...your source for credible information.

10th Annual Villager / Kellogg / G&B / MNGC Planting Days are Friday AND Saturday, June 1-2 - 10am-2pm - (There is a large turn-out each year).  It is always a busy weekend in the nursery and we REALLY appreciate the incredible efforts of Kellogg's folks. You receive FREE Potting Soil, Free Organic Fertilizer, Free Planting Labor, Free Advice, Free Organic Gardening Information, FREE time plus great conversation and wonderful smiles from some of my favorite people: Eileen Stram, Gisele “G” Schoniger & we might see Duncan McNeil or Mike McLain...

Here's How it Works:

1. You buy the plants and pots from Villager Nursery (or bring up to 3 pots from home).
2. We (Eileen & Giselle) plant them for you using premium Master Nursery Gardener's Gold potting soil and authentic, organic MNGC Fertilizers while you wait and / or wander the nursery.

Maximum pot size 18” in diameter, please. No window boxes or wine barrels.
 Come join us and create colorful baskets and planters to enjoy around your home.   

"Usually" is problematic when used to describe our weather. Averages here are based on WIDELY varying data points of moisture, snow-depth and temperatures and the average lines really seem to be shifting.  The 20th century was "the wettest of the past millennium, when Americans built civilizations in the desert".  Our "spring" has always been elusive.  We have had "false springs" frequently over the years in February or March and they USUALLY end when we went back to winter in March or April and the genuine warming trend began in ernest come May.  That is our mind-set and our experience. We have seen the nursery blanketed in snow every month of the year including July and August and in 1993 we had only a dozen nights above freezing ALL summer. Frost is part of gardening in Truckee, we have low relative humidity and that allows our temperatures to really dip (excepting Donner lake and the Tahoe basin of course). 

Winters 2012-2016 were dry and that usually means freeze-drying of many plants. 15-16 winter was not that cold and we did have several storms that gave us measurable precipitation in the form of rain, keeping the soils (and roots) moist.  We are not seeing excessive drying this year, even in the containers, though to be fair, we've watered 5 times this winter... unprecedented.

 Most plants emerged early and/or broke dormancy weeks or even a month earlier than "usual".

Q: I would like to know what are the best organic lawn fertilizers and what are the prices?

A: It depends, to some extent, on your original soil preparation and your type of grass but GENERALLY:
At snow-melt we top-dress with a very light layer of fine compost, Kellogg's Topper  (8.99 / 2cf / 200 sq.ft. and we often have it on sale 20-25% off) It is hard to believe that small amount helps but it makes a HUGE difference.  At the same time we use Dr.Earth Supernatural Lawn Fertilizer (44.99 / 40lb / 4000sq.ft.) (and depending on the soil - a summer application might also be warranted)   Then we use BIOSOL fertilizer in fall, as late as possible ($54.99 / 50lb / 1800sq.ft. and we often offer a $-off coupon in a fall newsletter).  They are both great organic fertilizers by themselves but when used together or alternately, the results are phenomenal (for lawns, gardens, orchards, raised beds, herbs, vegetables, etc..).   We started using Biosol back in the mid 90's because it is pretty effective at repelling voles under the snow, BUT, the first year I used it, my lawn recovered from winter faster than ever before and the lawn remained green and lush all the next summer (I did not fertilize again until the following October).  Dr.Earth has a fat compliment of beneficial microbes along with organic materials for them to eat.  Biosol is made from dead Penicillium fungus and dead bacteria and what appears to happen is that the Dr.Earth microbes love eating Biosol and so improve its release of nutrients.
If you have been using chemical fertilizers then the soil will be more / or completely / sterile and it can take some time (months / year) to build-up the populations of beneficial microbes.
Consider this: Plants take in CO2 to build cells and produce sugars and over 80% of those sugars are moved into the root system and a large percentage of those are actually exuded from the roots into the soil...an evolutionary strategy to feed and promote the beneficial microbes around the root system that, in turn, help feed and protect the roots.    Lawn Handout

Q: What are your thoughts are on bothering to take the time to aerate a lawn this late in the season? I haven't aerated my lawn in several years. I wanted to do it earlier this summer but never found the time. Should I bother now or just wait until next spring?

A: If golf courses know anything about lawns, you could follow their lead and aerate agressively late in fall.  Since MOST of OUR microbial decomp. occurs in winter, under snow, it is a time of nutrient cycling.  Late October: Aerate (back, forth, diagonally, repeat), fertilize w/ a little Dr.Earth and a lot of BIOSOL, topdress with a little fine compost, wait for snow, wait for spring... If it is a sod lawn, aerate twice a year.  (and if it were my lawn, I'd overseed with a little more clover and plant more Scilla bulbs in it for snow-melt spring color).

For a beautiful drive, an amazing setting, a beautiful ornamental garden that blends seemlessly into an awesome natural garden and for an incredible lunch, brunch or BBQ you really should not miss Big Springs Gardens this summer.  About 1 hour north of the nursery, through the Sierra Valley, over Yuba Pass and down toward Sierra City you pull off 49 onto the frontage road and into paradise.  When you first walk into the garden you see the lake with blooming water lilies and the Sierra Buttes in the background (and reflected in the lake).

"Nicknamed 'Monet in the Mountains', Big Spring Gardens has attracted more than 20,000 visitors up Highway 49 for brunch or barbecue and a stroll through 113 acres of amazing gardens and Sierra forest. Its beauty draws many painters who -- like legendary French impressionist Claude Monet -- find unmatched inspiration in the mix of flowers and water. With the 8,600-foot Sierra Buttes as a backdrop, its high country setting just makes it more precious." - By Debbie Arrington, The Sacramento Bee

Don Phillips, the inspired and energetic creator of the gardens (who turned 88 last October) said, "The way the world is going, we need some tranquil places where people can come and relax and enjoy natural beauty", "And I'm having fun."

Big Springs Gardens offers not only a natural spring, streams and waterfalls, thousands of plants and flowers, two miles of walking trails, gourmet food and even a replica of Monet's famous bridge. Big Springs Gardens is open June 15 through September 30, 2012. Gardens open at 10:00 AM and there is an admission fee of $12 per adult and $8 for children ages 6 through 12. Children 5 and under are free.

With 132 seats on the restaurant terrace overlooking the gardens, reservations are limited and now being accepted through August. Go online to bigspringsgardens.com or call (530) 862-1333.

The best street tree in Truckee is an accident.  At the far west-end of commercial row, next to Spring St. and in front of Heather River's new BeSpoke, is a beautiful multi-trunked cherry tree.  It was originally a half-hardy ornamental flowering cherry but that died and the rootstock grew(that's how many trees are grown: hardy vigorous rootstock with a wimpy showy scion atop it).  The hardy vigorous rootstock, Prunus avium 'Mazzard' took off.   

Prunus avium means "bird cherry" in Latin (though the common name "Bird cherry" usually refers to Prunus padus, a tough-as-nails chokecherry-like tree).  Prunus avium is a wild cherry throughout Europe from Great Britan and Norway to Morocco, Turkey and Iran.  It is a common landscape tree in northern Europe.

The cultivated variety (cultivar, c.v.) 'Mazzard' is self-fertile and this occasionally has fruit (it blooms fairly early in this warm location and the blooms likely frost).  We asked one of our growers 2 years ago to cut down some of their trees in the field and let the "Mazzard" cherry "suckers" come up. Those SHOULD be ready mid July but this initial crop will be small (pre-orders available.)

We were on Cottonwood's deck last night (after taking this picture) and the waiter told me that a man had offered him a $20 tip if he could tell him the name of the flowering tree at the end of commercial row. I told him that including myself and most of the Villager staff, there was no-one else in town who would have a clue.  Now all three of you that see post this will know as well.

The 27th annual Far West Nordic Auction/Raffle Party was held at the Olympic Village Lodge in Squaw Valley.   This is Far West Nordic’s largest fundraiser for its Junior Nordic Programs.

THANK YOU to everyone who attended and especially... To everyone who purchased tickets from Katrin or in Katrin's name.  Thank You, Thank You.  

The Party was a blast, as always.  The food was great, the Black Diamond and Great Basin Brews were refreshing and the excellent wines from Truckee River Winery and Coppola Wines went well with the meal.

There were a TON of raffle prizes and an amazing array of silent auction goodies...  I bid on quite a few and won only one, myself.  Mark Nadell did his usual awesome job as the Snow Queen Auctioneer and there were some incredible get-aways and equipment to bid on.

Nordic folks are good people. I'm so glad I was there.

Topper Special Continues.  It makes the lawn look good right now.  Getting a few more class hand-outs into the references section every few days. Trying to repair, replace, renovate, recycle, re-purpose, reduce and reuse benches, tools, plants... after the ravages of yet another winter.  More to come.  Get your veggie gardens started! Attend some gardening seminars and workshops and have fun in your yards.

 The Orphanage will be up and running, ebbing and flowing for the next couple of weeks.  Check it out. (May Day Newsletter)

The 2011 Junior Olympics
http://www.jo2011.com/

The USSA Junior Olympics serve as the national championships for cross country skiers ages 15-20. There are three age classes of competitors: J2, ages 15-16; J1, ages 17-18; and  OJ, ages 19-20.

Katrin Larusson achieved an 8th, a 9th and a 12th place finish

June 11, our first busy day.  We are all looking over our shoulders expecting a huge dark cloud to slap another foot of snow and icy wind at us.  "Gun Shy" is really what we are.  I went hiking / fishing on the north fork of the American river a few years back (the last time I went) and we saw or almost stepped on some 20+ rattlesnakes in 2 days - my nerves were fried to the point that I'd jump every time I heard a grasshopper or a twig snap.  I kind-of feel that way this spring.  BTW - this is Erica earlier in the month - and this is why I grow tulips.  They are GREAT annual cut flowers.  If the deer eat them after I cut the blooms, I don't care.

In April, we are like big wave surfers.  We have to get up to full speed before the wave arrives.  Our busy season is May and June.  We'll be helping all of our wonderful (I mean that with ALL sincerity) clients who'll need us and great plants.  We endured all the new transplants to Truckee coming by in March, as they do every year, asking "Where are all your plants?"... "It's spring". We patiently explain that March is winter; they leave thinking what a sad little nursery we are.  

Thank goodness it snows after the false our spring (almost) every March and April.  We actually have some hardy annual color, hardy vegetables, strawberries, groundcovers and perennials available.  Believe it or not, April IS a great time for planting.  Deciduous trees and shrubs (woody plants), put on roughly 80% of their annual root expansion in the fall, after the leaves fall.  The other 20%, or so, occurs before leaves emerge in spring... that would be now.  Conifers (like spruce, pine, Modoc cypress, Microbiota decussata, that sort of thing) put on root expansion primarily in the spring with a little in late summer.  Planting conifers now gives you a tremendous advantage over planting later in the season.

OK, one last April note: Plant wildflower seed now.  Mix your seed with organic fertilizer and Topper compost then toss it down over the last few inches of snow.  Don't forget to water a little when the snow does melt.

In the Mountain Nursery business the season starts when it starts: when the snow melts and we've had a reasonable period of time to recover from the last hard frost or heavy snow (usually early May to mid-May).  The busy season goes until the 4th of July when the rush to get things planted wanes and we all want to get out and enjoy this beautiful place we live in. 

The lights are still on and we have a whole tribe of very devoted and kind clients and friends.  Thank you to all of you who gave up a day on the lake to plant a few perennials, you'll be happy you did when they bloom next spring.  The water in the west slope rivers is still cold!  Not too much hail (thank you) but we were ready with our frost protecting floating row cover - it works great for hail protection, letting the water through but absorbing the shock of the ice.  We cover our thimbleberries and dogwoods especially.

August is sunflowers, black-eyed susans, Siberian catmint, Russian sage, and hollyhock... Big-ol' plants with rich colors.  Mid-season is August 1st. Check-out the NOAA Freeze Frost Maps.  Freeze Frost Probabilities info.  Our frost free period (less than 10% chance of 32°F or less) is July 15-August 15.  So we still have September, October and sometimes, part-of, November to get plants in the ground to rage next spring

these guys were munching Lupine in the off-ramp landscape after a Truckee Thursday in mid-July.

Cart-Load Sale

This was a hoot when we did it last year... People were very clever in the way they stacked the plants and some of the carts were downright dangerous.  These are the 3-wheel carts only

Customer Appreciation Party Was A BLAST!

Thanks to everyone who RSVP's and those who just stopped by and those who brought friends and those who brought delicious treats and thanks to Jose and Celina for the Super-awesombroso Carne e condimentos delicioso...  (best guess Español).  And thanks to Johnny and Chuck for the great music, we won't do another party without live tunes.  (Sorry for the "rookie move" placing the beer and margueritas so far from the music).  note to self for next time: raffle for visitors, beer and food by music, lights, heater.

Check Here for the Newsletter

20% OFF ALL Hardy Trees and Shrubs including evergreens, aspen, lilacs, mountain ash, apples, blueberries and all the rest.

30% OFF ALL Herbaceous Perennials  including peonies, poppies, asters, daisies, sedums, and a wide array of native wildflowers (except bulbs...they're just arriving).

We are expecting snow and very cold nights 10/4-10/8.  We have 10x12' sheets of 1.5oz Frost Protection Fabric, reg. 16.99 on SALE for 12.99.  It works extremely well and we could not operate our nursery without it.  I have been trying to send an e-mail all day but the program servers are down.

FALL SALE and Road Construction Clearance 9/23-10/10*

20% Off Our Hardiest Woody Trees and Shrubs including Aspen, Birch, Alder, Mountain Ash, Serviceberry, Lilac, Spruce, Spiraea, Apples and Berries.

30% Off Our Huge Selection of Herbaceous Perennial wildflowers, cutting flowers, boarder flowers and groundcovers... including all grasses, water plants and hardy vines. (not dormant bulbs...they're just arriving).

Many tender perennials (perennial in low-lands but not cold-hardy) are 50% off or more.  

FRESH (3 deliveries this week) hardy bedding color to refresh your planters (not on sale).

30% Off Outdoor Garden Art and Statuary and Redwood Pots.

50% OFF RED-TAG Trees and Shrubs. Jose, Rob and Eric are tagging woody plants that need pruning or have a singed leaves or just look a little funky. They are healthy trees and shrubs, perfect for screening or a shelter-belt but just not quite up to snuff... aesthetically. Look for RED TAGS that say: "50% OFF"

Road Construction Clearance Specials Every Few Days:
This Weeks Clearance:
All #5g. Native Jeffrey Pines (reg. 34-39.99) THIS Week Only: $19.99, (limit 6/person. 9/23-9/30 only)

All #5g. Native (and cultivated varieties thereof) Flowering Bush Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa), (reg 29.99-34.99) THIS Week Only: $19.99 (limit 6/person. 9/30-9/27 only)

*Sorry, not valid on special orders / no holds / limited to stock on hand / good thru 10/10/11

Fresh Cut Flowers for Valentines Day, fresh houseplants, seeds from six sources arriving, seed starting supplies in stock, longer days, gradual warming, panic over so much to do before spring arrives, planning for the best summer ever in the nursery.  New growers, new cultivars, new species to try in our landscape.... I gotta go.

We try to run down to Chico each February to enjoy the almond orchards in full bloom and a spring hike in upper park. Right around the 20th of the month is usually prime.  The fragrance is sweet, the bees are humming, the grass is green and it gives you that sense of renewal that only spring can offer.

January 2012 nursery news, wildflower seed, Biosol coupon, Potting Soil special and more.

The Consolation Prize (as our friend Ivan says) of this dry winter is ICE.   If you have not been out, you are missing the best "ice season" in many years.  People are locally enjoying Serene Lakes, Coldstream Ponds, Martis Lake, Dry Lake, and Prossor Lake as well as some of the smaller creeks (watch out for beaver dams). Check out the local Truckee/Tahoe Area Lake Ice Skating Facebook Page and for more photos see the Eastern Sierra Backcountry Ice Skating Page. I'm amazed by how many people still call or come by to ask if we have used skates (I think we had them from 2000-2003 and a year like this makes us wish we could still provide them).  The other major bonus of a long ice season is that the vole populations usually decline.  Without the protection, insulation and plentiful food that a snowpack preserves, the voles can't eat and can't hide from their numerous predators... let's hope. 

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
 You know how it is with an April day
 When the sun is out and the wind is still,
 You're one month on in the middle of May.
 But if you so much as dare to speak,
 A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
 A wind comes off a frozen peak,
 And you're two months back in the middle of March."

I'm not really sure what happened to March.  I managed a few Villager Facebook Page posts reminding anyone out there (I think we have 30 "LIKE"s) that the second Tuesday in March (New England's Town Meeting Day) is THE day to start planting Tomato, Pepper and Eggplant seeds.  It's still fine now but sooner rather than later is good.  For more seeding times check here: Truckee Veggies.  We are finishing up our Class / Seminar / Event Calendar for 2012, so PLEASE check back.  The 2012 schedule will be on the Calendar page.  The 2011 calendar is still lurking there.  The small Narcissus have been blooming rain, freeze, snow, WHATEVER, since early March. Who, in their right mind wouldn't plant these in their garden. Pest-free, NOTHING eats them, they grow in ANY weather and they need no summer water.  Really, it is not too good to be true. 

April 1 is the traditional date to plant sweet pea seeds outdoors.  Pick a sunny spot. Soak the peas over night.  Put them in a wet paper towel in a sandwich bag for a few more days.  When the root tip is JUST emerging, plant them two inches deep in a trench amended with Amend compost, lime and Gardener&Bloome organic fertilizer.  Bury them just one inch deep and let the trench fill in over the spring.

I love this poem for so many reasons.  I had an incredible year-long class at HSU.  It was team taught by an English professor (Gage) and a Philosophy professor (Drew).  The title was something like Nature & Human Nature and we explored every permutation we could in a year while reading a wonderful selection of literature and study from Greeks, Locke, Rousseau, Faulkner and Lewis Thomas.  We read the Frost poem below and it really stuck with me and I have felt fortunate in my life to: " ...to unite, My avocation and my vocation,  As my two eyes make one in sight."

Happy spring.  If you get too anxious too soon remember that our weather is AT LEAST six weeks behind Reno's.  Go ahead and plant wildflower seeds ASAP.  Plant any plants that you (or we) have overwintered and are dormant.  Deciduous trees and shrubs will put on significant root system expansion before their leaves emerge.

We obviously have a huge selection of seeds and seed starting supplies (soils, trays, pots, pads, feeds).  

TWO TRAMPS IN MUD TIME 

by Robert Frost

Out of the mud two strangers came
 And caught me splitting wood in the yard,
 And one of them put me off my aim
 By hailing cheerily "Hit them hard!"
 I knew pretty well why he had dropped behind
 And let the other go on a way.
 I knew pretty well what he had in mind:
 He wanted to take my job for pay.

Good blocks of oak it was I split,
 As large around as the chopping block;
 And every piece I squarely hit
 Fell splinterless as a cloven rock.
 The blows that a life of self-control
 Spares to strike for the common good,
 That day, giving a loose my soul,
 I spent on the unimportant wood.

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
 You know how it is with an April day
 When the sun is out and the wind is still,
 You're one month on in the middle of May.
 But if you so much as dare to speak,
 A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
 A wind comes off a frozen peak,
 And you're two months back in the middle of March.

A bluebird comes tenderly up to alight
 And turns to the wind to unruffle a plume,
 His song so pitched as not to excite
 A single flower as yet to bloom.
 It is snowing a flake; and he half knew
 Winter was only playing possum.
 Except in color he isn't blue,
 But he wouldn't advise a thing to blossom.

The water for which we may have to look
 In summertime with a witching wand,
 In every wheelrut's now a brook,
 In every print of a hoof a pond.
 Be glad of water, but don't forget
 The lurking frost in the earth beneath
 That will steal forth after the sun is set
 And show on the water its crystal teeth.

The time when most I loved my task
 The two must make me love it more
 By coming with what they came to ask.
 You'd think I never had felt before
 The weight of an ax-head poised aloft,
 The grip of earth on outspread feet,
 The life of muscles rocking soft
 And smooth and moist in vernal heat.

Out of the wood two hulking tramps
 (From sleeping God knows where last night,
 But not long since in the lumber camps).
 They thought all chopping was theirs of right.
 Men of the woods and lumberjacks,
 They judged me by their appropriate tool.
 Except as a fellow handled an ax
 They had no way of knowing a fool.

Nothing on either side was said.
 They knew they had but to stay their stay
 And all their logic would fill my head:
 As that I had no right to play
 With what was another man's work for gain.
 My right might be love but theirs was need.
 And where the two exist in twain
 Theirs was the better right--agreed.

But yield who will to their separation,
 My object in living is to unite
 My avocation and my vocation
 As my two eyes make one in sight.
 Only where love and need are one,
 And the work is play for mortal stakes,
 Is the deed ever really done
 For Heaven and the future's sakes.

Hydroponics Rack:  50% Off 

We have a rack FULL of indoor gardening and hydropinics supplies - all for 50% off.

Ask about Hydroponics Parts - Many 50% 0ff

Ebb-Flow systems, Trays, Reservoirs, Fittings, Drains, Pumps, Air Stones, PH Solutions, Farm Kits, Active-Air 2&3-way Meters, Hydro drain and fill fittings...

Fall is in the Air Nursery-Wide Sale

September 13-22, 2013

There seem to be two extreme camps of gardeners visiting the nursery lately with very few in the moderate middle.  We have new folks stopping in asking "where are all the plants" because "it's OBVIOUSLY spring" and others, "informed" by horticulturally savvy neighbors,  who think they need to wait until late June to start gardening.  April IS a winter month in Truckee and Tahoe that happens to have BEAUTIFUL spring-like days... and we WILL have more snow AND we will have MANY more nights well below freezing AND it is a great time to start planting MANY hardy plants.  

Most conifers (spruce, pine, giant Sequoia) put on as much as 80% of their annual root-system expansion in early spring before top-growth begins.  Deciduous, woody trees and shrubs put on 20% or more of their root expansion in spring, as well, before leaves emerge.  Many hardy perennials that overwintered at Villager Nursery are a season larger and ready to bloom this spring on OUR schedule.  The advantages of early planting are TREMENDOUS.  Plant growth and success always boils down to the size and vigor of the root system.  Plant now, have bigger roots before spring really arrives.

Mid-March through Early May

As soon as the ground is thawed and workable (not muddy) plant asparagus, horseradish, ostrich fern, and lovage and rhubarb plants.  Starts of Swiss chard, spinach, caouliflower, Brussel sprouts, cabage and kale can be planted snow with a little row-cover protection.  Try eary seedings of beets, leaf lettuce, parsnips, radish, rhubarb, rutabaga, spinach, and Swiss chard. Don't forget to include calendula, dianthus, and viola for edible flowers. Cover the entire garden with n-sulate floating row cover to help plants harden and to protect from the hardest frosts.   Seed potatoes are arriving in late April, closer to the time for planting.

Lake of the Sky Garden Tour

This year "The" Garden Tour is is in Incline Village on Saturday 7/27 from 10-4 and it sold-out more than a week ago.  Rob and Eric will be out there enjoying the creations, asking questions (and answering a few), listening to what you love and wonder at, and learning from everyone there.  The proceeds from ticket sales benefit local gardens and garden projects as well as funding scholarships for botanical and horticultural studies.
In support of the garden tour fund-raising, the Villager traditionally offers a one time 20% Off discount (any one purchase) to anyone who shows their ticket, on Saturday and Sunday, and we will again.

Garden Monkshood Sale:   Aconitum  napellus:  buy 2, get 1 Free, #1g size,  (of equal or lesser value) - through July31...  dumbledore's delight, garden wolf's bane, common aconite, devil's helmet or monkshood.  Aconitum is a genus with over 250 species native to much of the northern hemisphere.  Our most common and easy to grow species is Aconitum napellus, a Garden Monkshood, which is a frequent garden plant in cold locations throughout North America and Europe.  I have divided mine several times and the plants grow to 6' tall and 2' wide with dozens of flowering stalks.  Where the irrigation blasts them they often fall over if not staked but out of the spray, they seem to stand on their own.  They are very long lived. Like a shade loving delphinium with beautiful purple flowers. A. napellus prefers open woodland shade and moist well-drained soil.  We also have a few Autumn Monkshood that prefer more sun and bloom much later.

Villager Newsletter 7/25

Hot August Shade Sale, through August 11. (see flier) or (sign-up for future notices)

25% OFF Trees and Shrubs:  any deciduous Tree or Tall Shrub that will grow ≥6’ tall (and give some shade)   (Conifers are all excluded as are the small Spiraea, Potentilla, Currants, Thimbleberry and woody groundcovers.) “Deciduous” often equates to great fall color!

75% off ALL remaining vegetables including Asparagus, Kitchen Rhubarb, Tomato, Pepper, Lettuce & all the other Veggies.  ALSO:  All ANNUAL herbs including tender perennials like rosemary.  (excludes thymes, mints, chives, sage...)

Blue Ribbon Blend Potting Soil:  OMRI listed, HIGH quality, organic materials w/ nutrients and beneficial mycorrhiza to promote vigor and fight disease. Excellent aeration, drainage AND moisture holding capacity.
1.5 cu.ft. bags.       Regular Price: $12.99        Sale Price: $10.99

Tomato Growing Kits...  for now or next summer  (Sorry OUR sample garden is not for sale).
Hydrofarm self-watering "Tomato Barrel" with tomato-support (and your choice of 3, 4" tomatoes) - $29.99  (a few newly potted-up pots available - add $6.00 for the soil = 35.99)
#10 gallon pot, saucer, tomato cage (and your choice of 3, 4" tomatoes) - $19.99
#15 gallon pot, saucer, tomato cage (and your choice of 2, #1 tomatoes) - $24.99
#20 gallon pot, saucer, tomato cage (and your choice of 2, #1 tomatoes) - $29.99

Gromulch, Amend, Topper & Bumper Crop:   Buy 4, get 1 FREE
2 cubic feet,  $8.99 ea   -   Buy 4 Price: $3.60/cu.ft.

2014 High Sierra Mountain Gardening Spring Classes and Workshops.  Educated and experienced botanists, arborists, plantsmen and garden professionals share their knowledge and understanding to help your mountain gardens succeed.

The folks at Villager Nursery have decades (and decades) of personal and vicarious mountain gardening experiences to share.  “We’ve killed thousands of plants in our own gardens so that our clients won’t have to”. Before beginning your own experiments in Mountain Gardening, learn from the many trials and triumphs of others.

Spring Seminars and Workshops (April-June 2014) ... more classes in July-Oct.

Our Fall Classes: 

Sat. Sept. 27, 10-11 Autumn Gardening: Planting, transplanting, bulbs, seeds, soil prep & propagation.
Sat. Oct. 11, 10-11 Fall Color in your garden: Artistry & chemistry.
Sat. Oct. 18, 10-11:30 Winterizing your Garden: What to do and why to do it.

For the remainder of January and through February, the Villager will be open Thurs, Fri & Sat.  Of course we'll be happy to help you if you stop by while were here (gate open and OPEN sign up) but those three days are our scheduled hours these two cold, short, mid-winter months.  We open-up again with all you'll need in early March in time to start seeds of tomato, pepper, eggplant and tomatillo (the first Tuesday in March).

Check-out our Facebook posts

We GAVE away 2, 50# bags of BIOSOL on November 12, 2013 drawn from new "Likes" or comments (from those who already like us) to the Biosol picture on the Villager FB Page. Look for it by 10/27/13.
(If you shared the post you were entered twice !!)
We hope we give you reason to "like" us for real too.

Fall is for Planting.  While Fall is the BEST time of year for planting trees, shrubs and perennials it is also the ONLY time of year to plant spring-flowering-bulbs. 

I have ALWAYS been a fan of bulbs.  They are the simplest and most gratifying form of gardening, literally: Dig. Drop. Done.  Enjoy blooms in spring. "The flowering bulb is the little black dress of the flower world. It's one of the simple things that women can trust to make their lives beautiful. Flower bulbs are actually some of the most reliable and fail-proof blooms available."  Check-out the educational campaign, "Dig.Drop.Done".  "Books and websites are filled to the brim with numerous species, lengthy planting guides and tedious details on the ins and outs of gardening with bulbs. It's easy to infer that these plants must be time consuming and require a high level of gardening knowledge." - not true. Bulbs are easy.

Dig.Drop.Done. shows how easy flowering bulbs really are. At the heart of the Dig.Drop.Done education is a clean, easily navigable website for the the first-time planter or avid gardener. The site is simple, there is no need to know species names or soil conditions. Appreciating beauty is the only requirement.

Check these out:  Bulbs 101  /  Meet the Ladies  /   Easy Bulbs Video  /  Dig.Drop.Done. Facebook

BTW: Biosol is our FAVORITE bulb fertilizer!

WAS Friday AND Saturday, June 24-25 - 10am-2pm  (Mark your calendar for the 4th annual: June 22-23, 2012) We had a huge turn-out... it was fun and our first busy weekend and we REALLY appreciated the incredible efforts of Mike and Giselle.

Here's How it Works:

1. You buy the plants and pots (or bring up to 3 pots from home).

2. We plant them for you using premium Master Nursery Gardener's Gold potting soil and organic Gardner & Bloome Fertilizers. 

Maximum pot size 20” in diameter, no window boxes or whiskey barrels please.

Come join the fun and create colorful baskets and planters to enjoy at your home.

HUGE BONUS:  Kellogg Garden Products expert and friend, Mike McLain AND organic-gardening specialist and educator with Gardner & Bloome, Gisele Schoniger will both be on hand to help plant and answer ANY compost, mulch or organic fertilizer questions you can dream up.

Villager Nursery, 10678 Donner Pass Rd, Truckee, CA 96161

villagernursery.com

Our ongoing classes run nearly weekly from May-Nov. If you'd like a class schedule, e-mail a request to info@villagernursery.com or please Check on-line @ www.villagernursery.com/calendar for additional information and sign-up.

Eric Larusson and Rob VanDyke are both VERY happy to be back and wish you a very happy spring.  Summer is a few short weeks away.

This is been a very odd spring in sooo many ways. The usual false spring that we get in March or early April never proved false, it just rolled into a very early spring with plants leafing and flowers blooming 3-4 weeks earlier than normal or average.  The two days of hard frost (23°F) in late May were severe enough to fry native balsamroot (the prettier than Mule's Ears yellow daisy) and many landscape plants.  Oaks were especially hard hit but should recover.  

If you got out in March or April and planted beets, chard, spinach, peas, asparagus, lettuce, radish, or kale you must be laughing at how smart you are by now.  This may be the longest growing season ever, barring a big July snow-storm.  

There were unfortunately no classes scheduled this spring.  Rob and Eric will offer gardening classes starting again in July so look for a schedule on Facebook and here (we are always open to new ideas for classes).  Eric taught a fun and well attended, all-encompasing class at Sierra College in early May and will be offering a Fall Gardening class there in October.

The 5th annual Kellogg / Gardener & Bloome Free Planting Days are June 21 & 22.  Our summer solstice (the beginning of summer) is on June 20 @ 10:04 PM. Our Sunset is within 3 minutes of 8:31(on the solstice) from June 12-July 14, nearly a month (solstice: sol = sun + stitium = to stop). Celebrate the solstice by planting a tomato pot.  we have been growing tomatoes VERY successfully in pots on our patios, decks and driveways for decades.  We'll have super specials on the pots, supports and on the tomatoes themselves - and of course the potting soil and excellent organic fertilizers from Mike and Giselle are free!  (Show-up early!)

10am-3pm each day.  YOU buy the plants and pots (or bring one... three from home) and we pot them up while you wait or wander.  FREE Potting Soil, Free Organic Fertilizer, Free Planting Labor, Free Advice, Free Organic Gardening Information, FREE time and great conversation and wonderful smiles from some of my favorite people: Eileen Stram, Mike McLain, Gisele “G” Schoniger & Duncan McNeil...

TONS of color and vegetable starts - plant a lettuce pot or an herb-garden or a tomato with one of our kits!

We have these Tomato Growing Kit Specials especially for the Free Planting Days:

1) Hydrofarm self-watering "Tomato Barrel" (~7g.) with tomato-support and 1, 4” tomato - $29.99
2) #10 gallon pot, saucer, tomato cage and 1, 4” tomato - $19.99
3) #15 gallon pot, saucer, tomato cage and 2, 4” tomatoes - $24.99
4) #20 gallon pot, saucer, tomato cage and 3, 4” tomatoes - $29.99

I've potted up my tomatoes on 4th of July, during the parade, and STILL had huge harvests! It's better to start earlier... like now.