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Frequently
Asked
Questions
These are some topics that come up whether I'm at the Garden Center talking with customers, answering the phone
or at someone's home on a landscape evaluation meeting. Please read these FAQs and see if some of your questions aren't answered. If not, simply call or email me and I'll be most happy to give you an honest, straightforward answer, as I always do. You may not like what you'll hear, but you'll always hear the truth. I'll put your unattributed questions up here with the answers for others to learn from.
Q:My family has always cut their trees back heavily. Now you say it's the wrong thing to do?
You must be from Pennsylvania.
Pollarding is an old, evil treatment of trees,
which slowly kills the tree from severe shock and weakening of
the plant's defense systems. Used originally to harvest kindling
from older, large trees, it is now used to keep wrongly-planted
trees within bounds. Selection of the right tree for any space is crucial.
Research the tree either through a good horticultural resource,
or through a garden center or nursery that you trust. Doing it right
the first time is key. Don't waste the tree or the money.
Q:Our shrubs and some trees are being defoliated and no one's telling us what to do when we ask our tree service company.
Isn't it strange that the
tree service companies can't tell you what's obviously wrong
with your plants. See those little bags? They're eating the foliage right off of your plant material
and if you don't interrupt the mating cycle quickly, it'll
be worse next year. Also, visit Ortho's site for destruction-specific materials and instructions.
Q:Why is the Bradford Pear such a bad tree?
It is one of the major mistakes
by the nursery industry. No field testing was done
to insure it's future viability. It grows so fast it
falls apart after 10-13 years, resulting is much damage
and heartache for the owners. I've seen too much of this
owner sorrow and have never, do not now and will never
sell that lousy tree.
Any nursery that sells it is substandard junk, as the
tree is. Leave and find a quality garden center to buy from.
Q: Why are you so adamant about certain trees and shrubs not being used in our yards?
There is no need to have junk plants in any
landscape. My professional aim is to banish
the garbage! Read my ad, Big Trees or Fast Trees? about the 5
worst trees you can buy, and see why I absolutely will
not sell those trees, while other nurserys do
screw the public every day for the
almighty dollar. The ones that do are scum.
Don't ever frequent their places of business.
Don't waste your money and time on junk trees and shrubs!
There is so much quality plant material you
can choose from,
it's a crime to settle for less than the best!
Q: What's the guarantee on your plant material?
None. I don't guarantee anything: I warranty plants that you install
for one (1) year, and if my crews install them, they're waranteed for five (5) years.
I'll give you literature on correct installation, show you how it's done and
give you some of our tips and secrets for correct plant material installation.
If something happens to the plant, I'll come look at it for you
and make a forensic determination as to what happened.
If it's an act of nature, then there's nothing we can control and the
warranty's void. If it's the plant's fault, we'll replace it at no charge to you.
Or if you planted it incorrectly, causing it to die, the warranty's also void.
It's fairly easy to tell after 2-3 minutes just what killed it.
I give the warranty as a service to my customers, but it's usually
"something" on the customer's end that goes wrong and not
the plant's fault. For a nominal charge, we'll install the plant for you and
take the worry away. Relax and sip some iced tea!
Q: Why do you put personal information on your company's WebSite?
Most people want to know something about this company's
founder and owner. I occupy a prominent position in the
horticultural community as well as in the area in which my business trades.
Personal opinions and other factors weigh heavily when people
choose a company to do their home's or business' landscaping
and potential customers want to know whom they're dealing with on a variety of issues.
What better place to offer some of that pertinent information
than on my WebSite? I stay away from very personal items; that is my business
and there's no need to be a vain egomaniac like so many do with their
personal Web page's content. I use John's Journal entries more for
editorial content. It's a forum that I can vent in, comment, crusade if I want to,
educate, inform and have some fun with. Why not spend a few minutes
and check out what's there; you might just learn something new!
Q: What's wrong with a couple of guys in a pick-up truck landscaping my home?
These guys have no idea of what they're
doing. In the first place, they're out just to make some
quick money and leave. What will happen when
the plants begin dying? And they will, because
those pick-up truck idiots can't even handle
the basics of plant installation! They're not professionals. Would you go to
a construction worker for brain surgery? I doubt it. So think before
you do something you'll surely regret in the long run.
Don't think price first; call in a professional to estimate and do the job.
The only things you should buy on price are
drywall screws and shoelaces. Evaluate your
home's landscaping as an investment in its future equity.
Forget price. Forget cheap or you'll really get what you
didn't pay for! These pick-up truck landscaper buffoons will rob you blind.
As I said: banish the garbage and banish these morons from your home!
One thing: I've been flamed several times for
saying bad things about pick-up truck landscapers.
I have nothing against pick-up trucks or against landscapers;
what I'm talking about here are the "types" of
people calling themselves
landscapers when they aren't. That they drive a
pick-up truck is purely incidental to the whole
situation; that's their vehicle of choice.
Q: When's the best time to plant trees?
In either early Spring or throughout the Fall. The reason is that
the soil temperature is low and the tree's roots can easily
acclimate to the new soil where it will live for the rest of
its life without stress. It takes about 30-45 days for a tree
to root-in and begin living on its own without the additional care required
to sustain its life. If a drought would occur, a
minimum of 25 gallons or 1" of water would be
required per tree per week to keep them alive.
There's a window of opportunity available here
and you should take advantage of it. The soil
temperatures should be under 60F to insure
that moisture is absorbed directly into the tree's root system,
and not lost to evaporation. Don't make the
mistake of planting in summer and forgetting to water plant
material; you'll surely loose them to the heat.
Don't waste the money or the trees.
Q: I've got a bank or slope I don't want to mow. What do you suggest?
No blue rug junipers. They invite moles and
voles to live there over the Winter and eat the
roots right off. Read my ad called Moles, Voles & Plastic Sheeting. Use something like cotoneaster, the new Carpet Rose
or ivy; within 2-3 years, you'll achieve good
coverage. Infrequent weeding will be needed
until total coverage is achieved. A pre-emergent
herbicide will help reduce weed seed germination
by 95%.
Q: I can't grow anything in this lousy Pennsylvania soil!
Welcome to reality. Since plants
will have to live in that stuff the rest of their
lives, remember: when you dig a hole, take out the rocks, put
back the soil plus a shovel full of peat moss.
Peat moss will hold moisture for the roots. No
fertilizer for the first year. Mulch well and water well.
Q: Isn't mulch just mulch?
If you want to believe that, you'll pay a dear
price for the ignorance. Mulch can be deadly,
as I proved in my three famous ads Mulch: Myth vs Reality, Parts 1-2-3 about the criminal activites of a local papermill who
purposely deceives the public by deviously-including
junk and poisons in the mulch they sell. Some people
didn't listen and now they and others
are dying of cancer.
Q: My plants don't look very good; should I add more water and fertilizer?
No. It's always better to underwater than to
overwater; you can always add water, but once it's in
the pot, you can't take it out very easily. Any
plant that gets too much water and fertilizer
will suffer and begin to die. Some plants like
an acid fertilizer, others require an alkaline-based
fertilizer. It's important to be sure which type
your specific plants need before you go
dosing them with whatever fertilizer you have sitting around the house.
Q: Are tree service companies good at landscaping?
No. Tree service companies are competent in their area of
endeavor, but that's it. They butcher a landscape just like the pick-up truck, non-landscaper, idiot buffoons do. Unless the
company has a Certified Arborist in charge,
don't believe what they say; call us for a
second opinion on your tree problems. Actually, call us the first time! We forget more in a week
than they learn in a lifetime. Fact.
Q: Do you charge for landscape estimates or on-site visits?
Absolutely not. But many places do and they're wrong
for doing so. I sell plant material, not estimates. I do charge
for my freelance landscape designer's plans
though. She's not my employee; she's her own employee and must
earn a living too. You, in effect become her client and pay her a fee.
When the job is completed by us, I rebate that
fee to you, so it actually costs you nothing. No other landscape contractor
can say that. They will charge you plenty!
Q: Why do so many local garden centers and nurserys give me wrong information?
They don't know any better. And they aren't trained in the proper horticultural methods and practices.
Simply reading the trade journals would clear a lot of misfinformation up quickly
on their part. They're uneducated in the business methodology of horticulture.
A real shame, too. Gives the competent people a bad name.
Most of these little operations shouldn't even be in the business; they're not competent
enough to even know where to find the correct information to answer basic questions.
The best defense against ignorance and imcompetence is to avoid places like these and find a leading-edge horticultural center.
There's just too much of this crap in our industry.
Q: Where do I find quality, competent hortictultural centers?
Ask around. Try a botanic garden if there's one nearby. Look at the advertising each place does.
Is any of it leading edge? Is all of it price-oriented? (Avoid the price people at all costs.)
Find a topic that you know the correct answer to
and call all the garden centers; ask them the question and wait for the answer.
If it's bullshit, then you know: incompetents and avoid them too.
But if someone does the research and provides
the correct answer and some other creative solutions to your problem,
make them your place of business. There are some very
good places out there. Use them as a resource
and patronize them frequently. Once a rapport
and relationship are established, stay with them.
Changing just due to price is the surest way to get back to the incompetent
places of business again.
Q: I love discounts and bargains; won't you give me 40-50% off everything?
Not a chance. Only substandard
places discount their junk material to move it
along to you, because you're addicted to so-called bargains.
No good plant material is ever discounted; only junk.
And I never have had, do not now and never will
carry junk plant material. If you have to have
discounts and bargains, go to the mass
merchandisers - you know who they are - and
get your "price fix". Don't come to my garden
center for a discount on quality plant material.
Remember that you'll get exactly what you pay
for. And from these discount places, you'll get exactly screwed.
Q: When is it safe to plant annuals and vegetables? I hear so many conflicting stories.
In our
Hardiness Zone, which is "6" for southern Pennsylvania
and northern Maryland, April 17th is the last
frost date. But later frosts have occurred and
people have lost their annuals and vegetables,
only to have to buy them again and replant. I'd
rather just sell them to you once. Wait until
after May1st before putting out any annuals
and veggies. That's a pretty safe bet for last
frost. You can always use a row cover fabric
such as Remay or Tyvek for extra added
protection if a severe change of weather
comes along. Just be patient until May 1st.
Q: Won't you come out and give me free advice on landscaping? But I'll have someone else do the work much cheaper; I think your expensive!
Quality
always is. Actually, I'd like to give you a
landscape evaluation. But I won't provide you
with a plan or estimate for someone else to
work and profit from.
That would be stupid. If some pick-up truck buffoon is
going to do the work, he should provide the
plan and estimate for you, not me. But I'll still
give your home an evaluation based upon my
professional judgement. You may not like what
you'll hear, but you'll hear the truth. What you
finally decide to do is up to you after you hear
what I say. America is, after all, a free country
for making personal decisions.
Q: Hey, I buy what I want, when I want, from whom I want, and strictly on price!
Fine. if you do come to
my garden center & nursery, I'll try to change
your mind about the narrow course you've taken with that attitude.
You've lost out on thousands of possibilities
for making your home look nice, because you've
resigned yourself to junk. Your stubborn attitude
eliminates all clear thinking toward new and
fresh choices. And that's a pity. Only you and
your home are the worse for it. Buying on
price alone is stupid. The only things that
should be bought on price is drywall screws
and shoelaces. Not plant material. In the end,
those who buy that way are the losers.
Q: I bought some azaleas at a roadside stand; 4 for $10. Now they're dying, what should I do?
No suprise here. You've heard the old saying, "If it looks too good to be true, it usually is."
What you bought is junk plant material that some grower or nursery wanted to get rid of.
And they did: to you at a price that you though was a bargain.
If it's dead, it's not so much of a bargain anymore, is it?
These unscrupulous scum sell their junk plants to unsuspecting people, knowing full-well that they're diseased and pest-riddled and should be composted for fertilizer.
Read my ad about The Junk Merchants and how their filthy, diseased surplus
garbage plants at a "bargain price" will ruin
your hard-worked-for garden.
But you've kept them in business by buying
these junk plants. If people stopped driving in
for a "bargain" and bought quality from a
reputable garden center and nursery who stands
behind their products, these roadside scum
would soon disappear and York County would be the better for it.
Q: I'm confused by the many kinds of plants you carry. Will you help me decide?
That's my job. I carry so much diversity because York County
desperately needs a change from what's been used so pervasively
in the past 50 years. It's so uniform from home to home, it's boring.
I'll help you sort through the plant material and find things
that will work for your home. Beauty, functionality, low maintenance and practicality
are the keywords here. In a world with so much diversity,
it's a shame to limit ourselves to so few choices. Let's open up
the field of options and experience all the possibilities. Read my ad, The Neighbor's Yards. Dare to be different!
John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery, Inc.
13579 Winterstown Road, Felton, PA. 17322-8522
vox: (717) 246-1414 1-800-828-3405 (Pa-Md) fax: (717) 246-2170
Last updated 4/19/08. 44,735,088 visitors since 1/26/96.