The Sod Farm Grows

There has been a sod farm in Steuben County as long a I have been here (1978) and I do not know how long before that. The previous owner was Donna Moody who took over operations after she and her husband divorced she ran it well with her partner Cindy for many years. Now Cindy and Donna are living la Vida lo ca in Key West where Donna manages her grandchildren and Cindy manages a small hotel, I like to visit with them when I am in Key West. The new owner expanded his operation from Roanoke (near Ft. Wayne) to this location in Fremont.


In addition to sod they carry all fashion of landscape supplies and are currently expanding into plants, very convenient for us. Tim and his staff are genuinely nice people, Deb Waite who used to work for Donna and Cindy, handles the sod cutter and forklifts like she was born to ride. Tim is our on the scene man for Encore Lighting supplying on site engineering and support as well as being an Encore distributor. He keeps up on all the licensing, management and new advances in pesticides and herbicides making life easier for our four licensed applicators. There is a new product (chemical) he is using in the fields which kills all plants in sod except the blue grass, pretty wild huh? Only growers are licensed for the product thus far.

After May 15th we will begin planting annuals. That is supposed to be the safe date to avoid frost. My favorite annuals for a hanging baskets are Dragon Wing Begonias available in red and pink, they perform fabulous in shade, will tolerate some sun, require little to no dead heading and bloom profusely all summer long. These beauties can run a little dry from time to time and still bounce back. They grow so well a mid summers haircut is needed to reduce the weight of the baskets. For beds Victoria Blue Salvia is my true love the delicate individual flowers combine to form clumping spires of blue that wave on sturdy stems above the green gray foliage. When the bloom fades the silver pods remain attractive adding more color and texture to the plant. They will tolerate light shade and bloom well into November, often outlasting every plant in my garden. I guess if I have a signature plant "Vickie" is it.

We finally poured concrete for our stone bins, the aggregate company was supposed to bring us out a float but they forgot so we have a rough finish but hey we are landscapers not flat workers.
Our concrete pals recommended watering it daily for the first week to help the concrete cure and increase strength.

The house in Michigan is ready for plants this week as Bill and Ryan are on the final walk. We set grade and did some prep work last Thursday and Monday morning the plants arrive. The plant arrangement is seldom exactly like the blueprint I draw, often it is close and sometimes a very different arrangement shows up in the final product. Being on site for the prep work helps me get a feeling for where the plants need to be and where they will perform best. Devils Lake I am certain requires some latitude with
plant arrangement, that is one of the best parts of my job.