As long as the ground is thawed out in the spring we can plant all the way up until the ground freezes. There is no bad time to plant in our opinion. If you can get a shovel in the ground, get busy!

We recommend a hole 2-3 times the diameter of the pot the plant is in. The hole should be 1in shallower than the root ball to prevent the plant from settling below grade which can be detrimental.

If you have heavy clay soil, dig the hole out wider and mince your soil as fine as possible. If you have decent soil you can get by with 2 times the width.

Yes you can!

We recommend making the planting 2-3in above grade and if you have gray clay, 3-5in above depending on how it will affect the aesthetics.

Gray clay is the worst of all clays and is usually a sign of the soil being inundated at one time or another.

Also, there is absolutely no oxygen in the clay and the particles of soil are so fine that there is very little room for roots to penetrate it and establish themselves.

If you have conditions like this it is advisable to get a soil test done by the Cooperative Extension Service or a private firm. They will be able to tell you what you will want to add to the soil to improve the conditions.

Here is what I do:

• 1 part composted manure
• 1 part fine grade pine bark
• 1 part Canadian Sphagnum
• 1 part top soil

Now till into the clay 8in deep and make sure you end up with 3-4ins of soil above grade. This will help ensure aeration of the soil. Leaf Mold is also an excellent amendment to use when developing a new bed.

It just consists of old composted leaves that have fallen from Deciduous trees.

Amendments are ingredients or materials that one can add to their garden to improve conditions for their plantings.

Some of my favorite amendments are black soil, brown top soil, Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, fine grade or sifted pine bark and compost manure.

The black and brown top soil are a good starting point for any garden.

The Canadian Sphagnum peat moss is another choice amendment because its PH is on the acidic side. A lot of plants seem to like the PH on the acidic side around 65 or so.

The fine grade pine bark is another good component to get the PH down. Pine bark brakes down an makes a great soil conditioner for clay type soils. It aerates it and facilitates getter drainage while adding much needed organic material.

Compost manure is great for adding organic material to the soil like pine bark. However it also has nutrients that release slowly into th soil and feed your plants.

Hardiness zones are areas on climatic zone maps that indicate the coldest or hottest temperatures a geographical area receives. Usually they are indicated in 10F ranges. In northeastern Indiana we are in zone-5 which is -10° to 20°F.

These charts are very useful in determining whether or not a plant is going to be hardy in a particular area of the country. Plants do not generally grow in one zone. Usually at a minimum they grow in two zones and often three to four different zones. An example of this would be Weigela Florida which grows in zones 5 to 8.

However these zones are not the be all end all in gardening. There are areas called microclimates and many times these areas are on the east side of houses sheltered from the northwest winter winds. They could be anywhere though as long as the area is protected.

Many times in northeast Indiana you can grow zone-6 plants in these areas. Its fun to pull this type of thing off, but it can blow up in your face and cost you some money too, so be careful!

An "old school" nursery man told me a few years ago that a lot of the zones in the literature were actually written by people in the UK and northwest coast, so he thought much of this was bogus. This was not just "soap boxing" either. He was actually growing zone-7 plants in the middle of Michigan!

At Blue River Nursery we generally stick to the plants that are zoned to our area in the literature. We may have a few offerings that don't jive with that info. However we will have plants in the trial garden to back up the fact we are selling the plant for our area.

Generally a good time to prune your pine spruce and fir trees is in between May 2nd and June 5th. You can prune them later than this. However, your plants will set better buds for the following year if you prune during this small window of time. They will also take on the best shape if pruned during this time.

Generally we prune deciduous and  shrubs June 15 and at the end of July. The reason for this timing is because most spring blooming shrubs are done flowering by June 15 or so. Pruning at this time tightens up the body of the shrub and promotes dense summer growth. At about the end of July a lot of deciduous shrubbery has lost its tight shape and needs a light to medium pruning job. It is important not to prune after August 1st to mid November. If deciduous shrubbery is pruned and  new growth promoted during those times will not have time to harden off before the frost comes around the first of October and it will just get burned off (ouch!).

If you miss the second summer prune date, prune after the middle of  November after the leaves have fallen, and the plants have gone dormant. Avoid pruning plants such as Lilacs, Weigela, Viburnums, Forcythia and other plants that flower on old wood during this time. If you prune these shrubs during this time you will prune off the flower buds for the following year. It is best to allow these plants to go unpruned and prune tightly after flowering is over in the spring.

The wonderful world of horticulture is as much an art as a science.

We have no control over weather, soil conditions, how you over or under water or how you plant.

To the best of our ability the plants you purchase are healthy, correctly named and hardy in zone 5 or even harsher conditions.

That is our only guarantee.

Yes you can order by phone and pick up your plants at the nursery!

You can also have your plants delivered anywhere east of the Mississippi River inthe United States. At this time we do not ship internationally.

Plants are required to be paid in full at time of ordering. There are no cash or credit card refunds. Only store credit will be given. No exceptions. Plants will not be held for longer than 30-days from ordering and there is a 25% restocking fee for plants not picked up within 30-days.

We guarantee we will pull our best plants for these orders. We appreciate your trust and will spend your money as if it were our own. We may ask a few questions to make sure we pull the style of plant you are looking for and this being said everyone still has their own idea of what the perfect plant is.

Yes we do deliver! We have delivered as far as Chicago and into Ohio. If you are out of the local area, call or email and we will see what we can do to accommodate you. If you want our plants we will go out of our way to try and get them to you.

All loads will be tarped. We guarantee to get the plants to you in the same condition they left the nursery in. Occasionally a small branch gets broken on a big tree load. However most loads everything will arrive just fine and unscathed.

We have been doing this for 20-years.

Every load is different because of the different shapes and sizes of the plants. If anything major were to be damaged in shipping your plants on our truck, we would exchage it and make sure you are happy with the plants you have purchased.

In the even something arrives from UPS, FedEx or DHL in an unsatisfactory state, I recommend you keep the driver there on the spot while you unpack your box. File a claim immediately with the company.

Call us and let us know what is going on as well. We do our absolute best when packing our plants. However we have no control over how boxes are handled after they leave our facility.

Yes we do custom landscape installation and design work. All designs are unique. We do not do cookie cutter design work unless threatened with bodily harm ;). Feel free to give us a call so you can set up an appointment.

We are open from 9 AM to 6 PM. Closed Easter and July 4th.

We are located 10-15 minutes west of Fort Wayne Indiana, 3 miles north off of U.S. Highway 30.

Warsaw Indiana is about a half hour drive if you’re taking U.S. Highway 30.

Most of the other towns and small cities in the area are about 30 minutes as well, including South Whitley, Rome City, Auburn, Garrett, Albion and Huntington Indiana.

Many of our guests come from Ohio as well. Here are some directions for those of you traveling from Ohio:

• I-469 North (east) to the 930 loop.
• Take 930 all the way around and veer to your right at U.S. 30
• Keep heading west on U.S. 30 for about 10-15 minutes
• Take a right at the light where 300 east intersects
• Go one mile north on 300 east
• Turn right on Hartman Road (Aptly named "13 curves")
• The nursery is about 2 miles down the road on the right

Many times we do recommend you stake your trees. It just depends on how top heavy the plant is in most cases. We recommend using the trimpro tree staking system, which is the same one we use in our nursery.

This system allows trees to move around and cause stress at the root level without allowing the tree to blow over. As a result trees root in quicker to the ground they are planted in and the trunk diameter increases quicker.

Another benefit of this system is it only utilizes one stake to stabilize the tree. Therefore it is almost invisible and does not detract from the aesthetics of your new tree such as other messy systems that use cords, hoses, ropes or more stakes.

I have found that the cooperative extension service is a great source of information on questions regarding insects and diseases of plants. In the Fort Wayne area the phone # is 260-481-6826. You can google many things and get good info on problems too. For example type in a search of what is white coloration on phlox leaves. You may have to look at the search results a bit but I am sure you will find powdery mildew in the top ten.

There are lots of different lists of plants that are supposed to be deer resistant. The key to that is these plants are SUPPOSED to be deer resistant. This is not a guarantee. Like people, deers have their own apetites and if they get hungry enough they will eat almost anything. So these are just a list of some plants that are said to be deer resistant: Candytuft (Iberis), Blue Plumbago, Bearded Iris, Yarrow, Russian Sage, Monkshood (Aconitum), False Indigo (Baptesia), Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), Maiden Grass, Blue Oat Grass.

You can hang Irish Spring soap from a rope and this keeps deer away because it is the scent of man. The same can be done with Bounce Fabric softener sheets. Reflective items such as blank cds may be tied up with fish line and allowed to blow in the wind and make shiney reflections that startle deer and keep them moving. This works especially well in the fall when the bucks are in the rut and have antlers and are at their most destructive phase of the year.