Katsura Garden

This place is amazing! I have never seen such a great selection of unique trees, shrubs & conifers. The place is simply amazing. I’ve been to many nurseries, I live in the north shore, seen a lot of nurseries in NH & a lot in between me & Katsura & have seen nothing like it. If you are looking for Japanese Maples (never seen so many species in one place) or unique conifers (& I heard a rumor that they might be even more unique next year), this is the place to go! Don’t waste your time anywhere else. I don’t really buy flowers too often, but I’ve seen an amazing selection. John, the owner, is an unbelievably nice gentlemen who was excited to show us around, even some plants out back we wouldn’t have known about. Huge Katsura Japanese Maple… coincidence? Steve, is great! you can usually find him watering the plants, organizing things & just getting things done. Always friendly & eager to help. Both are EXTREMELY knowledgable & experienced. Not like other garden center where you ask a question & they look at the tag to give you an answer. I haven’t stumped them yet. I’m always amazed at how much they know & how quickly they know the answers. They have been there for 15 years I think. I just found them & even though it is an hour away just one way for me, this is my go to nursery. Simply amazing!

Well, let me just say this, if you want to make a thoughtful and well thought out plant choice for your home this is the place to go. John Gallant knows plants, not from just reading books, but from watching them grow and taking care of them for most of his adult life. When i walk through Katsura Gardens i get great inspiration and just have fun seeing the unique choices he has. If you love plants and want to just take a moment and think outside the big box store and support a small business, then come and this small business.

My love affair with Katsura began months before they opened as I drove by each week they were adding new stock. Finally after several months I had a reason to go in… I needed a weeping cherry tree. I went around to the usual places and while they had cherry trees the were not of the quality i was looking for. I did not want a Home Depot tree or something in a 10 gallon container. I want a TREE. Okay. So I drive down to Plymo with the intention of getting a tree. I walk through the nursery and realize there are several different specimens that I would like.
The owner comes to my rescue and careful tells me about the differences between the trees and I make my final deciscion. This is where things take a turn. The owner motions to the help to get a special tree lifting type of machine. The person maneuvers the equipment and snatches the tree up. I am know faced with the problem. I paid for the tree… I think it was over $ 300. The tree is now out of the ground and I can fully see the root ball — it is roughly the size of a VW Beetle. The ask were the truck is and I motion towards my small Toyota Tacoma. The nursery folk ask how I plan on planting the tree and I say off my girlfriend and I will. They laugh and suggest I buy some beer and invite my guy friends over. By this time I am crying on the inside knowing this is going to be a disaster. They are kind enough to give me some very comprehensive planting instructions and wrap it up in landscaping fabric for the journey home.
Fast forward to the planting. It was a disaster. The tree fell off of the ingenious Rube Goldberg contraption I had devised to plant the tree and land on my foot. I was lucky enough to be able to fire up the old Range Rover’s winch and through a series of intricate pulleys winch the huge tree across the lawn to is respective location.
Katsura is a great place to go. They have a lot of specimen trees and Japanese maples, but just be aware that some of the trees are larger then they appear.