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Fredriks Wholesale Nursery Customer Appreciation Day

Wednesday, I was lucky enough to attend Fredriks Nursery’s “Customer Appreciation Day”. Since Fredriks is a wholesale nursery, its customers are retail nursery owners and employees from all over California. Audrey and Michael and I… who are beginning to feel like The Three Nursery Musketeers after our recent outings for Talini’s… made the one-hour drive from Sacramento to Ripon. Ripon, CA is a small town south of Manteca, CA.


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This was a great opportunity to see the growing operations of one of our primary suppliers of bedding plants, vegetable starts, gallon plants, mixed pots and hanging baskets. Upon entering the grounds, we were quite simply wowed. Fredriks is big. Fredriks is immaculate. Fredriks is well run. Fredricks’ employees are extremely personable. On top of all that… it’s chock full of horticultural color. Their thoughtful attention to detail at this event was impressive, and made us think a lot about how we do business.

We enjoyed our visit and the opportunity to meet everyone and see the greenhouses. It definitely helped to reinforce the reasons we carry Fredriks plants at Talini’s. On the retail end, we get so busy that we probably don’t take as much time as we should to become better acquainted with our suppliers. It was also really great to get a sneak peek at some upcoming plant varieties that will be showing up at local nurseries in Spring of 2014!

The Wake-Up Coffee

We had our choice of cookies, coffee and smoothies to start our day off right. Audrey enjoyed the cookies and we all enjoyed the coffee; I appreciated that they had soy milk as an alternative creamer but had to skip the cookies since I’m gluten- and dairy-free (wah!).

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 The Greenhouse Tour!

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NEW River-Friendly Landscape Guidelines Book

There’s an excellent new guide available from the Sacramento Stormwater Quality Partnership teaching river-friendly landscape practices. River-Friendly Landscape Guidelines goes beyond urging water efficiency by incorporating the following objectives:

Landscaping in harmony with the natural conditions of the Sacramento River watershed.

— Reducing waste and recycling materials.
— Nurturing healthy soils while reducing fertilizer use.
— Conserving water, energy and topsoil.
— Using integrated pest management to minimize chemical use.
— Reducing stormwater runoff.
— Creating wildlife habitat.

The guide includes river-friendly checklists, plant lists, photos, diagrams, quotes from local environmental and landscape leaders, and a wealth of printed and online resources. There’s even a guide for hiring a river-friendly landscaper. Don’t be dissuaded by the “… for the Landscape Professional” part of the title. If you do your own landscaping and landscape maintenance, this guide’s for you. If you don’t… make sure your landscaper has a copy or visits the website.

If you want your garden to become a healthy refuge for people and wildlife while reducing waste and eliminating pollutants, River-Friendly Landscape Guidelines will show you the steps you need to take.

Click HERE to order your free copy of River-Friendly Landscape Guidelines and Choosing a Landscape Professional.