We needed a "little" rain, but this is crazy

October happenings in the garden:

• Remove annuals from gardens and containers.
• Plant spring bulbs.
• Make sure you have your planting finished by October 15^th or sooner.
• Beds can be prepared for next spring’s plantings.
• All divisions and transplanting should be wrapped up
• Keep evergreens and new plants watered. Older plants may need extra water to ensure sufficient moisture throughout the winter. Water up until just before the ground freezes.
• Begin to rake leaves.
• Weed if necessary, but growth is slowed considerably in this month.
• Mulch tender plants once the ground is frozen.
• If plants turn to mush, such as hostas, you can remove their foliage if desired. Completing this chore in the fall saves time in the spring.
• Perennials to leave up for winter interest and wildlife include Astilbe, Bergenia, Chelone - Turtlehead, Echinacea - Coneflower, Liatris - Blazing Star, Perovskia - Russian Sage, Rudbeckia - Black Eyed Susan, Sedums and Grasses. Hydrangea, rose hips and Red Twigged Dogwoods are also great for winter interest.
• Mow your lawn to 2″ for the final time to combat the growth of snow mold.
• Protect your roses. Hybrid teas and old-fashioned roses such as floribundas and grandifloras need to be protected from winter. You can mound the roses with compost or use the Minnesota Tip Method: http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h112rose-mntip.html
• Finally, don’t forget to call Field Outdoor Spaces to help you with your fall clean up!

“How’s the economy effecting your business,” is a question I hear a lot. And I ask it alot. I ask our vendors and clients if everything is going alright and it is understood I mean “with the economy and all…” And there are varying answers. The company that supplies our dumpsters, Atomic Waste, says their core business is really down (meaning the biggie construction companies) but he’s never seen so much movement in the small markets. The owners of Ambergate Gardens in Victoria say the landscape companies they work with are down but their retail business is ahead of last year. A friend who runs a small landscape company in town says he’s never been so busy.

There is no doubt things are really bad. I talked to someone yesterday who was in construction for a local firm. She said the company had 100 carpenters early last year and cut down to 30. This year they are even lower.

Luckily our year is going well. We have the best group of employees we’ve ever had and have been keeping everyone busy. Sometimes we feel like the proverbial duck that is calm above the water while kicking like hell underneath… but, hey, we are keeping our employees busy and have a great set of clients.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think in my head, “Wow, our clients are great” AND “Wow, our employees are great.” Our clients are giving us the opportunity to complete fulfilling projects and our employees are efficiently and conscientiously completing them. Can’t ask for more than that.

Lawn kind of crunchy? Is your garden a bunch of saggy plants? Well, for good reason. The Twin Cities experienced the third driest May on record. We received a grand total of .47″ of rain in May. It is really critical to get some water on your plants. Put a hose set at a slow drip on your trees for 30 minutes to an hour. And hand water or put a sprinkler on your perennials and turf until they get a good soaking - dig your hand into the soil to make sure it has soaked several inches down.

Beautiful Minnesota field stone showing its "glacial" character

One of the great things about stone is that there are such distinct regional differences. Stone one might find just laying about in a field in one region is often devalued by the local residents because they see it everywhere. In Minnesota, what we call “field stone” is a random assortment of rounded rock in all different colors and sizes. We also call it “glacial boulders”, which defines more closely the character and source of this rock.

The rounded shape and colors that range from pink and white, to blue and dark red, define its geologic past. This rock we see stacked in huge suburban retaining walls and the “river rock” we see in shopping mall shrub plantings is the result of the glaciers pulling rock from a variety of northern sources, tumbling it over thousands of years and dropping it randomly on the landscape. Its kind of like “stone washed” jeans - these rocks have a lived-in look.

While its ubiquitous nature leads to it feeling kind of common, it really is our “native rock” and can be used in ways to accentuate its nature rather than just to solve maintenance problems or cover space.