For the last several years, I have written the end-of-the-year article for our newsletter.  And every year I have the usual struggle of writing about something different, trying not to say the same things that I said last year. 

But this year it feels a bit different.  This year I write this as I close out my first full year as President of our company.  For the past thirty-nine years, my father, Tim Joy, has been at the helm of Christensen’s Plant Center.  Taking over ownership with Frank Huber in 1984…  Surviving the economy of the 1980’s…  Which to hear my father and others of his generation of ownership, was really something. (Don’t complain about your 7% mortgage.  Rates peaked around 15% in the 80’s.  And did not go below 10% for the decade.)  Moving our business from Livonia to its current location in Salem Township in 1989...  Then the boom of the 90’s, when housing soared in metro Detroit.  And the new facility they built and expected not to outgrow in their careers was outgrown in five years.  So, they expanded it again, and again.  The market then completed its cycle with the housing crash in 2006-2008.  Our business constricted, as did the entire landscape market... And I watched my father drink Maalox every night, straight from the bottle that lived on the top shelf of our refrigerator.  To the post-crash boom…  As landscape projects soared, and inventories bottomed out.  Thirty-nine years to come full circle.

I am forever grateful for the lessons of the last 4 decades. Now. 39 years later, I have the lead.  I am grateful that my dad is still around for me to access that wealth of knowledge.  I am grateful for the relationships that I have made over my first years and for the counsel from a great many of them.  But it definitely feels a bit different. 

To the staff of Christensen’s Plant Center, my most profound thanks. This team is the reason that Christensen’s is what it is today.

To our wonderful customers. Thank you for your continued business. I look forward to seeing each of you next year. We have some cool things coming in the future. We all hope you'll be with us for the next 39 years!

May you all have a safe and blessed holiday season.

Christensen’s wants to support you, our customers, in every way we can.  With that goal in mind, we have brought on a new supplier to offer bagged deicing products for this winter.

While the weather has been rather mild this autumn, we all know that the snowy, icy cold conditions are just around the corner. We have brought in the first two pallets (one each in the Plant and Hardscape Centers) of the Green Earth Safety Salt for you to pick up with your other fall landscape supplies. 

All of the deicing products come in 50 lb bags, 50 bags to a pallet. Pricing varies across the several mixes available, but all of them enjoy a quantity break price when purchased by the pallet. If you’re looking for 16 pallets (800 bags) or more, we’re happy to quote higher quantity breaks, just get in touch with your customer service rep.

We are offering 4 different deicer mixes:

• Green Earth Safety Salt (AKA Icinator Premium) – Pure sodium chloride infused with calcium chloride for effective snow and ice melting at -24°F. This mix is 18% more effective than its competitor at 14°F ($8.25/bag)
• Green Earth Pet Friendly – Designed to be safe for pets and the environment alike. Improved deicing with less overall environmental damage that will not dry out pets paws. ($9.75/bag)
• Icinator – Pure sodium chloride with calcium chloride that melts ice and snow at 5°F effectively ($8.25/bag)
• Northern MH Rock Salt+ - 98% Sodium Chloride that contains Calcium Chloride to enhance melting. ($7.00/bag)

All of these products are eco-friendly and contain upcycled sodium chloride while still meeting de-icing goals.

Delivery is available for orders over 4 pallets in full pallet increments within the delivery zone for $150.  The delivery zone takes in I-94 north to 1-96/696 and US-23 east to US-24 (Telegraph). (Outside of the delivery zone will need to be quoted based on location) We can deliver to yards or jobsites and to multiple locations for an additional fee.  Talk to your customer service rep about your options for delivery.

As always, we’re happy to work with you and quote on special projects, just give us a call!

What do Jaws, Jimmy Hendrix and emergency sirens have in common? They all include the ‘Devil’s Trill’! “What is this?” you may ask. Well, it is ‘Satan in music’ and was once banned by the Catholic Church for being a “demonic combo”! The Violin Sonata in G minor by Tartini or the Devil’s Trill Sonata is the notes F & B played together and they clash so much it gives us an unnatural feeling of foreboding. Some people twitch when they hear these keys played together.

Police sirens are a perfect example. They are typically the notes C and G flat – can you hear them in your head? They clash – trouble is coming. You will find the ‘Devil’s Trill’ in movies like The Exorcist, The Shining and of course Jaws (da-dum… da-dum; Can you see the shark coming? The music gets faster as the shark gets closer… da-dum. P.S. Did you know that it’s a Tuba in Jaws?). Or maybe you are into the Rolling Stones (“Sympathy for the Devil”), Metallica ,(“Enter the Sandman” Fun note: this is my cup of tea!) Led Zepplin, (“The Rover”, “Since I’ve Been Loving You”) or, of course, “Purple Haze” (Jimmy plays the B-flat while bass man Redding plays an E, da-dant… da-dant, in the opening riffs) These groups use the demonic combo!

You get the idea but what has this to do with plants – nothing. What does this have to do with Kim – lots! We receive a lot of trucks from growers. Some are small – some are large. I try my hardest to get out and look at every truck and the material. But I must admit there are some nurseries that as I am about to look into the back of the truck and *wham*, a “Devils Trill”!! I also hear it when we open the houses up in the spring and, of course, when someone walks into my office and says, “I need a favor!” It is usually Jaws that plays in my head at work, but, nevertheless, it is in my head as a sign of foreboding! (Usually, I internally yell at myself for thinking that way – especially when the load is beautiful or the favor is easy!)

The ‘Devil’s Trill’ itself was composed by Giuseppe Tartini. An Austrian dude from the late 1600’s. He has two claims to fame – He was the first ever owner of a Stradivarius Violin and his Sonata in G Minor or “The Devils Trill”. The Sonata was basically the first “Devil Went Down to Georgia” style song (and story).

I will admit I also get it in my head before I step into the doctor’s office, dentist, and even sometimes as I about to put on the news. Funny thing is that in those moments the trill I hear is ‘Purple Haze’, I didn’t know it had a name, but it does and a cool one at that. (Not really sure where I learned the name or why.)

A couple of last Devils Trill footnotes.

• Did you watch the Sopranos? The season finale? Because they purposefully used Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and purposefully ended it at the ‘Devil’s Trill’ just to make it even more irksome.
• It is the hardest piece of music to play on a violin.
• If Giuseppe lived in our age, he would have been in a major Heavy Metal Band. 

Christensen’s is dedicated to always doing a better job of supplying landscapers. To that end, we added Techo-Bloc to our hardscape lineup 2 years ago and this year we’re bringing back Oaks Landscape Products. 

Right now, we can order whatever you need from the full line of Oaks pavers, slabs, steps, curbs, walls, copings, and accessories. Large orders of 10 pallets or more can be here at Christensen’s within 2 days of ordering. You can pick up smaller orders in Wixom on the same day. Christensen’s can bring in orders of less than 10 pallets if an adequate lead time is available.

Next year, we’re planning to stock several product lines. Since we’re still in the early stage, you can let us know what products you might need at a moment's notice, so we can have it ready for you in 2025. Just stop by and talk to one of our friendly Hardscape Team members about the products on your wish list.

One product that we’re excited to have available in this product line is the Nueva 24”x24” Smooth Pillar Caps (in two colors). Besides the intended purpose of topping off pillars, these can also be used as a slab paver for walkways or in gapped patios for the popular “California look.” The Nueva offers curbs, walls, steps, slabs, and pavers in matching colors to complete a uniform space with the same look.

Oaks Landscape Products introduces a different price point to the Christensen’s Hardscape product lineup. New sample boards with examples of the rich Oaks colors and styles have arrived in the yard, so we would like to invite you to peruse our selection of all of our Hardscape lines, now including, Unilock, High Format, Techo-Bloc, Fendt, and Oaks.

For the first time since 1988, Christensen’s will open to the public! Christensen’s Plant and Hardscape Centers end of season Yard Sale will be held on September 14, 2024 and October 12, 2024. Our entire line of products, plant material and hardscape products, will be available. These events are to reduce our overwinter inventory levels and allow us to refresh and restock with new inventory for the 2025 season. We will be offering our products at our wholesale trade pricing with select products at special sale prices. The event is cash (or credit card) and carry, and all sales are final; we will not be tagging or holding product for pick up later and we will not be offering delivery, planting, or installation services.

How will our customers feel about us selling to the public? Our intent is not to compete with our customers, but with the retailers and box stores. The do-it-yourself person that will be attracted to this event is not someone who would normally hire a professional landscaper for their project. Truly, this will be a benefit to our customers by allowing us to sell our products that haven’t been turning and replace them with fresh more popular items. The pricing for this event is our catalog price with no cash or quantity discounts available; there will be selected items on sale with special pricing. We will be making our pricing available through a digital link that will only be available for the event.

No warranty or guarantee is expressed or implied, other than plant material is true to name and disease free at time of sale. All sales are final; we will not be accepting returns or offering exchanges.

There’s a reason I work in the Hardscape Center amidst the limestone aggregate and the concrete pavers... I’m easily distracted by rocks.  (...as you might remember from my previous Sticks & Stones article) It makes perfect sense that my vacation time allows me to get closer to some monumental formations.

On a recent trip to Arizona I was able to check two places off of my bucket list.

The first story begins 50,000 years ago when a meteor slammed down onto what is now Arizona. The impact struck with more power than early nuclear bombs, creating a crater ¾ mile wide, 600’ deep! The shockwave vaporized everything near ground zero, pushing winds outward at over 600mph within a 2 mile radius. Animals over 1 mile away likely were killed by the pressure wave and debris, vegetation was destroyed over 200 miles away, and regional weather would have been affected for several weeks.  

Early non-indigenous people thought the crater was an extinct volcano caldera. In 1902 self-taught geologist Daniel Barringer proposed the idea that the geological feature was actually a collision crater. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that this idea was accepted by the scientific community.   The site of the crater is currently preserved by the Barringer family. It’s a family-friendly tourist site if you’re in the Flagstaff/Sedona area.

This second story starts back even further in time. Just a short drive away from Barringer Crater, but 200 million years back in time, Arizona was covered in forests and swampy rivers.   I was originally excited about seeing so much petrified wood and quartz, but upon arriving at Petrified Forest National Park, I became enamored by the gorgeous colors painted across the mounds of layered sediment. Scattered almost everywhere in the park are logs and pieces of petrified wood. In places, they look like hundreds of petrified wood “headstones”, memorializing a place in time where these trees once stood.

It was a surreal experience walking behind my long evening shadow, feeling the cool sinking air on my face as I strolled between mounds of bold reds and crumbly gray rocks and fossils. Then, to turn around and witness the sun sinking beneath the horizon. To say it took my breath away is an understatement.  I became lost in wonder and pure beauty.     

Historic Route 66 runs through the park, so if you’re thinking of a road trip, this would be an excellent stop.

Where’s next on my bucket list?  Someday I’d like to check out 'Jurassic Coast' in England and The Gates Of Hell in Turkmenistan!

I have a chain-link fence that I hate. Well, I don’t hate it. It serves the purpose of containing my Corgis outside while I leave the house.  They do not like to be corralled into the house, so the dog door to the porch and the ugly fence keep my little doggos happy. Many years ago, I began obscuring the hideous chain-link fence with shrubs. There’s lilac and Rose of Sharon, but my favorite addition was when I started adding Clematis.

I began accumulating Clematis as I traveled in my position for a large plant brand.  At that time, the company I worked for did not offer any Clematis in our product line. So, as I visited customers, I was intrigued by this perennial that could hide that loathsome fence in such a lovely blanket of color.  Nearly twenty years later, I can’t remember the variety of my first Clematis, but I distinctly remember carrying the 1 gallon pot onto the plane and holding it in my lap for the hours-long flight from New Hampshire to Michigan. My first clematis was gifted to me and started my love affair with the bright, big blooms. 

And, is that such a bad way to spend a few minutes on a hot pre-holiday afternoon?

So, here’s my quick attempt at the original logical, informative argument…

Why plant clematis when there are so many other climbing plants to choose from? Many other climbing plants can be invasive, like trumpet vine (I’m trying to keep this one off the fence), honeysuckle or wisteria (though some non-invasive cultivars do exist), most Clematis, at least in our area of the country, are not. If you avoid Sweet Autumn Clematis terniflora, there are a lot of excellent non-invasive options in this genus. Nicknamed ‘Queen of the Vines’, it is an incredibly beautiful climbing plant to choose.

If you want to wax poetic about Clematis, come see me sometime!

If you have seen me around the nursery lately, you might have noticed that I look a little different. That would be because I am currently 9 months pregnant, expecting my first child- a baby girl, due on July 21^st. With this article's due date, and my actual due date approaching, I wanted to think of a way to tie my baby to the horticulture industry. Not only would that make this article a memorable keepsake, but also something I could relate to on a personal level. Then it dawned on me, BABY plants! Considering the approaches of seeds, seedlings, and plugs when starting a garden or in nursery production.

Which is better when starting your own garden- seeds, seedlings, or a mixture of both? Well, that depends on how much time and money you have to invest into this project.

If choosing to start with seeds, you will have the benefit of variety. There are endless varieties of seeds available, which would allow you to grow exactly what you want. Seeds are also typically less expensive, so if cost were a factor, seeds could be a little easier on the wallet. However, do consider the added costs of materials needed for seed propagation which could include seeding trays, special tools, and equipment like grow lights (depending on your location).

Another important detail to consider is the time-consuming nature of seeds, and the time it takes to reach maturity on your selected varieties. This timing is crucial to having your crops ready when you want them. Some seeds are quick to reach maturity, such as lettuce and spinach which can be ready in as little as 30 days. Other crops such as tomatoes and peppers can take months to fruit after planting, which makes them a better option to start as a seedling. In this case, knowing your limits and making these choices based on time to maturity will be your best bet.

Lastly, when choosing seed propagation, there also is a sense of pride in growing something start to finish. That feeling of pride is something I have experienced in the past but am now feeling in a way I never thought possible. Starting something from scratch and looking back and saying “I DID THAT” is a very special feeling. Especially in the end when you see your perfect baby- or cucumber, that you grew from scratch.

Starting a garden from seedlings- or transplants, is a much easier route to get the garden of your dreams. There is no shame in letting a professional start your plants off, grow them up and then plant the established transplants in a straight row. Think of this like sending your seeds off to daycare!! The benefits of this include less planning time, less loss, and can give you more predictable results. Timing is still something to consider when planting seedlings, but MUCH less so. Instead of all of the planning of maturation times, you will just need to make sure your seedlings are not planted too late, giving them time to bear fruit by their desired harvest date. A downfall of starting with seedlings can be cost. Generally, the transplants from your local nursery are more expensive than seeding the garden. Keep the cost in mind if this is the route you are considering.

Here at Christensen’s, we do some of our own perennial production. Considering that we are not a farm, or greenhouse, we start all our production from plugs (comparable to transplants). Over the years, through trial and error, I have learned what does, and doesn’t work for us. Cell sizes in the industry range from 128 cell-teeny tiny cells, all the way up to 21 cell- jumbo cells. These individual units are called liners. Over years of experimentation, I have learned that the larger cells- 30c to 21c- work best for me. Depending on the plant, and time of year, I get the best finish out of these. There is a lot of planning when it comes to perennial production. For example, a Nepeta started past Memorial Day can finish off in 4 weeks, whereas an Echinacea started in April, will typically not be available until mid-June. My main tip is to start at your desired finish date and work backwards as to when it should to potted, crop by crop. The plug size and temperature when planting are factors you must consider. Or just come see us for all of your perennials. We’re happy to help!

In conclusion, there are benefits to starting your garden with seeds, seedlings, and a combination of both. As with most things, time, money, and determination are factors that can help make the decision for you. Choose wisely, but just know that like with becoming a parent, there will be much to learn. In my case I am going to go into it with an open mind, taking advice from those around me, while also finding my own way. I have learned that growing my little ‘seedling’ is not easy. In fact, it is the most challenging thing I have done to date. But I know the reward at the end will be the most glorious of ‘gardens’ I could have ever imagined.

You may not know this, but we book all the trucks that come into Christensen’s ourselves. We want to find savings that we can pass on to our customers, so we put in the work to not only find the best, affordable plants, but the best, affordable freight. We coordinate everything with our vendors from the day it is to be picked up to the time it is to be delivered. Because of this, we have had some very crazy things happen when trying to get a load picked up or delivered.

Just this past week, we had to troubleshoot a driver (an outside contractor, not a Christensen's driver) being arrested for theft... with a load of our plants on the stolen trailer! 

Some drivers have been unmindful of what they would be hauling while they bid the job. They arrived at a nursery to pick up only to realize it was plant material and drive away because they didn’t want to get their truck dirty.

This one may be my new favorite, mostly because it happened very recently. We had a trucking company that was to pick up a load on Tuesday at nursery “A” out in Oregon. When the driver showed up a day early (Monday) and it wasn’t ready, the trucking company sent them to Nursery “B” where they had a pickup for Thursday. Nursery “B” wasn’t ready either but said hang on and we will get you loaded 4 days earlier than we expected. After the driver was loaded and rolling down the road the trucking company called us to schedule the delivery. That is when we found out what was going on. We were not going to be able to unload the truck until Monday the following week because of all the other trucks we had coming in and that is when we expected the material to be here. The trucking company understood and said 'that is fine,' and we would see the truck on Monday. But a few hours later they called back and asked us if there was anywhere else, they could unload the plants. As you know this is our only location, so we had to say no and let them know that next time don’t pick up a load 4 days early.

The last one I have is about a driver that we use all the time. He is one of our favorite drivers that delivers material to us. He is here so often that you may even think he works here. While he is being unloaded, he is one of the few drivers that hang out in the store area. Mostly because he will make coffee and help clean up the store at times.

There are many more stories that I could tell about trying to get our material here, but it is spring and we’re all pretty busy. You probably have some stories like this as well. If you have time on your next visit, maybe we could exchange some stories while you pick up your orders.

Sleep was hard to come by in my young age. If I was having a particularly bad night, I would patter down the stairs in search of parental help, or at least sympathy. Inevitably, I would find my night-owl father watching reruns of Cheers or M*A*S*H. As I grew older, those same shows would be the background noise for my late-night study sessions. I grew up in the tents of the 4077th M*A*S*H unit in Korea.

One of my dad’s favorite characters on M*A*S*H, was Klinger. Klinger was from Toledo and was a big Toledo MudHens fan, so Dad has a fascination with the MudHens. Hmm, I still need to get him to a game one of these days, and maybe make a stop at Tony Packo’s.

My favorite was Corporal Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly. How could you not love the man-boy admin for the Colonel? He slept with a teddy bear, his voice barely out of puberty. Radar’s rank may have been low on the totem pole, but he had that camp running like a well-oiled machine. Radar’s quiet efficiency, attention to detail, fine-tuned observational powers, and his uncanny ability to anticipate the needs of his superiors are what every good administrative assistant strives for. 

Enter me, the detail-oriented, part-timer whose goal is to take some of the load for the plant and hardscape experts. Unless you catch me on a morning walk around the blocks, you may never see me. But hopefully, you see my work at the periphery when you’re admiring the superior plants, hard goods, and hardscape materials that the Buyers have the time and energy to find. I will continue to channel Radar O’Reilly, fade into the background while supporting my coworkers and in turn, our customers.