At Tripple Brook Farm we strive to make our gardens as productive, attractive, and interesting as possible - and to supply plants to help others do the same with their gardens. We are a small nursery, but we work diligently to make the best use of the resources available to us.

We currently offer about 500 species of plants for sale. Some of these are commonly available from other commercial sources, while others are harder to find. All, we feel, have something to offer. Many of the plants which we list are natives (meaning, for our purposes, native to some portion of eastern and central North America, east of the Rockies.) There are certainly multitudes of exotic plants which can enrich our gardens and lives, and we do offer many exotics for sale. We feel, however, that there is much to be said for getting to know and to cultivate the plants native to our region. Native plants are available in a great range of sizes, shapes, appearances, flower color and time, fragrances, and other characteristics. There is a wide range of adaptation among natives to various soil, light, moisture, and climate conditions. Many native plants produce edible fruits or other edibles for people and wildlife. Many native species are well suited for use as ground covers, hedge or screen plants, water garden plants, rock garden plants, or for other uses. Some natives are very showy, while the appeal of others is more subtle. Overall, native plants have not received nearly as much attention as horticultural subjects as they deserve, and many desirable natives are virtually unknown in cultivation. For these reasons we have, of late, been actively adding to our collection of native plant species. This emphasis on natives is reflected in our plant offerings, especially in the new additions.

The plants which we list here are mostly propagated in our nursery, or collected from carefully managed wild stands on the farm. Our objective is to acquire plants from other sources just for the purpose of establishing foundation stock.

In the process of learning to manage our gardens in the way that will yield the greatest benefits, we have grappled with the question of whether to use chemical herbicides and pesticides. We minimize the use of herbicides. Wherever possible, we control weeds with a combination of ground cover plants, mulches, mowers and string trimmers, hand weeding, heat pasteurization of soil, and boiling hot water dispensed from a portable tank. We feel that the ultimate solution to the weed control problem is to carpet every square foot of potential weed habitat with suitable ground cover plants, and to use mulches in the occasional situation where this is not feasible. We regard the other methods of weed control mentioned above as means to help us establish ground covers wherever possible, and we are actively working in that direction.. For pest control, we rely chiefly on biological controls, with occasional recourse to non-toxic oil spray. The diverse mix of plants which we grow apparently helps to maintain a healthy ecological balance, and we normally have very little trouble with plant pests.

We sincerely hope you will find that we offer plant species which will fit into your landscaping plans, and we hope that you will enjoy the process of acquiring new plants and learning to use them in your landscape as much as we do.

Sincerely,
Stephen Breyer and the Staff at Tripple Brook Farm