Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
We offer 4% of your purchases over the year in store credit, redeemable September through March. Sign up on our website or with your cashier at checkout. All we need is a name and phone number. If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter you can provide your email as well.
Yes! We are open all year 9-5 daily with the exception of our winter holiday where we close our doors so that our staff is able to be home with their families (and houseplants!) from Christmas Eve through New Years Day.
We sell all kinds of things! We still offer a good selection of landscape plant material for those epic June-uary projects. We also carry herbs, microgreens and sprouting materials for the gardener struggling with being stuck indoors. We have lots of gifts for any occasion.
Not as a blanketed policy. We only buy plants from trusted vendors who we have long standing relationships with so that we can personally guarantee the quality. What we can’t guarantee is your care, mother nature and especially pests. We are experienced gardeners who can offer you advice every step of the way to help you be successful with the plants you buy from us. If you start to see your plant’s health decline, don’t hesitate to contact us, we will be happy to guide you. In some circumstances we will offer replacement plants. Contact a manager if you feel this should apply to you.
If you return the same or next-day with a receipt or rewards account history, and pass a plant inspection, you may be permitted to return it for store credit. However, we discourage returns to ensure the quality of our plants to all customers. We care deeply about the quality of our material. They are diligently cared for and on specific watering schedules. Once a plant leaves the nursery for more than a day, we no longer have control over their environment and cannot confirm that the plant is healthy enough to return to the nursery or be sold to another customer.
We are happy to store orders for up to two weeks with the exception of shade plants. Due to limited shade areas on the property we can only store small shade orders for 1-2 days.
Yes we do! Often relying on our sister company Aspen Landscape Development to handle plantings of large trees that are not in containers but rather the root ball is balled and burlapped. This typically requires heavy machinery to maneuver the heavy tree from the truck to the planting site. We will do the scheduling and act as liaison between you and Aspen.
Yes, but on a case by case basis. We have a plant request list where you can leave your information on and we will let you know if and when the special order is possible. We must juggle plant availability, weather conditions, trucking schedules, order minimums and many other factors before we can guarantee your plant’s arrival to Moonfire.
Yes! We have a nice selection of mature trees at all times. Some of these trees will come in a large container or be nested in the ground because their root ball is balled and burlapped. The balled and burlapped trees are best transported in a tow trailer due to weight and require use of our tractor to load them.
We only sell our soil and amendments in bags. We offer a discount of a dollar off of each bag when you buy 5 or more of any soil or amendment. You can even mix and match.
No.
Only if they are Santucci Turf pallets. Fill out our form inside when you come to drop them off.
We gladly take back pots that you have bought at Moonfire and are in a reusable condition.
Gardening Questions
Much of Bend is 6b which is hardy to -10 to -5 degrees. To be on the safe side, we only carry plants (outside of our annual greenhouses) that are at least zone hardy to 5 so that we can all be confident knowing that we only send hardy plants out the door into your garden. If you live further south in Sunriver and La Pine it is safer to choose plants that are hardy to zone 4 and even 3 from our selection of plants.
We start bringing in our spring material as early as February and March. For in-season delivery schedules we are at the mercy of our vendors but you can count on us bringing in fresh material throughout the week every week .
Annuals need to be replaced every year whereas perennials will come back year after year with proper care.
Most bedding plants are annuals. They are planted in flower beds to create an instant impact of color pop. Usually achieved in mass plantings. The most common are impatiens, marigolds, petunias and pansies.
Yes and no. There will not be one plant that will bloom for you all year long. The way to achieve having a garden with blooms all season long requires making sure that you plant an assortment of plants with varying bloom times. See our bee-utiful bloom guide for a list of plants that will provide blooms spring through fall. Filling in with bedding plants and other annuals will make additional impact in the beauty and bloom factor of your garden. For middle of winter blooms, hellebores are a wonderful perennial that actually bloom in January and February right out there in the snow. Planting bulbs like tulip, daffodil and crocus in the fall will ensure early spring blooms when it’s still too cold for hardy perennials or bedding plants.
It’s important to really watch your garden throughout the day in the spring as well as the summer before jumping into a landscape design. As the days get longer and the sun begins to move north, the exposure of your garden will change. If your garden gets 6 or more hours of direct sunlight (especially if during the afternoon hours) then you want to shop for full sun plants. If it gets less than 6 hours a day and very little of that in the afternoon then partial sun plants are for you. If your garden only gets filtered light and an hour or less of direct sunlight early in the day then a shade garden is what you have. We have created sections in the nursery to help you find the selection of plants that will work for your garden. Ask any team member for further assistance.
You want to plant these bulbs (and a few other spring bloomers) in the fall. They require the process of stratification, or prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, to produce quality blooms.
You can still plant your bulbs mid winter or early spring for blooms the following spring. Likely foliage will sprout up from the bulb this season but no blooms since they missed the opportunity of stratification.
Yes you can. The key is watering. Especially in the fall and winter since your plant can’t access ground water. Any plant above ground is more susceptible to freezing temperatures damaging their roots. The best practice to protect them is to be sure to water ahead of freezing temperatures especially when there has been no precipitation. If you are going to keep a shrub or tree in a pot you want to be sure to choose a small or dwarf variety. Keeping a large tree in a pot will not restrict it’s size. That is a myth. Placing your pot on top of a paver or pot feet is the best practice for keeping your pot safe from cracking in the winter.
Some seeds should be started indoors while others need to be seeded directly into the ground later in the season. We happily refer customers to OSU’s Extension Service’s Vegetable Garden Calendar for start times and practices.
Only Mother Nature can tell you the exact day each year it will be safe to do that and so far she has never returned our texts when we ask each year. Joking aside, you are waiting for 60 degree nights consistently before you can safely plant your tomato outside. Even then, because there is often late frosts here in Central Oregon you want to arm your tomatoes with the frost protecting tools they need. Wall of waters are a great insulation tool you can deploy at the time of planting even when we are at ideal temperatures. Frost cloth is an absolute must have tool for all gardeners in the high desert. Nothing helps you sleep better at night than knowing your tomato is in cozy town with a wall of water and a frost cloth deployed.
You want to wait for the seedling to grow it’s second set of leaves. These leaves are called the true leaves. At that time you want to start using a liquid fertilizer that you add to water. That way the plant can take it up faster than it would with a slow release granular fertilizer. At the nursery we water with plain water 4 times and then fertilize on the 5th watering.
Seed potatoes should be planted in the spring. They should be ready to harvest mid to late summer into the fall.
Garlic bulbs should be planted in the fall. They should be ready to harvest in the late spring early summer.
Spider plants, pothos, snake plants and zz plants are a few options that are particularly easy to take care of. These are great choices for a variety of beginners with different care tendencies.
Tree Questions
Once you’ve chosen an appropriate location for your tree, dig a hole up to twice the size of the root ball or container. Mix planting compost and soil building conditioner into that dirt pile that you dug up to achieve a blend that is made up of about 1/3 of each; compost, conditioner and native soil. Next add a fertilizer to the bottom of the hole. Set your tree in the hole. Make sure that your tree trunk will not be buried any more than it was in the original container and that you wont now have a mound by not digging the hole deep enough. If the tree is planted in the ground at the same level it was in the pot then you are almost done! Fill the hole back in with your mixture and water it in! 2 gallons is the perfect amount. For more information, see our tree planting guide.
While water requirements vary due to tree and location, generally, newly planted trees need about 6 gallons a week. This should be doled out in 3 waterings. Keep in mind that watering in the summer or during a heatwave you will likely need to increase your watering program to add in one extra day. Hand-watering in the fall and winter when irrigation is turned off is imperative for the survival of your tree.
Yes and no. Pines will shed old needles just as we do skin cells. Pines with dead needles in their “armpits” is a good sign of heath and natural rejuvenation. Yellowing or dead needles at the tips of branches is a sign of stress. Usually resulting from transplant shock if it’s a newly planted tree. This can be treated with success by adding a B1 supplement to water a couple of times per week. If the tree has been planted for a while it is likely reflecting a watering issue. Could be from over or under watering. Feel free to stop by with pictures to have one of our team members assist you with your remedy efforts.
You can plant any time that you can get a shovel in the ground! So basically so long as the ground isn’t frozen. It’s best to avoid planting during severe weather events (such as heatwaves) as this will only stress your tree (and you) out further. When planting in the fall be especially mindful of establishing a regular watering program that continues after your irrigation is turned off. Fall plantings that do not get proper watering throughout the fall are especially susceptible to dehydration which usually results in not making it successfully through the winter.
Yes we can! In fact, we offer the biggest selection of Japanese Maples in Bend. They are all zone hardy to Bend and Redmond areas with a range of mature size and growth habit. Check out our Japanese Maple Guide for descriptions of the varieties we brought in this year.
Yes they do but require being moved inside the house or a heated greenhouse during the cold months. Citrus is very worthwhile to grow for experienced gardeners who know how to manage pests. Citrus are notorious for the attraction of spider mites. Spider mites are a very destructive pest to any plant. Preventative treatment with neem oil is highly recommended while the tree is being kept indoors. Being mindful of bees when treating your plant during the growing season when it’s back outside is important. Feel free to stop in and chat with a veteran employee about your citrus interests/endeavors.
Deer/Pest Questions
There is truly no plant that is “deer proof” if we are being honest. If a deer is hungry enough they will eat things they usually wouldn’t. Fawn especially are adventurous eaters. There is a good selection of plants that in our experience the deer seem to leave alone. Ask any of our team members while you are visiting the nursery to point these plants out.
The very best thing you can do to keep the deer from eating your plants is to provide a physical barrier. Whether that is with a permanent structure like a fence or temporary using chicken wire or deer netting, that is the very best option to keep deer out. If you are unable to provide a physical barrier the next option is using deer spray on your plants. It is not harmful to plants, people or pets. It is mostly comprised of egg solids and essential oils. We sell a variety of brands with varying smells that keep the deer moving along. If you find that a brand you have been using is no longer effective consider alternating between two brands.