Landscaping and Garden Solutions: Keeping it Natural

Every landscape project poses unique and interesting challenges.  This project was no different.  Upon first meeting with the customers, the only elements they knew they wanted were a water feature and a weeping evergreen tree.  The property is located on a beautiful lake in western Wisconsin and is surrounded by nature.  The goal of the project was to create a landscape that was not only functional for the customers busy life style, as they travel quite a bit, but also fit into the natural setting of the property without competing with it.

 
The water feature location was determined based on the space that the home owner used most often.  The deck was a new feature the homeowner recently added and was used quite frequently by the homeowners. 
 

Material selection was also an integral part of the landscape.  Using a stone native to the area was important to both the visual integrity of the design and the project budget.  Dresser Trap boulders were selected.  The boulders were shipped directly from Dresser, WI which is only 20 miles from the job site.

To help transition the landscape from one side of the house to the other, an ornamental planting bed was incorporated in an island in the center of the driveway.  This was an ideal place to incorporate the weeping evergreen trees and include the trap boulders.

The most exciting part of this project is what you can’t see.  Because both of the homeowners traveled very frequently for work, they needed a way to keep on eye on their new landscaping.  During the installation of the irrigation system, outdoor lighting and the water feature automation technology was wired.  The

automation technology allows the homeowner to control the technical portion of their landscape from their smart phone.  The system will allow them to control the irrigation system and make adjustments based on natural precipitation thus conserving water.  They are also notified if a part of the system is not functioning.  The lighting and water feature are also continually monitored.

Contributed by:

Kevin Guanzini

Landscape Designer

Mickman Brothers Landscape Design and Installation

kevin.guanzini@mickman.com

763-413-8286

www.mickman.com

763-434-4047

Mickman Brothers offers Landscape Design and Installation; Lawn Irrigation Design and Installation; Tree and Arbor Services; Landscape Maintenance Services; Lawn Sprinkler Services; Full-Service Garden Center; Delivery and Planting Services; for the Minneapolis and St Paul metro area.

Choosing Perennials for your Yard - Mickman Brothers Landscape Design

Perennials are herbaceous plants that tolerate the cold and will come back each spring.  Perennial plants can be used in a flower garden or they can be used to add seasonal interest to a shrub bed.

Planning out your bed before you purchase plants will help avoid a haphazard look and save you money in the long run.  Designing the bed on paper or consulting a designer will ensure that the bed will be successful.

Consider the characteristics of each plant and the site where the bed is located.  When selecting plants for your bed make a list of the following:

• When does it bloom and for how long?
• Mature height and width, (determines scale with other plants)
• Soil, moisture and light requirements

Group your plants with the same light and soil requirements together first. Then consider color combinations and blooming times. Doing this simple process will ensure the health of the plants, and a full season of blooms.

Contributed by the Mickman Brothers Landscape Design Team

Contact us at 763-434-3346 or
landscape.manager@mickman.com

www.mickman.com

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Choosing Shrubs - Mickman Brothers Landscape Design

Shrubs can provide many years of color and seasonal interest in your yard, but a wrong choice can become a problem over time. Determining the characteristics of a plant first, will help you narrow down the choices and avoid mistakes that will haunt you.

Bella Anna Hydrangea

 It is important that you select the right plant for the space and effect that you want.

 These are primary elements for choosing plants.

1.  Mature height and width
2.  Texture and Color (all seasons)
3.  The plants shape or form (consider the other plants near it)

 Secondary elements

1.  Lighting- full sun or shade
2.  Moisture requirements (drought or moisture tolerance)
3.  Soil adaptability (drainage, ph levels)

Contributed by the Mickman Brothers Landscape Design Team

Contact us at 763-434-3346 or
landscape.manager@mickman.com

www.mickman.com
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Photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries, Inc.

The Lady of the Lake - A Story by John Mickman, Mickman Brothers Garden Center

When we were little kids, we called Grandma and Grandpa Mickman, Grandma/Grandpa Lake because they were the ones that lived on the lake. They lived quite close to us so we were able to go over there all the time -swimming, sailing, fishing and water skiing. (There was always some sort of work to do before the water sports could commence however.)
 

Grandma Lake, an immigrant from Norway, was an avid gardener. She built a huge stone wall, one small boulder at a time, had a large vegetable garden, grew perennials along all the edges, had a bountiful crop of apples each year and the garage was a veritable mountain of grape vines. Being ‘teetotalers’ they made grape juice; never wine. Good gracious no! She became a citizen in her ‘30’s and was proud of her work at the New Brighton Arsenal during WWII to support the troops. 

The 'Lady of the Lake' at John & Wendy's house.

One of my Grandma’s prizes was her ‘Lady of the Lake’ bronze Garden Sculpture. She and grandpa never had much money, but she prized this garden sculpture and placed it in a cherished place in her garden. It was near the apple tree surrounded by daylilies. 

Before she passed on to her ‘heavenly reward’ she asked me if I would like to have her ‘Lady’. My family lived on Coon Lake in East Bethel at the time and I told her I would be honored to have it. We brought it over to my house together and picked a good spot for it. She smiled, gave me a hug and told me that her ‘Lady of the Lake’ was going to be happy there.

We are in our 3^rd house since then, but ‘the Lady’ has followed us to each of these homes. My grandma and I had a special relationship, one that could never be replaced. But I don’t really need a replacement; grandma visits me each time I see the ‘Lady on the Lake’ in our garden. When I pass on to my heavenly reward, I will give ‘The Lady’ to one of our children. Hopefully they’ll remember me when they pass by her.

John Mickman, President

Mickman Brothers, Inc.

Field Trip to Mickman Brothers Garden Center!

Wilson Elementary School Field Trip

Zachary's Letter

As some of you know, I’ve been writing stories about some of my adventures (and misadventures!) and sharing many of them online with you. A couple of years ago I was asked by a since retired teacher at Wilson Elementary in Anoka if I would share some of these stories with her writing class. I was delighted!

Desaya's Letter

Since that time I have visited Wilson Elementary many times to share stories and talk about writing with these wonderful children. It truly does make my day each time I visit and am re-invigorated when I return to work. Once again last week I shared two of my stories with two writing classes at Wilson and was rewarded not only with the enriching experience, but also with individual letters of thanks by each of the kids. The letters above are examples of these notes.  Click here to read Zachary's letter.  Click here to read Desaya's letter.

Planting their flowers!

Each of the kids was enthusiastic about a visit to Mickman Brothers, so yesterday we were treated to a field trip by the kids to our company with 120 wonderful 4th graders.  They came at two different times and we broke them up into 3 groups of 20 children each, led by either Sara Laning, Wanda Shelmidine or me.  It took nearly an hour for the tours which included each child planting an annual ‘plug’ into a 4” pot. One can only imagine what kind of a ‘fire-drill’ that turned out to be! Each child was able to choose the type of flower they wanted to plant and they did a wonderful job transplanting and ‘watering in’ each of their plants to take home to their parents. What fun!

During the tour we all talked about the jobs each of us do at Mickman Brothers and how much we enjoy ‘doing what we do’. Our trade association, the MN Nursery and Landscape Association supplied pens and book markers for each child encouraging them to go online to thelandlovers.org to learn more about career opportunities in the Green Industry. A couple of the kids told me they’d like to grow up and have a job just like my daughter Mariah (that they met during the tour) who is an Urban Forester graduate from the U of M.

Thanks again for the wonderful teachers and staff at Wilson Elementary for making this all possible. It is great to meet and know some of the many individuals that make our school systems rewarding in so many ways!

John S. Mickman

President
www.mickman.com

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.

Pruning Ornamental Grasses - Mickman Brothers Landscape Department

Mariah Mickman shows us how to trim back our ornamental grasses after the long Minnesota winter!  The ornamental grass looked great in our Winter landscape garden, but it needs to be pruned back to allow for new growth in the upcoming gardening season!  Contact Mariah or any of our Landscape Designers for more about cleaning up your landscape gardens or updating your current landscape design, 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!  

Look for Mickman Brothers Landscape Designers this weekend in Blaine!

Purple Petunia annuals

Yes, it snowed yet again to spoil our hopes and dreams that Spring was in fact showing up sometime soon.  After all, Puxatony Phil did promise us we would have our early spring season, and that was over 6 weeks ago.  What kind of groundhog would lie about a thing like that?  Well, he wasn't from Minnesota, that's for sure!  As we all know, the snow will melt... eventually and we'll all get to spend a nice summer outside.  But until that actually happens, we'll share some pictures of our growing greenhouses to get you through the next few days.  They're full of annual and perennial flowers, just babies right now, but they're green and that makes everyone smile!

Also, join us this Saturday for the 1st Annual Women's Expo hosted by the Aveda Corporation in Blaine.  Anne Marie, one of our stellar Landscape Designers, will be there showing off some pictures of her awesome Landscape Designs.  Anne has many credentials to her name, including submitting the winning design on an episode of Landscapers' Challenge on HGTV!  She has an amazing ability to see her client's landscape vision, and bring it to life!  Call her today: 763.434.3346.  View some of Mickman Brothers landscape designs on our Landscape Picture Gallery.  www.mickman.com

Bleeding Heart perennials