A Visit to Select Horticulture Inc. in Pound Ridge, New York
If you're looking for something new and different to plant outside your home, take some time to visit your local nurseries to learn what specimens do well in your area.
Yesterday, after a long and busy morning of shoots, phone calls, and meetings, I stopped in at Select Horticulture Inc. in Pound Ridge, New York to check on their current inventory. Select Horticulture offers an extensive collection of premium quality trees and shrubs including large sizes, unusual and rare specimens, with both stand-alone and mature espaliered options. I'm always searching for interesting and healthy plants and trees to add to my gardens, allées, and now my living maze. And there's always something for everyone at Select Horticulture Inc.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Select Horticulture Inc. has locations in Lancaster, Massachusetts and here in Westchester, New York right off route 137. It is owned by Scott Richard and Jim Freeborn who are often at the nurseries ready to answer any questions.
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- The nursery is filled with beautiful and well maintained specimens, which can be seen from the road.
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- Every row of trees and shrubs is neat, tidy, and every item properly identified. It is so nice to see such a well organized nursery.
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- Among the many specimens – evergreen shrubs and mature trees.
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- During my recent visit, I quickly spotted two Picea orientalis ‘Skylands.’ Do you know… why this is one of my favorite trees? Its name is “Skylands” after all – the same as my beloved home in Maine.
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- Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’ is a yellow-needled cultivar that grows to around eight to 10-feet tall with an erect, conical to pyramidal habit.
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- Ilex x aquipernyi ‘Dragon Lady’ is a narrow, hybrid, columnar holly with stiff, glossy, dark green foliage.
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- The glossy dark green leaves are oval to almost rectangular, with downward-curling tips. And it will produce red fruit in fall and winter when planted near a male blue holly.
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- Thuja plicata ‘Green Giant’ a large, woody, needled evergreen tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It is a hybrid cultivar of the western red cedar and Japanese arborvitae that was developed in the 1930s in Denmark and introduced to the United States in 1967 when the U.S. National Arboretum received a specimen.
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- Thuja plicata ‘Green Giant’ has dark green sprays of small, glossy, scale-like needles that keep the deep green color through winter. This tree can grow three to four feet per year in optimal conditions and reach a mature height of 40 to 60 feet with a width of 12 to 18 feet.
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- These giants are columnar Carpinus betulus Frans Fontaine – a dense hornbeam with a narrowly upright and columnar growth habit.
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- Every tree is connected to an extensive water irrigation system. There are multiple stakes in each root ball that connect to the water source.
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- Here’s a closer look at the stakes, which feed the water directly into the root ball.
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- I always notice the boxwood right away. Select Horticulture Inc. has a beautiful selection of boxwood. These boxwood shrubs come in a variety of sizes from small to medium-sized specimens to mature giants. I have many boxwood shrubs at my farm.
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- This is Buxus ‘Green Mountain.’ It is a vigorous evergreen shrub with bright green foliage that retains good color throughout winter. The upright, naturally cone-shaped habit makes it an excellent candidate for planting free-form or for a sculpted hedge.
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- Buxus ‘Green Velvet’ is a full-bodied boxwood well-suited for dense, low hedges. Its foliage also retains its rich green color throughout winter and develops a vigorous form.
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- These are Bloodgood Japanese maple trees – several being trained on this trellis. In its maturity, the Bloodgood Japanese maple will reach between 15 to 20 feet tall, with a small narrow trunk.
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- One of the most attractive features is its ability to retain its color throughout the seasons – a deep burgundy in spring that lasts throughout summer and then changes to a bright red in fall.
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- This is Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula’ – a weeping blue atlas cedar. This is a beautiful, pendulous evergreen tree. And because it is a free-form weeping plant, it can be trained, trellised, espaliered, and even grown as a bonsai to fit various garden spaces.
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- The pendulous branches are clad with clusters of bluish-green needles.
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- Taxus media ‘Viridis’ is a slow-growing, narrow columnar tree with light green foliage. It grows to about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches.
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- Taxus med ‘Viridis’ has bluish-green evergreen foliage which starts as chartreuse in spring and then holds its bluish-green color through winter.
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- And here’s one you may recognize – it’s a ginkgo tree, and its leaves are already a bright autumn golden yellow. I have many ginkgo trees at my farm. These yellow leaves remain until after the hard frost sweeps down the east coast. Then this ginkgo, along with countless others in the area, drops its leaves to the ground leaving a gorgeous carpet of color below. If you’re looking for a selection of quality trees or shrubs, and live in or around Pound Ridge, New York, or Lancaster, Massachusetts, be sure to visit Select Horticulture Inc. You’ll learn a lot and most likely find something you love to take home.
Martha Pins
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