Getting Some Education in March
March 2010 seems to be THE month for our continuinged. Seems like every green industry organization is having a seminar or training session of some kind. It was hard to pick and choose, but here's what we settled on: Weathermatic Water Management Services seminar--Edward attended this valuable class, aimed at teaching contractors how to calculate home and business owner's current water usage versus what they actually need to apply. This is good news, because there is real money to be saved when you figure out how to most efficiently water your turf. Power Limited Technician continuing education--According to state [...]
AutoCAD Civil 2010 Design Software Training
The end of the landscape season marks the beginning of continuing education season at Winona Nursery. In December, 4 of our employees (Dana Coulter, Ed Becker, Dan Filla, and Becky Benson) attended a 12-hour AutoCAD Civil training course through Minnesota State College--Southeast Tech in Winona. Brushing up on our design software capabilities makes us even more efficient and ready to work with you on YOUR project!
White Christmas: The Plant Lover’s Present
Japanese Garden, Bloomington, MN. photo by jpellgen Right on cue, the beginning of the month ushered in winter, and snow blanketed the Southeastern Minnesota landscape. Yay for all the plants! The layer of sparkly whiteness does more than ensure Christmas shoppers feel more festive and, therefore, feel more like opening their wallets. It insulates plants and "tucks them in" for winter, so to speak. That's good news as far as we're concerned! The holidays being here is more good news, and we wish everyone a beautiful Christmastime.
Behold the Tree Owner’s Manual!
Finally someone has put together a comprehensive yet entirely readable tree care manual! We have had various attempts over the years, as have others, but this is clearly superior... thanks, USDA Forest Service! Did you know that tree branches conduct electricity? Did you know that first tree roots (those first found under the surface and are bigger around than a pencil) should not be under more than 4" of soil? Did you know new trees need you to monitor their watering needs for 3 years? Get smarter. Download and read about all this and more! Or contact us, and [...]
NEW! MNLA Landscape Tour 2009
Cheerful, Simple Daylily Combinations Coordinate with House Always looking to pick up a new idea or two, Bonnie again headed up to the Cities in July to scout out the MNLA Landscape Tour. Although not quite on par with last year's, she still thought it was worthwhile. Some of her observations are as follows: Native and oldie-but-goodie plants (read: dependable!) seem to keep gaining momentum, and the landscapes on the tours reflected this trend. For instance, so easy to do but an often-overlooked option: a simple collection of bright, long-blooming daylilies next to a front door entrance [...]
Water Cooler Buzz
photo courtesy of kennymatic, vancouver ***UPDATE 10/5/09: Who knew that a post about the lack of rain would, in fact, be a rainmaker?? Last week we were in trouble; this afternoon, we are awaiting the latest bout of rain coming over from the Dakotas. Checking the Drought Index (see link below), you can see that we are beginning to get back to normal, but do keep an eye on recently planted trees and shrubs. And we're going to leave this post up for a while yet!*** "Can you believe who won Best Drama Series on the Emmy [...]