Baker Valley Nursery

Walking Around in a Daze & Shin Boku’s Open House

A little piece of the Shin-Boku stroll garden. Two of the best tree nurseries anywhere If you’re ever in northern New England you might want to visit two of the best tree nurseries anywhere. Shin Boku and Baker Valley Nursery in Wentworth N.H. are home to some of the most wonderful specimen landscaping trees I’ve ever seen. The first time I visited Shin-Boku and Baker Valley (thanks to a tip from Doug Roth of the Japanese Garden Journal) I walked around in a daze. Now, after three or four visits a year for the last four or five years, I … Continue reading Walking Around in a Daze & Shin Boku’s Open House

Nothing Compares to Shin-Boku

Shin-Boku Nursery from the air. You can’t tell, but almost every one of the plants in this photo are specimen quality Japanese garden trees. Some are ten or fifteen feet tall, others are potential bonsai. All are old and range from excellent to amazing. Doug doesn’t mince his words Here’s what Doug Roth, the publisher and editor of the Journal of Japanese Gardening has to say: “Shin-Boku Nursery is the finest Japanese garden tree nursery in North America.” Ditto! Yesterday I visited Baker Valley Nursery (see below) for the forth or fifth time. Both Shin-Boku and Baker Valley are owned … Continue reading Nothing Compares to Shin-Boku

Field Growing #8: Old Cole’s Hemlocks

A Cole’s prostrate hemlock (Tsuga canadensis ‘Cole’s Prostrate’) that went from nursery container to my back yard and then into this growing pot (it’s now back in the ground, no photo yet). I cut off about 75% of the original. Some of the deadwood is new, but the more faded deadwood on the trunk was already there. Photo by Amy Palmer. Old Cole’s prostrate hemlocks A couple years ago I stumbled across eight amazing old Cole’s prostrate hemlocks in nursery pots at Palmer Koelb’s Baker Valley Nursery in New Hampshire (Palmer also owns Shin Boku Nursery). Palmer loves Okatsune tools, … Continue reading Field Growing #8: Old Cole’s Hemlocks