Mission of Hope

Just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that Santa is a special friend of Mission of Hope and will have a barrel at the Reindeer Festival this weekend to collect donations. The organiation is running a little behind this year and they really need your help! If you click on the link to the site you can find out what items are needed. Here's some information directly from their website:

This year, more than ever, we need your Help!

With the cooler days and coming of Fall, our thoughts begin to focus on our less fortunate neighbors in rural Appalachia and how we can help them this Christmas season. Most of us are blessed every day with warm homes, warm clothes, plenty of food, and employment to provide for our needs. There are thousands of people living just a short drive from Knoxville that are struggling to provide even the basic necessities for their children from day to day. Most of these people want to work and provide for their families in the way many of us take for granted. However, this is an area of extreme poverty with few available jobs and many needs.

This will be the 14th year for our Christmas Campaign. The first year in 1996, we were able to provide for 150 children; and last year over 16,000 children and their families were assisted with food, new clothing, hygiene items, new toys and more. Our 2009 Christmas Campaign Blue Barrel Collections begin on Friday, November 20 and continue through Monday, December 7.

Reindeer Festival

We are so excited to present Creekside Nurseries & Hardscapes' 3rd Annual Reindeer Festival this weekend, Saturday and Sunday from noon - 4 each day. If you haven't had a chance to come to one of our reindeer festivals then you are really missing out!!! First off, we have real live reindeer from the North Pole! What could be cooler than that? Two of Santa's elves accompany the reindeer and answer any questions you may have. You can look at, and pet, the reindeer while they are here.

We will have refreshments for everyone, and of course, beautiful trees and Christmas decorations. Oh, I almost forgot....A big jolly guy named SANTA will be there, too!!!

If you have any questions, please give us a call at the nursery at 692-0052.

Fa La La La La....what!?!?!

No, no, no, no....it can't be...Christmas? Around the corner? No WAY!!! There must be a mistake! Well, just in case I'm not dreaming...we are getting ready for the Reindeer Festival! I've been trying to upload our poster to Blogger, but Blogger doesn't like me today. I'll just have to give you the information for now.

The reindeer will be at the nursery the first weekend in December from noon-4 on Saturday AND Sunday. Santa will be there, too. As soon as Blogger is in a better mood I will post the flyer and some pictures from last year.

Boo Says...

It's Boo's favorite time of the year, and she wants everyone to come down and visit her! She also wants me to post a few pictures of some of the goodies we have right now. So, without further ado...here are Boo's specials:

Doesn't everyone love pansies? We have some great ones again this year. These are all locally grown from area farmers. Don't be fooled by those little bitty blooms at the big box retailers from some other state!! Our flats are $14 each with a 10% discount for blog readers and Facebook followers. Just let us know when you are checking out.

The mums are really going fast this year, so hurry down to pick some of these up. You KNOW the orange ones go first...

 

This set of Jack-o-Lantern boxes are made by an East Tennessee artist, and 

we are the only place in Knoxville you can get them. They were previously carried at Southern

 Market in Bearden, and we were lucky enough to get them this year. You don't have to worry about your neighbors having the same decorations (unless I'm your neighbor, 'cause I REALLY want these!!) They are made by the same artist who created our wildly popular birdhouses from this spring. These boxes each have a lightbulb so you can plug them in at night for that extra scary feel!!!! They are $135 for the set of 3. The tallest one is about 3 feet tall and the shortest one is about 1 foot tall. For more information give me a call at 692-0052. I only have one set left right now so CALL if you are interested. If more people want a set I may be able to order some more if I call her today or tomorrow. Don't wait!

Here's the birdfeeder that matches the birdhouses we carry. Aren't these cute? These are $38 and we also have 2 larger sizes that for some reason I didn't get pictures of (what is wrong with me?!?) Anyway, I'll get some more pictures and have those up soon. If you really want to see those, shoot me an email and I'll get you some personal pictures, or stop by the nursery to see everything! I've also got some cute Halloween signs made by the same artist. I'll get pictures of those posted, too. Blogger seems to be giving me some problems right now, so I'll post those later, although I am going to try to go ahead and get the pictures up on Facebook, so go look there!!!

Thanks for coming and looking around. Hope to hear from you soon!!!

Could Fall be Here?

Yeah fall!! I'm so glad it's finally here. I was starting to think we weren't going to get a fall this year. I've heard it might be a little warm tomorrow, but we should have a REAL fall weekend complete with rainy weather. I feel a big pot of white chicken chili coming on...yummy!!! 

We got some more pumpkins yesterday so if you've stopped by and couldn't find what you wanted, be sure to stop by again this weekend.  We also got some more decorations in so stop by to check those out as well. If you've been waiting for some new birdhouses, you need to stop by and see what we got in. I've taken some pictures and will try to get them online tomorrow. We got houses, feeders (big and small) and even a set of "jack-o-lantern houses" that are just incredible (you better hurry on the "jack-o-lantern houses" because I'm thinking of taking them home with me because they are so cute!!!

Oh, I almost forgot...here's a great fireplace we completed recently. Wouldn't this be nice to have in your backyard during the cool fall nights? Give us a call at 692-0052 and we can come out and give you a custom quote.

Got Maintenance?

Fall is about to kick into gear and a lot of us are going to be doing some serious yardwork (including mulching). Don't you wish there was a way to keep from getting that big mulch bill twice a year? Well, now there is...sign up with a yearly maintenance contract with Creekside Nurseries & Hardscapes. When you sign a yearly yard maintenance contract with us we take ALL of your yearly yard work; including mowing, weeding, leaf removal, mulch installation...you create your own contract; and we divide it into 12 monthly payments. Each contract is individually designed so that you can be as detailed as you want. 

What's even better? Sign up through the end of October and for the next year you will get 20% off in stock plants and shrubs at the nursery. You even get preferred appointments in the Spring and Fall for mulch installation. 

Refer a friend or your neighborhood association and get additional discounts! 

Call us today at 692-0052 and get signed up. We only have a limited number of slots available so hurry!!!

Trying to Sell Your House?

Let us help with the staging! Check out this great blog post from a California designer about using plants to help with layering the look of your home. 

Did you know I started out working on the INSIDE of homes? Give us a call and let us help you stage your home.

**Photo from http://browndesigninc.typepad.com/brown_design_blog/

Our New Space

Many of you know by now that we are going to be getting a new office. My favorite thing about this space is that it is SO big we will be able to actually have some INDOOR retail space. Here's what I need to know....what do YOU want to see in that space? New accessories for our Kamado Joe Grills? Maybe gift baskets that could be delivered to your friends during holidays and special occasions? How about gift items that you could pick up on the run? Bird seed and houses? Grass seeds and pesticides for your gardens? Or what about fresh-cut flowers? 

Give me some input on this. I need to know...

What's Going on Down There?!?

If you've driven by the nursery over the last few days you might be wondering what the heck is going on? Well, we have gotten rid of our old yucky office!!! YEAH! We are getting a new one in the next few days, and everyone is excited about that. (At this point I would post a picture, but do you really want to see a ppicture of an old dirty trailer???) Now, when we get the new building I will post some pictures of that. We will have offices for everyone, a conference room for client meetings and even some much needed indoor retail space!!!!

The most important thing is that we are still open! We've got plants and shrubs and of course lots and lots of mulch!!

Some people have asked about mums. Don't worry, they are coming soon. It's still just a little hot, so if you go out and get any mums, be prepared to water them...lots. We have lots on order so you'll be able to get all the mums and fall decorations you want. I personally cannot wait to start fall decorations. We will have corn stalks, hay bales, flowers, pumpkins....ok, I have to stop talking about it now because I just LOVE fall. 

Come see us!

Kamado Joe grills are coming!!

Hey guys! Just a quick post to let you know that Creekside Nurseries and Hardscapes is now a dealer for Kamado Joe grills. If you don't know about these great ceramic grills, go to their website and get some more information. I will write some more about them this week.

Give us a call at 692-0052 for more information.

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot...

I was just sitting here looking back at old posts and read the one I wrote in July about the mild weather. Boy, do I miss that. I knew Mother Nature would get us good for that. I just hope we get some of that nice cooler weather back soon. 

We are really getting a lot of hardscape bookings right now. So, if you want an outdoor room before fall you better get on the ball and give us a call!! Our landscape designer and our hardscape designer

are both hard at work getting plans out the door for people. 

In the meantime, here's a picture of a recent patio/fireplace that we did. Doesn't that look like a nice shady place to be hanging out? Wish I was there right now...

A "Just Right" Outdoor Kitchen

Here are some pictures of a recent outdoor kitchen that we did. The client already had the perfect little nook off the back of their house. We did a stacked stone bar, granite countertop, and top-notch stainless appliances. Hope you enjoy this one...

Some More Portfolio Pictures

I put some more pictures on the portfolio tonight. I hope you enjoy.

New Portfolio Pictures

Are These the Dog Days?

Dog Days of Summer? Hey, if that's what this is then I'll take 'em. What a beautiful weekend. Most of my friends spent relaxing nights on patios and decks surrounded by their families. I spent the weekend with a paintbrush in my hand, but more on that later. I sincerely hope everyone got a chance to get out and enjoy the beauitful weather from this past weekend. I would love it if this weather stuck around for a while, but we are in east Tennessee, folks. 

Come down to the nursery and visit us this week. It's so nice and cool and you can take your time looking around. There are still some great flowers and greenery to put in containers or your yard. We also have some great tress and shrubs.

Our Landscape Designer, Lindsay, is on hand to answer questions and help with your choices. You know she can come out to your house and do a custom design for you, right? What a deal! She comes out, for a small fee which can then be taken off the balance of your plant purchase, and does a custom plant plan just for YOUR house. The amount that you save just by putting the right plants in your yard the first time pays for the price of the plan!! 

We hope to see you guys soon!!

Join our Fan Page

Do you guys do Facebook? I thought I was way too old for it. I first got an account because I had teenagers working for me and it was the easiest way to get in touch with them. Isn't that crazy? Well, anyway I started getting friend requests from people I had lost touch with along the way, and soon I was hooked. THEN I discovered something really cool! People were using Facebook as a way to keep people informed about their businesses!! We have quite a few followers on Facebook. I know, it's insane!!! If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, I have created a box where you can become a FAN of Creekside Nurseries & Hardscapes. I started with a "group" page for the nursery but am now switching over to a "fan" page because Favebook seems to be doing more with the fan pages. So become a fan to keep up with all that is going on!

Thanks!!

It's a Sale

We are currently running a sale on the installation of our hardscapes and landscapes. So come down and talk to us to see what we can do for you! If you have a design from us that you haven't installed yet, you can use the sale for that as well. See you soon!!

What a Sweet Hubby I Have...

My sweet husband brought home some beautiful flowers for the front window boxes last night. Isn't he the greatest?

Happy 4th, Come See Us...

I hope everyone is getting ready to have a great 4th of July weekend and to remember what this holiday is all about. Enjoying our freedom is something we are all guilty of taking for granted. Take a few moments to remember what our Founding Fathers wanted for us!

We will be open regular hours on the 4th for all the weekend gardeners who are staying in town on Saturday. We will be closed on Sunday to spend time with our families.

Have a great weekend!

It's the ANNUAL Annual Sale

Come on down this weekend for the ANNUAL Annual Sale!! Get 20% off in stock annuals and 40% off select trees and shrubs! (Sorry, Japanese Maples not included).

Also, ask us how you can get a free firepit!!

We will be here RAIN or shine, so come on down and get some great deals! We hope to see all of our friends and neighbors this weekend.

Remember to support your local retailers. It keeps those dollars in your community!!

Another job

Here are a set of steps we did recently. I love the natural look of these, like you are out in the forest. Let us know if you like these!

Finally, a new post

We've busy so busy at the nursery. Every time I try to put a post up, I get interupted. I finally gave up for a while, but I really wanted to show you guys some pictures of a job down in Rarity Bay. 

Spring Fling is almost here!!

Spring at the Nursery-Part 2

Spring at the Nursery

What's Going On?

Oh my goodness....so much has been going on here. Spring has hit full throttle, and we are trying to keep up. First a note to those of you who need plantings, we are getting to you as fast as we can. The weather last week put everyone in our industry behind, so this week we are working double time trying to get everyone taken care of!!! Please be patient with us! Mother Nature really bit us last week.

I'm going to post a few pictures from around the nursery, then I'm going to tell you about a new addition to the nursery that we are very excited about. Later on this afternoon I hope to post some pictures of the big projects that we have going on....WOW, I've got a lot to do today!!!

So, here's some pictures...

Now for some more news...we are so excited to have a full-time landscape designer on staff here at the nursery. Lindsay Lindsey has joined our staff. She brings a true wealth of wonderful plant knowledge to Creekside. She makes beautiful custom containers, designs full lawns and helps us keep the plants here at the nursery in check. Everyone needs to stop by and say hi to Lindsay. We can't be happier!!!