Decorate with Fresh Greens and More!

 Finally some cold weather!  That cold weather can only mean one thing, it is the holiday season!  Christmas trees, wreaths, greens, roping and porch pots of course.  It is time to decorate.  You can get everything you need to decorate your porch, patio, banister and home here at Skinner’s.  Fraser Fir trees make great trees to decorate with their short, firm needles.  Add some roping and greens to your porch rails and fencing.  Every front door certainly needs a wreath with pinecones and ribbons this time of year.

Don’t think your window boxes and patio pots are done for the year!  It’s time to fill them with greens! You can even keep the soil in there to help the greens stay upright.  Pinecones, dogwood stems and holiday picks and ribbons finish them off nicely!  If you don’t know how to make a porch pot, call and ask when the next class is! 

See you at Skinner’s!

Cameron's Post November 20, 2014

So… I was working in my yard, trying to finish off a couple of last second landscape projects when “IT” hit…the “Cold Front”!

You know what I’m talking about…the cold front that hit us the day before Veteran’s Day.  It was something else, wasn’t it? Funny, everybody’s been talking about it like it was the moon landing. Where were you when it happened? Did you see it? Did you hear it? Did you smell it? Everyone’s had a story!

It was quite an experience though!  One minute it was calm and beautiful, and then…just like someone flipped a switch, the winds picked up and the temperature went down.  And it just kept going down! Now we’ve even had snow. The weather certainly does keep us on our toes!

Needless to say, the arrival of cold weather has pushed us into winter mode around here and into it a little sooner than expected. We rushed to get all our plants under cover and finished just in the nick of time. Our once full and beautiful sales yard now looks sad and empty. Oh, our plants are still here, we’ve just tucked them into our overwintering houses to keep them safe from the winter temps . Once it warms back up, if you need some trees or shrubs to finish  some fall projects, we can still get you fixed up.

If you didn’t get all your projects wrapped up, there’s still time. There’s still time to finish up some late season planting, there’s still time to do your fall fertilizing and still time to make sure you have everything ready for the winter. But I wouldn’t put it off too much longer. One of these days it’s going to get cold and stay cold!

As this year’s growing season winds down, I want to say Thank You! Thanks for coming out to see us and thanks for making past season such a good one. It’s been a great year and it’s all because of you. We sincerely appreciate your business!

THANK YOU!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Bringing Plants Indoors With No Passengers

 It is the time of year to move plants indoors, and with that, they need to be treated with Hi-Yield Systemic Insect Granules. Sprinkle the granular insecticide in the soil, scratch it in, and water the area a little bit to activate the chemical. Since it is a systemic, the plant absorbs the chemical up through the root system, and it helps protect the plant’s new growth for up to eight weeks. At the eight week mark, it’s recommended you reapply. This is a good product to use on houseplants, or items you’ve brought indoors for the winter season. It’s especially helpful if the plants have been moving from indoors to outdoors and back and forth. It is important to apply this product before actual bug problems occur, or at the first sign of a problem. If you have any immediate concerns with bugs on the foliage, you may need to use our Bonide Insecticidal Soap to treat the actual plant leaves. Follow all label instructions for more information and guidance.

Winter Porch Pots-Make that entrance look grand!

Now that cold weather has put an end to the flowers growing in your porch containers, it’s time to transition to Winter Porch Pots!

You know you can’t grow flowers in those containers through the winter. And let's face it, they're ugly sitting there empty and sad all winter. Why not decorate them  for the winter with beautiful arrangements of fresh winter greens? They’ll dress up your front porch or back patio and put a smile on your face every time you look at them. It’s really easy to do, and we can help.

We have great supplies to build whatever your dream arrangement may be. You’ll find lots of freshly harvested greens and all kinds of fun “accents” to give your porch pots a personalized touch.

The folks here can help you create great combinations and if you need just a little more help, we will have porch pot building classes starting after Thanksgiving. If you’d rather just grab and go, we can help there as well, with a nice variety of pre-made porch pot “drop-in’s” ready to go. All you have to do is take them home and “drop” them in your existing pots.

It’s so easy and keeps your home looking beautiful all winter long!

It's Time to Get Ready for Next Year's Garden

Freezing weather has put an end to the vegetable garden season for a lot of folks. If you're one of them, then here's a quick checklist of what you need to do to wrap up this gardening season and get ready for the next.

1)    Remove all of the old plant debris. Most things can be put on the compost pile but it is best to just discard old tomato plants. They frequently harbor leaf disease that you don't want around.

2)    Add compost. If you make your own, great! If not, we have some great compost products that we would recommend.

3)    Work the ground. Turning the ground over at this time of the year will not only help incorporate the compost you just added, but also open the ground up to better receive winter moisture and hopefully help knock down overwintering pest problems.

Our Fall Garden Compost Special is still going on!  It will save you over 20% off the regular price of three of our best compost products and give you a great combination to help get your garden off to a great start in 2015!

Lawn Care in November: Winterize and Kill Weeds

It's time to kill weeds!

You know all those weeds that you cuss every spring?...the dandelions, the clover, the henbit and the chickweed? Well, they need to be controlled now. Basically from now until Thanksgiving is the best time of the year to get rid of these weeds. You need to apply a product by Fertilome called Weed Free Zone. Do it right and that's just what you will have, a weed-free zone! And don't forget about the fertilizer while you are at it. Make sure you get your Fertilome Winterizer down before Thanksgiving too.

There's another option if you are looking for an "all-in-one" opportunity. Fertilome Weed Out Plus Lawn Food is a "weed & feed" product that gives your lawn a good late season feeding while at the same time controlling broadleaf weeds. You can use it to both winterize and kill weeds in one application. It's not as effective as spraying, but it can be a time saver.

One last note, in order to protect newly planted grass, never apply weed control products until you have mowed that new grass at least three times.

Stop by and get what you need to continue your lawn care program this season. We'll help you pick out the right product for your lawn care needs.

Winter Decor!

New flags, mailbox covers and mats have arrived for the winter season and upcoming holidays. Bring color to the outdoors with no maintenance décor. In addition, we also got more rain gauges, and have added to the art pole options we currently have in stock. Art poles are the new trend in yard décor! They are colorful and have inspiring messages on them. These poles make great additions to a flower bed, containers or out in the yard. It would be a fun gift this holiday season too. They are made out of a strong, lightweight PVC and are easy to install. The poles are laminated for fade resistance and should hold up for several years depending on the site and weather conditions. Check out the winter, Christmas and patriotic options we just added to the mix! 

Cameron's Post 11/08/14

Let's start with this video!

 

 I knew when I watched this video that I wanted to share it. Even more, I felt like I needed to share it. Not because I'm a big biker but because what this guy did is amazing. I can't even begin to imagine what it took him to get to this point, but obviously it involved a lot of practice and training.

Here's another link to check out.

Here! 

Now that is moving a big tree!

So what's the point of all this? I guess it's just a reminder that you can accomplish a lot if you just put your mind to it. You don't have to bike-ride a mountain or move a 250 year old tree but decide what your own "mountain" is and then you need to figure out a way to conquer it.

As the fall season continues to plug away, don't put off those projects you know you need to get done. The month of November is the perfect time to finish off those landscape plantings and start getting things ready for a winter that will surely be here soon.

Good luck with everything on your list!

-Cameron Rees