Did you know that there is an easy way to mulch your garden and give your soil a boost at the same time? Most gardeners know that the secret to success starts with the earth that surrounds a plant’s roots. Whether you have clay, sand or reasonably good soil, there is no garden that will not benefit from adding more organic content.

Schönheit’s shredded leaf mulch literally feeds the soil, providing essential plant nutrients and creating a home for the microorganisms and worms that nurture your garden. Beneficial microorganisms perform many tasks, including destroying pathogens and delivering nitrogen to the plants. Worms, of course, further enrich the soil with their castings. Why buy worms or worm castings when you can create your own by using leaf mulch?

The secret to good leaf mulch lies in the composting and shredding process. At Schönheit Gardens we gather the leaves each fall and allow them to compost over the winter in enormous piles. Then we double shred them, guaranteeing that they will form a fine layer of mulch that inhibits weeds and breaks down slowly to improve the soil.

An added benefit to our leaf mulch is that, like bark mulch, it retains soil moisture. You will water less when you use leaf mulch! Unlike bark mulch, however, leaf mulch builds better soil. In fact, many gardeners find that leaf mulch is the only fertilizer their garden ever needs. Use it around flowers and vegetables as well as trees and shrubs.

Schönheit Gardens is committed to a cleaner environment. In keeping with this mission, we sell our leaf mulch in sturdy woven bags that we encourage customers to return. Customers receive a one dollar credit for each returned bag, which can then be used to pay for purchases in our nursery.

Shredded leaf mulch sells for $6.95 per 3 cubic foot bag.

Bulk mulch is available for delivery and pickup, by appointment, for $35/yard.

Perhaps nothing heralds the coming of spring like the magnificent saucer-like flowers of the tulip magnolia (Magnolia x soulangeana), also known as saucer magnolia or Chinese magnolia. These small deciduous trees are one of the most popular trees in the home landscape, and for the month they bloom, they are truly extraordinary.

There are many cultivars of this hybrid species with the 4-5" blossoms ranging in color from pure white to shades of pink and purple--and now even shades of yellow. The winter floral buds are large and fuzzy, giving rise to "candles" as they expand and open. In warmer climates, this can be as early as January and February, but for most of the country, the flowers reveal themselves in late March and early April, before the foliage emerges. The flowers can be damaged by late frosts, so we plant the late-blooming varieties here.

Most of these varieties have an upright oval growth habit in youth, becoming rounded, spreading, and mounding with age. They make great small trees, with some varieties growing up to 30' high. But most varieties can be maintained at 10-15' with yearly pruning. The 6" medium-to-dark green leaves hold their color right through the end of fall, before they drop for winter.

The star magnolia is a slow growing shrub or small tree native to Japan with large showy white or pink flowers in early spring before the appearance of the leaves. This tree grows 15 to 20 feet in height, and displays upright oval growth in youth, and spreads and mounds with age. We have many gorgeous blooming star magnolias in stock now!

We have Star Magnolias on sale right now for $38.00, for April only (normally $47.95)!

"We hardly design any jobs WITHOUT hydrangeas these days, with so many wonderful selections available," says Heidi Kuhman, owner at Schönheit Gardens, and head of the landscape design division of the company. "Hydrangeas are so versatile, tough, and long-blooming and we love using them," she says.

Come out and check out our beautiful plants today!

Amsonia hubrichtii grows 36 inches tall and 36 inches wide in a mounded form. This hardy perennial grows in hardiness zones 4 through 9 and is a versatile North American native.

Amsonia offers a variety of features throughout the seasons. From late spring to early summer, two- to three-inch wide clusters of small, light blue, star-shaped flowers are borne above the ferny foliage. The alternate-arranged leaves are bright green in spring and summer, but turn a bright yellow-golden color in fall.

We have extra large 3-gallon sized plants as well as 1-gallon sized plants in stock now!

For more information about this plant, please click here: http://www.perennialplant.org/

Well-designed and properly planted shade gardens are the most refreshing parts of any landscape, but you can't plant them properly unless you understand the characteristics of shade. Many homeowners start out with mostly full sun, but then either plant too many trees or let volunteers grow wherever they plant themselves. After a few years on this course a sunny garden can become a shady or even gloomy one.

It takes real courage to cut down mature trees, but sometimes this is the only way to reclaim the sun. In some cases you can lace trees out to let adequate light through. The best shade is that which you create yourself, either by building a shade structure or by planting an appropriate number of well-chosen trees in the right places. The most difficult shade is that which you can't control — solid shadows of buildings or walls, sometimes alternating with an hour or two of burning hot sun.

Shadows don't stand still; every day they move from west to east as the sun moves across the sky from east to west. They also lengthen northward as the sun moves south during fall and winter, and then they gradually shorten again as the sun moves north in winter and spring. These factors make gardening in the shade a lot trickier than gardening in full sun. So if you're interested in shade gardening, begin by observing and understanding the shadows in your own garden; notice where they occur, how dense they are, and their duration.

Not all semi-shade or even dense shade is alike. It differs widely according to what causes it and its exposure (the direction it faces). It's important to learn how to distinguish among these various degrees and exposures of shade and to learn which plants are most likely to succeed in each of them. Shade plants vary greatly in shade tolerance. Most shade plants, particularly flowering ones, need semi-shade, which, by definition, means partial sun. Only a small number of plants will grow with no sun at all, but many gardeners have created beautiful gardens even in dense shade.

One of our specialties is shade gardening and we can help choose appropriate plants for any shady situation, so come on in and visit us soon!

The Hosta (also known as Plantain Lily) is one of the most unique, useful, and colorful shade plants used in the landscape today. This deciduous perennial can add a splash of foliar color and bloom where many other plants cannot survive or perform well. Not only do hostas have attractive foliage, but they also send out long upright plumes of flowers in shades of lavender, pink and white every summer.

Native to northeast Asia, hostas have come a long way in foliage varieties in the last 20 years, thanks to a rabid interest among hybridizers to create and introduce new varieties. Today, hostas can be found in a multitude of color variations to please even the most discriminating gardener's palette.

Most hostas are broken down into three distinct color categories that include shades of blue, green and variegated. Some varieties have puckered leaf surfaces that add interest to the overall plant, while the variegated forms can be striped with shades of white and gold. There are also varieties that feature a mixture of both blue and green leaf shades on the same leaf.

Hostas range in size from mini (4-6 inches tall) through small, medium, large and even giant varieties that can grow over 3 ft. tall and 5 ft. wide. The flowers generally stand above the foliage another 12-18 inches and last 4-8 weeks, depending on the variety.

Although there are some gold or chartreuse varieties that can tolerate full sun, most hostas are happiest in a morning sun-afternoon shade or full shade location. Blue varieties need to be grown in full shade to maintain the best blue color. Hostas do best in moist, rich, well-draining soil with a layer of cocoa shells, shredded bark or leaf mulch added for moisture retention.

You can also grow hostas in containers, but they do have an extensive root system, so use a larger pot than you would normally use (a 12" pot for a medium-size hosta should do). Make sure to use a good, well-draining potting soil and water regularly.

When hostas go dormant in winter, they completely disappear. The foliage will take on a melting appearance after the first couple of frosts; at that time simply tear the foliage off above the soil. Your hosta will go to sleep and then re-appear the following year when the last frosts of spring are done.

We have MANY in stock in one-gallon, two-gallon and three-gallon hostas to choose from now!