A Visit to Hardscrabble Farms in North Salem, New York
I am always on the lookout for new and interesting plants and trees. I love visiting different nurseries to see what specimens they have for my ever-evolving Bedford, New York farm.
Among my favorite neighborhood sources is Hardscrabble Farms, located in Westchester County, New York. Hardscrabble is a family owned and operated wholesale dealer that specializes in native species, ornamental conifers, evergreens, and perennials. They carry an array of trees, shrubs, grasses and ground covers in a full range of sizes.
Earlier this week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, went to Hardscrabble to pick up a selection of trees I ordered for a new and exciting landscape project. Here are some photos - enjoy.
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- Hardscrabble Farms is located on Hardscrabble Road in North Salem, New York – about a 15-minute drive from my home. http://www.hardscrabblefarms.com
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- Hardscrabble has a very diverse, and healthy inventory of beautiful trees, shrubs, and plants. I see something new and interesting every time I visit.
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- The facility is located on more than 40-acres of land. Its helpful staff assists landscape professionals in selecting plant material, designing landscape spaces and delivering orders to the site.
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- This day’s task was to pick up a sizable selection of linden trees I purchased. Fortunately, I live close to Hardscrabble and have the strong crew and appropriate equipment to pick up and transport these large specimens.
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- Once trees are bought, Hardscrabble groups them together and attaches a label indicating the buyer’s name and the date the trees were purchased.
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- Ben Covino, the son of Hardscrabble’s owner, Rob Covino, often helps us whenever we visit, Here, Ben is moving one of the new lindens to our large capacity dump truck.
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- Hardscrabble takes very good care of its specimens. When buying a tree, always look for one that has abundant root growth and good color. Also be sure it is moist, balled and burlapped with a strong damage-free trunk.
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- I purchased a total of 30-lindens, so my crew will have to make a few trips. On this first trip, a total of 11-trees fit on our dump truck. I love linden trees, and as you know, I have a beautiful allee of lindens near my stable. These trees are medium to large shade trees that look great in both formal or casual landscapes. Lindens are easy to care for and need little or no pruning.
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- Once all the trees are on the truck, Ben and Ryan carefully position them, so they are secure during the short drive to the farm.
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- Ben wraps burlap around one of the tree trunks, so it is well-cushioned during the ride.
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- They also cover it with the dump truck’s tarp to ensure the branches are safe and secure.
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- Some of the other trees at Hardscrabble include this selection of pin oaks. I also love these trees – their branching habit is so unique with the upper branches ascending, the middle branches horizontal, and the lower ones drooping. I am so happy with my pin oaks – they have grown and developed so well at the farm.
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- These trees are pink weeping cherry trees, Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’. Prunus pendula is an ornamental weeping cherry tree native to Japan. The pink flowers on this variety bloom in two to five-flowered umbels in late winter to early spring before the leaves emerge.
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- Here is a group of Thundercloud plum trees, Prunus cerasifera ‘Thundercloud’. Prunus cerasifera, commonly called cherry plum or Myrobalan plum, is native to western Asia and the Caucasus. It is a purple-leaved cultivar that typically grows as a dense, upright-spreading tree up to 25-feet tall. It has become a very popular ornamental tree because its showy purple foliage can be seen throughout the growing season.
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- And here is a beautiful selection of whitebarked Himalayan birch trees, Betula utilis ‘Jacquemontii’. Betula utilis is native to the Himalayas where it was discovered by Joseph Hooker in 1849. It is a medium sized tree that typically grows to 40-feet tall with an open pyramidal habit. Ovate, double-serrate, yellow-green to green leaves turn golden in fall – a very pretty tree.
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- And, here is a ginkgo biloba tree, ‘Princeton Sentry’.
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- This tree also dropped all its leaves.
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- These two rows of trees are Cleveland pears – Pyrus calleryana ‘Cleveland Select’. The Cleveland pear resists damage from extreme snow, ice and wind and can quickly grow to 40-feet tall. It’s an ideal size for small and medium sized spaces. In the fall, the leaves turn from a deep summer green to a dark scarlet red and every spring, it provides a long-lasting explosion of pure white flowers.
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- These are holly trees, Ilex X ‘Dragon Lady’ – a female cultivar that grows as an upright, symmetrical, very narrow pyramid, eventually maturing to 20-feet tall and to six-feet wide. This evergreen has dark green leaves and scarlet fruits that mature in fall and remain on the plant through winter.
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- Hardscrabble has such an abundant supply of trees – it’s hard not to want them all.
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- Our group of lindens is ready for the brief ride back to the farm – I can’t wait to see them planted.
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- Here are a few of them unloaded and ready to plant. Fall is the best time for planting a linden tree after the leaves drop. It should be planted where there is full sun or partial shade and moist, well-drained soil. You will love where these trees are going – I will be sure to share lots of photos of this new planting project in a future blog. What else would you like to see on my blog? Please let me know in the comments section – your input is very important to me.
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