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Who rakes fallen leaves in a forest? The answer: Nobody. They just fall to the forest floor and decompose. This decomposing organic material is called humus or duff. As they decompose, the fallen leaves return organic matter to the soil to be used by the plants. This is nature’s compost.Letting leaves decompose naturally in the landscape isn’t practical. They fall on the lawn, in planting beds and even swimming pools and gutters.. Instead, most people rake them up, or blow them into piles. And they get rid of them by the most expedient means. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction in which you live, you may bag leaves and put them at the curb or you may be able to just rake or blow them to the curb and the town will pick them up.When the town comes around with a giant vacuum and sucks leaves into a truck, chances are they will be taken to a municipal composting facility and piled into windrows. Windrows are long piles of leaves left out in the weather to decompose. Because the windrows generate heat, they are turned periodically. This not only keeps them from catching fire but also evens out the decomposition process.When the leaves are completely composted, the municipality uses the material to add organic matter to the soil in parks and other public gardens. If there is any left over, it may be offered to residents. Some municipalities give compost free while others charge a nominal fee. But you have to go to the composting facility and get it. This means your leaves are handled by numerous people before they are returned to you. That hardly fits the definition of sustainability.I suppose that’s OK if you don’t want to be bothered with the turning and other work involved in making compost. However, if you want to really be sustainable, you’ll make your own compost. Cordon off a far corner of your yard, one that isn’t too visible, and build your compost facility there.A compost bin can be built with a little work and some lumber and nails or wire. Just build big boxes to hold the leaves. You’ll be able to work the compost easier if you leave the front off the boxes. You can also buy kits for wood or wire compost bins at home stores or online at garden supply sites. They even have various size plastic bins that you can turn simply by turning a crank.Leaves will compost faster is they’re crushed into small pieces. The most efficient method of crushing them I’ve ever seen was when the host of a TV garden show filled a garbage totter with leaves, donned safety glasses and plunged a string trimmer into the totter like an immersion blender that’s used in the kitchen.When making your own mulch, you’ll need to check the temperature in the middle of the pile and turn it when it gets hot. Turning also allows the leaves to compost evenly so you’ll have nice, dark, finished compost by spring. If you don’t have a composter with a crank tumbler, just use an iron rake.
Has fall cleanup become a scheduled part of your annual landscape activity, or is it hit and miss – you go out and do what needs to be done when you feel like doing it? Fall can be a beautiful season or it can be a depressing season as you look forward to winter. However, the leaves will fall, plants will still need to be winterized and those last fruits and vegetables still need to be harvested. Scheduling the various tasks can take some of the stress off you when the time comes to do the work.Last fall, I posted this list of fall cleanup jobs. Hopefully, you saved it for this year but if you didn’t or are a new reader, here it is again:
• Clean up all trash that has blown on to your property.• Remove dead stems and leaves from perennials and toss them onto the compost pile.• Divide perennials.• Rake, blow or mow fallen leaves for mulch or compost.• Apply grub control if your lawn needs it.• Lower your mower blade to 2”-2 ½” in early October and mow at that height until the end of the season.• Prepare your lawn mower and other power tools for winter storage, following the manufacturers’ instructions.• Put your deck or patio furniture in storage.• Bring your containerized plants indoors or place them in a cold frame for the winter.• Finish harvesting veggies from your vegetable garden.• Apply anti-desiccant to evergreens.• Wrap tender young trees.• Critter proof trees and shrubs.• Mulch trees, shrubs and planting beds.• Fertilize as necessary• Have us inspect your trees and remove any hazards.Fall cleanup has a number of benefits. Your property will look better if we have low snowfall this winter. It will also look tidy in the spring, even before you do your spring cleanup. Cleaning up leaves and papers can protect your lawn from holding too much moisture that can lead to winter fungal diseases. You’ll protect your valuable plants when you winterize those that need extra care, and you’ll protect people and property when we inspect your trees and remove any hazards. And finally, getting out on brisk, fall days and getting some useful exercise will make you feel better about the arrival of winter.
As you begin planning for winter’s cold and the cozy fires you’ll enjoy in your wood stove, fireplace or even your fire pit, I want to remind you of the restrictions on the movement of firewood and the consequences of ignoring those restrictions.
The federal government and many states have quarantines in place to restrict the movement of firewood in and out. Plus, there’s a law that prohibits the movement of any wood 50 miles or more from its origin without a permit. Permits are granted only when a wood dealer or transporter has taken the necessary steps to guarantee that the wood is free from contamination by insects and diseases.There are any number of dangerous insects and diseases that can be imported in wood. That’s how they came to our shores in the first place. They include the emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, gypsy moth, spotted lanternfly, Dutch elm disease, and the list goes on.These pests successfully hitchhike here in or on firewood because they are often invisible to the untrained eye. They may be living inside the wood like the emerald ash borer. Or they may be in egg form like gypsy moth and spotted lanternfly. Once the wood is in your yard, these pests emerge or hatch and go looking for new food sources– i.e. your valuable trees and shrubs and your neighbors’.Any savings that you realized by buying illegal firewood, and a lot more besides, will be lost in having your infested trees and shrubs either treated or removed and replaced. So that perceived saving is only false economy.The answer to the dilemma is simple. Buy firewood only from a reputable dealer. Ask the right questions like where they acquired their firewood. If it’s from the guy down the road with a woodlot, you can either trust that he’s telling the truth. If you don’t trust him or believe he bought it from someone more than 50 miles from his lot, ask to see the paperwork showing that his source had the proper permit to bring firewood into your area.You may consider this attention to detail unnecessary. You may not realize the importance even if I told you how many thousands of trees are lost each year to invasive pests. I certainly hope it doesn’t take a hitchhiking, invasive pest destroying one or more of your valuable, mature trees to drive the seriousness of this problem home.
Many people ask why weeds should be killed in the fall. Some would answer that weeds should be killed anytime they appear. Actually, weeds are starting to disappear in the fall, as do many annual plants. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Not so fast. They may not be seen but these devious characters may have dropped seeds that are lurking in the soil waiting to strike in the spring.Applying a pre-emergent broadleaf weed killer this fall will prevent those latent seeds from germinating next spring. You may ask why this preventive action should be taken now instead of waiting for them to begin growing in the spring and then treat them. For one, pre-emergents are more effective than post-emergents. Secondly, many overwintering weed seeds germinate before the grass breaks dormancy, giving them a head start in the race for soil space and nutrients.
Have you noticed that dandelions appear before the lawn needs its first mowing? By the time you mow for the first time, the dandelions’ first flush of flowers has gone to seed and the wind has distributed them all over your yard. To control them, you’ll need to apply a broadleaf weed killer, or dig them out by hand. Isn’t it better to get them before they even have a chance to germinate?Ideally, spreading a pre and post emergent broadleaf weed killer will rid you of the weeds in your lawn now and those seeds that they dropped to overwinter. The best timing is between flushes of flowers so they don’t drop any more seeds after you’ve made the application.This method is intended for your lawn, not your flower beds. Broadleaf weed killers can’t differentiate between those plants you consider weeds and your beautiful flower plants. The definition of a weed that I use most often is a plant growing where you didn’t plant it and where you don’t want it.For weed infested flower beds,, pulling weeds by hand is the safest control method. The alternative is to spot treat, spraying only each individual weed. This might be a moot point if your flower beds are planted only with annuals. However, some annuals drop seed that lies latent through the winter and germinates in the spring, and you’ll want to protect them. Some people like to retain their spent annuals as foliage plants for as long as they can. You’ll have to use the control measures that are best for your situation.If your flower beds include herbaceous perennials, it’s important that you protect them. Pulling weeds by hand or spot treating are your only options. A helpful hint: Pull weeds when the soil is moist. They are easier to pull and more of the root may comes out.If you don’t have time to weed, our landscape and lawn care professionals would be happy to do it for you.
Few things can lift us from the final weeks of the winter doldrums quite like the first crocus peeking up above the snow. Crocus’s are the opening act for the yellow and white show put on by daffodils. Finally, the featured act takes the stage – the cacophony of color put forth by mass plantings of tulips.
What a let down it can be if that show of spring color fails to appear. But that’s a very real probability if you don’t plant the bulbs this fall. Bulbs have to overwinter in the soil if we want to see flowers next spring. I find that rather interesting because we associate tulips with The Netherlands when they are actually native to Turkey. Daffodils are native to southern Europe, the middle east and North AfricaThese plants may have come from temperate regions of the world but they have adapted well to the cool, northern climate where we live. These perennials have “naturalized,” so we can look forward to them reappearing every year.Garden centers and big box stores are receiving shipments of fresh bulbs. Check their advertising for availability. Some mail order companies are already shipping orders. Bulbs are sold in boxes, bags and bulk. The boxes and bags may have an assortment of colors or a single color. The bulk bulbs will be in bins, each of which contain a specific variety and color bulb.If this is the first time you’ve planted bulbs, some planning is recommended before investing in bulbs. Draw a sketch of the beds in which you’re planning to plant the bulbs. Add dots where you want them to be. Decide whether you want a rainbow of colors, mass planting of a single color or any combination in between. Spacing should be roughly 4 to 6 inches. The spacing depends on the size of the flowers and how tightly you want them to be spaced.The depth at which you plant bulbs depends on the size of the bulb. The rule of thumb is two to three times deeper than the length of the bulb. For tulips that usually means 6 to 8 inches, 3 or 4 inches for daffodils.If you’ve never planted bulbs before, take a good look at them before you start the planting process. There is a top and bottom. The pointy side is the top and the flat, hairy side is the bottom. It’s important that they be oriented correctly when planted.The planting process is quite simple. Thrust a trowel into the spot where you want to plant. Be sure it’s at the correct depth for the bulb you’re planting. Pull the trowel toward yourself to create the hole. Carefully place the bulb in the hole root side (bottom) down. Pull the trowel out and let the soil backfill. Smooth the soil and then water. Don’t fertilize when you plant. Bulbs contain plenty of food to sustain them over the winter and through their spring growth. You can spread some fertilizer, formulated for bulbs, around the surface of existing bulb beds this fall.Selecting and planting spring flowering bulbs can be a fun, family project. Enjoy.
This has been quite a summer. Some people in our area have had healthy, green lawns all summer long while others are parched and dormant from lack of rain. If yours is among the latter, consider giving it a good inspection when it greens up in the next few weeks to see if there’s any damage from summer dormancy.The most obvious areas that need attention are brown patches where the grass failed to green up. This doesn’t indicate any diseases; it just means the grass in those patches wasn’t as hardy as the rest.
Closer inspection may reveal that the turf in other sections of the lawn is thin. You can actually see soil around the grass plants. This is an open invitation for weeds to move in and fill that space.The best fix is to rake out the dead grass with an iron rake. Be careful to get it all out or your next problem could be a build up of thatch. Gather up the dead grass and throw it on the compost pile, where it will decompose quickly.Using your metal rake, rough up the soil. That includes those spots with thin turf. Next, spread fertilizer or compost, followed by seed. Then work the seed into the soil with your rake and finish the task by watering the areas you’ve reseeded. Finally, be sure it receives that important inch of water a week by rain, irrigation or a combination of both.Repairing your lawn now, in the late summer or early fall, will give it plenty of time to become established before winter. Not repairing your lawn in fall opens the door for weeds to make the most of the opportunity you provided. Many of their seeds are lying latent in your soil, and they germinate early in the spring and begin growing before your grass breaks winter dormancy. They will quickly fill in any spaces you left bare. You’ll then have to get rid of the weeds before you can repair the grass in the spring.If this work needs to be done this fall but you can’t fit it into your schedule, we have lawn care professionals who would be more than happy to take the whole job off your shoulders.
Some people say there is no such thing as shade loving plants, only shade tolerant. I beg to differ. If you’ve ever tried to grow hostas or rhododendrons in full sun, you know what I mean. But if you haven’t tried… they don’t grow in full sun. Planting them in full sun is a great example of wrong plant, wrong place.
Many landscapes would be very uninteresting without shade loving plants. There would be no understory plants (those that grow under the canopy of large trees), plants for areas around houses and other buildings that are always in shadow, and even containerized plants that live on a deck or patio under an awning or roof.It would be best if you do your homework to decide what plants you like and sketch the design before going to your garden center. Most people aren’t as familiar with shade loving plants as they are with sun loving plants. So you may need some help when you get to the store.At the garden center, Be sure to:• Check out all the plant material that’s available.• Read the tags for each plant you’re considering. Plant tags always listsunlight requirements on them.• Talk to one of the knowledgeable horticulturists. Share your plans, discussthe plants that you’ve seen in the store that you like, and ask their advice on what plants they would recommend for the location(s) you have in mind. It wouldn’t hurt to take some photos of the locations to give the horticulturist an idea of the conditions. That could influence their recommendations.The photos may also save you another trip to the garden center. If you feel comfortable with your own research and the horticulturist’s recommendations, you can buy the plants, take them home and plant them. If you need more time to think and consider before making a decision, take photos of the plants you’re considering in the store. They’ll help you make your decisions after you get home. If you still can’t decide on the course of action in this unfamiliar territory, turn it over to the pros. Our landscape designers and installation professionals are as experienced at creating shade gardens as they are at full sunlight gardens and anything in between.
Fall is for planting, and fall will soon be upon us. I don’t mean to rush summer away but fall planting conditions actually begin to appear in late August.When making your fall planting plans, may I suggest low maintenance shrubs? After all, your landscape’s main reason for being is to provide you with enjoyment, not work. There aren’t any no-maintenance plants but plenty are low maintenance.
The first step to assuring that a shrub will be low maintenance is to plant the right plant in the right place. Even shrubs sold as low maintenance will be high maintenance if planted in the wrong place. Some of the care needs for low maintenance shrubs include:• Watering. If they don’t get the inch of water a week that they need from rain, they’ll need supplemental watering.• Fertilization, at least when they are young and just getting established.• Annual mulching.When buying your low maintenance shrubs, be sure to read the tag for care instructions. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask one of the garden center horticulturists. They are plant people trained to be sure you are satisfied when you leave the store, and after the plants you bought have matured. Some of the low maintenance characteristics you should look for include...• Disease and insect resistance. You don’t want to constantly be treating them to control insects and diseases.• Making sure they are hardy to our USDA zone 5 climate and that they can tolerate the big swings in weather conditions that we experience.• When fully grown, the shrub has to fit the space allotted for it and it shouldn’t spread beyond its borders so that you have to prune it back every year. Selecting compact varieties of the species you want will reduce the need for frequent pruning. The dwarf blue spruce pictured is a good example.If your idea of low maintenance includes going to work one morning with an empty space in your yard and coming back to a nice, new shrub, our landscape installation professionals can make that happen. They can also advise you on plant selection – which ones are good choices and which trendy new introductions are destined to be in vogue only for a short time. Planting trendy shrubs could make your house look dated when they go out of style in a few years.
After a summer absence, grubs are beginning to feast on the grass roots of our lawns again. But these aren’t the same grubs that dined on your lawn this spring. It’s their children.[caption id="attachment_1213" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Photo Credit: Bruce Watt, University of Maine, Bugwood.org.[/caption]After their spring feast, the grubs pupated, similar to what happens when caterpillars become moths or butterflies. They emerged from the pupa stage as adults in late May and early June, and began flying around looking to mate. You may have seen them. They were big, brown, beetle-like insects, commonly known as June bugs, that may have flown into your windows and patio doors.After mating, the female lays her eggs on the turf. When the grubs hatch, they burrow into the soil and begin eating the grass roots. To check if you have grubs, you can cut 12 inch squares of sod from several locations. Fold it back and see if there are any grubs. They are small, white and crescent shaped.Count the grubs in each test plot. If there are six or fewer, they won’t do enough damage to warrant treatment. If there are more than six, treatment should be considered. Late summer and early fall are the best times to treat for grubs. They are small and weak, and treatment will be more effective. As they gorge themselves with food – your grass roots – they grow bigger and bigger. They will then burrow deeper into the soil to overwinter where it’s warm.When the grubs come back up to the grass root zone in spring to begin feasting again, they will be double or triple the size they were in the fall, and much stronger. They will be better able to resist the control material in the spring.If you don’t want to cut and roll back the sod samples or spread the grub treatment, we have lawn care professionals who will handle the whole task for you.
Sometimes, it seems that our plants are smarter than we are. They take it easy on these hot, summer days while some people spend their summers making landscape work. If there’s nothing to do in the yard, these people pace around, mow the parched, straw-like grass twice a week and still aren’t satisfied.They are lost because there isn’t anything to do for the beloved plants in their landscape. Many plants, like turfgrass, go dormant. Others just slow down their life processes. Your plants would prefer that you do the same, rather than forcing care on them that they don’t need or want. Instead, why not make a nice, cool drink and go sit on your porch, deck or patio and just enjoy your beautiful landscape? This is better for your health and the health of your plants.
If you must do something, keep a diary of weekly rainfall. If it doesn’t total an inch or more, a week, give your plants the supplemental water they need. Today, watering doesn’t have to lead to heat stroke. You can weave a network of soaker hoses through your planting beds to water annuals, perennials, shrubs and even small trees. These porous rubber hoses are made from recycled automobile tires. The water is turned on only a quarter turn, otherwise the pressure can blow the hose apart. Consequently, it takes a considerable amount of time to provide an inch of water. All you need to do, though, is sit in the shade and watch the water ooze out of the hoses.Mature trees seldom need supplemental water. Their extensive root systems find water on their own, even in a drought. Turfgrass watering is your call. Grass has the ability to go dormant when thirsty and then bound back when the rains return. Lawn watering is tiring work and will raise your water bill as high as the temperature.If you must keep busy during the dog days of summer, you can deadhead flowers so the plants will redirect their energy away from making seeds to either making new flowers or energy to store in the roots for winter survival.Mulch may also need your attention. If it looks matted down or depleted, pick a “cool” day and fluff it up using an iron rake. If that doesn’t do it, add some more mulch to bring it up to two or three inches.There’s a good reason why the slow gardening movement had its start in the south. Summers are too hot to be going a mile a minute. Summers are too hot for that here, too. That’s why the best landscaping task you can do in July and early August is nothing.
Plants can make plenty of pollen but many plants have no pollen transportation system. They have no way to get the pollen to female flowers so seeds and, ultimately, new plants can be produced. That’s where pollinators come in.Insects, especially bees and butterflies, and birds, especially hummingbirds, are the major transporters of pollen between plants. I know that, in springtime, some people find their houses and cars covered in yellow pollen. These plants, which depend on the wind to spread their pollen, are few and far between. Most plants depend on the birds and the bees, and the plants reward these pollinators with nice, sweet nectar.
The plummeting number of pollinators is a very real concern today, and property owners are being asked to give nature some help by increasing the pollinator population. This can best be done by providing them with a welcoming environment.Start by watching for pollinators visiting your flowering plants. As they land on flowers in search of nectar, pollen sticks to their feet. They then fly to another plant searching for more nectar and deposit the pollen. If there aren’t plenty of honey bees, butterflies or hummingbirds visiting your plants, it’s time to start shopping for pollinator-attracting plants, beginning with fall blooming plants. Select good varieties of native, flowering plants, and plant them in clumps. Many will have a notation on the nursery tag that they attract pollinators.Native plants are recommended because pollinators aren’t connoisseurs. They have their preferred flowers and don’t deviate or experiment with new food sources. They also don’t like pesticides, so eliminate them wherever possible.It’s also important to include plants preferred by butterfly larvae. These plants may not enhance your flower bed, however. For example, milkweed is the only food monarch butterfly larvae will eat. Not only are the plants unsightly but the larvae eat the leaves and the chewed up leaves will also add to the plants’ unsightliness. So, plant them somewhere inconspicuous. The butterflies will find them.Butterflies and hummingbirds have some additional needs. They need water to drink and bathe in. A birdbath is fine for hummingbirds but it’s too deep for butterflies. They prefer a saucer of water placed on the ground or near to the ground. The US Department of Agriculture Forest Service suggests lightly salting the water.There may not be enough nectar to completely satisfy the whole pollinator population. In that case, put out another saucer of rotting fruit for the butterflies and a hummingbird feeder for the hummingbirds. Garden centers and online garden supply sites have special butterfly plates so you don’t have to use your good china. They also have butterfly houses that you can hang in trees. Don’t worry about shelter for bees. They come from nearby hives.Establishing a pollinator garden will enhance your current landscape while helping to provide habitat for this important group of wildlife. If you prefer our professional expertise, our landscape pros can help you with any aspect or with the entire project.
Landscape design is typically done in winter and spring. That makes it difficult to determine which plants in your current landscape should be kept, moved, or removed and replaced. Images of your landscape now can provide you and your designer with guidelines for planning changes during a snowy winter.
Summer is a good time to take photos of your entire landscape. All plants have leaves and many are in bloom at this time. The photos will show your landscape designer, and remind you, how the landscape looks in season. Take plenty of photos, including close-ups of specimen plants and those flowering, cover shots of each planting bed and long shots from different angles for an overview of the whole property.It would also be nice to identify each plant. The simplest way is to sketch each planting bed and draw a circle for each plant and print the common and the scientific name inside the plant or in the margin with a line connecting the name with the plant. If you don’t know the names, you can select one of our landscape designers for your project now and they can do the photography and plant identification.The thought of having to draw a sketch frightens many people. With digital cameras and photo manipulation, you can actually turn this into a fun project. Hopefully, you’ve saved the nursery tags for each plant. Photograph the plants and take a close-up of the tag and, using your photo manipulation program, put the tag shots into the plant photo as an inset.Even if you aren’t planning to renovate your landscape in the near future, photographing and identifying all the plants is a good idea. You never know when our unpredictable weather will turn ugly and unleash a damaging storm upon us. Should that happen, you’ll have documentation for your insurance and casualty loss claims.Your landscape contributes to the overall value of your home, and each plant has a value of its own, as well as contributing to the overall property value. The value of annuals, perennials and shrubs is based on replacement cost. Lawn value is based on the cost of repair or replacement. Large trees, however, can’t be replaced. Their value has to be determined by a certified arborist using one of several valuation methods. The bottom line is determined by how much damage to the landscape, as well as the house and other structures, reduces the total value of the property.Keeping a photographic inventory of the plants in your landscape, and updating it as the plants grow or your plant palette changes, can be a great resource when needed. But it can also be a fun summer project when the dog days of summer make your green thumb itch.
How did your tulips and daffodils grow this spring? Did they come up the way you planted them or were they more crowded than in previous years? If they were too crowded, you can easily dig the bulbs up, divide them and replant them.[caption id="attachment_1197" align="alignleft" width="225"]
Although less attractive, these leaves shouldn’t be cut off until they turn brown.[/caption]After the plants have completely died back, remove the brown leaves and stems and dig up the bulbs. If you don’t want a random color pattern, it’s best to put each color bulb in a separate container.The bulbs that you dug up may have grown new segments, which are causing the crowding. They will look similar to onions that have grown baby onions off the main bulb or like some houseplants that grow offshoots, aka pups.Rinse the soil off the bulbs and carefully remove the new segments, or offshoots, from the bulbs. They are then ready to replant. Since the new segment will probably produce shorter, smaller flowers than the parent, give some thought to how you want to replant them. Remember, the objective of this exercise is to relieve crowding so they won’t all go back in the same space they came out of.Some points to consider:• Do you care whether the plants are a variety of heights when they grow next spring? If you don’t care, mix some the pups with some parent bulbs when replanting. Otherwise, replant the parents in the original bed and the pups in a new bed.• The parent plant may be a hybrid, which means that the offshoot may look like the parent from which you removed it, or it could look like the other parent, or it could look completely different. Consequently, it could be a completely different color and even a different shape. If you are fine with that possibility, go ahead and plant a mixture of parents and pups in both the old bed and the new bed. If not, plant them in separate beds and see what comes up in the offshoot bed next season.If the summer is hot when you divide the bulbs, label the container(s) with type of plants and their colors and store them in a cool, dry place until the weather cools down. If your weather is consistently cooler than a normal summer where you live, it’s OK to replant now.Plant both the parents and the pups the same way you would plant a new bulb. Plunge a trowel or bulb planter into the soil. Pull the trowel to you or lift up the planter with its plug of soil. Place one bulb in the hole with the hairy, root side down and the pointy side up. Carefully backfill. It’s OK to spread some bulb fertilizer on the ground around the bulb and water it in. Then wait until next spring and see what pops up.
The soil in the Rochester (NY) area is known for its high clay content, and clay isn’t the best soil for lawns. But it’s what we have so we may have to take extra steps to grow healthy grass.Clay soil is very dense and compacts easily, making it difficult for water and oxygen to reach plant roots. It’s difficult for them to penetrate the soil and there are few pockets between soil particles to store water and oxygen. The answer is to aerify.
Aerifying involves pulling plugs of soil out of the ground so that the rest of the soil can “breathe.” The holes where the plugs were provide points of entry for water and oxygen. Eventually the soil spreads out and fills in the aerifying holes as people walk and play on the lawn. However, the soil is still loose enough to provide space for water and oxygen storage. This process may have to be repeated every year or two for a healthy lawn.It’s been suggested that homeowners mow the lawn wearing golf shoes. That’s one of those ideas that’s too good to be true. Golf shoe cleats are too short and thin to penetrate the soil enough to do any good. Professionals use aerifying machines.Core aerators are the most effective, and the type our lawn care professionals use. They have a rotor of hollow tines that are pushed deep into the soil. The tines pull up plugs of soil about an inch in diameter, and deposit them on the lawn surface. The plugs should be left in place to decompose naturally and return their nutrients to the soil.Do-it-yourselfers can rent aerators at rental stores. Be forewarned, however, that they are heavy and difficult to use. Most of our customers who have tried it once turn the job over to our lawn care professionals the next time.Dethatching is often mentioned in the same breath as aerifying. However, they are two different processes. Dethatching is necessary only when dead grass plants become entangled in the turf. A dethatching machine has tines that reach into the turf and pull the dead plants out and lay them on the lawn surface. Contrary to popular belief, thatch is not grass clippings. Grass clippings decompose quickly and return nutrients to the soil. You are doing the lawn a favor when you just let them lay where they fall when you mow.If you don’t know whether your lawn needs aerifying or dethatching, one of our lawn care professionals would by happy to check your lawn and make recommendations for its care.
As we start spending more and more time outdoors, please consider using these items that I call, collectively, an outdoor survival kit.• Wide brimmed hat. I know baseball caps are fashionable and more comfortable than wide brim hats but baseball caps leave your ears and the back of your neck unprotected from the sun's rays. Dermatologists point out that the skin cancer and precancerous lesions they remove now have been a long time in the making. They may have gotten their start when you were a sun worshipping teenager or even younger. Wearing a hat now may stunt their development.• Sunscreen. There's not much that I can add to the media stories and ads about the importance of sunscreen.
Going out in the sun, even overcast sun, without slathering up is tempting fate.• Sunglasses. Besides sun glare being uncomfortable, it also may be contributing to another significant, deferred health problem. Ophthalmologists will tell you that the sun's rays can exacerbate cataracts and macular degeneration. This may not show symptoms until your later years.• Cell phone. You never know when you may need to call for help, regardless of age or physical condition. If you are at an age and in physical condition that you use a medical alert device, take that with you, too.• Long pants and long sleeve shirt. This is predicted to be a banner year for ticks and mosquitoes. The best protection is to wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt when doing yard work. Tuck the pant legs into socks or boots because ticks are ground insects. They don't fly but they can crawl up your pant legs and bite your skin. It's also a good idea to apply a repellant containing the chemical DEET. Covering up will also protect you from the sun.• Water. Hydration is most important when working outdoors. Hydration is a major key to good health. Dehydration can affect your kidneys and your balance. Identify a nice, cool spot in your landscape where you can take frequent rest breaks. Be sure there's plenty of water there so you can rehydrate every time you take a break.Working in our yard should be fun but it can be sheer drudgery if you haven't taken the precautions listed above to protect yourself from the elements – in this case, the sun and harmful insects. The worst part of not protecting yourself from the sun is that problems may not show up for decades.The amount of enjoyment you'll have outdoors this summer will depend on how you approach it. Using everything in your survival kit will help it to be more enjoyable, despite summer heat and humidity.
June and July are the best months in which to prune evergreens. That's when new growth forms. However, like everything in nature, there are no absolutes, no definitive dates to start pruning.New growth forms at the ends of branches. When the new needles or leaves first appear, they are a lighter green than the branches' mature needles or leaves (See Photo). When the new growth is complete, it darkens to the tree or shrub's normal color. This transformation isn't instantaneous. It happens over time.
Pruning is easiest when the new growth is finished elongating but before the color turns. Waiting for the new growth to elongate means you won't have to prune a second time, as you may with early pruning. Pruning before the new growth completely darkens in color will ease the amount of effort you'll have to exert to make each cut.Before you begin pruning, run your fingers over the light green needles and bend the branch. The needles should be nice and soft and the wood soft and pliable. Then check out the mature part of a branch. See how stiff and sharp the needles are and how firm the wood is? Which is the most tiring to cut?As with deciduous trees and shrubs, evergreens also should be pruned to meet pre-identified objectives. Do you want to:• Shape the plant?• Lower its height?• Raise the crown?• Open a vista?The objectives listed above are the same as those for deciduous plants. Use the same approach to pruning evergreen trees as deciduous trees. Turn the job over to our professional arborists. Conifers (cone bearers) can be even more dangerous than deciduous trees for the untrained climber. Their needles are sharper than leaves and their branches are more flexible than a deciduous tree. They also ooze a lot of sap, messing up clothes, skin and tools. The sharp needles can make reaching for the junction of a branch with the trunk very scratchy.Shrubs, on the other hand, are less dangerous but you need to take some of the same precautions as trees. I recommend wearing long sleeves and long pants if you have to reach into the sharp foliage to remove a branch. Be careful removing whole branches so you don't scratch yourself when removing them. Be careful when removing front facing branches that you don't leave a hole in the foliage. Needles don't go all the way in to the main stem(s). Don't leave branch stubs. On the plus side, shrub branch diameters tend to be smaller than tree branches so you can often use loppers and just reach in there and cut.Don't forget that our professional arborists can prune shrubs as well as trees, so you can turn the whole job over to them and not worry about whether you're doing the job safely or correctly.
Entomologists predict that we'll have a bumper crop of dangerous insects this summer. They are referring specifically to ticks and mosquitoes. Both of these insects carry diseases that are dangerous to people.[caption id="attachment_1189" align="alignleft" width="183"]
Photo Credit: Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org[/caption]Lyme disease is carried by deer ticks. While they are called deer ticks, they actually are carried by a number of animals, especially field mice, dogs and cats, who can then transfer the ticks to us. A tick bite looks like a red bulls eye, and usually occurs on the lower body, especially the legs. Lyme disease symptoms begin with fatigue, achy muscles and joints, headaches and swollen lymph nodes. As the disease progresses, symptoms include hearing, vision and memory problems, arthritis and numbness or tingling in your extremities.Ticks tend to hang out in brushy and wooded areas. Many are found along borders with lawns and landscaping. When venturing into those areas, it's recommended that you wear a long sleeve shirt, long pants, socks that are long enough to tuck your pant legs into or boots into which you can tuck your pant legs. Repellents containing DEET are also effective at keeping them away from you. Ticks can't fly but they are great hitchhikers, and they often eat while riding.You should check your pets when they come in from outside. If you see any ticks, remove them. Whether removing ticks from your pets or your own skin, don't squeeze them or try to pull them off by hand. Instead, using a pair of tweezers, grip them as close to the skin as possible and pull slowly upward. Ticks pierce the skin and suck blood. Their mouth parts are barbed so they aren't easy to pull off. Do it very slowly and carefully.In addition to being pesky, mosquitoes carry a variety of diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, West Nile virus and others. If you see mosquitoes flying around or landing on you or your loved ones, dress as you would to repel ticks and use a mosquito repellent.Mosquitoes need standing, or stagnant, water in which to lay their eggs. Remove that and you will be less likely to have a mosquito problem. Stagnant water that attracts mosquitoes ranges from ponds to low spots in your yard that hold water after a rain. Even birdbaths are fair game for breeding mosquitoes. Emptying your birdbath frequently, cleaning it and filling it with fresh water will go a long way toward reducing the mosquito population on your property.Ticks and mosquitoes can ruin your summer, and even your life. But only if you let them. You may have to sacrifice a little comfort by wearing more clothes than you'd like but that's a small price to pay for your life and health.
Spring's spectacular display of color is coming to an end. Granted, later blooming plants will continue to show color to some extent but the green curtain will close on trees and shrubs like dogwoods, cherries, rhododendrons and lilacs. They will now be attractive foliage plants until next spring,.Throughout the winter and spring, I've been advising you to hold off pruning these plants until after they've finished blooming. Otherwise, you could inadvertently remove flower buds. Now it's OK to prune them. But don't prune just because it's OK to do so. Prune for a reason. Professional arborists always approach a pruning job with an objective in mind, and they communicate that objective to their whole crew.Are your trees and shrubs too thick? Then your pruning objective would be to thin them. Does their height need to be reduced? If that's the case, DON'T top or let anybody else top a tree. The result will be a weak, misshapen tree. Professional arborists have techniques for reducing tree height without distorting their shape.Other reasons for pruning may be because the tree or shrub is blocking a view. Shrubs planted in front of a house or too close to a house may grow too tall or spread out too much and block the curbside view of your house. In that case, the size of shrubs can be reduced. We can prune a tree obstructing the view of a house or oncoming traffic near the end of a driveway by removing the lower branches, also known as raising the crown.Pruning broken, hanging, dead, dying or rubbing branches can be done at any time. These branches are creating a hazard for people or property.In many situations, do-it-yourselfers can safely prune shrubs. The same standards apply to pruning shrubs as apply to trees. Don't remove more than a quarter of the foliage at one time. Make cuts only at branch forks or just above leaves. Don't leave stubs. Where feasible, cut branches at the base. Wear long sleeves and long pants. You can get very scratched up reaching into a thick shrub.Tree pruning isn't a do-it-yourself job, especially if you have to leave the ground. Never try to prune from a ladder. Tree limbs are heavier than you think and many of the injuries and deaths resulting from tree pruning are caused by falling branches, so never work above your head.Whether you have shrubs or trees to be pruned, professional arborists have the training, specialized equipment and experience to assess a situation and approach it from the safest perspective.
There are some things to do now to keep your lawn healthy during the long, hot summer. The temperatures are beginning to rise but we don't know how much rain to expect in July. If we don't get at least an inch of rain per week, or if you don't irrigate your lawn, it will turn brown and appear dead.Summer dormancy is nature's way of protecting your lawn. When the rains return and the temperature moderates in late August and early September, your grass will green up again. How much it greens up depends on how healthy the turf was before going dormant.
Before animals like bears hibernate, they binge eat to store the energy they need to sustain them through their hibernation period. Grass plants also need to store energy in their roots to sustain them through their dormancy. If you haven't fertilized your lawn yet this year, it should be done very soon to give the plants enough time to absorb the nutrients from the soil and make the food they need.Weeds, insects and diseases are adventitious organisms. That means they take advantage of weak plants and attack them, rather than get rebuffed by healthy plants. You can reduce the risk of weeds taking advantage of summer dormancy to claim the space now occupied by your weak turfgrass. A broadleaf weed treatment, in combination with fertilization, will reduce this risk.And then there are the grubs that seem to enjoy our climate. If you are experiencing big, brown insects flying around and banging into your windows, European chafer or Japanese beetle adult grubs (many call these June bugs) are flying around looking for mates. Once they lay their eggs in your turf, the next generation of grubs will begin eating the roots, unless the roots are tough and strong.I'll remind you in a couple of months when it's time to check your turf for grubs. Now it's prevention time, which can be done by making sure your turf is tough.You don't have to worry about turfgrass diseases at this time, unless we have a summer of torrential downpours, which is unlikely.If you don't want to be bothered with the responsibility of making sure your turfgrass is healthy all year long, you can still sign up for a Birchcrest lawn care program. We'll start treating immediately, before summer dormancy sets in. And, we'll adjust the cost to reflect those early season treatments that were missed.
Planting annuals is a time-honored rite of spring. It might be the final transition from winter into the growing season.Before embarking on this annual tradition, be sure winter has actually taken its leave. Check long range weather forecasts to be sure no frosts or freezes are expected in May. There's a reason why Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of the planting season in the Rochester, NY area.
Once satisfied that we're done with freezing temperatures, it's time for a trip to your garden center. Before you go, make a planting plan so you don't over buy or under buy. With a plan, you can begin planting as soon as you get home, and you can involve the whole family with everyone following a single plan.Prepare the planting beds by tilling or turning the soil and raking it smooth. Then mix in compost or fertilizer. This can be done before you go to buy the plants.When you bring the plants home, lay them out in the bed according to your plan. This will allow you to move them around if you want to make changes after seeing them in place. When satisfied, dig holes twice as big around as the root ball but only as deep as the root ball. Remove the plants from the pots or six packs and stand them up in the holes, backfill, mulch and water. Since these plants are small, you will probably not need more than two inches of mulch.If we have a dry summer, you'll have to water your annuals. They should receive at least an inch of water a week. You will also want to deadhead as needed. Deadheading is removing dead flowers before they go to seed. That way, energy will be directed to growing new flowers instead of dropping seeds. When your annuals have stopped growing flowers, it's time to change them out. Hopefully, the flowers will keep coming until the end of summer. Then you can change them out for fall flowers like mums.All annuals don't have to be planted in the ground. Some can be planted in decorative containers. The containerized plants can be placed around your deck or patio to supplement the colorful flowers that you planted in the ground. If you have physical limitations that keep you from kneeling, you can place containerized annuals in your planting beds instead of planting annuals in the ground.You can buy the plants in nursery pots, rather than little six packs, and slip the nursery pot into your decorative container. If you want to reduce the amount of weight you have to carry, you can first place the decorative container where you want to display the flowers and then slip the nursery pot into it. You can also plant annuals from a six pack into repurposed nursery pots and place them into decorative containers. When planting annuals in containers, be sure to use potting mix, not native soil from your garden.The benefits of containerized annuals include not having to kneel, easy handling and the ability to move your annuals around during the growing season. The biggest downside is that they may have to be watered more often and they are more vulnerable to the elements because the roots are more exposed than those planted in the ground.If you'd like to enjoy the color and fragrance that beds of flowering annuals provide but don't want to select and plant them, we have landscape professionals who would be happy to perform those tasks.
Our lawns are planted with cool weather grasses but even these grasses have their breaking point. Extended cold, wet periods can be especially bad for turfgrass. Rejuvenating winter damaged lawns is relatively easy, though.The first thing to do is check to be sure the grass is dry enough to support your weight and that you don't leave footprints. When that day comes, rake the lawn with an iron rake to remove any dead grass. Dead grass may be the result of winter fungal diseases, leaves left on the grass that matted and retained too much moisture under them, or just some genetically weak grass.
While raking, replace snow plow divots (if your contractor hasn't done it yet) just as you would lay sod. Rough up the bare spots and lay the divots in place, walk on them to press them into the roughed up soil and water them.If your raking revealed small bare spots, they will probably fill in as the grass greens up and begins growing. Large spots will have to be reseeded. If raking thinned out the turf, you may want to overseed just to thicken the whole lawn. As you raked, you roughened up the soil. To overseed, spread fertilizer, compost or other organic matter. Then spread grass seed, rake it into the soil and water.If you don't have to overseed or seed bare spots, this would be a good time for pre-emergent crasbgrass killer. This prevents crabgrass seeds from germinating. But it can also prevent grass seeds from germinating. The time between applying pre-emergent and a safe time to plant grass is 6 to 8 weeks. This means holding off the grass seeding until after Memorial Day.Do you typically have a bad crabgrass problem? If so, it might be better to apply the pre-emergent now and seed after Memorial Day. If crabgrass isn't a pressing issue, consider seeding now and hoping that the grass comes in thick enough to act as nature's crabgrass preventer.As soon as broadleaf weeds like dandelions begin appearing, they should be treated with a post emergent weed treatment or pulled before they get a good foothold. These weeds are best treated after they emerge rather than before.You can eliminate all the work and worry associated with lawn care all season long with a lawn care program. Our lawn care professionals will take care of all these chores at just the right time.
Fountains and water features are designed into landscapes to provide soothing calmness and tranquility during the spring, summer and fall seasons. In winter, however, they have to be winterized to protect them. I have some helpful advice for transitioning your water feature from winter hibernation to summer pleasure.Water features are different in each landscape. They range from simple, self-contained fountains to elaborate
creations, from simple waterfalls to sizeable koi ponds. Some people choose to hire professionals to winterize and summarize their water features, while others prefer to do it themselves.For the DIYer, I suggest that you...• Wait until the chance of a frost or freeze has passed.• Inspect the pump, clean it and apply any necessary lubrication. Check the manufacturer's maintenance instructions.• Clean filters, spillways, vinyl liners and any man made surfaces.• Reconnect the plumbing.• Add water to the fountain or pond as needed.• Make sure everything is primed that has to be primed.• Turn on the water.• Check for leaks.• Add any necessary chemicals.• Return any plants or animals that spent the winter elsewhere.A water feature can be a landscape's crowning touch. It complements the plants by adding an auditory dimension to the landscape's visual appeal. I hope you're able to dedicate no more than a day to preparing your water feature for the forthcoming season so you can enjoy it with little or no stress.
Soon, tiny green insects may begin flying around your ash tree(s). That could mean the beginning of the end for the tree(s). Or their decline may already have begun.These tiny insects are the dreaded emerald ash borers (EAB) in their adult stage. It's flight is a mating flight to begin the next generation of destruction to stately ash trees. After mating, the adults will die, but not before laying eggs on the nearest ash tree.[caption id="attachment_950" align="alignleft" width="250"]
Photo: Howard Russell, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org[/caption]The adult females will carve small indentations in the tree bark and lay an egg in each indentation. This will continue until she has laid her 60-100 eggs. When the larvae hatch, they immediately begin boring into the tree and start feasting on the phloem (food made through photosynthesis and the vessels that distribute it throughout the tree). The feast continues all through the year and, sometimes into a second year. After pupating inside the tree, they emerge as adults and begin the reproductive process.The infestation begins high up in the tree and progresses down with successive generations. As a result, it's difficult for the untrained eye to detect an infestation until dieback begins. Our arborists can climb to the top of the tree and look for the adults' small "D" shaped exit holes.If your ash tree(s) are infested, annual treatment may help them survive. If your trees are still healthy, we should apply a preventive treatment immediately and reapply it every two years. Treatment for this small but extremely damaging pest is not a do-it-yourself project. The most effective treatment/preventive is injected directly into the trunk of the tree at a concentration available only to certified pesticide applicators. Trees that have lost no more than a quarter of their crown to the emerald ash borer can be treated with a good prognosis. Those with more damage should be removed.The cost and the need to repeat the application every year or two may seem like a substantial investment. However, a number of treatment or preventive applications can be made for the cost of removing a large, dead ash tree and replacing it with a new tree. And, this doesn't even include the aesthetic loss, the loss of value to your property, and possible loss of understory landscaping because of their loss of shade.
Banks won't close; government offices and schools won't close. But Friday, April 26, is a holiday. Most school children will learn about Arbor Day. Many will even bring home a seedling in a paper cup to be planted in your yard.
Arbor day was first observed in 1885. In the 104 years between when Arbor Day was first observed and when it became a national holiday in 1989, each state declared its own Arbor Day. It was usually on a day that was best to start planting trees in their specific climate.The first Arbor Day was observed in Nebraska when J. Sterling Morton used his influence as a newspaperman, Nebraska Territory official and Secretary of Agriculture to President Grover Cleveland to have a day set aside to plant trees on Nebraska's nearly treeless prairie. Morton was born in the town of Adams in New York's North Country where there are plenty of trees.Arbor Day and J. Sterling Morton present you with a great teaching moment. There's plenty of material online about Morton and Arbor Day. After learning about the founder of Arbor Day, make a family activity out of doing something about trees and the environment. If there are places on your property where a new tree would look nice, take the family to your local garden center, buy a new tree and plant it as a family. Don't forget the mantra: Right Tree, Right Place. Do your homework so you're sure to select a tree that will grow well in the place you've selected.For those of you who have plenty of trees on your property, consider a tree maintenance project. For this you will probably need help from our arborists. We don't want you or your family getting hurt. Start this adventure by taking a family walk around your property, stopping to examine each tree. Jot down any care needs that you or a family member identifies. Then schedule a professional inspection. Compare your list with the arborist's.Following both inspections, sit down with the arborist, discuss your needs and prioritize. You may have trees that need pruning. You may have an ash tree that hasn't received an emerald ash borer preventive treatment. This would be an excellent Arbor Day present.We haven't forgotten that tree in a cup that your child brought home. Planting a little seedling directly into the soil out in the yard, though, can be dangerous to the tree. Due to its small size and immaturity, it can be hit by the mower, stepped on or suffer many other injuries. Unless you're prepared to give it plenty of space and put a fence around it, consider planting it in a container and setting it out on your deck or patio for a few years until it's large enough to survive in the yard. You may have to transplant it into larger containers a few times before it grows to sapling size and can be safely planted on its own.These are just a few ways that you can make Arbor Day a fun holiday that results in some great family bonding. Your community may also have family friendly events planned. Check with your town hall or your community's website.
At long last, spring has sprung! It seems as though it's been a long time coming. As anxious as you've been waiting for winter end, your yard probably fared much worse than you. After all, you could retreat inside away from the wind cold, snow and ice. Your yard didn't have that choice. It had to just endure what Mother Nature dished out.Your yard could now use some tender, loving care from you in the form of spring cleanup. Many tasks will be obvious but I offer these as a reminder and a check list:
• Start by testing the soil. If it feels soggy or you leave footprints in the lawn, you might want to give it another week or so to dry out before beginning your spring cleanup.• Pick up any litter that blew into your yard and was covered up by snow.• Rake up any leaves left from last fall or that blew into your yard over the winter.• After April showers taper off and the chance of frost is behind us, rake the mulch to the edges of your planting beds to let the soil dry out.• When the soil has dried out sufficiently, re-spread the mulch to its warm weather depth of 2 - 3 inches.• Clean out dead annuals, trim back dead branches on perennials and cut ornamental grasses back to a level just above the ground.• Stand up any toppled plants. Some may need to be dug up and replanted.• Repair any hardscape that suffered winter damage. This includes walks and patios, fences and furniture.• Buy or rent a pressure washer to get rid of any grime that has accumulated over the winter.As the weather warms, the soil dries out and the possibility of frost subsides, watch for blogs on such subjects as spring lawn care, cleaning and preparing water features for the season, and planting annuals.Photo Caption: After the grass is frost-free, leaves need raking here, one of the patio lights needs to be stood upright and the yucca plants need attention.
