Notes, Tips and Advice from Pleasant Avenue Nursery

This will be a new section where we offer the most current advice related to the growing of plants, use of products, special sales and just good old advice. Visit this area of our website regularly to get the best high elevation gardening information. Respond to this information by using the email link below. If we get enough input we may start a forum for regular give & take.

Tip #2 3/6/10 - To grow the best flowers and vegetables, fix the soil first.          Be a successful gardener in Chaffee County by starting with the soil. Most of our natural soils, in Chaffee County are a combination of sand, gravel, and rocks and contain very little nutrient and very little organic matter. When building a new garden or refurbishing an old one you need to take a good hard look at the soil. Loosen the soil up with a rototiller or hand dig to fluff it up a bit. Throw out rock that is bigger than 2" diameter and then add 2" of compost over the whole growing area. Till or spade this organic product into the soil as deep as you can. This should be done annually in vegetable and annual flower gardens. This addition of organic matter adds water holding capacity and increases available nutrients. Many types of organic matter are available. We sell bulk compost, and have many bagged composts to choose from. A good organic garden soil can only be built over a period of time, just don't forget to add something each year. Your plants will love you for it.

We want to switch as many customers as we can over to email notification instead of sending post cards. If you want to receive E-mail notification of our sales, send us your address via the E-mail link below and ask to be added to our list. We will never give or sell your email address to anyone.

Jim & Gary Ludwig have owned & operated Pleasant Avenue Nursery for many years, this is what we're about...

Our nursery facility is located in the Arkansas River Valley in the central Colorado mountains. We’ve been growing plants that are adapted to our high desert climate since 1972. Many of the plants that we produce are native plants that occur in Colorado, from 7,000 ft. to 11,000 ft. in elevation. We are a retail and wholesale supplier of plants that can survive in the extremely dry climate of the Southern Rocky Mountains. In Buena Vista, Colorado our elevation is 8000 feet  above sea level (2438 meters) and our average annual moisture is less than 12 inches. At this time we do not have a mail order division, but we would like to invite you to visit our nursery. We're sure you'll find some hardy plants to take home with you.

On February 12th we'll be opening for the season. 

In February and March we will  be open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00-5:00 Closed Sunday and Monday.

Beginning April 5th we will be open 7 days a week.   Monday - Saturday 9:00 to 5:00 and Sundays Noon to 4:00

Store Hours:
February through March Tue-Sat 9:00 to 5:00, Closed Sunday & Monday                                                                April through June - Mon-Sat 9:00 to 5:00, Sundays 12:00 to 4:00
July through October - Tue-Sat 9:00-5:00, Closed Sunday & Monday
Variable hours in November, December, and January

Reach us at:
506 South Pleasant Avenue (See map on contact page)
PO Box 1669
Buena Vista, CO 81211-1669
Phone: 719 395-6955
Fax: 719 395-5718
Email: pan@amigo.net

      Perennials proven to do well in our high elevation climate. We have over 250 varieties available. Check out our list in the "Plant Lists" page. All are grown in Buena Vista so they'll be well adapted to your high elevation site.

This view of Mount Princeton is from our nursery facility!