I have been working in the industry a long time, and I have come to look at some plants as... lonely. Lonely maybe isn’t the word, but underappreciated isn't the correct word either. The sparkling Stellas and Endless Summers of the world are not lonely plants. Even plants like Clethra and Fothergilla are not lonely plants.

I do think of all Ilex as lonely but I think of the verticillatas - Michigan Holly - as the loneliest. They seem lonelier than glabras (Inkberry) for some reason. Unlike their loved big brothers who are evergreen with classic holly leaves, the verticillatas are considered old fashioned and without much flair. BUT LET ME TELL YOU! There are some new cultivars and hybrids on the market, and they will make you wish all Ilex were deciduous because, “The berries are where it’s AT!”

The older varieties like  ‘Winter Red’ and ‘Sparkleberry‘ are awesome when the leaves drop and the best berry display is in view. But these older varieties can get a little leggy and out of control if they are not maintained. The older cultivars also have men in their lives that get unruly after a while - go figure!

There are several breeding programs that excite me.

• Berry Poppins®: How about heavy berries, (read COPIOUS) on a 4' tall dwarf plant, perfectly sized for the landscape. The berries are large and an orange-red in color. The leaves also drop a little earlier than other hollies for a longer display. The pollinator is... are you ready? Mr. Poppins®. 

• Berry Heavy® Red: bred for better bearing (copious again) and even longer persistence. The berries are bright red and nicely bunched along the stem. This one will reach 6-8’ in height. The pollinator is again, Mr. Poppins®. (He does get around, along with his friend 'Jim Dandy' who can help out with the pollination duties.) There is also a gold-berried version, Berry Heavy® Gold.

• Little Goblin® Red: this is a 4’ dwarf with extra-large red berries. Her pollinator is Little Goblin® Guy. There is also a orange berried variety in the Goblin series.

We are not always appreciative of new plants. Does that make them lonely? My opinion on these plants is that anything to bring the poor Michigan Holly into the spotlight is good. But I have also been watching these new varieties for a couple of years now and these are good plants and a welcome addition.

P.S. Part two may be on all the cool and awesome new Inkberry cultivars...

Some plantings are difficult.  Poor soil, deer, high ph, lack of irrigation, or a combination of some or all of these issues.  The more factors in combination, the more your plant list gets whittled down.  One of the plants you can count on to be available to use when the whittling is done is diervilla, or bush honeysuckle.

Diervilla grow in most soil conditions, all light conditions, and are deer and drought resistant. They all sport somewhat inconspicuous yellow flowers. The Kodiak® series, developed for the landscape, sport various leaf colors for more summer interest and are non invasive.  All of these colors, including amazing fall colors, are more intense the more sunlight the plant gets.

Kodiak® Black sports a blackish-purple leaf which contrasts well with the usually inconspicuous flowers.  Kodiak® Orange and Red are also available with hints of orange and red in the leaves.  The most intense fall color seems to come from Kodiak® Orange. 

These plants get between three and four feet tall and wide.  Their habit can be considered a little messy and leggy if left to grow naturally.  I like to prune them regularly to maintain a smaller size and encourage increased branching, but do it in late fall so as not to miss any of the fall color show. 

Diervilla is a tough plant for tough conditions, but the Kodiak® series gives you an attractive plant even when conditions aren't tough.

My parents instilled in my family a sense of stewardship over nature that has stuck with me through the years. As we grew up in Northern Michigan, we were taught to recycle, use our grandmother’s compost pile, and practice "Leave No Trace" camping and hiking.

As an adult I’ve tried to expand on these lessons to be as Earth-friendly as I can in the current day and age. I keep my water bottle on me to eliminate the need for single use cups, I’ve found ways to reduce my carbon footprint, and I try to support sustainable businesses.

All of these things help, but the biggest way to help the environment are the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

The first R: Reduce. This one is probably the easiest to accomplish. There are so many ways to reduce the amount of waste that your household produces. Single-use plastics are the biggest household pollutant worldwide. Reusable sandwich bags and storage containers are an easy and affordable way to cut back on single use plastics. Even just bringing reusable shopping bags to the grocery store can help cut down on the roughly 1.8 billion plastic bags that are disposed of each WEEK in the United States. Keep in mind though, that just like other reusable storage, reusable grocery bags do need to be washed regularly. Swapping out beeswax wraps for plastic wrap is another great way to cut down on single-use plastics.

The second R: Reuse. Keeping and reusing things like boxes and gift bags is a great way to prevent waste. I also like to save glass jars from foods that have been used up. If you soak the labels off and wash them out, they’re great for holding pantry staples like coffee beans, rice, and dried beans. Glass jars also work great as small planters; line the bottom with lava rocks or gravel for drainage before filling up with potting soil and go for it! Another simple way to reuse things is taking old t shirts with rips or stains and cutting them up to make rags for cleaning and dusting.

The third R: Recycle. Recycling may seem like the easiest thing on this list, but many municipalities have stringent guidelines for what can and cannot be recycled which aren’t always clear. I live in the city of Detroit, which doesn’t necessarily have a citywide recycling program. Now as I have to sort and take my recyclables to a processing plant myself there are a few things to remember. First of all, any cardboard or paper that has food on it cannot be recycled. The same goes for containers that have not been thoroughly cleaned out. The most commonly recycled plastics are plastics #1, #2, #4, #5, #6, and #7, so make sure you check the numbers before blindly throwing things into the bin! The biggest lessons here are to check your local guidelines before trying to recycle things.

Working as we do in the Green Industry makes us a natural fit for modeling environmentally-friendly practices both at work and at home. Our families, clients, neighbors and friends can be positivly influenced by our example.

Social Distancing for... plants? Yes, you read that right.

Social distancing for plants has two distinct applications.

The first is to keep plants apart that simply don’t get along well. Examples include those affected by Cedar-Apple Rust such as crabs, hawthorn, and quince and their alternate hosts of Juniper (virginana, horizontalis, and scopulorum). The deciduous get orange spots on their leaves and early leaf droppage while junipers get galls. Similar to this is Pear Rust which affects our ornamental Asian Pears , Bradford, Cleveland, et al. This, too, is caused by over-planting and proximity to Juniper species. The results are similar to Cedar-Apple Rust. A more recent fungal problem exist with our boxwoods and pachysandra. While not alternating hosts, plantings of these as complementary may increase risk of Boxwood Blight. Some genera simply need some distance or even not being included in the same landscape altogether.

The second application of plant distancing is proper spacing. This requires planning and knowledge of plant size, growth rates, and growth habit. The first crime in planting I would call the model home or interior-decorator syndrome. The landscape is planted for the here and now. It has to look lush and lived-in – NOW. The result in a few years is usually a crowded, jungle-like landscape. Much of the original plant material will need to be pulled out. The second crime is a planting that looks nice but really does not reflect the true growth habit of what has been incorporated into the landscape. Remember the Colorado Blue Spruce on the corner of the house; thirty years later you cannot see the house. The development of columnar trees and evergreens has solved this problem. Also, the introduction of many dwarf or compact versions of the old standby varieties has expanded the pool of variety and color palette. Only people my age remember the old Vanicek Weigela (a monster) that yielded to W. fl. ‘Red Prince.’ And now, we have Weigela florida: ‘Wine and Roses, Fine Wine, Dark Horse, My Monet, et al.’ How small can they get?

The art and discipline of plant spacing depends on a great knowledge of plant growth rate and maintainable size. If a new landscape is developing nicely in about three to five years, then you did a good job of placement. Larger trees and evergreens can take around three years to really establish. This is evidenced by greatly increased leaf size and improved coloring in evergreens. From this point on you should see an increase in growth rate. Most woody ornamentals are filling in and exhibit much heavier blooms during this same time. Perennials and groundcovers establish showing very little top growth first season – the Iceberg Effect (roots first, then foliage and flowering the next season).

We are at the mercy of tag information which is far from perfect and landscape architectural drawings rendered by an industry with low plant knowledge. If you take your landscape installation seriously and are interested in long-term results, become familiar with nursery varieties as fast as you can and keep up with new introductions.

Welcome to summer! This time every year we find ourselves having the same conversation with lots of drivers picking up plant material.

This conversation revolves around putting a tarp over their load of plant material. There are two typical answers for this. “I forgot a tarp” or “I am only going a few miles.”

To be honest, we have a chuckle at both of these answers, and the reason for the chuckle is quite simple.

In the case of “I forgot”, we generally know what most of the nursery tarp inventory for most of our customers looks like as we see them often. This also means we know how many tarps the company owns. My favorite “I forgot” comes from a good friend of mine. I sold him a new tarp multiple times when he forgot. And every time he was mad as he knew there were about twenty tarps sitting unused at his shop.

The latter, “I am only going a few miles”, is not so funny. During summer temperatures, damage to the foliage while driving down the road at 50 mph (or more) happens in just a few miles. So really, any driving with the plant material un-tarped will damage the plant.

Here is the beg from Christensen’s. Please tarp everything when you leave our nursery. We will help you tarp your load!!

P.S. We will not accept anything as a return that left without a tarp on it.

We enjoy seeing our broadleaved evergreens survive year after year in spite of being punished by our long, cold, icy Michigan winters, don’t we? Did you notice that I didn’t say snowy? It seems like we haven’t had much snow in the past few years, doesn't it? Whether it’s Rhododendron, Azalea, or Pieris, that fresh pop of color is a welcome sight each spring. Then you have your Hollies, Boxwood, Mahonia and some of the Euonymus. Euonyminians? Euonymi?

But even finicky broadleaved evergreens can outgrow an area that they’ve called home for many years. Which brings us to the title of the article:

Can you transplant broadleaved evergreens?

Yes. But a little extra care is needed to safely move them to their new home.

• Do not transplant them in the heat of summer. Early spring and late summer into early fall is optimal for survival, when top growth slows but root growth is still active. Any nurseryman will tell you that transplanting broadleafs in the middle of July when it’s 90° plus for weeks is a death sentence. They may live, sure, but we will never recommend you doing it. Wait until late August – early September if at all possible.

• These plants have very shallow, fibrous root systems. When digging, focus more on the width versus the depth. You’ll still need some depth, believe me, but I would recommend going as wide as the plant itself, and then add some more. Easily an extra third of the plant. Get some burlap to help support the root ball while you are transferring it.

• After transplanting, apply Ferti-lome Root Stimulator and Plant Starter Solution. This product can reduce transplant shock and is safer to use than conventional fertilizers. You may also use a slow release fertilizer such as the organic Tone series (Plant Tone, Flower Tone, or Holly Tone) to help the healing process. You do not want to use any strong quick-release fertilizers at this time.

• Water, water, WATER! Water daily for at least two weeks, and please, for longer than one minute. Hit the foliage (not in the heat of the day), and especially soak the ground. Remember, they have shallow roots, so this will be absorbed quickly. Using a quality bark mulch is also a good idea.

Remember to site your broadleaved evergreen plants where they will be protected from winter sun such as the north or east side of a building or under a canopy of trees. Smaller-leaved specimens like boxwood are more forgiving when it comes to winter burn but know that it is a possibility in some situations.

What is the least expensive tool you own? Maybe a pair of safety glasses or gloves? Think even cheaper, like “free” cheap. This tool is as useful as MacGyver with two sticks of chewing gum and a paperclip! More knowledgeable than Google, but just as easy to use. Everyone has at the very least one, but most have several just lying around, waiting to be used. They want to be used, it gives them purpose and meaning. On occasion, I have even had them beg to be used! Does your hammer do that?

This free tool is: factory territory representatives! Most of our suppliers have them, and they want you to use them. The rep’s job is not necessarily to sell you their products, but also to help you with tips, ideas, suggestions and a wealth of other great information. They can advise you on different, possibly better ways to advertise, bid, plan and order for your project.

Your territory rep can be found dropping off samples to contractors and dealers, troubleshooting challenging installs, and advising on new or better techniques. Their office is their vehicle, always moving from job site to job site. They are there to help when problems arise and to praise when projects have exceeded expectations. New and growing companies can benefit from their experience as most reps were once like you.

During the off season they are busy planning extensive training sessions and informational seminars. Some of the seminars are designed to help you improve the way you bid jobs, streamline the designing process or showcase new and upcoming products. They are in constant communication with the factories, getting input as well as giving feedback. They want you to be successful with their prospective products, and you as the contractor play a vital role in that. Your likes and dislikes, everything from the color blending to thickness variances all mean something to them.

So now that I have shown you how good these tools are and how much they can help, take the next step and call. Ask the smallest or silliest of questions, don’t be afraid to get their hands dirty. Channel all of their experience into what challenges you. Let us here at Christensen’s Hardscape Center help you get a good “rep”. The cost is only a call or text. If you don’t have those numbers, please contact me and I will make sure you get them.

If given the choice between having lots of bats (outside your attic) or having lots of mosquitoes, which would you choose? This may be a harder choice for some than others, but hopefully I can persuade you to not only want more bats, but to take steps to make sure there ARE more.

Bats are the only flying mammal in the world. This makes them ideal prey for hawks, falcons, and owls. The ones that don’t get eaten consume up to 1200 insects an hour. A teenage boy would have to eat 200 quarter pound burgers in a single night to compete with most bats. A lot of the bat’s diet includes mosquitoes, which can carry West Nile virus. Bats are so good at eating insects that they have become a friend to farmers by eating enough pests to reduce the need for pesticides. Bats in some parts of the world are also important pollinators.

Unfortunately bats are under pressure from habitat destruction. Some eke out a living in urban areas. There are 1.5 million Mexican Free-Tailed bats living under the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. In order to help out, you may consider putting up a bat house to encourage these voracious insectivores to work for you where you live.

It is easy enough to prevent bats from getting into your attic, and less than one half of one percent of these animals carry rabies. Rabies can only be transmitted by an infected animal's saliva entering through eyes, mouth, or open wounds. Please do not attempt to handle bats or any other wild animal! 

As the shrub and perennial investor at Christensen's I rarely get to go outside to meet and greet. Now while we are socially distancing for COVID-19 it is even worse. When I do get outside, I can’t tell the difference between employees and customers. It was bad enough with hats and sunglasses, now there are masks! And just before the shutdown happened I was about to get new glasses... So currently six feet is a little far away for me. Pardon me if I don't recognize you!

I decided to try and use this column to get some feedback. Do I get it right? (Did I get it right in this mess?) Please! This is a Roast Me – did I get it wrong? Go ahead - I can take it!

What plants am I missing in the nursery? We NEVER want you to be caught short on plants that you need, so please let us know what you want and when you want it.

You are welcome to yell at me – however it is best to yell at your salesman. Then they can get it ordered for you. (It would be much better for me if you yelled at them. They are scared of me and usually bring me gifts like cookies and such with your orders! Isn’t that sweet of them!?!?)

Contact information for all our sales staff can be found in our app and on our website. And, you can send me your feedback here: rothk (at) christensensplantcenter (dot) com.

I know that as a woman of my age, grace, natural beauty and talents that it is next to impossible for me to get it wrong. But that age thing sometimes makes me forget things.

P. S. You cannot roast me on that last paragraph!

I’m fairly active on LinkedIn with my Design/Build network of landscape contractors, landscape architects and developers. I’m always asking, "Hey, are you on LinkedIn so I can learn about your company?" A lot of the larger companies with marketing departments are there, but many of my landscape contractors say, “I don’t have the time” or “I tried it, and it didn’t work.” There are a few tricks to it, but it can be a very effective tool in your marketing toolbox if used correctly.

First, your current customers want to see you on there. Everyone likes to roll with a winner, and by putting your company out there is a great way to separate from your competition. New potential customers, ready to buy, are on there and are socially engaged enough to be looking for you on the platform. If you get referred by someone, social media will be the first place they will go to get a feel for your service. The point is: find your audience, present your company and raise brand awareness to all the new opportunities and customers that want to hear your story.

If there is one word that comes to mind with social media it’s consistency. Be consistent with your timing, your format, logo, colors, all of that, even your tone. When you develop a consistent look, it allows you to tell your story. Everyone wants to know your story. Stories have beginnings, middles and endings. So do landscape projects. Spring clean-ups with before and after pictures tell a customer what to expect if they hire your company, way more than a quote, card and brochure could ever do. A hardscape installation, patio, wall or outdoor kitchen has a story. The story is best told with pictures and the transformation that allows your customers to dream about their landscape project, and they begin to see you as the landscaper that can make it a reality.

So start slow, find your voice, and be consistent with your logo, banners and company colors. Your customers and potential customers will begin to engage with you, ask questions, and make comments that will ultimately lead to new business. Social media needs to be a priority. The consistency will come when the social media post becomes the priority. Mark it on the calendar, make it a priority, and get it done. If you can’t do it consistently, then delegate it to someone who will. Develop your style, your look, your message and you will be successful. Be authentic, no templates - talk about your people, new equipment, milestones you are reaching, almost anything, if it’s authentic about your company and tells a story you will be followed and appreciated.

Many of the companies I follow have an editorial calendar that they will lay out like a marketing calendar for the season. Try to get your whole team involved. Most employees have the ability to take pictures, and with some before and after commentary that can lead to a strong post with many views and comments. Some companies highlight individual personalities, some highlight after-hour or weekend company gatherings, safety - the possibilities are there for everyone to get to know you and your people.

Be consistent so whatever platform you select your style and posts will be recognizable. Be authentic and have fun with your posts - it won’t be a chore, and your following will look forward to your next post. When done correctly, social media will attract repeat customers and potential customers to your sales funnel and make the rest of the sales process more efficient. Have fun, tell your story and create brand awareness for your company.