Clear Ridge Nursery, Inc.

05/25/2026

Clear Ridge Nursery will be closed Monday, May 25, 2026 in honor of Memorial Day. We will reopen Tuesday 5/26 at 7:30 am!

05/22/2026

We love a good before and after!

05/18/2026

05/15/2026

The Chokecherry is changing from green to purple and it's MAGIC! Our 20 gallon are SO GOOD folks.
We have been selling out of chokecherry for the past three seasons and upped our 2026 production. Don't sleep on these beauties! Why have they been so popular with our clients, and why should you have this tree on your radar?

🌿Striking foliage! Leaves emerge green and turn a gorgeous purple in spring.
🌿Smaller understory tree (20 – 30 feet) can fit in almost anywhere!
🌿Fast growth rate for those of us who don't like to wait...
🌿Lovely form which stands out even in winter -- Chokecherry is also quite hardy!
🌿Significant benefits to wildlife! A food plant, habitat, watershed protection, and promotes species diversity.
🌿Do not plant near animal pastures

05/14/2026

Viburnum dentatum is bursting into bloom this week around the nursery! This is an easy, multi-stem, rounded shrub with plentiful, erect stems & dark green foliage that grow in a loose, rounded habit up to 10’ tall. This plant produces white flowers in late spring which form into dark blue/black berries (“drupes”) which are beloved by gamebirds, songbirds and small mammals. The foliage turns a variety of colors in the fall, from yellow to beautiful shades of oranges and wine-red.

05/12/2026

A peek behind the curtain at a small part of our *super simple* irrigation manifold. We have an irrigation crew who check lines 7 days a week to ensure every tree on site is receiving the proper amount of water for the species (a lot to keep track of with over 170,000 trees and shrubs in production!). This season we added a state of the art injector that will help to keep our lines clean -- We can use it for so much more in the future - Excited to put it to good use!

05/11/2026

Amelanchier laevis (Allegheny Serviceberry) is our Tree of the Week! Our crop is looking SO GORGEOUS! This is a smaller-sized understory tree – Typically growing 15 – 25’ though they will occasionally grow larger. The slightly fragrant, showy white 5-petaled blooms are symbolic of renewal and new beginnings, and the flowers (which bloomed in early April here at the Nursery) give way to small edible berries which ripen in June and resemble blueberries in color, size and taste. This tree has a lot of nicknames – Juneberry, saskatoon, shadbush, sugarplum, wild plum and wild pear among others. The leaves are finely-toothed and are a dark green when mature, turning red-orange in fall.

Serviceberry flowers are considered "perfect" meaning they are self-fertile, and can produce fruit with just one tree -- though planting multiple trees, especially of different species, can lead to a higher yield of berries. Serviceberry prefer moist, acidic and well-drained soil -- It will tolerate a range of soil types but won't be happy in a drought.

This season we will be collecting seed from our laevis crop (as well as a couple of others) - If you have any interest, please feel free to reach out to be added to our wait-list!

05/07/2026

There is nothing like a nice soft drenching rain! The Amelanchier is looking *especially* gorgeous this week.

05/04/2026

This week we are featuring the Black Willow as our Tree of the Week...It is the largest of the North American willows with a wide range. It is a fast-growing tree – easily getting to 60’ or higher. The black willow prefers moist-to-wet soils that do not dry out, and is ideal for stream beds and ponds, helping to prevent erosion. It is a host plant for Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and many other butterflies – songbirds and specialized bees are also attracted to this tree.

Fun fact – While willow is a "light weighted" hardwood, when you drive a nail into it, it will not split.

05/01/2026

With the wild spring we've been seeing, we had to take some extra steps with certain species to make sure they stay happy. River Birch (Betula nigra) is not a sensitive species by any stretch, however when it is newly potted up out fresh out of the refer and all of a sudden we see multiple 90 degree days, its not ideal. So 6 - 8 weeks in a greenhouse clothed in shade cloth was a perfect solution! We won't talk about having to remove the shade cloth to close the greenhouse when the temps dipped to 27 -- 🙃
Let's not forget about sweet Ruby who is now about 9 months old, still very much a puppy (but nailing sit!). She keeps us very entertained (busy) and we recently learned she can run the length of the nursery *almost* as fast as the deer on the other side of the deer fence 🤪

04/30/2026

We love to see Native trees planted for the next generation to enjoy for many many years to come! Great work Mother Seton School, Emmitsburg, MD !