WANT TO GO FOR A WALK ?

This year the trees and shrubs here at Mill Creek have been growing by leaps and bounds! They are quite happy with the weather and all the rain they’ve received - they’re in tree heaven!

Make sure you set aside some time to come out to the Nursery, just for the pleasure of walking thru the fields. You don’t need to buy anything while you’re here - Just walk the fields for your own education and enjoyment. With over 50 acres of trees and shrubs there’s a lot to see. Come watch the seasons change, and see the changes in plant foliage and growth habits, etc. It’s a very relaxing way to spend a couple hours. You’re always welcome here at Mill Creek Nursery!

ENHANCE YOUR PLANTINGS – AND SAVE MONEY IN THE PROCESS!

At this time our Garden Center has a large assortment of Perennials and Annuals available, ON SALE NOW. You can still add dramatic color and texture to your entrance plantings, as well as enhance your planting beds throughout the yard. With an analytical selection of plants and bloom times, we can help you add year round interest to your garden beds.

We grow our plants here, on site, with perennials whose bloom-times begin in late February to early March, going thru the summer, as well as plants that provide winter interest such as ornamental grasses and evergreens.

Our friendly staff, collectively, has over 50 years of experience in residential landscaping design and installation and will gladly help you search for that special perennial, shrub, or tree that will work nicely in your landscape.

NURSERY TOURS BEGINNING IN AUGUST

Beginning in late August, on Saturday mornings, the staff of Mill Creek Nursery will be providing FREE guided tours  of the Garden Center and our 50 acres of Nursery trees and shrubs in the fields for anyone wishing to attend. Please call us at the Nursery at 847 - 838 - 0501 for further details. Nursery hours for August and September are 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday thru Friday, Sundays 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, starting August 15th

COLOR UP YOUR SUMMER WITH HYDRANGEAS !

A new and exciting Hydrangea has been recently introduced to the retail garden center / homeowner market. The cultivar or specific variety name of this plant is "Endless Summer". The botanical species name is Hydrangea macrophylla, and the common name is the Bigleaf Hydrangea.

Endless Summer flowers on both the current years’ as well as previous years’ growth, thus extending the bloom time. Even if the plants suffer some winter dieback, and consequently lose their flower buds, the plant will still generate new growth and still produce flowers within that same year.

This looks like it’s going to be a beautiful plant to have in every yard! With nice, smooth-surfaced, big green leaves it is an attractive plant, even when not in bloom. In an average summer it will begin flowering in late June to early July and will continue to flower thru most of September. With large-petalled individual flowers making up a 4” to 7” composite, semi-globular flower, it’s hard to not notice this plant when it’s in bloom! While it flowers best in full sun, it will also tolerate about 40% to 50% shade - like most Hydrangea species.

This plant likes moist, but well-drained organic, loamy soil. It will tolerate a fair amount of clay provided the drainage is adequate. The color of the flowers is subject to change, based upon the pH of your soil. In high clay content soil, like most of us have, the flowers will come out a nice rich pink. If your soil should be more acidic, or if you add acidifying agents like aluminum sulfate to the existing soil, the flowers will appear more blue-toned in color. Periodic fertilization of the plant throughout its bloom time will also help the plant give you its best performance, in growth and flower production.

In addition to the Endless Summer Hydrangea, Mill Creek is also growing some very nice paniculata-type Hydrangeas. This year we are offering “Limelight” as well as “Pink Diamonds” panicle Hydrangeas to our customers. They are both very showy in flower. They begin flowering at the end of July and continue thru early September. Their care and culture is the same as the Endless Summer Hydrangea, however changing the pH of the growing medium they are placed in cannot alter the color of their flowers.

Come out to the Nursery and see these beautiful and versatile plants. The color they have to offer in the garden at this time of year is not something to be overlooked!

FALL IS A FANTASTIC TIME FOR PLANTING!

We have had a busy summer here at Mill Creek and the trees have been moving out of here rather quickly. Our available, above-ground tree selection may be slightly reduced for the moment, but once the weather cools down a little bit we will be able to begin digging trees again, for the fall season.

And there are a lot of options out there! Our customers may come out to the Nursery and hand-select a large-caliper shade or ornamental tree from our fields. No appointment is necessary to take this opportunity to pick out just that right tree or shrub your landscape has been waiting for. Our Construction and Installation crews will be working until early December and are available for any of your landscape projects throughout the fall.

In addition to the standard Ash, Maple, Linden, and Birch shade-type trees we also carry some landscape designer’s favorites such as:

Katsura Tree – Botanical name: Cercidiphyllum japonicum
This is a very interesting and unique tree. In spring, new leaves emerge a copper-toned, reddish-purple and gradually change to a bluish green in the summer. Fall color is often a soft apricot-orange, to copper-yellow in tone. The leaves are somewhat rounded to heart-shaped, resembling a miniaturized Redbud leaf.

Medium to fast in growth rate, it matures at 40’ to 60’ tall with a width of 20’ to 30’. With a slight breeze blowing, the leaves flutter and turn in the wind, somewhat reminiscent of a quaking Aspen, but much more attractive in total character.

The fall foliage, changing and dropping, gives off a delightful spicy cinnamon/brown sugar fragrance. Mill Creek will have them available in the field this fall, at 5’ to 6’ tall multi-stem clumps, as well as 1.5” single stem trees. This is not your average shade tree, as it adds a distinctive touch of class to any yard!

Kentucky Coffeetree – Botanical name: Gymnocladus dioicus
A potentially large shade tree, given enough time, this is not a selection for a small city lot’s landscape. With ample space this tree matures out at 60’ to 75’ in height, with a spread of 40’ to 50’, or larger; slow to medium in its growth rate, averaging 12” to 14” growth per year.

Its most notable characteristic is its bark. Visually, it has a very rough, hard, firm scaly appearance to the bark; with time this becomes even more pronounced. It also has a unique, picturesque branching habit - no two ever look exactly the same; some with irregular branching, others with pseudo-pendulous lower branches.

Late to leaf out in the spring, foliage emerges somewhere around May 10th to 20th in the upper Midwest. New leaves are pinkish to purplish tinged gradually changing to dark green, almost bluish-green in summer. Fall foliage is variable shades of yellow.

Incidentally, the seed pods produced by this tree were roasted, like coffee beans, and were used to produce a coffee substitute for the early settlers to Kentucky, hence the tree’s common name. Considering its cultural tolerances and adaptability to growing conditions, this is one very “tough” tree, under-utilized in large landscapes. Mill Creek Nursery has these available in 2” and 2.5” caliper trunks.

Autumn Blaze Freeman Maple – Botanical name: Acer x freemanii ‘Autumn Blaze’
For those of us who must have excellent fall color, and a fast growing tree, look no further - your quest will end with this tree. Maturing at 50’ tall by 40’ wide, or even larger, this is the tree that no self-respecting Midwestern landscape should be without. In its youth, this tree can put on as much as 2’ to 3’ of growth per year, once successfully transplanted to its final destination. It is the result of a hybrid cross between the Red Maple and the Silver Maple, and gets the best attributes of each of its parents.

Strong wood in its branching, and having an excellent red-orange in its fall foliage attire, this tree is hard to beat. The fall color can be dazzling, and combined with a backdrop of White Pine paints a picture that no Master artist could duplicate. As well as better drought tolerance and better insect resistance than either of its parents, this tree is a keeper!

Mill Creek has them available from 2” to 3.5” caliper trunks and would love to plant one in your backyard sometime yet this fall . . . Let’s talk trees!

Ornamental Crabapples - Botanical genus: Malus
Maybe you weren’t planning on a potentially large shade tree. Maybe you want something more decorative with spring flowers and attractive foliage. Then consider some of our Ornamental Crabapples!

Mill Creek has these available in single stem and/or multi-stem forms. Lots of options to choose from!

MORE EVERGREENS NOW AVAILABLE !

Many freshly dug Evergreens have been released from our fields and are now available for “adoption” into special places in your yard. Our list of available Evergreens at this point includes:

• White Pines at 8’ to 9’ tall with nice, soft, fluffy new growth all over the tree - 16 to choose from!
   
  
• Serbian Spruce at 6’ tall that look like fat, full, little butterballs of green – 10 to choose from!
   
• Norway Spruce trees at 6.5’ to 9’ with nice, dark green needles on full-bodied trees – 15 to choose from!
   
• Blue Colorado Spruce at 5.5’ to 6.5’ – These are good, fat, full "baby blues" – 10 to choose from!
   
  
• Scotch Pines at 7’ to 10’ tall – Nice, big thick trees with a blue-caste to the foliage – 7 to pick from!
  
  
• Austrian Pines at 7’ to 9’ tall – Very thick, dense trees with lots of new growth – 6 to select from!
  
  
• Nigra or Dark Green American Arborvitae at 5’ to 6’ tall – Thick, full-bodied; Excellent as a hedge or screen!
  
  

ARE YOU A MILL CREEK NURSERY GOLD MEMBER ?

If you’ve spent $2500.00 on retail plant purchases this year, then you most definitely are! Purchases at that level entitle you to receive a 2% rebate redeemable in the form of free perennials that you may personally hand-select.

Customers who spent $1250.00 on retail plant purchases this year are also entitled to receive a 1% rebate in the same fashion. Take advantage of this offering and come choose your free plants today!

SHADE PROBLEMS LEAVING YOU IN THE DARK ?

So you’ve got portions of your yard with varying degrees of shade where you have difficulty growing much of anything? Don’t be left in the dark. Here are some options to consider:

For more options, info, and suggestions please see our Website at www.millcreeknursery.com !

POND DIVISION SAYS "THANK YOU" !

The Ponds Division of Mill Creek Nursery and Mike Greco Landscaping would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our past and present Customers’ for having invited us into their yards to show them what it’s like to have a small piece of paradise right in their own back yards! Everyone who has had a water feature installed is enjoying it immensely!

Residential water features are an excellent landscape option that far too many people pass up when planning their overall landscape design, thinking it too expensive or too much maintenance to even consider. It costs far less than one might think. We are still booking Pond designs and installations for the fall season. Find out for yourself just how enjoyable and low maintenance they are!

‘MUMS THE WORD . . . AS IN "CHRYSANTHEMUM" ! "

We anticipate having our Chrysanthemums available this year starting somewhere around the 2nd to 3rd week of August. They will be potted up in 2 gallon pots, as usual, and will be wonderfully full, as usual. When you change your container plantings to fall themes, remember to come check out our ‘Mums-you’ll be glad you did!

If you should have any questions regarding any of these topics, please feel free to stop in at Mill Creek Nursery and ask any of the Sales staff - they’ll be more than happy to help you. Also, please take a moment and stop by our Growing Tips page for more helpful information on plants & gardening.