mature to a height of 6 to 7 feet tall. 'Winter Red' is deciduous, so a male holly is needed for pollination. The most reliable pollinator that we have found is Ilex verticillata 'Southern Gentleman', another choice holly. Plant at least one male for each three or four females.Planting and Care
Hardy in zones 3-8. Shipped from 2-gallon pots in either spring or fall. Our Garden Worthy Certification means that your satisfaction is guaranteed. |
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December
1, 2005
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Michigan Studies Reveal Landscape Value
The following has been re-printed from the Weekly Nursery e-mail from
Nursery Management and Production (NMPRO) and we thought our newsletter
readers would find this to be interesting, especially the last sentence:
Michigan State University research provides perspective on which
landscape attributes people value most. Landscape design sophistication
was the most important factor, followed by plant size and plant type.
The study indicates that landscapers should indicate the types of plants
used in a design, but realize that potential clients will not likely
value this as much as design sophistication and plant size. "From a
consumer's perspective, a good landscape can improve perceived home
value by 12%," said MSU professor Bridget Behe. "What we see in design
sophistication is that a curved bed costs about the same as a straight
line bed to install, but can enhance home value by 1%-2% by itself.
Simply curving bed lines could add $2,500 to $5,000 to the perceived
value of a $250,000 home." |
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Garden Club
Frequently Asked Questions Question: How do I get rid of moss in the lawn without killing what's left of our grass? Thank you for your help. Answer: Use Fortify Moss Control Granules. They are not easy to find and we are currently sold out. We will have a new shipment this winter. Fortify can be applied anytime the ground is not frozen. Be sure to sweep away any granules that wind up on the sidewalk because Fortify stains these surfaces once it gets wet. Question: I have heard there is a recipe that I can mix with the Christmas tree water to keep the tree fresh longer. Do you have the recipe? I remember some of the ingredients and they were sugar, borax, liquid iron, Clorox plus others. Answer: Many years ago I used this (or a similar) recipe and it killed my tree. I no longer have the recipe and do not recommend it. I have never seen the needles fall of a tree so quickly. Coincidentally this weekend I had a customer in the store that used this recipe last year with the same disastrous results that I had. I recommend Prolong Christmas Tree Preservative. Last year a Canadian television station did a test of various commercial Christmas tree preservatives, as well as one of the home brew recipes and straight water. Prolong (sold in Canada as Stafresh, but it is the exact same product) performed the best.Question: I am a little confused about beetle grubs in my lawn. Can I still apply Dylox? Earlier in the season you recommended Mach II as a preventor. Which do you think is better Mach II as a preventor or Dylox as a killer?Answer: I have applied Dylox with great success at the end of November. Garden center customers are reporting to me that they applied Dylox last weekend and the grubs died over night. If you are still finding live grubs near the surface of the lawn, it is not too late to apply Dylox. I prefer Dylox as a killer over Mach II as a preventor for 2 reasons: 1. In some seasons although there is a lot of beetles, their eggs don't hatch out into grubs because of certain climatic conditions. In these instances applying the preventive proves to be an unnecessary application of a pesticide. 2. In certain seasons, like this year, the beetle egg laying season is so long that the Mach II is not totally effective. The negative aspect of Dylox is that you must check the lawn several times over the season for beetle grubs, and most people just don't do it. If you are willing to do the checking, I suggest the Dylox.
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