Black Hills Spruce

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Water for New Plants

The most essential thing for new plantings is water.  Bare root plants (no soil) should be watered immediatley after planting, and weekly after that until established.  A plug seedling…a plant grown in a column of peat need watering every three days at the base for three weeks to ensure the plug roots knit into the backfill soil.  Remember to weed for the first three years to maximize growth and minimize competition from weeds.

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Lilacs

It is hard to miss the spectacular blossom of lilacs every spring.  There are only a few options for hedges and shelterbelts for around a garden or around an entire yard that have a beautiful blossom, grow 12 feet high, essentially insect and disease free, and are hardy for prairie winters.  Check out our website for French (early) lilacs, Villosa (late) lilacs, and a new addition Littleleaf lilac.

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Ussurian or Siberian Pear

This is a much underused, extremely hardy plant.  With juvenile pruning it grows to a perfect lollipop shape and is covered with white blossoms in spring.  Birds love them and they grow 30 feet high.

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Siberian Larch

This tree misses many peoples radar.  It is a conifer yet has beautiful golden fall color and drops its needles in late fall.  In spring it is the first plant to get needles.  The best part is the extremely fast rate of growth and that conical spruce type look.  The tree is super hardy and a gorgeous shelterbelt.

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Chokecherry

There is nothing like chokecherry syrup or chokecherry jelly on pancakes, waffles, or toast.  The heaviest fruiting chokecherry is Robert’s Chokecherry.  We have collected seed from these and offer them on our website.  Many leaf out green and turn purple with the heat of summer.  They fruit so heavy one can pick a 20 liter pail in 30 minutes!

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Crabapples

In this case I am referring to crabapple seedlings.  Where the crabs are ornamental only, the wildlife love them.  The blossoms are outstanding and attract bees and birds.  Plant a grove or a row to attract wildlife.

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Scots Pine

Many soil locations are very light land.  While spruce do well on light land, they do require that light land to be moist.  However, Scots Pine seem to thrive and grow quickly (once established) with less water than spruce.  There is a farm west of our farm where the pine have seeded themselves onto the pasture and these pine are growing everywhere.  Absolutley beautiful.  Pine grow 2 times faster than spruce.

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Maples

There are two medium-sized maple that do very well on the Canadian Prairies.  Tatarian Maple is the largest growing of them, growing up to 20ft.  Tatarian Maple fall color ranges from orange to red.  It is extremely hardy and generally grows multi-stem.  Amur Maple has a crimson fall color and grows to 15ft.  It is our prairie version of Japanese Maple, and is one of our favourite, used extensively on our farm.

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Shelterbelt Layout

When designing the layout for your shelterbelt remember how wide the tree(s) grow.  Large poplars grow 40′ wide.  Spruce grow 30′ wide.  Caragana and lilac grow 15′ wide.  And remember, nothing will do well on the north side of poplar.  They quickly block the sun.

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Feeding Damage to Fruit Trees

Late winter is a time to be extra cautious with the inspection of your fruit trees.  Rabbits, porcupine and meadow voles find fruit trees extra tasty and as the snow crusts over during the thaw they are extra hungry.  I encourage you to be extra vigilant.

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Spring Startup

It is only two months until the seeds we sowed last fall start peeking out of the ground.  And now at the end of February we are planting shelterbelt willows and poplars for our Fall 2020 crop.In 1 month we start the greenhouses.  If you need help planning your hedges or shelterbelts give us a call; 306.978.1940.

What's new – Select Seedling Nursery

Living by the Weather

A nursery grower lives by the weather.  And we in Saskatchewan see such a difference between years.  This February is warm and melting; last February was nasty.  We are now preparing shipments to other nurseries and tree farms.  The weather is getting everyone thinking about planting and growing.  We at Select Seedling Nursery grow a huge number of small seedlings and sell directly to you the customer.  Check out our availability list to see our selection.  Rememeber, we only grow hardy nursery stock for the Canadian Prairies.  If it grows here, it will do well across Canada.

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Sour Cherries Breeding

Sour cherries breeding took place at the University of Saskatchewan by Dr.bob Bohrs.  For all of you who do not know, sour cherries are what make the best preserves, wine, and pies.  There are a number of varieties released under license by the University of Saskatchewan and we are pleased to offer them to you.

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Haskap Breeding

Haskap berries breeding took place at the University of Saskatchewan by Dr. Bob Bohrs, are a fabulous new crop.  We grow cuttings under license for your orchard.  The taste is so unique and the uses are endless.  Call 306.978.1940.

What's new – Select Seedling Nursery

Saskatoon Berries Around the World

Saskatoon berries have been a commercial crop since the mid 1980’s.  Select Seedling Nursery has had the privilege of growing for this market and introducing them to customers around the world.  Our plants were featured in a new agricultural product contest in Czech Republic on a farm 1 hour west of Prague.  In addition we are fortunate to link with a fruit grower in Finland to introduce our Saskatoon cultivars in Scandinavia.  Since this time we have been supplying orchards and farms alike with Saskatoon berry plants.  The latest is a large orchard in Michigan.

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Canadian Prairie Hardy Fruit

Why couldn’t it be you with a fabulous yard or a fantastic orchard?  The amount of variance and quality we have here on the Canadian Prairies in hard Zone 2, fruit is off the charts impressive.  Why the masses are not thinking this the coolest thing is beyond me.  Each year we increase the quantity and varieties of hardy apples, crabs, plums, and pears that we grow.  We also contract grow for small orchardists.  We are more than just seedlings!

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Thinking Poplars

December has arrived and as I drive through the city there is a flurry of activity.  At the nursery we are finishing grading our bare root raspberries, and our poplar and willow plugs for shelterbelt sales.  It was a very good growing year and already we have many orders for the spring.  We also grow a 3-5′ crop of Okanese Poplar in #1 pots.  When thinking about columnar, upright, poplars very few people know about the relatively new cultivar Sundancer Poplar.  Sundancer Poplar is an extremely fast growing hybrid male poplar (no fuzz) and has that nice upright growing habit.  It is literally instant.

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Protect Your Investment With A Good Shelterbelt

To compliment the orchard and provide wind protection, we offer a selection of shelterbelt seedlings, including Colorado Spruce, Black Hills Spruce, Siberian Larch, Scots Pine, Manitoba Maple, Tatarian Maple, Amur Maple, Red Osier Dogwood, Caragana, Siberian Elm, Green Ash, Prairie Sky Poplar, Sundancer Poplar, Okanese Poplar, and Tower Poplar. Please explore our web site. We have included a source of more information on small fruits from the University of Saskatchewan. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to e-mail. Happy gardening, Vic & Lee Krahn