'•i- 



-J* 



MEMBER PROFILE 



Uncle Tim's Tree Farm 

 and Garden Center 



A Tidy Patchwork of Activities 



The garden center began six 

 years ago. Tim Lucia was a 

 pilot then, working for a com- 

 muter airline operating out of Leba- 

 non airport, eighteen miles away. 

 He always had one of two shifts — 

 five in the morning until one in the 

 afternoon or two in the afternoon 

 until eleven at night. He'd begun a 

 tree farm in 1981. but still had free 

 time in these half-days around the 

 house. He began propagating plants 

 in a lean-to he built off the end of 

 the bam. 



He also built a wagon — an open, 

 flat carriage with oversized wheels, 

 painted it red and added a roof — 

 and set it out on the lawn to use as 

 a frame on which to display hanging 

 baskets. The friendly image began 

 attracting people 



As more people came, more 

 space was required. The Victorian 

 house and barn on a small lot in 

 Canaan's center forms an 'L'-shaped 

 structure; a 14'x44' Ed Person hoop 

 house was set up in the remaining 

 open area. The business continued 

 to grow: he needed a new spot. 



IT'S A GREAT SPOT— L4 acres with 

 300 feet of frontage on Route 4 just 

 west of Canaan. Situated in a dip in 

 the road approached down long 

 curved hills from both directions, it 

 can be seen from a long distance. 



1993 was a big year Tim cleared 

 land (abandoned farmland) at the 

 new location, moved the production 



house from his home, and set the 

 wagon out front. He also stopped 

 piloting and enrolled in the horticul- 

 ture curriculum at UNH's Thompson 

 School. The decisions seem the 

 right ones: Uncle Tim's has contin- 

 ued to grow and today the impres- 

 sion from the hilltops is of an area 

 of unexpected lawn and small bright 

 rectangles. 



In 1994, the 14'x20' main section 

 ("a big dog house"! of the shop was 

 built It's high enough to contain a 

 storage loft (which may become 

 Tim's office) and has a porch (usu- 

 ally filled with hanging plants), but 

 the space, with its checkout counter 

 and product displays, is small. This 

 year, a lb'x20' addition was built, 

 giving a total of 600 square feet. 

 The outside walls (of T-111 vapor 

 barrier! will be clapboarded — the 

 look will be "rustic." 



There are three production 

 houses — a pair of 14'x44' Ed Person 

 houses on the far right and, on the 

 left, a 14x48' single poly cold frame 

 put up last year. (The two smaller 

 houses are coming down — to be re- 

 placed by one 30x60' double poly. 

 "There will be 50% more space, but 

 half the amount of systems " 



The season is traditional — seed 

 (pansies, snaps — and tomatoes to 

 be grown in big pots and promising 

 ripe fruit by Memorial Day! is being 

 germinated on heat mats in mid- 

 lanuary. Rooted geranium cuttings 

 are being grown as well. These go 



into MetroMix in 806s and 4-inch 

 pots. 



Bare-root perennials (they fill the 

 cold frame) and plugs follow in late 

 March. Tim heats with oil; for back- 

 up, he uses Modine propane heaters 



Tim says that an enormous im- 

 provement in quality has occurred 

 since he had his water (from his 

 own well) analyzed, then designed 

 his feeding program (he uses a 

 dosatron) to factor in the water's 

 mineral content. 



Spraying is rare — occasional in- 

 secticidal soap or a heavier spot 

 spray is used when needed. 



Customer tours of the production 

 houses are not encouraged and a 

 28'x24' retail house — as well as out- 

 side benches when the weather is 

 warmer — is used to highlight plant 

 material. 



Eventually, the central panel of 

 the back wall of the retail house 

 will be removed and customers will 

 be able to go through the house 

 into the various gardens behind it 



Perennial beds (most are small — 

 6'x24') illustrate size and color and 

 rate of growth. An herb garden was 

 designed by one of Tim's T-school 

 classmates, Elizabeth Pilly (some of 

 the mints, etc., are in containers 

 used not only to contain growth, but 

 as mobile design elements — to clus- 

 ter in groups in the spring; to use 

 for accent later on) There's a cut- 

 ting garden and a shade garden; a 

 bed of everlastings, another of sun- 



THE PLANTSMAN 



