Volume Volume 1414 Issue Issue 11
April April2016 2016
Growing With Us
“Skimming the Cream”
We learned many years ago that we shouldn’t be nursery growers, and it’s been many years since we tried it. Confused? Let’s make it perfectly clear what we do all day, and it’s not growing plants ourselves. It’s skimming the cream. That means finding the absolute best growers and suppliers, cherrypicking from what they offer, and doing our best to bring the best plants and gardening supplies to GoodSeed Nursery for our customers. For example, our annual tree-buying pilgrimage to “Tree City USA”, McMinnville Tennessee. It’s a father-son ritual we look forward to each winter. We travel to our favorite tree nursery, a family-owned small business like ours that we know and trust. We spend a day walking their tree rows, picking out the healthiest, strongest, shapeliest trees they have, and flagging our choices with colorful ribbons. Our trees are dug during February and March and shipped to us in April, and we know exactly what we’re getting because we picked them ourselves. We found early on that we could never grow perfect trees as efficiently perfect as a large-scale nursery. We look at thousands of trees, in wintertime when we can really see their structure and shape, and buy the absolute best of each variety. The rest go to some other garden center or big box store, and Steve flagging trees at out favorite tree nursery. We their customers have to pick through trying to figure out which one is the personally select every single tree we sell. healthiest. We’ve already done that for you. Over the years we’ve experimented with many growers and found the ones we can depend on for quality, and only accept the best of what they grow. Marjorie does our perennial buying, focusing on the tried-and-tested favorites and scooping up interesting new introductions. We have some terrific Ohio growers (with acres of spotless, state-of-the-art greenhouses we could never afford) for annual flowers and bedding plants that are pure perfection. Our vegetable plants come from a local Amish family, grown without chemicals. Our sweet onion and sweet potato plants also come from specialists. Even our garden remedies, mulches and fertilizers are carefully focused. Why show you multiple brands of the same type of product? Our job is to pick the most effective, best quality gardening solutions to recommend. Plant foods from Espoma Organics. Bonide garden remedies and organic alternatives. Virgin hardwood mulches. Mushroom compost and natural pine bark. The cream of the crop. Why confuse you with anything less?
SPRING GoodSeed Nursery Hours: Monday through Friday, rain or shine .................................. 7 AM to 7 PM Saturday, rain or shine ............................................................ 8 AM to 6 PM Sunday .......................................................................................... 11 AM to 5PM
Maps, Directions & Schedules at www.goodseedfarm.com
Start Your Garden: Boston Ferns, Pansies Seeds, Onion Sets Topsoils and Mulch ProMix & Peat Moss
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“Steve’s Soapbox:” Tell Us Your Name... In the past year, with Stephen’s diligent guidance, our nursery has entered the 21st century. He came home from OSU with a fresh perspective on the family business and a willingness to tackle some complex projects that we’d been postponing for far too many years. Top of the list was the conversion to a modern “point-of-sale” system. Stephen and Marjorie wielding bar code scanners at I admit that over the years I’ve made a point of the checkout counter, Mother’s Day 2015. sticking to a very traditional method of handling transactions at the checkout counter. We had “cash registers”, hand-written receipts, and paper records of every retail sale tucked away in filing cabinets. Marjorie and the staff painstakingly hand-priced all our merchandise while stocking the shelves. On rainy afternoons our staff “busy-work” between customers included alphabetizing stacks of customer receipts, so that we could put our hands on them quickly in the event of warranty issues. That’s all over now. Stephen has installed state of the art touch-screen terminals and bar-code scanners at the checkout, modernized our recordkeeping and speeded up the flow of commerce tremendously. We had a record Mother’s Day weekend last season, with shorter lines and less waiting than ever before, and this year we’ll be even faster. It’s now a breeze to look up past transactions, and there’s no need to individually mark the price on every bottle and bag in the store. Today it only takes a few seconds to look up history and find out what kind of mulch you used last year, or which variety of corn you planted, or how much you paid for that perennial that didn’t make it through the winter so we can give you credit for it. You can enjoy shopping for flowers instead of waiting in line while we hand-write sales receipts. It only takes a few seconds for us to print you a copy of “how-to” information to take home with you. Best of all, you’ll never need to save paper receipts again. We’ll have your history at our fingertips. Or perhaps you’d like your receipt e-mailed to you? No problem. Done. That’s why we need to know your name. We apologize in advance if we remember your face but can’t recall your name or how to spell it, but if you help us we can make you part of our GoodSeed Farm community with its numerous benefits. Just tell us your name and every purchase you make will be instantly available should you ever need it. You can send your ‘significant other” for that last scoop of mulch or pack of flowers, because we’ll know just what you want. And if, through no fault of your own, NOTE THE NEW PHONE NUMBER! one of our plants doesn’t surOur garden center in Winchester has a new phone number, vive, we can give you instant 937-695-0350. It’s the best way to get in touch for garden advice, credit whether you saved your to check on hours or other questions, or if you’re looking for receipt or not. Please help us help you. landscape installation services. If we can’t answer, please leave a We want to be better each time message and we’ll call you back. Our old number, 937-587-7021, is still the phone number of you come to GoodSeed Nursery. Just tell us your name and our office and landscape operation, located at our farm in Peebles. we’ll do the rest.
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Marjorie’s
Perennial Pick
Hosta “Patriot” Hostas are well-known perennials with a long and rich history. They are rugged and hardy, shrugging off drought, diseases and competition from tree roots, so they are very useful for plantings in shady areas under trees. Hostas come in many sizes from tiny to huge, and a variety of colors. They put up spikes of pink, lavender or white blooms, but their foliage is the show. Our favorite new Hosta is “Patriot”, a medium-sized clump perhaps a foot wide and tall. Patriot has brilliant white leaves with a bold splash of emerald green down the middle, so it lights up shady areas and makes a great border plant along walks and bed edges. Hostas divide easily, so buying a new one can be a terrific investment as you spread divisions through your garden over the years. When planting, mix some Plant Tone into the planting soil, and sprinkle some around the plant each spring. Hostas’ main enemies are deer and slugs. Slugs are easy to control by sprinkling Bonide “Slug Magic” or “Sluggo” granules around the base of the plant. To keep deer away, poke a few tablets of “Natura” deer repellent into the soil around the root zone; the bitter taste will discourage deer for a year or more. Borders and masses
Hosta “Patriot”
of “Patriot” Hosta light up shady areas
PULVERIZED TOPSOIL, COMPOST, SOIL BLENDS, MULCH, SAND & GRAVEL
..for pickup or “next business day” delivery: call 937-695-0350
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We’re COMMUTER-FRIENDLY!
After a hard day’s work, wouldn’t it be nice to stretch your legs in our garden center on the way home? Unwind among the flowers, daydream about beautifying your yard, and reward yourself for your hard work with some of our luscious flowers! It’s a brand-new kind of “HAPPY HOUR”! Stock up for your weekend gardening projects after work, on your way home, or after supper if you like. We’re open weekdays 7AM until 7PM, just so you hard-working commuters can make it to GoodSeed Nursery after work. Stop in on your way past, or send someone after supper for that load of mulch. That way you can start gardening bright and early in the morning, with everything you need. Last-minute gift buying? Beautiful plants make terrific gifts! You can get that shopping errand taken care of on your way to or from work, and impress your family and friends with the gift of healthy, colorful plants! We’re keeping extended hours through June: Mon.-Fri. 7AM-7PM, Saturday 8AM-6PM, Sunday 11AM-5PM
Pottery SALE! Do you like Marjorie’s front porch planter garden? Start one of your own with our selection of pottery planters! They’re on sale while they last. BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!
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SAVE $20 OFF DELIVERY CHARGE for any bulk order (minimum 6 scoops) prepaid now through April 30th! GIV CO E THI U S OU PON T RD ON RIV O DE LIV ER ER Y!
Garden Mix, Topsoil, Gravel or Mulch!
BOSTON FERN HANGING BASKET
SALE!
Save $8 on two (Net cost $15.99 each) No Coupon Required. Sale Dates: Friday, April 1 through Sunday April 30, 2016
WALL ROCK SALE! $1.59 each by the pallet $1.69 individually. TIME TO GET THAT WALL PROJECT UNDERWAY! Valid now thru April 30. No coupon required. Delivery available. Special orders included, if paid for during sale period. $13 Pallet deposit (refundable when pallets returned).
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Topsoil vs. Potting Soil? What is the difference between “topsoil” and “potting soil”, and which one should you use? That depends on what you’re using it for. First, let’s understand what we mean by the words topsoil and potting soil. Topsoil is dirt, and potting soil isn’t. True potting soil is actually “soil-less”. Topsoil is for planting in the ground. Potting soil is for planting in containers. Topsoil is sand or clay (ground-up rocks), mixed with organic materials like compost. Potting soil is a mixture of peat moss and other organic materials like pine fines or composted sawdust. Some potting soils also contain specialized ingredients like vermiculite or perlite, starter fertilizer and wetting agents. Topsoil is heavy. Potting soil is mostly air so it’s light. Topsoil holds lots of water, so it will stay moist for a long time (sometimes TOO moist). Potting soil lets water drain easily, so it allows roots to breathe and dries out quickly. Topsoil is dense and packs down easily. Potting soil is fluffy and hard to pack down. The word topsoil can mean many different things, because no two topsoils are exactly the same. Topsoil means the very top layer of the earth’s crust, rich in nutrients because plants have lived and died in it, sometimes for thousands of years. The topsoil you find in Our new “Topsoil Tunnel” Keeps our topsoil dry and fluffy! woods contains lots of rotten vegetation. Topsoil in farm fields has been turned over, mixed, and very often exhausted by repeated crops. Topsoils often contain clay or composted manure. They also contain weed seeds, soil bacteria and funguses. Potting soils are precisely mixed using strict formulas and recipes. Most potting soils are based on peat moss, with other ingredients added to make them ideal for certain uses. For example, seed starter mixes are very fine and fluffy so that fragile, fine roots can spread easily. Perennial mixes have larger pieces and more bark. Woody plants need a coarse mix with lots of pine bark. Some potting soils include vermiculite or perlite; flakes of fluffy featherweight rock that’s been puffed up so it holds lots of air (we call it “rock popcorn”). Good potting soils are sterile, meaning they have absolutely no weed seeds or diseases in them. Topsoil is ideal for filling in low spots in lawns or along walks and patios. Adding a few inches of topsoil gives lawn grass a better chance than subsoil or clay. When planting trees and shrubs, replacing the existing soil with topsoil can help plants grow better. We sell “pulverized” topsoil, which is perfect for fine-grading because it doesn’t have lumps or clay in it. As long as it’s dry, pulverized topsoil is a breeze to spread and rake. For raised beds, topsoil is much cheaper since it’s sold in bulk, but it should be mixed with compost, peat moss or vermiculite to make it fluffy and improve drainage. Otherwise it will pack down, swell, and possibly break your raised beds when it freezes. We offer two raised bed mixes in bulk; Garden Mix and Garden Mix +PLUS. The difference is that Garden mix is topsoil-based with mushroom compost added, and Garden mix +PLUS uses Pine Magic instead of topsoil so it’s fluffier. Potting soils are for planters, hanging baskets, window boxes, and other containers where drainage is important and weight would be a problem. Potting soils allow excess water to quickly drain out the bottom
Smart gardeners avoid adding anything that might contain weed seeds...
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Using the right kind of soil is one key to successful gardening. of the container by gravity, pulling in air to replace the water. Since plants breathe through their roots, they’ll thrive in potting soil as long as they are watered regularly. Some potting soils have “moisture crystals”, bits of polymer that help keep them from drying out so quickly. Smart gardeners avoid adding anything that might contain weed seeds. Weeding is the most tedious drudgery in gardening, so why plant weeds in your fancy raised beds? Manure can introduce pasture weeds into your garden unless Raised beds are only as good as the soil in them... it’s scientifically composted. Soil-less mixes are sterile, either from high-heat composting or because, like peat moss and vermiculite, they come from deep underground. Does all this mean you have to buy expensive bagged container mixes for raised bed gardening? Not really. We offer pre-mixed, weed-free raised bed soil in bulk, or all the ingredients to mix your own. Call us at GoodSeed Nursery if you’re having trouble finding bulk soils. Whatever your mixture, it should be fluffy enough to drain well and stay loose. In future years you can just add a few inches to the top at planting time. If you’ve invested in raised beds, make sure you fill them with soil that will make your plants thrive. Good soil is the key to raised bed gardening. If you take care not to pack it down, plant roots will rapidly fill it and you’ll have the best garden you’ve ever had. Using the right kind of soil for the project you’re doing is one key to successful gardening. If you’re not sure, just tell us what you are using the soil for, and we’ll suggest the best one for you.
Plants breathe through their roots, so air is the secret ingredient of healthy garden soil
Meet Mr. Fluffy!
Would you like to replace the soil in your garden, raised beds and planters with super high-quality dark, rich, fluffy garden soil? Let “Mr. Fluffy” do the hard work of tilling and mixing for you. Mr. Fluffy’s hammer mill breaks up all the clumps, mixes in lots of air, and otherwise takes the hard work out of having perfect garden soil. If you have a pickup or trailer, you can get perfect container mix for a fraction of what it would cost you in bags or bales. Let’s do the math: Our best bagged Professional Container Mix costs $9.99 for a 1.5 cubic foot bag. It’s better (and cheaper) than Miracle-Gro Potting Mix, but 15 bags would set you back $149.85. One scoop of GoodSeed Garden Mix PLUS gives you the same amount of potting mix for only $49.99! That’s a savings of almost $100!
9736 Tri-County Highway Winchester, Ohio 45697 937-587-7021 www.goodseedfarm.com
PRSTD STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT 5400 CINCINNATI OH
WE’VE GOT FLUFFY DIRT!
See us for fluffy, dry topsoil. NO LUMPS, CLUMPS, CLAY OR WEED SEEDS! How? We keep it dry and clean in our
CALENDAR
GARDEN CENTER & LANDSCAPING
GoodSeed Nursery
“Topsoil Tunnel!” PLAN TO VISIT GOODSEED FARM OFTEN THIS SPRING! Mark your calendar so you can enjoy our special events, take advantage of special savings, bring your family or friends for special times!
April 1-June 30 Spring Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7AM-7PM, Saturday 8AM-6PM, Sunday 11AM-5PM July 1-October 31 Summer-Fall Hours: Monday-Saturday 8AM-6PM, Sunday Noon-5PM. Deliveries by appointment. March 1- April 30 MULCH MADNESS! Save $20 on bulk mulch delivery of 6 or more scoops of Garden Mix, Pulverized Topsoil, Pine Magic, and all Bulk Mulches April 1-30 Wall Rock Special! $1.59 each by the pallet, $1.69 individually April 1-30 Boston Fern Special $8 off on two Boston Fern Hanging baskets! April 1-30 Early Season Tree & Shrub Sale! 25% off selected evergreens, trees and shrubs! May 6-7-8 Country Garden Mother’s Day Party! FREE “Watercolor Home Run” rose plant for every mother. Specials, food and fun 8AM-6PM Friday, Saturday, and Mother’s Day Sunday June 4 GoodSeed Garden Expo! Spend the day with experts on gardening, plants, hardscaping and soils! Meet master gardeners, plant experts, representatives from premier nurseries and garden supply manufacturers. Seminars, workshops, exhibits, door prizes, specials, FREE samples. An indoor-outdoor event tailored for home landscapers, vegetable gardeners, lovers of plants & flowers. Rain or shine! Delicious food by Big “E” BBQ and ‘Buckeye Confections”. 9AM-6PM Rain or shine! August 6 Mum Season Begins! Gorgeous mums, fall décor, pumpkins etc. October 15-16 Clearance Sale! Everything discounted 50% or more! Come early for the best selection. (Bulk items and RR ties not included). October 17-31 Fall Hours: Open Tuesday-Saturday 10-5, Sunday Noon-5, Closed Monday. October 31 CLOSED FOR THE SEASON! Bulk Mulch, Soil & Stone Delivery, Landscaping still available by calling 937-695-0350.