~ September 1, 2026
As September settles in, the pace on the farm begins to change. The long days of summer maintenance are behind us, and now our work shifts toward preparing for the busy fall season ahead. Inventory is underway, and shortly every tree in the field will be counted and measured. With updated numbers in hand, our team can be ready to help customers tag trees for both fall and spring orders! Completing inventory counts marks the first big step in the seasonal transition: setting the stage for the digging, shipping, and planting to come for the rest of this year. With the fall season on the horizon, be on the lookout for our SGN Canopy Curation packets being emailed out in the coming weeks!
Out in the field, we’re shifting focus to planting our grass strip cover crops, a practice that keeps our soils healthy, resilient, and protected going into winter. We also just planted a fresh crop evergreens in front of the nursery office! We are excited to watch them grow out our windows over the coming years.
August was a busy and fun-filled month for all of us! We kicked off the month with a congressional visit from Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL16) and his staff. We have been in communication with Rep. LaHood’s office for a few years now and really appreciated them accepting our offer to host a field visit. It was an excellent opportunity for our family to share not only about Spring Grove Nursery, but about the other diverse businesses our greater family farm operates together. He came with insightful questions about the green industry, and we were able to share resources from Landscape Illinois and AmericanHort about the scope of our industry, specialty crop production, and diversified agriculture in our district. Rep. LaHood’s district is the 10th top-producing agricultural district in the country, however most of that is attributed to conventional corn and soy production and pumpkins. He shared that he had never visited a tree nursery before, and it opened his eyes to the long-term agricultural planning and struggles existing in the row-crop USDA systems many in our industry are forced to navigate. We felt overall very positive about our visit with Congressman LaHood and think it is important to foster relationships with our elected officials, regardless of party affiliation. We look forward to continuing our conversations about how our representatives can actually represent *US*. These conversations remind us that our work in the fields is part of a larger network of growers, leaders, and community members committed to cultivating a greener future.
Last month we also celebrated the Mazon Sesquicentennial!! We loved seeing everyone in our community come together to celebrate our town history and future, and we were honored to plant the Sesquicentennial American Dream Oak CommuniTree at the park to mark the occasion.
This Fall we have some fun events coming up – whether you’re looking for an exciting book club discussion, relaxing Yoga in the Trees, a local women’s philanthropy group meet-up, or are an Arborist looking for CEUs and a day on the farm, we can’t wait to host you at the nursery!
September is a month of new beginnings, of cooler mornings, shifting leaves, and the first steps into our fall season. We’re grateful for the growth behind us, the work before us, and the community that continues to grow alongside our trees! Let’s GROW!
~ Maggie Thomas Harper
