Local nursery patiently waiting for spring to truly start

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Friday is the eleventh day of spring, but mother nature didn’t get the memo as another winter storm moves through the Dakota News Now viewing area, and the weather is impacting local plant nurseries, as well as other green thumbs.

Oakridge Nursery and Landscaping has been around for 44 years. Co-owner Daemon Coughlin took over for his parents in 2016 and has seen a lot of weird springs.

“There’s been years like this, where we’ve had snow and cold late, and we’ve had a late start. This year is one of the snowier and colder years that I’ve seen. We’re going to be behind a few weeks from normal,” Coughlin said.

For a lot of plants, it’s not recommended to get them into the ground until mother’s day anyway, but Coughlin says the weather is still impacting foot traffic at the nursery.

“They can buy and tag stuff, but they won’t take it to plant it yet. If we get the snow and weather that we’re supposed to get tonight and into tomorrow morning, that might slow people down a little bit if there’s a new coating of snow and it’s windy and cold this weekend,” Coughlin said.

Some things that can be planted right now are trees, shrubs, and bare root items, but that is still a challenge.

“The cold doesn’t bother them, it’s when can you get outside and get a hole dug in the ground,” Coughlin said.

Coughlin wants to remind people that even if the winter blues are getting to you, they won’t last forever.

“It will all work its way out eventually we just got to have a little patience, and we’ll wait for mother nature to cooperate so we can get outside and get stuff done that we want to,” Coughlin said.

If you truly can’t wait for the snow to melt off, there are ways you can fill your need for plants.

“If you want to get that feeling of spring and summer, come out to the greenhouse. We’re full of annuals, house plants, all that stuff. If you want a little bit of green in that house before we can get outside, grab some house plants, succulents, cacti, or something like that just to bring that outside in,” Coughlin said.

Now is also a good time to do some research. Including what kind of plants you want to use if you have a landscaping project up coming, or figuring out what types of trees are allowed if you hope to add one to your boulevard.

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