An Annual Planting Event - Mickman Brothers Garden Center

An Annual Event:

Time to design your Patio Planters to set by your doors!  

The Method: Most gardener's have a simple rule of thumb; Thrillers, Fillers, and Spillers.  We used the Proven Winners Ceylon container as our example.   

The Thriller is your focal point, your structure in the pot.  Good Thriller plants include bananas, elephant ears (in the pictured container), canna lilies, and ornamental grasses (think ‘Purple Fountain’).

 

The Spiller flows over the sides of the pot, sometimes reaching the ground.  Nice Spillers are sweet potato vines, calibrachoa (pictured), bacopa, creeping jenny (also pictured), and ivy.

The Filler connects the space between the Thrillers and the Spillers.  Coleus (in the pictured container), superbells, ‘Diamond Frost’, and nemesia make wonderful Fillers!

Click here for the pictured Proven Winners Ceylon container recipe and create this container at your house!

www.mickman.com

Where to apply Preen - Mickman Brothers Landscape Maintenance

Mariah Mickman demonstrates how to apply Preen Garden Weed Preventer in a perennial landscape garden. Early Spring is the best time to apply Preen, it does not harm your perennial plants, as they are already established. It does not kill existing weeds, it will prevent new weeds from sprouting - eliminating the need for hand weeding! Preen prevents weeds for up to 3 months!  Call Mariah, Landscape Maintenance, or our Landscape Design department with any questions, 763.413.8296 or mariah.mickman@mickman.com.

Snow Mold - Mickman Brothers Landscape Maintenance

Mariah Mickman gives advice on how to handle Snow Mold on your lawn after the Spring thaw.  Our Landscape Maintenance and Design departments hope to assist you in preparing your yard for a fantastic growing season!  Call Mariah at 763.413.8296 with any Landscape Maintenance questions, or mariah.mickman@mickman.com!  

Tree Pruning - Mickman Brothers Maintenance Department

Mariah Mickman demonstrates how to prune a Spring Snow Crabapple tree, something that can be done in the early Spring months. Pruning trees right now is perfectly fine, as long as Oak trees are pruned BEFORE April 1st. Pruning Oak trees after April 1st leaves them susceptible to Oak wilt.

Watch the video!

Mickman Brothers installs Target Field irrigation for the Minnesota Twins

A green haven under an open sky

Originally Posted Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by ABC Newspapers |
by Eric Hagen
Staff writer

A Minnesota Twins outfielder sprints, then dives to catch a fly ball.

He slides on the grass carpet more real than the Twins have seen at home for almost 30 years. He triumphantly pushes up and hops to his feet, the ball in hand. The crowd, shading their eyes against the sun, go wild when they see that the home team got the out.

This is one of many images Minnesota Twins fans will see this year when the
club moves to Target Field. A Ham Lake company is playing a major role
in keeping the field a vivid green.

Mickman Brothers was the contractor for Target Field irrigation system,
which ultimately cost about $80,000, according to Jeff Sutter, a
Mickman Brothers employee for over 25 years who supervised the
irrigation project.

In its over 30 years of installing irrigation systems for residential
and commercial properties and athletic fields, Mickman Brothers has
worked on larger projects, but nothing as high profile as Target Field,
Sutter said.

“It’s just been a really proud thing to be a part of that whole stadium,” he said.
The system will do more than provide water for the field. Recycled
water will be used to wash seats in the lower half of the first level
of the stadium.

According to Sutter, a cistern under the field will collect water
drainage after it has been treated by a filtration system. This stored
water can be pumped to the whole perimeter of the field.

From here, Sutter said Target Field maintenance crews could hook up to
the system with hoses and wash the lower-level seats. Other seats would
be washed using water from a different system.

Getting it done
Sutter began working on this project during the spring of 2008 after
Georgia-based Fields, Inc. notified Mickman Brothers that it had won
the bid.

The system was installed over a two-month period from late June to late
August 2009 on top of a couple of inches of sand sub-grade and the
field drainage system, according to Sutter.

Placed above the irrigation system was a four-inch layer of pea gravel.
Above this is heat system tubing that will help the grass roots grow at
an optimal rate. Above the heating system is 10 inches of root zone
material, which Sutter said includes 93 percent sand and 7 percent
peat. The Colorado sod is placed on top.

Three days after the irrigation system was in place and the sod was
installed, Sutter said the field started to be watered. The pipes were
drained Dec. 1, 2009 and the system was winterized.

After remaining dormant during the winter, the tarp was taken off and the irrigation system was turned on by Sutter March 12.

Once the tarp was removed, Sutter slowly turned the control valves in a
Target Field control room to gradually fill the pipes with water. As
the pipes filled up, he turned up the pressure to normal operation.
Although the system is up and running, Sutter will not be a stranger to
Target Field’s groundskeeper. He will stop by when the system needs to
be drained before winter and filled before spring.

The groundskeeper is in charge of ongoing maintenance and turning the sprinklers on and off during the season.

Sutter said if they want any modifications done to the system to make
it easier to operate, Mickman Brothers will make the changes.

Entering Target Field
While Sutter had seen the artist renderings of Target Field, nothing
could compare with seeing the structure in person and he said the
public will be very impressed.

“It’s going to be overwhelming when you set foot in there,” he said.
The first game at Target Field will be played by the University of
Minnesota baseball team against Louisiana Tech tomorrow (Saturday,
March 27) at 1:05 p.m. Tickets can only be purchased at Target Field on
the day of the game.

Sutter plans to attend the first pre-season game the Minnesota Twins
play at Target Field Friday, April 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
This game starts at 5:10 p.m. and a Saturday, April 3 exhibition game
against the Cardinals starts at 1:10 p.m.

The regular season home opener against the Boston Red Sox is Monday, April 12 at 3:10 p.m.

Copyright 2010 ABC Newspapers

Wilson Fifth-Graders Learn Natural and Historic Lessons

Wilson fifth-graders learn natural and historic lessons

Originally Posted Thursday, September 23, 2010 1:58 pm by ABC Newspapers
by Eric Hagen
Staff writer

If only trees could talk. They would have some amazing stories to tell. For about a week, students at Wilson Elementary in Anoka walked by and touched a dead stump of a red oak tree that had lived through two world wars, women’s suffrage when women got the right to vote, man landing on the moon, 9/11 and much more.

On a Thursday morning last week (Sept. 16), almost 100 fifth-graders witnessed the planting of a tree that is about as old as they are while they heard about the important role they play in the environment and how more people are needed to plant them.

Twenty years from now, the Sienna Glen Maple will be fully grown at 50 to 60 feet tall, said John Mickman, who co-founded Mickman Brothers in Ham Lake with his brother Chris.

Principal Diane Henning said whenever the kids come back to visit, they will feel like they were a part of something.

“It will help them to have ownership because they’ll be here when it’s happening,” Henning said. “It’s helping them understand that they’re part of the community.
Elementary students from all over the state of Minnesota took some ownership in the planet on the same day. Volunteers from 70 companies associated with the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association visited elementary schools to encourage the youth to plant trees.

This specific initiative is new and called Green for Life. It received the attention of the governor’s office. Gov. Tim Pawlenty drafted a proclamation specifically for this statewide effort.

Besides encouraging environmental friendliness, this was an effort to excite kids about the horticulture industry.

“We felt that at this age none of the kids have a clear idea what they want to be when they grow up,” said John Mickman, who mentioned that two kids came up to him after his presentation and said they wanted to work at Mickman Brothers when they grow up.

Students were not merely bystanders for the 45-minute planting and presentation. While the maple tree was planted, John Mickman talked about all the ways trees help people. They make the air easier to breathe because they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and clean polluted air. The root systems help stabilize soils, which helps with erosion concerns. Trees also serve as a wind break and more appealing noise barrier for humans.

John Mickman has worked closely with over 90 students at Wilson Elementary for the past year ever since the now retired fourth grade teacher Janet Vratkovich contacted Mickman after reading the Mickman Brothers newsletter. The students have visited the Ham Lake businesses garden center and Mickman has taught the students a lot about the industry.

The students, who are now fifth-graders, did not forget John Mickman over summer vacation. When he came to the school last Thursday, they yelled out his name and happily greeted him.

Copyright 2010 ABC Newspapers