Nursery News

Real, Fresh-Cut Christmas Trees

Christmas tree sales have begun and we are open seven days a week, from 10 AM until 6 PM through Christmas Eve. Follow us on Facebook for daily posts, Holiday gift ideas, and other fun announcements!

Environmental Benefits

Real Christmas Trees: The Best Choice

Each holiday season, shoppers find themselves confronted with a choice: celebrate with a fresh, real tree, or one that is artificial plastic or aluminum. What most people don’t realize is that the best choice has always been the traditional and natural choice — a Real Christmas Tree.

Real Christmas Trees Benefit the Environment

While they’re growing, Real Christmas Trees support life by absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases and emitting fresh oxygen. The farms that grow Christmas Trees stabilize soil, protect water supplies and provide refuge for wildlife while creating scenic green belts. Often, Christmas Trees are grown on soil that doesn’t support other crops. 

Real Christmas Trees Are Renewable

Real Christmas Trees are grown on farms just like any other agricultural crop. To ensure a constant supply, Christmas Tree growers plant one to three new seedlings for every tree they harvest. On the other hand, artificial trees are a petroleum-based product manufactured primarily in Chinese factories. The average family uses an artificial tree for only six to nine years before throwing it away, where it will remain in a landfill for centuries after disposal.

Real Christmas Trees Are Recyclable

Real Christmas Trees are biodegradable, which means they can be easily reused or recycled for mulch and other purposes.

Real Christmas Trees Help Preserve Green Spaces

Real Christmas Trees are often grown on soil that does not support other crops. 

TYPES OF TREES AVAILABLE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AT FALLING WATER GARDENS

 

Nordmann Fir

Nordmann fir trees are the fancier looking trees with branches that grow upward. They have a naturally flocked look, with unique-looking needles that have a glossy dark upper-side and a silvery underside. The needles last longer than the Noble Fir tree. Mild fragrance suited for people with allergies.

 

 

Noble Fir

Dense, sturdy, fragrant, and symmetrical. Nobles are one of the most popular varieties. Have a deep bluish-green color. The needles are long and four-sided, twisting upward.

 

Grand Fir

Very weak limbs that may not be able to hold heavier ornaments. Super fragrant. The needles are a beautiful dark green, flat and glossy.

CARE FOR YOUR TREE

We want to make sure you get the most out of your Christmas tree this year. To avoid losing large amounts of needles and ensuring your tree to last you through the holiday season, we recommend you follow these steps:

ESSENTIALS:

• Water your tree regularly.
• Keep your tree away from open flames and heat sources, preferably in a cool room. Under-floor heating will dry out the needles much quicker so try to avoid setting it up in an overly warm space.
• Cover the floor or table area where you place your tree to protect against water spills.
• Wear garden gloves when handling your Christmas tree as the needles can cause a mild allergic reaction and rash on sensitive skin.

SETTING UP YOUR TREE:

• Keep your Christmas tree outside in a sheltered area, preferably standing in water, until you are ready to bring it indoors and set it up. At Falling Water Gardens, we cut the Washington-grown trees upon arrival and place them upright in water.
• No need to re-cut trees at Falling Water Gardens because we do it as soon as they arrive at the nursery. If you still feel it is necessary to have a fresh cut, prepare the base of your tree using a handsaw. Cut about a half inch to an inch off the bottom to aid water absorption.
• Don’t cut the base at an angle, in a V-shape. None of these methods help water absorption and they may make it more difficult to hold the tree safely in a stand.
• Mount your tree as soon as possible.
• Allow the branches to settle for a few hours before decorating.
• Tree stands come in different shapes and sizes. You never want your tree to dry out, so the stand needs to have water in it at all times. Water regularly.
• Make sure your tree is straight before you start decorating it. It’s a good idea for at least two people to put up your tree; one holding it stable while the other fixes the base.
• Check the water level in your stand every other day and keep topped up.

Are you tired of buying generic Christmas ornaments each year? Looking to having statement pieces that have more sentimental value? Visit the gift shop for a festive and fun selection of ornaments and other holiday decor that you will enjoy for many years to come.

Featured Design

This couple needed a design for their back garden and it needed to be bird friendly. Rick created a design that includes an expanded patio, walkways down both sides of the house, a basalt bubbler water feature and lots of appropriate plants that are inviting to humans and birds alike! We corrected drainage in the garden, installed new lawn and garden lighting as the finishing touch. The garden and water feature were installed by Falling Water Designs.

Featured Koi of the Month: Goshiki

Goshiki, meaning 5 colors in Japanese, usually have a white base color with a fishnet pattern. They have black and blue edging with red and black patterns overlaying the base. Unlike the Kohaku, the Goshiki will have bright and bold Hi plates. 

Pond & Fish Care in Freezing Weather

Is freezing weather in the forecast? Here’s how to keep your fish and pond equipment safe.

FISH

Koi and Goldfish are extremely hardy. The cold weather doesn’t affect them too much.

As water temperatures decrease, you will notice your fish slowly making their way to the bottom of the pond. The water at the bottom is warmer than the water at the top. The fish will remain down there, in hibernation mode, waiting for warmer spring temperatures.

WATER MOVEMENT

• When it’s practical, suck water from the surface rather than the bottom of the pond. If your pump is sitting at the bottom of the pond and it’s possible to do so, try to lift it closer to the surface. There is no need to do anything else with skimmers because they are already sucking from the surface. If you have a more elaborate plumbing system, switch to surface suction instead of bottom suction, if possible.

FREEZING POND

• If the pond begins to ice up, ensure that at least one small hole remains open at the top of the pond. Keeping an opening in the pond surface allows oxygen into the water. Decomposing plant material and fish waste produce toxic gasses that will be able to escape if there is a hole at the top of the pond.
• Some great ways to keep an opening are to keep the water feature running; when the water returns to the pond it will usually keep an opening in the ice. Float a rubber play ball on the surface of the pond; the ball floating on the surface will often keep a hole open. Install an aerator in the bottom of the pond; the bubbles will keep an opening on the surface. Install a pond deicer; the deicer heats a small hole in the pond.

• If the pond completely ices over, do not break the ice. This is can cause concussive damage to the fish’s internal organs. Smashing ice can also cut your liner. The best way to open a hole in a frozen pond is to take a boiling pot of water carefully out to the pond and place the entire pot of boiling water on the ice. Do not pour the boiling water on the ice, just set the hot pot of water on the ice. Repeat this as the water cools in the pan until you’ve opened a hole in the ice.

PLANTS

• Most aquatic plants are dormant by now. If the pots are sitting high in the pond you can temporarily drop them lower in the pond to protect them from the freezing weather. Just remember to lift them back up after the freeze danger has passed.

POND EQUIPMENT

• It’s always a bit of a gamble how to manage your equipment during a freeze. In almost all instances Falling Water Designs suggests to try and keep your pond running during a freeze. In many ponds it is nearly impossible or impractical to try and get all the water out of the equipment and the plumbing. If you cannot completely drain the equipment and the lines it is safer to keep the pond running because running water is less likely to freeze even in below freezing conditions. If we can keep the water running the pipes and equipment are far less likely to freeze and break.

• Sometimes in a prolonged freeze the waterfall/stream will ice up to the point that water is overflowing the stream instead of returning to the pond. Another problem that can happen is ice crystals will form on the pond surface to the point that the skimmer will clog and the pump won’t work. If this happens you will be forced to turn off the pump and your equipment and then take additional precautions to try and keep equipment from being damaged. The good news is that if you are forced to turn off the pump cold water holds much more oxygen than warm water so your fish don’t really need the pump running in cold weather.

PUMPS

• If your pump is submersible you don’t really have to worry. Your water feature would have to be very shallow for freezing water to damage a submersible pump. If you pump is inline it is very important to keep it running during the freeze or you will have to completely drain it. On most inline pumps there are two drain plugs at the bottom that will have to be opened to get all the water out of the pump.

PLUMBING AND CHECK VALVE

• Most water features have a check valve between the pump and the top of the waterfall/stream. The check valve keeps water in the line on the way up to the top of the waterfall. It is not possible for most people to remove their check valve to drain the line so in many water features there is water in the plumbing from the pump to the top of the waterfall. If you turn off your pond that water will stay in the line and can freeze. This is the over-riding reason we suggest that most water features be kept running.

UV STERILIZER

• UV sterilizers are expensive and prone to breakage in freezing weather. If you system will allow you to bypass the UV you should do so, remove the UV, drain it completely and store it in the garage. Unfortunately very few ponds are plumbed for this. Your second option is to remove the transformer and then unscrew the quartz sleeve and light bulbs. We sell caps that allow everything but the housing to be removed and stored. This way you can keep the water running and in a worse case situation only the housing is damaged. Your third option is to just keep the water running through the equipment and usually the water won’t freeze and damage anything. Temporarily plugging the sterilizer back in will generate some heat and possibly keep it from freezing.

PRESSURIZED BEAD and/or SAND FILTERS

• Bead and sand filters are expensive and prone to breakage in freezing weather. While some limited amount of biological activity occurs, most bacteria die at temperatures below 45 degrees. Falling Water Designs suggests that it is more important to preserve costly equipment than keep the limited amount of bacteria alive, so the filter should be drained for the winter. Watch our video here to learn how to drain your filter. If you are going to keep the pond running, the filter should be set to “bypass” or “recirculate” and then the bottom drain should be opened to allow the water to drain from the bottom of the filter. Do not allow standing water in the bottom of the filter when the valve is set to bypass, recirculate or “winter”. Do not try and keep the filter running in the normal filter mode during freezing weather. The water in the filter can freeze and break the interior plumbing or the exterior housing. In bypass or recirculate mode the water is just going through the valve head at the top and not the media at the bottom which is why you can drain the bottom. If you are not going to run your pump during the freeze then you should drain the bottom and put the filter valve on “winter”. The winter setting will not allow water to run through the system so it is only used if you will be shutting down your entire pond and pump.

PROBLEMS WITH RUNNING THE POND

In almost all instances Falling Water Designs suggests to try and keep your pond running during a freeze. This is the easiest and in most instances the most practical solution. However, if you go this route and the waterfall/stream becomes iced to the point that water is leaving the pond, or if your skimmer becomes clogged with ice crystals to where you have to turn off the pump, or if the power goes out and the temperature is below freezing, you will have to take additional precautionary steps. If the pump is not running you will need to go out and disconnect the UV sterilizer and drain it completely of water and store it in the garage. You will also have to put the pressurized filter on “winter” and ensure that you did drain the beads. Finally when practical you should drain any exposed pipes of water to minimize breakage. Ensure that you keep one small hole open on the surface of the pond.

Have more questions? Fill out our contact form or email us at info@fallingwaterdesigns.com

Featured Plants

Here are this month’s featured plants at Falling Water Gardens nursery. We think this selection would look great in your garden. Visit our plant database to learn more about aquatic & terrestrial plants.

Terrestrial Plants

Rosmarinus Officinalis ‘Rosemary’

Quickly forms an upright hedge of aromatic needle-like foliage. Profuse clear blue flowers add to the effect. Foliage can be used as a flavorful spice in cooking. Takes to pruning well, perfect for screens. Perfect for minimal care, water-wise gardens.

 

Heuchera ‘Forever Purple’

‘Forever Purple’ is a knockout with ultra-purple glossy leaves with fluted edges and great vigor. Very short spikes of purple-pink flowers in summer and four seasons of purple.

 

---

Plant Database

Have you checked out our plant database? It contains information about the plants that we sell at the nursery and more!

We have even taken it one step further and have incorporated QR codes into the database to help you save and recall information on the plants you are interested in at home or have bought from our nursery. You can bring us the saved plants from this data base to help us locate the ones you want. As well as when you come to Falling Water Gardens you will be able to scan the plant signs to get further information about the plants and flowers.

What is a QR code? In the simplest terms a QR code is a bar code. Most smart phones come equipped with a bar code/QR code reader that will scan the QR code and bring you to the web page of information about our plants. From there you can bookmark the page. If yours does not contain a QR code reader already, you can download one for free through your phone’s app store.

Gift Shop

Here’s a sample of items we think you’d enjoy this time of year. Be sure to visit the nursery to see ALL of the latest products and plants! We have a huge selection of décor and gifts to choose from!

Wedding & Events Venue

Congratulations to all of the newly engaged couples! If you are looking for a magical outdoor venue, schedule a tour of Falling Water Gardens. Your outdoor wedding will be held on groomed lawns with backdrops to the gardens and water features. We have several ceremony locations to choose from, including our Formal Sunken Garden site. We have over an acre of private parking reserved exclusively for your event at the back of your property.

Email us at weddings@fallingwatergardens.com to schedule your tour today!