December is always bittersweet.  We say goodbye to many of our seasonal workers, but know that we will see them again next year.  While many people in the landscape industry look at winter as a time to slow down, Abby Farms remains consistently busy.

Our container crews have been busily covering nearly 200 hoop houses, including 12 new houses.  Containers plants are consolidated into the hoop houses before they are enclosed. Placing our container plants in hoop houses acts like a mulch bed.  It protects them from the elements, insures excellent survival, and gives us faster flushing plants in the spring.

Field production crews are hard at work digging trees to meet the industry’s demands.  Fields are rarely open for a week before the nutrient management team prepares the field for planting, production team plants the new trees, and a cover crop is planted.

With so many high quality trees, shrubs, and perennials being grown at Abby Farms, take advantage of our early ordering program.  Our product selection team is already setting aside plants pre-sold for the spring planting season.  Contact Doug Miller for more information on this program at DDmiller@abby-farms.com or 301-782-9077.  Even better, contact Doug and stop by for a tour.

The nutrient management team is busily scouting fields looking for overwintering pests, preparing fields, taking soil samples, and applying micronutrient applications where needed.  Field reports are more thoroughly examined with an eye towards prevention.  With our goal to be sustainable, pest prevention and increasing plant health are our top priorities.

Our motto of “Pioneering Sustainable Horticulture” has caught the eye of several media outlets.  Look for us in an upcoming issue of American Farm.