Frequently Asked Questions About Our Garden Center

Valley View Farms FAQs

Does Valley View Farms provide soil tests?

Yes, we do. Soil testing is a free service available in our garden shop.  Bring in a coffee can sample of soil taken from the surface down to about 6 “. We will test it while you wait or shop, to determine the pH of your soil. Optimum pH levels differ for various plants. Our staff will make recommendations based on the results, suggesting soil amendments as needed.

Soil tests and plant diagnosis in our garden shop

 What hot peppers do you carry?

Valley View Farms carries over 35 peppers, with about 20 hot peppers in the mix, including some of the hottest peppers in the world. Ancho, Big Jim, Cayenne, Cherry Red Hot, Cubanelle, Garden Salsa, Hot Portugal, Hungarian Yellow Wax, Jalapeno, Pepperoncini, Serrano, Super Chili, Tabasco, and Thai Hot can be found in our pepper aisle from mid-April through May. In addition, we have Trinidad Hot Peppers including Chocolate Congo, Purple Coffee, Orange Explosion, Red Trinidad, Yellow Trinidad and Scorpion. We also carry both the Red and Yellow Ghost Peppers. All of our peppers are grown from seed in our own greenhouses in Hydes, MD and shipped daily to our store.

One of our Trinidad pepper plants out in the garden

 

What rose varieties do you carry?

Valley View Farms’ roses arrive in mid-April. We carry over 100 varieties. We won’t attempt to list each and every one. We do carry hybrid tea, floribunda, multiflora, miniature, climbing and shrub roses. David Austin, the popular Knockout, Drift, Star and Weeks are some of the brand names available in our nursery. Our buyer, Alan Thomson, seeks out the best growers in our region to sell in our nursery.

Do you sell fish and pond supplies?

Yes. We added our water garden department over 20 years ago. Stop in to see pond liners, pumps, filtration systems, fish, tadpoles, water lilies, marginal plants and everything you need to create a pond in your landscape. Our staff, including manager Tim McQuaid, is very knowledgeable. They would love to share their expertise with water garden enthusiasts. Check with them for pond services as well, including cleaning and installation.


Koi and other fish are available Spring, Summer and Fall

 

Display pond in our water garden area

What tools do you have to identify plant disease and insect problems?

We have a microscope attached to a computer monitor that allows our customers and our garden shop staff the ability to see problem pests and diseases up close. Our staff is trained in many Integrated Pest Management practices and is able to provide accurate information to keep your garden healthy. Stop by and talk with Brian Brannan, Ryan Gilmore, Scott Anderson, and other personnel for any questions you may have.

Ryan using microscope to diagnose plant problem

 

What perennials are best suited for Central Maryland?

Our perennial manager, Andy Shelley, goes to area perennial growers every week to identify the best plants for our gardens. With over a thousand choices, our perennial sales people and our signs will help gardeners decide which plants are best for their particular location. Scores of Hostas, Ferns, Astilbes, Heucheras, and other plants are available for shady spots. Echinaceas, Lilies, Peonies, Iris, Ornamental Grasses and other sun-loving plants are also displayed. In addition, rock garden, groundcover and other specialty perennials are featured in our perennial department.

Rudbeckia fulgida

 

What plants and flowers are best for attracting butterflies?

Butterflies are attracted to two types of plants, those that they use as host plants and others that are attractive because of their nectar. We have a wonderful handout naming many of the annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs that fill this gardening niche. In addition, we have put a butterfly garden in our water garden area. Asclepias, Lantana, Pentas, Echinacea, Parsley, Agastache, Butterfly Bush and many, many other plants are attractive to butterflies. In addition to our handout, Valley View Farms has a butterfly icon on the many annual, perennial, herb and tree and shrub signs that are located throughout our 10 acre property.

Do you sell native plants?

Yes. Our native plants are displayed with other ornamental perennials, trees and shrubs. We use the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife Habitat and Conservation, Chesapeake Bay Watershed   list as our guide. A copy of the list is located in our perennial sales area. It is also available to download at www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/chesapeake

Which tomato plant do I choose?

Good question! With over three dozen varieties to choose from, making a decision to choose just one is tough. We carry old standards like Rutgers and Big Boy, our all-round favorite, Celebrity, Cherry, Grape, Plum, Pineapple and Plum types, and lots of heirloom varieties. Some do fantastic in pots, others do best in the garden.  Let us help you choose the one (bet you can’t pick just one!), that will have the best taste, performance, disease resistance or any other characteristic you’re looking for.


Our staff learns from the master---Billy Foard in his tomato garden

I love to entertain. Do you carry outdoor furniture?

Yes. Stop inside our store and see our patio department. John Hessler purchases deep bench seating, bistro sets, large dining table and chair sets, garden benches, hammocks, umbrellas, and accessories. Relatively new is the conversation table with a propane fire pit, great for entertaining outside in the evening. John has a large number of cushions, colors and styles available and can also custom order for our customers.

When does your fabulous Christmas Shop open?

Our Christmas Shop is usually completed by mid-October. We start putting it up in late August, decorating each of the over 100 trees.  Customers are welcome to browse through the shop as we are setting it up.

Donna Steele talks about the Christmas Shop with WBAL TV

 

 

The Baltimore Sun Article on Impatiens

Susan Reimer, Baltimore Sun columnist, wrote a great article on what garden centers and gardeners can expect to find in lieu of impatiens this season. Click on the link to learn more about the Downey Mildew that has affected this most popular shade annual.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-03-20/features/bs-ae-impatiens-mildew-20130320_1_impatiens-margery-daughtrey-garden-centers

New Guinea Impatiens will replace regular impatiens in gardens throughout the mid-Atlantic. Here they are growing in shade at Penn State's Landisville Plant Trials

Impatiens Update





Many varieties of begonias will be substituted for impatiens in gardens throughout our region

The New York Times joined The Baltimore Sun and other major newspapers by running a column
devoted to Impatiens Downey Mildew. In the article, our own Ruth Engel is quoted, talking about our best selling shade plant. The article goes on to offer alternatives for impatiens. Click on the link below to read the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/garden/a-mold-devastates-impatiens.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

As we ready ourselves for our busiest month of plant sales, our staff is putting together displays, handouts and signs to help gardeners make good, sound choices for shady plants. And, I readily admit that is has been fun to look at all the different annuals, perennials, tropicals and houseplants that have stepped up to the limelight. We are going to see some awesome gardens and container plantings this spring!

Made for the Shade---Alternatives for Impatiens

Impatiens has been the go-to plant for many of our shade gardens for years.

 So, it is with regret that we announce that Valley View Farms will not grow or sell Impatiens walleriana in 2013. The impatiens in the United States have been affected with a disease called Downey Mildew. While impatiens has been our number one seller in our plant department for years, we are not comfortable selling a plant that had severe problems in our customers' gardens last year. We will be offering alternatives and plenty of advice on what to plant in shade. We urge you to trust us and take some time from planting what we call 'regular' impatiens, until we are once again sure that the plant is free of disease.
We are sure that there are questions. We will answer some that have been asked already this season.

My impatiens did have issues last year. How do I know that it was Downey Mildew?

Here are some before and after photos of impatiens in beds affected by the disease.

 

 

 

 It really took off when we had some cool, wet nights in late spring and early summer. Areas impacted the hardest were in deep shade, planted densely in low spots. We visited some of our customers' gardens in midsummer to view their gardens. One of them had been planted with 300 plants, only to have them die  in mid-summer.

Impatiens planted in containers seemed to hold out a little longer but most had succombed to the disease eventually.

Is there a way to prevent Downey Mildew from infectng plants? I hate to give up on impatiens.

Not really. There is a spray available to growers that will prevent the disease for a few weeks. The chemical is not available to consumers, so any additional prevention is tough.

I have noticed that many shopping centers, malls and other corporate accounts use impatiens. Will they have to switch to alternative plants as well?

Yes. We've spoken to some of the large landscape companies. They will be planting alternate crops like begonias, caladiums and New Guinea impatiens in 2013.

Okay, so what else will work in my garden?

There are scores of alternative plants. In a way, having this challenge will get many gardeners to experiment with some new things. As one of our friends with Ball Seed, the largest horticultural company in the world, said, "Let's add some drama to the shade garden." The sky's the limit on other plants to consider for shade.
Our greenhouse staff visits regional trial gardens to view and evaluate plants that would do well in gardens in our area. Pictured below are pots of New Guinea Impatiens growing in shade. They were beautiful!

And, here are some other plants that will do well in part-shade to shady areas.

Begonia Baby Wing
Begonia Dragon Wing

Wax leaf Begonias
Bonfire Begonias

Begonia heimalis ---VVF grows over 10 colors!

Browallia

Caladium---7 varieties grown by VVF, bulbs offered through our garden shop

Coleus Wizard Series

Coleus Sunloving (They like shade too!)

Dichondra Silver Falls

Hypoestes

Lobelia

Lysimachia

New Guinea Impatiens

Sunpatiens
Fanfare Impatiens
Perilla

Torenia

Lots of other annuals will do well with 4 or more hours of sun. Allow our staff to show you the many choices available for your gardens and potted plants.

And, our perennial sales area is also a great place to find plenty of foliage and color for shade. Take a look at hostas, ferns,

 heucheras, hellebores, dicentra, brunnera, mertensias, astilbes and an entire aisle dedicated to shade perennials.

Tropical plants can add real drama to the garden as well. Look for shade-grown hibiscus, mandevilla, peace lilies, palm trees, ferns, crotons, and a all sorts of other plants to add to containers and garden beds.

We know that impatiens have been our go-to shade plant for years. We also know that, as a company, you've come to trust us. We are united with you to find alternatives to impatiens for shady gardens. We hope to see impatiens back in a few years, but we think that taking some time off from our favorite annual might be the best way to fight Impatiens Downey Mildew.

Maybe, in a few years, our grower, John, will be growing impatiens again for Valley View Farms and our gardening customers.

March Gardening To Do List

The unpredictable weather in March reminds us that Spring is coming. Now is the time to get a head start on our spring garden preparations. Here are some projects to begin, in no particular order.

• Bring in your soil for a free pH test. Our garden shop will test your soil free of charge to help determine if the soil needs to be adjusted to allow more nutrients to be available to plants.
• Be careful of not to work in wet soil. Compacted soil does not allow air to reach the root zone of the plants.
• Early spring is a great time to reseed and over seed the lawn. Choose a good mixture including turf-type tall fescues for good results. We carry a full line of Jonathan Green grass seed and lawn fertilizers.
• Control winter weeds like chickweed, nettle and henbit with an herbicide labeled for use in the lawn and garden. Wait until temperatures warm a bit for the best control.
• As air temperatures start to warm up and perennials start to emerge from dormancy, pull back protective mulches, including leaves, to allow plants to grow.
• Plant onion sets, pea seeds, and asparagus and horseradish roots in March.
• March is a good time to plant fruit trees, berries and grapes as soon as the soil is workable.
• Get tools cleaned up and ready for work. Sharpen pruners, loppers and lawn mower blades.
• Invest in a good thermometer and rain gauge. Keep a journal of weather and gardening events.
• Start feeding houseplants lightly. Our greenhouse staff, a bunch of plant geeks, love Monty's Joy Juice.
• Cut back butterfly bushes and ornamental grasses now.
• Pickup one of our Vegetable Gardening Guides. This free handout provides planting dates, fertilization recommendations, and gardening tips for a slew of vegetable transplants.
• Choose flower and vegetable seeds early for the best selection. Take a look at our wide assortment of wildflower seeds as well. Now is also a good time to get transplants started indoors.
• Clean leaves out of the pond and restart the pump. 
•  Pull marginal plants in the pond back up to their spring shelves along the water gardens edge.
• Clean statuary and fountains.
• Attend some gardening seminars. See our upcoming events for a current list of lawn, vegetable and ornamental gardening classes.

Enjoy this time of year. Do some planning, some dreaming and get ready to get a good start in the garden with the help of the aforementioned tips. For more timely tips, visit The Maryland Home and Garden Information Center website.

Fruits and Berries are Here!

Last Thursday, we recieved our first tree delivery of the new year.

 Our nursery personnel unloaded all sorts of fruit trees and berry bushes. Blueberries, figs, grapes, blackberries, raspberries, Chinese chestnuts, peaches, pears, apricots, persimmons, paw paws, apples, plums, nectarines and some fruits that don't come to mind have been unloaded, signed and organized in our nursery. I spoke to two of the guys that work in that department, and they seemed pretty excited about the delivery.

Scott Carbone mentioned the new Saturn Donut Dwarf Peach. I've seen these at the fresh markets, but haven't tried any yet. According to information from Hollybrook Orchards, one of our growers, and Mother Earth News, they have a very sweet white flesh, aren't too fuzzy, and pit removal is easy. They are prolific bloomers and set about twice the fruit as an average peach tree. Sounds like a wonderful addition to the home orchard.

Jack Quinn mentioned the hardy figs. Most of us know the variety Brown Turkey, but we're becoming familiar with Celeste, Italian Everbearing and Peter's Honey Fig.  All of them may need some protection from winter wind and cold. The extra effort is worth the promise of a good harvest of delectable fruits.

Last year saw the introduction of a new blueberry called Pink Lemonade. The bush blooms pink in the spring, bears firm, pink berries in the summer and has attractive orange-red foliage in the fall. I hear this plant is as ornamental as the fruit is delicious.

Most of the trees we recieved this week are dwarf or semi-dwarf, making them ideal for the average yard. Many can also be cultivated in pots. All are tagged and signed to make selecting the perfect fruit tree or berry plant easy.

All in the Family

Valley View Farms is a locally owned family business. Father/son business partners Bill and Andy Foard own and operate our garden center, now in our 51st year. Family ties are strong here. Scores of couples have met and married after working together in the store. Brothers, sisters, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins, neices, nephews and other family members have worked side by side for 2-3 generations. While looking through our personnel listing recently, I noticed several instances of moms or dads working with sons or daughters. Here are  some of them.

Bill and Andy Foard

Billy and Andy run the business together. Both are keen with numbers. Andy has a special knack for display and leads most of the construction projects at the store and our farm greenhouses.

Timothy and Dad, Tim McQuaid
 

Tim McQuaid is Valley View's store manager. He also runs our water garden department. Son Timothy is a customer helper, performing an assortment of duties to aid our guests at the store.

Tom Piampi works as a postman full-time and in our garden shop on evenings and weekends. Tom's wife, Sharon, is a receptionist in our office. Son Nick has worked in both our water garden and nursery departments.

Dotty Zajac specializes in vegetable gardening in the spring, moving to the Christmas shop in the fall to keep things organized there. Daughter Suzanne Barton works with plants most of the year. Both help our garden shop with pricing and set-up in the winter.

Bonnie and Ryan Smith

Bonnie Smith works in our office, keeping tabs on purchase orders in our system. She helps out in other areas when business warrants it. Son Ryan aids in pond installation and cleaning for our water garden department.

Michael Glants in our long time mechanic. If it breaks, he fixes it. Daughter Michele is a cashier, working in other areeas as needed.

John James works part-time in our garden shop, helping customers with any questions they may have about their gardens. Son Ethan works in our water garden department, assisting folks with ponds and fountains.

Mary Beth works in several departments, including the Christmas and garden shops. Daughter Laura works with customers as a cashier and a customer helper.

Joy, Valerie, Colleen and Grace Harlan

Valerie Harlan met and married her husband, Jim while working at Valley View Farms. Jim has moved on; all 5 of the Harlan kids have worked here. Currently, Valerie works in the Christmas Shop with her daughter, Colleen. Both do an outstanding job decorating Christmas trees. Daughters Joy and Grace work as cashiers and receptionists.