dundee nursery - Grow-How Blog

Prevent Crabgrass – When to Start

Apr 142012

By John Henning, Buyer, Dundee Nursery and Landscaping

Hello. My name is John Henning, and I have been working for Dundee Nursery for over 25 years. In all that time I have not seen a spring thaw like this year.

With an early warm up like we are having this year, one of the most frequently asked question is “When should we apply our crabgrass controls?” It is a common question every spring but is asked even more often this year. The answer will vary a little from year to year. When we have an average spring we tell people to apply it during the first two weeks of May. However, this is not the average and I think now is a good time to start putting it down. Keep in mind that most controls are effective for around 8 weeks in the soil, and if we have a long cool spring, crabgrass seeds may still germinate into June. To insure the best results it may require a second application in around 6 to 8 weeks.

Soil temperatures, not the air temperatures, play the biggest role in determining when the crabgrass seeds start to germinate. Even though it may be hot during the day, the evening temps may keep the soil from rising too fast. The cool nights are what may lengthen our spring season. This is why I would recommend the second application of your controls.

There are two ways you can get two applications on your lawn. You can apply a crabgrass control with fertilizer now and the follow up application may just be crabgrass preventer alone -OR- you can apply the crabgrass preventer in late May when you apply a weed-and-feed for broadleaf weeds like dandelions and thistle.

If you feel that you missed the prime time for best control there are other pre-emergent controls that can be put down up to 4 weeks later and still give you great results. Look for a product containing “Dimension” (dithlopyr) as this will also prevent some broadleaf weed seeds from germinating.

One last way to determine the prime time to apply your preventers is to look around your yard and neighborhood to see if the lilacs are starting to bloom. The lilacs tend to bloom at the time soil temps are prime for seed germination. Areas that warm up quicker, like along streets, may need the application a week or so sooner. I hope you can use this information to prevent crabgrass from becoming a problem in your yard.

Intro to Dundee Nursery Garden Centers

Garden Center 3 Responses »

Mar 192012

By Kim Gaida, Store Manager, Dundee Plymouth

Dundee Nursery and Landscaping is your local source for the best quality annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs. As a garden center we not only provide great plants, we offer you tools, home gifts, fountains, statuary, lawn and garden chemicals, fertilizers, and a full service floral department. All those products plus employees that can talk to you about all your yard and garden needs!

Our nursery has a vast selection of trees, shrubs, and evergreens to create and enhance your residential landscape. Our extensive list of plants will grow well in this area and many will be suitable for your northern lake home. Dundee growers are very selective when it comes to hardy plants to insure they will survive in Minnesota’s climate. Our Plymouth store also has a fun selection of zone 5 plants (we are in zone 4) that need a little more winter protection, but offer a wonderful accent to any landscape. Ask our friendly experts any questions you have regarding the hardiness of a particular plant.

Perennials are plants that will die back to the ground between growing seasons, but will come back year after year. We carry over 400 varieties of perennials and will help you find the right plant for any location. Each year we strive to bring you new varieties to add unique accents to your perennial gardens. If you are looking for something special, talk to us about ordering in it for you. We can’t always get everything, but we will try.

Annual flowers will only last one growing season, but will give you a full season of fabulous color when cared for properly. Most of our annuals are homegrown at our greenhouses in Fletcher, MN (near Rogers, MN) and at our location in Hutchinson. Our talented growers take the time to select a wide range of annuals, including many of the new varieties that local gardeners “must have.” We have your favorite geraniums, impatiens, and pansies as well a real “wow-factor” selections such as dinner-plate dahlias, elephant ears, and popcorn plants. Our experts can certainly help you get the most from the annuals you choose.

Dundee is known for producing some of the most beautiful hanging baskets and patio planters around. Our growers always have an eye out for new and exciting plant and color combinations. We use our large selection of annuals, tropical plants, and even perennials to create what you want for your home or business.

Do you want something custom made with your favorite flowers and colors? We can absolutely do that. Bring in your own planters or baskets and we will put together your custom design. You can always select new planters and baskets from our large, in-store selection, too.

Our custom work doesn’t end with planters or baskets. Talk to our staff about filling your planters or window boxes at your home. Pick out the plants you would like in them, and we will arrange to come out to your location and plant up your containers.

Our Garden Centers are located in Plymouth and Hutchinson. Each store has unique plant assortments and product offerings. Please visit www.DundeeNursery.com to learn more about each store. When you have questions you can also call us in Plymouth at 763-559-4016 and in Hutchinson at 320-587-4664.

Dundee’s “Friendly Experts with Local Grow-How” are ready to help!

We Grow Our Own…Dundee Greenhouse Growers

Dundee Growers, Fundraising, Garden Center No Responses »

Mar 122012

By Tammy Field, Dundee Nursery Grower

Nothing is better than the burst of color or the explosion of fragrance that greets you when walking into a neighborhood nursery and garden center in May.

Wait a minute…there is something better. How about that same beautiful garden center in all its glory with plants grown right there by that same garden center?

Dundee Nursery has its own growing facility for each of their two locations in Plymouth and Hutchinson, MN, with tens of thousands of square feet dedicated to growing annuals…and that’s good news for you, the gardener.

Doing our own growing means we have employees who have intimate knowledge of the specific growing needs of your plants. At the Hutchinson location our retail sales staff steps out of our growing greenhouses onto the sales floor bringing that knowledge right to you – the local gardener. We know from experience what that gazania needs to give you a season-long pop of color or what you can do to assure that your bacopa blooms continuously.

Dundee greenhouse growers at each location not only bring years of experience in growing individual plants, but also experience in designing combinations for your pots, baskets, and containers. While many garden centers bring in nice combination baskets or pots (sometimes from us, as we are wholesalers as well!) we Dundee growers annually design combinations that are spectacular showpieces for your home as well as easy for you to maintain. Our staff is very skilled at translating that experience into the ability to help you make your own combinations and coordinate those pots with your overall garden design. Like landscape designers for your yard, we are designers for your pots, baskets, and gardens. We can tell you that Goldilocks Lysmachia may be a better trailing plant for your shady window box than Chambray Verbena or how many Bubblegum petunia plants you need so they don’t overwhelm the Sweet Tart Millionbells in your personally designed basket.

We are also wholesale growers. We provide our homegrown product to other garden centers and to groups for fundraisers from the Twin Cities to the South Dakota border. Those garden centers are looking for high quality plants at a reasonable cost. What we grow, they want! That says a lot about our product.

Friendly Experts…Local Grow-How. It’s not just a catch phrase, it’s who we are.
See you at Dundee in Plymouth and in Hutchinson.

Welcome to the Dundee Grow-How Blog

Dundee Growers, Floral, Garden Center, Landscape Design 2 Responses »

Mar 052012

By Kevin Theis, Dundee Owner

The Theis Family and Dundee Nursery and Landscaping would like to welcome you to our new blog. Our goal is to bring you many new and different ideas for the Minnesota climate. We are your Friendly Experts with Local Grow-How and we’re really excited to get this conversation started.

Our company was started in 1946 and we have been locally producing our greenhouse material ever since. Our annuals and perennials are grown at our farm near Rogers, MN as well as in Hutchinson, MN. We also work hard on our nursery product (trees and shrubs) by using local vendors and finishing it ourselves at our farm near Rogers, MN. We currently have 2 retail stores, one in Plymouth and our 11 year old store in Hutchinson.

Our blog will cover all aspects of the green industry including: Landscape Design and Install, Garden Center, Floral, Nursery, and Greenhouse. We are locally owned and have a great staff of educated people. We would love to answer any questions that you have about local Minnesota plants and gardens. We can help you grow your plants grow as we move through the presidential election process this year. We don’t know if it will be Rick, Newt, Mitt or Barack but we do know what plants are “proven winners” and are worthy of your vote this season. Remember spring is almost here, so get ready with the hoses and read on for many great ideas for this spring.

As we have had a dry winter (nice to not have all that snow) we may also be short of water as the plants wake up this spring. As soon as the ground is thawed, we need to give all the plants one inch of water a week. Hopefully Mother Nature will take care of that, but if not, let’s make sure we do. It doesn’t matter if the leaves are out or not, it starts with the roots and they will need water.

Minnesota, Zone 4 and loving it!

Dundee Plymouth