Field Trip to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum - Waterosity and Scarecrows - Ski-U-Mah!

What's fantastic about having July weather in September is getting out and enjoying it. The Hedberg Marketing Team (Tina, Gail and Angel) journeyed west to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to catch the Waterosity exhibit and learn how to "go green with a splash." Thirteen original exhibits illustrate fresh thinking about people, plants and water. Bringing together the voices of artists, scientists and horticulturalists, "Waterosity" celebrates our most precious resource through thought-provoking and playful installations. Hurry out to Chaska to see it, though, as it closes October 4th!
Blue Thumb created one of the Waterosity exhibits, showing various native plants and how they mitigate storm water runoff by absorbing rainwater through their deep root systems. The display also incorporates metalcraft sculptures. It's located by the permanent permeable pavement exhibit (try saying that five times fast).

While you're there, you can listen to an audio tour on your cell phone to learn more about the exhibit. Hedberg is a Blue Thumb Partner and we're particularly proud of what the group is doing to raise awareness of Clean Water Through Planting. Fact is, 78% of land in Minnesota is privately owned, so it's up to each of us to do our part to protect our waterways. What you do in your yard has an impact near and far.

The Arboretum features more than 1,000 acres of magnificent gardens, model landscapes, and natural areas-from woodlands and wetlands to prairie-with extensive collections of northern-hardy plants. You can walk its 12.5 miles of garden paths and hiking trails, or drive Three-Mile Drive to see gardens and collections. Waterosity displays are scattered throughout the Arboretum, making it a fun activity to spot them all.

Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies has been a supporter of the Arboretum for years, and on our way through the grounds we came upon a series of stone wall segments. Being true stone nerds, we had to stop and investigate, and to our delight we found that our company had helped sponsor the display. We've also helped build ponds and waterfalls at the Arboretum, and we look forward to many future collaborations.

We found a lot of stone used in walls, steps and pathways winding through glorious gardens with bright flowers, bees and people enjoying a perfect autumn day.

Did I mention the scarecrows? We're not talking Oz type straw fellows. There are many to find, including a Golden Gopher in the garden. These are our favorites.

Finally, it's apple harvest season. Be sure to stop by the nearby Apple House and get yourself a fresh picked peck or two of Minnesota apples. Yum!

Stone – Not Just for Outside Any More!

Today's guest blog is submitted by Gail Schaal, Events & Promotions Coordinator at Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies. Fresh off the Parade of Home(SM) Tour, Gail was inspired by the use of stone for interior decorating.

Is it time to redecorate your living room or family room walls, or for that matter, your bathroom or kitchen walls? Most people would think their only choices would be to paint or wallpaper with maybe a little tile thrown in there, too. Today’s growing trend, however, is decorating interior walls with stone.

Want not only your fireplace to be the focal point of your family room but the entire wall? Easy!

Want a kitchen backsplash with the texture, style and uniqueness of stone? Easy!

Want to create the brick wall loft look? Easy!

All of the above interior designs are made possible by using thin veneer – a cladding of stone under 2” thick. Thin veneer can be natural stone (the real stuff quarried from the earth but cut thin - ¾” - 1 ¼” thick) or a manufactured thin veneer (sometimes called cultured stone) - which is a combination of concrete and aggregates - colored with iron oxide pigments and cast in molds – to give the look of real stone.

Now matter how you look at it – Thin is in!
This is why:

COST Thin veneer is light in weight which makes it faster and easier to install. Generally, your mason can install thin veneer in as much as half the time of full veneer. Also because it is thinner, it weighs less and your freight cost savings can be substantial – approximately three times more of it can be shipped per truckload based on legal limits – than full veneer.

VERSATILITY Thin veneer can be installed without a brick/stone foundation ledge making it especially good for remodeling projects. Simply said - no footings are necessary. In general terms, you’ve got your sheetrocked walls, metal lath is installed – using galvanized nails or screws, a mortar scratch coat is applied, and then the thin veneer is installed. Thin veneer can be used as an accent wall, kitchen backsplash, wine cellars, columns, flooring, bathroom walls and much more.

BENEFITS You’ve brought the elegance of stone into your home, it’s virtually maintenance free and it will look great forever! Additional benefits can be sound dampening effects, extra fire protection and increased value to your home.


With all that being said, nothing gets a point across better than actual photos. Here are some of my favorites! You can see more here.

Hopefully, I’ve gotten you excited about the possibilities of stone for interior use.

At Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies stone showrooms – one on Highway 36 in Stillwater and one in Plymouth off Highway 169, you’ll experience floor to ceiling displays of local natural stone from quarries in Minnesota and Wisconsin and varieties that come from across the United States. We also carry stone from foreign countries plus several premier lines of manufactured stone. Our Naturally Affordable™ stone is real stone priced as economically as the manufactured kind. Your options are all covered at Hedberg! For more ideas, log on to our web site – hedbergrocks.com, stop in at one of our showrooms, or give me a call or e-mail. I will send you a CD filled with stone installation beauty shots. My direct dial is (763) 392-5920; my e-mail is gails@hedbergaggregates.com.

Bogs, Ponds and Waterfalls - Oh My!

Earlier this spring, I spent a couple days learning how to build a bog/pond and a bog/pondless waterfall alongside a dozen amazing contractors. Led by one of the premier Certified Aquascape Contractor (CAC) pond builders in the state, Glenn Koppin of Aqua Par Lifestyles, we soaked up tips and techniques for building beautiful, natural-looking backyard water features. Water is essential to life, and I propse that it's an essential part of a satisfying outdoor living area. The critters like the habitat, we like the sounds and sight.

You may not automatically equate the word "bog" with "beautiful" but I'm here to tell you in the case of the water features local contractors are building, it's true. It's the most natural look and provides the best filtration. The way a bog and pond or pondless system works differs from a standard artificial pond in the way it delivers filtration. In a standard pond that we build, water is drawn by a pump up from a basin and pushed up through a filter mat, over a biofalls and either directly into a pond or down a waterfall or stream back into the basin. This provides circulation and filtration. It can, however, look artificial. Perhaps you've seen installations that look like water basically cascading out of a rock pile. A bog filters the water by drawing it down through layers of gravel in the lower basin and pumping it back up through layers of gravel in an upper basin. The effect is subtle and delightful, like a spring-fed stream. Beneficial bacteria that adhere to the rocks and gravel provide superior filtration. Many swimming ponds use bog filtration because of the greater volume such a system can accommodate. I prefer it for its aesthetic appeal. You can be very creative with a bog.

Maintenance is easier, too. In a typical installation you have one pump to remove in the winter. There are no nets or filters to clean. With a pondless system, where the stream mysteriously disappears into an area of rock or permeable pavers, you don't have winter or spring pond prep. You can turn a waterfall on and off, too, without harming your system. You can plant beautiful flowers alongside the stream and in shallow depressions. You can even create small areas for goldfish and water plants.

I have the perfect spot picked out in my yard - just off the stone patio I built on Mother's Day. I can't wait to create a lovely bog and pondless waterfall and immerse myself (pun intended) in the great hobby of water gardening. Of course, I'll be getting all my supplies and plants at Hedberg's Aquatic Addiction pond shop.

If you want to learn more about this growing hobby, visit http://www.watergardening.com/, the best online community for water garden enthusiasts. Happy ponding!

twincitieslive.com - TCL's New Patio!

twincitieslive.com - TCL's New Patio!

Here it is, the patio Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies and the Parade of Home(sm) created for Channel 5.

Check out a couple more segments they've aired from the patio this summer.

Wolfgang Puck cooks on the Hedberg Outdoor Kitchen

Your Perfect Patio (featuring Damon Roth and Steve Hedberg)

Birth of a Television Patio

What could be finer on a Minnesota summer afternoon than being outdoors on a patio? Producers at 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ TWIN CITIES LIVE (TCL) got a major upgrade to their set this season with the addition of an outdoor living space created by Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies and the Parade of Homes(sm) with help from a cadre of partners. It's an incredible paver patio with a fabulous grill island, fireplace, comfortable gathering area, and plantings that are the perfect backdrop to many of TCL’s lifestyle features. You can see its debut on TCL here.

How it came about: TCL producers went to the folks at Parade of Homes(sm), who asked Hedberg to help. We, in turn, asked our suppliers for product donations and enlisted some of the finest contractors we know to build it (see credits at the end of this post). The patio design by Dustin Kaercher knocked their socks off. It took just two meetings to finalize a plan that would provide functional and comfortable interview, demonstration and cooking areas and show off some of the latest trends in outdoor living.

Original Rock Designs started the build in May by covering plain whitewashed cinderblock with lathe in preparation for teriffic masonry work. You'll notice what a difference the transformation makes in subsequent photos. It doesn't look like the same place.

Tier One Landscape tore out a concrete slab and some asphalt and based a 22' x 17' area in the KSTP parking lot just outside the studio doors. It seemed like a small area, but Dustin's design packed in a lot of features without making it feel crowded.

Tier One installed a two-level Anchor Britton paver patio, Anchor Highland columns, an accent boulder from Mesabi Natural Stone and an Aquascape bubbling rock water feature. Original Rock Designs built the outdoor fireplace and Calise Outdoor Kitchens built the grill island.

Halla Nursery did the plantings and Priemier Fence installed the privacy fence, which not only secures the area but gives it definition and a cozy warmth.

I asked Steve Hedberg, founder of Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies, why it was important to build a patio for TCL. He said he wanted to provide a comfortable environment for TCL hosts and guests that would inspire viewers to create their own outdoor living spaces.

"A well-designed patio brings families together throughout the seasons, which is why outdoor living spaces are the latest trend in home improvement,” Steve said. “In this part of the country we are cooped up all winter and can’t wait to spend time outside, to make the most of Minnesota summers. What better way than in your own outdoor living room?”

Exactly. Let's get outside and enjoy these glorious days while we can, before we're in the cruel clutches of winter again.

We also designed the patio with the environment in mind. We used a sustainable landscaping model that included locally-sourced (produced within 500 miles of the Twin Cities) and recycled materials. The pavers and wall block from Anchor Block Company contain recycled fly ash and are manufactured locally. The masonry veneer was manufactured in Wisconsin by Buechel Stone Corporation. These materials are extremely durable and will not require replacement or refinishing over time. The accent boulder is recycled “overburden” waste from the Iron Range mining activities and supplied by Mesabi Natural Stone in Hoyt Lakes. The plantings, from Halla Nursery, are mostly low-maintenance and native to the region.

It was exciting hanging out at the 5 Eyewitness News/Twin Cities Live studios and being involved in the birth of a patio! Here's a shout out to our partners, who helped conceive, incubate and go through many days of labor to make it happen:

Parade of HomesSM (co-creator)

Tier One Landscapes (landscape installation)
Original Rock Design (masonry installation)
Buechel Stone Corporation (masonry veneer)
Anchor Block Company (pavers and wall block)
Mesabi Natural Stone (accent boulder)
Premier Fence (privacy fence)
Calise Outdoor Kitchens (grill island)
Aquascape Inc. (water feature)
Halla Nursery (planting)

Confessions of a Do-It-Yourself Landscaper

Mom has always wanted a flagstone patio. For Mother's Day this year I decided to build her one.

Since I'm Mom, this means I agreed to build my own patio. If you remember from a previous post, our landscaping is proceeding in project installments. This phase, a scenic overlook at the top of the hill, is an extension of the paver patio and stone steps below.

To start, I marked out the walkway extension and an 8-foot diameter circle with spray paint, then selected a blend of flagstone at Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies Plymouth yard (where I work) and had a ton of class 2 base delivered in a bag (see photo below). I integrated pavers and flagstone leftover from the first phase project for design continuity.

Here's what a one-ton bag of gravel looks like. The delivery driver placed it exactly where I indicated and it was out of the way of our vehicles for the duration of the build.

Landscape Tip: if you want a project to turn out perfectly, hire a professional. Since I believe that only God makes things that are perfect, I can tolerate certain imperfections in my work.

Here are the tools I used.

Here are the tools I wanted.

Two other essential items: sunscreen and music. At my DIY pace of work, I was out in the sun a long time, so UV protection was imperative. Same thing with music. A lively beat from my iPod kept me going between water breaks with minimal fatigue. My theme song during excavation was "If Dirt Were Dollars" by Don Henley. Seemed appropriate.

I'm not going to give you the directions for how-to-build-a-sidewalk-and-patio here. The steps involved are better learned in person from an installation expert. Instruction is available from a variety of sources, including free DIY classes at Hedberg's Plymouth, Stillwater and Farmington stores. See the 2009 schedule here. It's important to know what you're getting into from a cost, time, tools and labor standpoint before you begin your project.

Mom's flagstone patio project took three weekends to complete. I was sore after my first day of digging and tamping, but my muscles got used to it and I'd like to think it was a good workout. The end result may not be wildly impressive to others, but we really like it. And in the end, that's what counts. Your satisfaction with your project.

I'll leave you with these observations on quality outdoor time...

It's Mother's Day morning and the house is quiet. I slip outside in my sweatshirt and jeans and resume digging the circle. The dog supervises from beneath a birch tree that is just starting to leaf out. Squirrels rustle in the ravine behind our shed. Goldenrod Marsh shimmers at the edge of the yard, beyond the cattails that are just now sending green shoots through winter-brown stalks. A family of geese waddles into the yard through a break in the marsh grass. While the fuzzy yellow-gray gosslings peck at the ground, the adult geese keep a wary eye on the dog, who is perfectly content to stay where he is. I pause to watch a pair of egrets swoop over the lawn, stark white against the green. They circle back to the pond and land where I can no longer see them. A juvenille heron perched in a tree in our neighbor's yard rasps his awkward cry. The hush of my shovel cutting through soil joins the robins' songs and cardinals' calls. The morning is perfect.

Naturally Affordable

Today's guest blog is provided by Todd Harris, masonry specialist at Hedberg's Plymouth Masonry showroom.

Stone is a great material to use both on the exterior of your home and the interior. And we're not talking about just the fireplace. There are many stone products that you can use to enhance any room in the house. Stone is a versatile material that can be used on accent walls, backsplashes, wine cellars, columns, flooring, bathroom walls and more. You don't have to spend a lot of money to bring the elegance of stone into your home. It's virtually maintenance free and will look great forever. Talk about sustainable!

So what are your material options? Natural stone or manufactured product. Manufactured (a.k.a. "Cultured") stone is cheaper, right?

Not anymore! Naturally Affordable(TM) stone from Hedberg is real stone that's as economical as the manufactured kind. And it has the very look that manufactured stone aspires to.



Many of the masons we work with prefer working with natural stone because it's genuine stone through and through. Chipping, cutting and breaking doesn't impair the appearance of the natural stone as it would manufactured products. Manufactured products are made of lightweight cement and their surface coloration doesn't carry through the entire block. Natural stone gives designers and installers more flexibility and options.

Hedberg offers a broad selection of stone in its Naturally Affordable line. Over a dozen thin veneer choices and many times that in custom blends give you color, shape and style options to fit any application.


Come visit our showroom at 975 Nathan Lane in Plymouth and see hundreds of examples of stone installations. See how we can naturally enhance your home and increase its value with Affordable Stone. Call me with questions at 612-366-6272.