Locally Grown Goodness:

For new gardeners especially, nothing beats the opinion of a person who works with plants for a living, especially from one of the family owned and operated plant-based businesses right here in our area. Rooted in years of experience Buschkoetter’s Nursery, Green Thumb Garden Center, Welp’s Farm & Greenhouse, Jenkin’s Family Greenhouse & Family Roots Nursery all have one thing in common: family owned & operated, each are very similar yet very different operations.

• Buschkoetter’s is a home, lawn, landscaping, and garden store, specializing in trees, roses, plants, perennials, lighting service, landscape & design service, and great gifts.
• Green Thumb is a fully stocked garden center & landscaping company. They provide wedding decoration, funeral work/gifts, garden products (chemicals, seeds, plants), trees / shrubs / flowers and so much more! They do installation & maintenance of all services: irrigation, retaining wall, water features, patios/walks, lawns, mowing, clean up, landscaping, etc.
• Family Roots Nursery is a full-service florist, greenhouse, garden center & seasonal produce market which is open 7 days a week year-round. Most known for their spring annual/tropical plant offerings they do change as the seasons change with summer, fall & winter offerings including a walk-through fresh cut Christmas tree experience.  Taking great pride in the education of what they offer, their year-round hands-on seminars are always popular with topics from centerpieces to outdoor containers you are sure to find something you would love to know more about.
• Jenkins’ fifteen greenhouses supply products for wholesale, retail, and fundraisers. What started as a hobby in 1971 has grown into a family business that spans three generations of ownership. When Eldon and Betty Jenkins built their first greenhouse, they grew tomatoes, cabbage, and cauliflower. Friends urged them to add more product to sell. Currently, they have a long list of products, ranging from almost every letter of the alphabet.
• For Welp’s It all started with planting and selling fall mums in 1993. Today, we have annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, fruit bushes and trees, garden plants, and a gift shop that offers a little for everyone.
• Brescher Landscaping, located in Ireland, has the experience to create and maintain your curb appeal with expert landscape, lawn care, greenhouse plants and maintenance services. Their 4 greenhouses are full of perennials plants for sale in addition to sales of mulch, landscaping stones and chemicals & fertilizers. 

Pretty Bird Farms, in the SW corner of the county, is where you can explore the farm seasonally & clip blooms to create your own bouquet, that is the closest account of grown goodness I can think of!!!  I know what you are thinking, I’m not the creative type & could never do that even with help, no worries there are local experts with years of hand designed floral experience with arrangements ready to go like at Gehlhausen’s Floral & Gifts in beautiful downtown Huntingburg.

GARDENING TIPS & TRICKS FROM A LOCAL PROFESSIONAL

Plants are complex organisms and keeping them healthy requires knowledge and practice, you are certain to get just thatfrom these local gardening experts whether it be at a nursery, garden center, produce stand, specialized grower or you pick flower farm!!! Here are some tips from local expert Andrea Peters co-owner of Family Roots Nursery, located in the Southwestern most part of Dubois County.

June is a great time to get a lot of work done outdoors in Southern Indiana, the days can be warm but typically the mornings & evenings are very enjoyable.  A few tips I like to suggest this time of year are to watch for adult Japanese beetles on plants such as crape myrtles, roses, grapes, linden, crabapples, chaste tree, Japanese Kerria, and many others. Control by knocking beetles into a jar of soapy water, or spray with Sevin, Neem Py, Bug Blaster or Insecticidal Soap. To control Japanese beetles in the grub stage, apply Milky Spore or Hy Yield Kill a Grub (containing granular Merit) to lawns for control up to 20 years. For easy watering of many plants at one time, use a soaker hose for 2 hours every 7-10 days when soil is dry. Watch for hatching bagworms, especially on evergreens such as junipers and arborvitae. Handpick bagworms and destroy them, or spray with Thuricide (Bacillus thuringiensis) or Fertilome Borer, Bagworm, Leafminer, & Tent Caterpillar Spray. Prune azaleas, viburnums, forsythias, lilacs, and other spring blooming shrubs after blooming.

Need a little dirt therapy?  Now is an excellent time to plant perennials for summer flowering. Use Bone & Bloodmeal and Compost & Manure mixed with the soil when planting. Trim back the flower stalks of perennials which have finished blooming. 

Fish & Water Gardens also need attention be sure to treat water gardens with AquaClearer or Green Clean natural bacteria to control green water and sludge buildup. Use oxygenators (submerged water plants) as a natural filter to help control algae buildup. They provide oxygen for fish and will help balance the natural ecosystem of a water garden making the water clear naturally. If you are having trouble with Zoysia or Bermuda grass in your landscape bed, now is the time to apply Turflon Ester to those pest grasses to keep them out. 

All these specific products & many more can be found at the local garden centers mentioned above.

“You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy local or grow your own which I know you are itching to do now.”