Directions, hours, and contact information
We're More Than
Just Another Pretty Place!
Although some folks come to the Arboretum just to stroll the grounds most soon realize our beauty is more than skin deep. If you've never been out our way -- or even if you have -- we'd like to tell you something about the way we garden and the way we do business.
Natural Growing Methods
It's no secret that the gardening industry has grown
tremendously in recent years. Unfortunately, in order to supply this burgeoning
demand, many garden centers depend largely on chemical fertilizers, insecticides,
and herbicides. Just look at the ads in many garden magazines!
Here at the Arboretum, we rely on natural growing methods, and are constantly
educating ourselves and experimenting with what really works. We stock
natural fertilizers, soil amendments, and organic herbicides and insecticides.
We offer plants that naturally thrive in our area, those that don't need
life support! These are often native plants, and our broad selection of
natives increases every year.
Our Own Potting Mix
What's so interesting about potting soil? We make
our own consisting of decomposed bark or sawdust, black silty dirt, super-rich
in minerals, and compost made here at the nursery. It is in this beautiful
stuff that we pot all of our bareroot trees and shrubs. For our perennials,
we add a little peat moss and vermiculite.
What does this mean to the plants? We believe that plants grown in heavier
soil transplant much better that plants grown in light soil. Imagine you're
a root in light soil, growing like crazy -- and then you get planted in
our rich, heavy, midwestern garden soil. Would you boldly take off and
grow? No, you'd be scared! Plants grown a little slower in heavier
soil are just more tenacious, and this results in stronger growing plants
for you!
Hardiness Testing
We're addicted plant collectors and have many display gardens where we plant both common and uncommon specimens. In this way we can be of tremendous help to gardeners. Although we don't routinely stock plants outside of our zone 4 hardiness range, we do plant them and can advise you on hardiness based on our experiments. Occasionally we will start to carry plants that have proven to be hardy in certain microclimates at our farm.
Special Orders
We love special orders. In fact, one of our winter hobbies is poring over our supplier's catalogs, your wish lists in hand, buying plants! In the summer we continue to take special orders, whether it's for that perfect tree, a hedge of highbush cranberries, or a brand new hosta you saw in a magazine.
Landscaping Services
We offer a full range of landscaping options whether you're looking for a quick sketch of a wildlife hedge on the back of an envelope or a complex design and installation at your new home. We enjoy working with people who like plants and want their gardens to work with their lives. Stop in and look at the photos we have taken of area homes and businesses that we have landscaped over the past few years, and let us help you design your dream.
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Read's Creek Nursery | S7375 Hwy. 14/61 | Readstown, Wisconsin 54652 | 608.629.5553
Maintained by Lisa Ashley, lisa@readscreeknursery.com
Last modified: April 2007