Gardens Unlimited

[rockm]

Here are some photos of a recent trip to Gardens Unlimited in Ladysmith, Va. These are photos of a very small portion of their trees. I've known the owners for almost 15 years now. They've got some terrific trees...

The Chinese elm in the first courtyard photo is enormous. It's trunk is huge, as big around as a large man. The thing has to stay in place year round, as it can't be lifted without a backhoe. A shelter is built around it in the fall to protect it during the winter.

 

[garywood]

Hey Mark, is this a private garden or commercial nursery? Looks like a terrific place! I get around the country a good bit and would like to see it if it's open to the public.
Wood

 

[chansen]

Hey Mark, is this a private garden or commercial nursery? Looks like a terrific place! I get around the country a good bit and would like to see it if it's open to the public.
Wood

Wood -

They run a specialty landscaping business during the week, and the bonsai nursery is open on Saturdays. I don't know if they do mid-week nursery visits.

It's a nice place, and Bob and Todd have always been kind and inviting folks.

I tried to get there every couple months when I was still living in Virginia. We have friends living in D.C., so I'd do my best to convince my wife to stop on our way up. I miss having a bonsai nursery in relatively close proximity to where I live.

 

[garywood]

Thanks Christian
Wood

 

[rockm]

One more of their cork bark pines...

The nursery is commercial--open to the public on Saturdays 10 -5. It's also the HQ for Rappahannock Bonsai Club. Classes and meetings are held on premises. They have two greenhouses--one tropical, the other a "cold" greenhouse for winter storage. There are also rows and rows of stock plants--alot of good shimpaku. They also have Japanese maple, but supplies can vary year to year. Occasionally they have collected stuff, but it's not a constant supply.

I've known the Bob and Todd for quite a while now. I began going to their nursery when it was a tiny operation based 20 miles east of its current location. At the old one you sometimes had to avoid the pit bulls their neighbors allowed to run loose in the woods

They are terrific people to work with and are very good at what they do. Their moneymaker is installing specialty Japanese gardens and Chinese rock gardens in D.C. and Richmond, but they retain their bonsai business because they love it--which shows in the quality of their trees.

The nursery is well off the beaten path, but just west of I95 about mid-way between Richmond, Va. and D.C.

 

[snobird]

One of the best setups I have ever seen. That's what mine will look like if Lady Luck smiles on me.