MENUWe all know the obvious value of trees – they look nice, provide shade, supply us with fruit and nuts. However, trees also have other values that we may never think of, but they are extremely important to us, possibly even more important than the obvious values.The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) has identified these important contributions that trees make to our quality of life:
Trees have a dollar value of their own. Tree appraisers, who are usually either Board Certified Master Arborists, consulting arborists or certified arborists, can determine the dollar value of trees and plants by applying a set of criteria agreed upon by the organizations that make up the Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers. If a tree is damaged or destroyed, you may be able to recapture some or all of your loss through an insurance claim or as a deduction from your federal income tax if you have a valuation by one of the professionals mentioned above.I hope the next time you look at a tree, you’ll see more than a yard ornament that shades you from the summer heat. I hope you’ll look upon it as a living organism, like us, that works hard to make our environment, and our lives, better.
Regardless of the size of your yard, you can enjoy a landscape. One of the ways in which small gardeners can do this is with a keyhole garden.A keystone garden is a raised bed, drought-tolerant, sustainable garden. The plant material choices are whatever you want. In it, you can plant annuals or perennials, veggies or a mix of any or all of them.This garden gets its name from its shape. It is circular with a notch that gives you access to the plants.A wire mesh tube about a foot in diameter and four feet high sprouts out of the center of the circle. This is where you place table scraps and other compostable material, as well as water. The rest of the circle is also filled with compostable material and a top layer of potting soil.Raised beds have several advantages, whether you build a keyhole garden or any other shape. From a design standpoint, they define the garden area. From a practical perspective, it is easier for mobility-challenged people to work in the garden. Also, grass or surrounding plant material doesn't invade your planting bed. From an ecological point of view, raised beds can be designed to use less water, fewer chemicals and be sustainable. The keyhole garden is one example of a sustainable raised bed garden.The keyhole garden is not an end all. I am introducing it to you as a way to get your creative juices flowing on raised bed sustainable gardens for your yard. You don’t have to be a designer to make this happen. All you need to do is share your thoughts with one of our creative landscape designers and have a completely turnkey garden this spring. If you want to invest some sweat equity by doing some of the work, we will be happy to work with you.
Today, people are looking to their smart phones for information on almost everything, including gardening. The Arbor Day Foundation, for example, has an app to help you identify trees. It’s called “What Tree is That?™ and is available at arborday.org/trees/whattree/mobile.cfm.The National Garden Bureau recently published a list of garden apps they had heard about. They ranged from University of Georgia Professor Emeritus Dr. Allan Armitage’s list of greatest perennials and annuals to advice by Purdue University’s Tree Doctor.Gardening knowledge has never been easier to acquire. While it is still fun to browse the gardening section of local bookstores or libraries, few of us have the time. Browsing the Internet is the next best thing, but how many of us take our computers or tablets out in the field? Almost all of us have a smart phone in our pockets. So, why not use it for your avocation as well as your vocation?You can use your smart phone to help you plan for the next gardening season. When you meet with a landscape designer, share your thoughts with him/her by showing pictures from your phone, rather than having to carry books or your computer to the meeting. As the season gets closer, you can use your smart phone to plan your maintenance regimen and communicate it to our office. When you are out getting dirty in the spring and you need a question answered, you can just use your phone.No matter what your gardening question or concern, you can let your fingers do the walking, to quote an ancient ad. More current, regardless of what you are looking for, “there’s an app for that.”
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A rain barrel system allows you to collect the rainwater and use it to water your plants.[/caption]When planning your new landscape or landscape renovations for the spring season, don’t forget water conservation. While this is at the top of the list in many parts of the country, we are quite fortunate here. We have adequate water most of the time, except for infrequent summer droughts. However, being good stewards of the land requires that we not squander this resource. Besides, you are paying for that water by the gallon.When the Garden Writers Foundation conducted its semi-annual garden trends survey last fall, a third of the respondents said they don’t water their landscapes while a quarter have no plans to conserve water. Those who do want to conserve water mentioned using drought tolerant plants, more mulch, drip irrigation and rain barrels.Grouping plants according to their water needs is a basic xeriscaping technique. That way, you can water that area for just the right amount of time and you don’t end up with overwatered and underwatered plants. Reducing your turf area is another xeriscaping technique. Native plants should be best adapted to our climate and, therefore, to the amount of precipitation we receive.Schedule one of our lawn care crews to aerate your lawn in the spring. Aeration loosens soil so water can get to the plant roots quickly. Water just runs off compacted soil. Also, kill or pull weeds so they don’t compete with grass and landscape plants for water.If you already water, modifying your practices can save water, and money. If you have a dehumidifier, consider using that water on plants. The rain barrel idea mentioned above is slowly becoming mainstream. The barrels are specially made for the purpose and attached to the downspouts from your home to collect rainwater. What time do you water? The best time is early in the morning or just before dusk. If you water in the middle of the day, much of it evaporates before it reaches your plants.Last, but not least, if you have a pond fountain, be sure the water is recirculated and that the recirculating mechanism is working properly.Just because water conservation isn't a mandate in our area doesn't mean you shouldn't practice it. Ultimately, you will be helping the environment and insuring the future of our ample water supply. More practically, you will be greatly reducing your water bill.
Have you ever wished for a Japanese Garden? Or an Alpine Garden? Or a desert garden? You don’t have to have a large estate to make your wish come true. You can divide a typical suburban yard into any or all of these theme gardens.During the winter, think about what garden themes you would like right outside your windows. In addition to those listed above, you might want to consider a monochromatic garden in which all plants bloom a single color. White is, arguably, the most popular color for monochrome gardens, followed by black and white.If you are under a lot of stress, you may want a portion of your yard to be a secret garden where you can go and relax. I've seen several of these gardens, the most memorable of which is in an area between the house and a tall stockade fence.A tranquility garden is a variation on this theme. Often, a tranquility garden has a water feature – either a babbling brook, a waterfall or a fountain. The sound of the water helps keep the sounds of the world away as you meditate.A Zen garden is also for relaxing. The focal point of a Zen garden is a swirl of stones or sand that reminds you of flowing water. Asian plants surround this area, contributing to the peaceful mood set by the garden.As you can see, the ideas are limitless. You and your designer decide which garden themes are best for the objectives you are trying to achieve and the transitions you would like between themed gardens.Besides making optimal use of the land, multiple themed gardens in a yard can reduce the amount of maintenance required. This is especially true of lawn mowing. Since a good portion of the area will contain gardens, lawn may only be used in the transition zones. This will mean less watering, less fertilizer and other care products, as well as reduced mowing.Themed gardens will also let you adjust your mood periodically by spending time in gardens representing different cultures and ways of thinking. You will have instant attitude adjustment without ever leaving home.Click here to visit the design page.
Have you seen the latest landscaping trend? It’s outdoor rooms. These are super patios with weather-proof furniture, full kitchens, fountains, garden art and all the comforts of a living room outside.Outdoor rooms are actually an extension of your home, like going from your living room to a family room, except that this room is outdoors. Since your outdoor room will be an extension of your home, it should be professionally designed. You wouldn't think of adding on to your home without first consulting an architect. You wouldn't think of a major redecoration project without the help of an interior designer or decorator. Why would you not consider a landscape designer to help with your outdoor room? Remember, you aren't just doing a little landscaping. You’re building a whole new room – an addition to your home.If you read home and garden magazines, watch similar television program or visit such sites on the Internet, you have seen plenty of outdoor rooms. These can serve as inspiration. Our landscape designers can also show you some of the outdoor rooms they've designed for other local homes to give you additional ideas.Outdoor rooms are exposed to the elements 12 months a year, and this has to be taken into consideration at the design stage. That is true for any climate. Most of the outdoor rooms pictured in various media are in the south, especially the southwest where they are very popular. That means they are exposed, mostly, to rain. In the southeast, some may have to withstand an occasional hurricane and, in the southwest, an occasional sandstorm. Here, however, they have to withstand frequent snow and ice storms every year. This means protecting furniture, plants and appliances in winter.Our designers have the experience to provide for adequately covering furniture and appliances, shutting off water and gas, and working with you to find winter storage for potted plants, even tender tropicals.If you are thinking about a new or expanded patio this spring, think big. Use the winter to research outdoor rooms, formulate your ideas and work with one of our professional designers to make your dream a reality that you can enjoy three seasons of the year.
While we were experiencing subzero weather over the past few weeks, the question of whether these temperatures can kill the emerald ash borer has come up in conversation. It’s common knowledge within the green industry that many overwintering insects die off in such cold temperatures. But what about an insect like the EAB that lives inside the tree, under the bark?After doing a little research, I found the answer in a state that is much colder than ours – Minnesota. Minnesotans posed the question in comments to a blog by Minnesota Public Radio Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. So he posed the question to Dr. Lee Frelich, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Forest Ecology. Here is a concise, edited version of Dr. Frelich’s response:“Winter mortality for emerald ash borer is definitely temperature dependent. The larvae can supercool to a certain point, but they die if they freeze, and there is variability in tolerance among individual insects. A recent study from the Forest Service in Minnesota showed that 5% of the insects die at 0F, 34% at -10F, 79% at -20F and 98% at -30F.“However, there is the question of what temperatures the insects actually experience, since they spend winter under the bark of trees, and some of them close to the ground, where they may be insulated by the bark itself and possibly by the snow.“This insulation effect can have a substantial effect if overnight minimum temperatures take a brief plunge and recover quickly. In such cases minimum temperatures under the bark can be 2-7F warmer than air temperature.”As you can see from the temperatures that Dr. Frelich is quoting, it is unlikely that a significant number of emerald ash borer larvae were killed by our cold temperatures. When spring comes, I recommend continuing your prevention or control regimen for this difficult pest.For more on the Emerald Ash Borer, click here.
The best time to have your trees pruned is before a wind, ice or snow storm. If, however, the storm came first this year, use that as a gentle reminder to prepare for the next storm by having your tree(s) professionally pruned.If your tree(s) suffered damage in storm damage, call us before the next storm. The cost of pruning is much less than the cost to remove a large tree. Add the cost to replace a storm damaged tree to the equation and you have made quite an investment. Don’t worry about the weather. Our arborists are equipped to work in severe weather, and they are tree lovers who hate to see a tree suffer after a storm.If your tree(s) didn’t suffer any damaged but had drooping limbs loaded with snow, call us to schedule pruning before the next storm. If you took photos while trees still had snow on them, our arborists would like to see the pictures when they come to do the pruning. This will help us determine which limbs are too weak to survive the onslaught of additional winter storms. The sooner you call, the better your chance of avoiding storm damage. That will give us time to check out your trees, look at your photos, make a proposal and do the work before they are subjected to any more winter stress.As always, we warn that pruning is not a do-it-yourself project. It is dangerous work in the best of weather, but even more so in the winter. That’s why professional arborists like ours have special training, experience and equipment. We would hate to see you become a statistic for the sake of a few bucks.
What do you do with your food scraps? Adding your vegetable scraps to the compost heap has a number of benefits. For the environment, it reduces the waste stream going into landfills. For your compost pile, vegetative food scraps are often nutrient-rich and high in organic matter, and a good supplement to the dead leaves and grass clippings that make up most of the material.The Garden Media trends report that I have cited quite often indicates that composting is on the rise with 25 percent of households now composting. The survey also mentions a national trend toward mandatory city food scrap waste management and that some cities are offering financial incentives to compost and reduce food waste.Some of the statistics in this survey include the fact that, according to the EPA, Americans generated 35 million tons of food waste, 97 percent of which went into landfills. Only 11.7 percent was composted. Organic matter decomposing in landfills generates 16.2 percent of the nation’s methane gas emissions.Don’t put meat scraps in the compost heap, just vegetative scraps. No special preparation is needed. All you have to do is dump your food scraps into the bin among the leaves, grass clipping and other yard waste. Continue to keep turning the compost just as you have, or should have, been doing right along. Keep adding and churning and you should have some of the richest, must nutrient-rich compost you’ve ever seen when the gardening season begins.Closer to the gardening season, I will write about how to apply compost and brew compost tea. Meanwhile, keep on scrapping and turning.
We just had our first significant snowfall and I had to cringe when I drove around the area. People were actually knocking snow off trees with snow shovels and brooms. Some were just shaking it off, which is just as bad. Brushing with your hands is the only technique that is not harmful to the tree.Last January, I wrote about the dangers to both you and the tree when you shake or knock off snow or ice. How soon we forget! So, once again I’ll remind you before the next big snowstorm.Nature built evergreen trees (technically conifers) to carry heavy snow loads. Their soft wood is much more resilient than hardwoods. That’s why hardwoods lose their leaves in winter – to lighten the weight on their branches and discourage snow from sticking. At this time of year, however, there are still some deciduous trees with some or all of their leaves intact. This is putting enough stress on the branches without adding the additional stress of whacking the branches with a shovel or broom or shaking them with your hands.Notice the shape of your evergreens. They are cone shaped. While snow build-up may cause the branches to droop more than normal, they will spring right back when the snow melts and the added weight is removed. As it melts, the snow slides off the branches naturally, just as it does in the woods.If you try to help evergreens shed snow faster, branches are apt to break when they snap back, rather than returning to their natural shape gradually. Remember, it is you standing under the tree right where the branches, snow or chards of ice fall. Also, your shaking, sweeping and beating action can cause an avalanche of snow to fall on you.Removing ice can also cause injury to you, as well as damage to the tree. Ice falling from the upper branches can injure you as you stand under the branches. The stress to branches from removing ice can also cause them to crack internally.The next time you feel sorry for that poor, snow-covered evergreen in your yard, remember how nature designed it. Watch the snow gradually melt and slide from its branches and the branches return to their natural positions. It can actually be relaxing.
When the winter starts to get you down, think spring. It will come; it always does. Knowing what’s in and what’s out in gardening can make your yard the most beautiful and the most stylish on your street.Two surveys were our sources for this blog. One was conducted by the Garden Writers Association Foundation and the other by the Garden Media Group.According to the Garden Media survey, lawn & garden expenditures are the third highest non-essential purchase category after Christmas and weight loss methods. The Garden Writers Foundation interviewed a random sample of homeowners who said that they planned to spend an average of $100 more on their yards and landscapes in 2013 over their 2012 expenditures. In fact, they spent about the same – $500. In 2014, however, they plan to spend even more – $615 on average. The total expenditure in all of North America in 2011 was $58 billion with $28 billion spent on plants, shrubs and bulbs.There was also a change in where they said they would buy their gardening material and supplies and where they did. Last spring, mass merchants were the preferred destination. The post season survey found that 39 percent bought at garden centers while 37 percent went to mass merchants.Technology is entering the garden as well. One in 10 respondent to the Garden Writer Foundation survey use their smartphones in their gardening activities. This survey also asked about two social concerns – water conservation and interest in organic gardening.When it comes to conserving water, 28 percent used more mulch, 17 percent used drought-tolerant plants, another 15 percent used drip irrigation and 12 percent used rain barrels. Thirty percent of consumers say they don’t water, while slightly over one-quarter (28%) haven’t made any plans to conserve water.The Garden Writers Association Foundation also asked respondents to rate their interest level in organic gardening. Food gardening, earth friendly gardening, organic gardening, native plants, web-based gardening information and garden blogs were mentioned in that order.I hope this information is helpful as you plan for the 2014 landscaping/gardening season. It gives you the data you need to either follow the trends or do your own thing.
That title may seem impossible when you look out the window at a sea of white after a fresh snowfall. With a little planning, you can easily and inexpensively add some color to you landscape. Not a big splash of bright color like spring, mind you, but enough muted tones to break up the single color monotony. It may not happen this year, but surely next winter.If you didn't have an opportunity to plant winter-interest plants in the fall, plan now and plant in the spring. Before we get too much snow, research winter interest plants and take note of where these plants may look best. Take some photos of these locations and then revisit them again after more snow is on the ground. Is it still an attractive space for winter-interest plants?There are a number of plants that can add winter color, even in deep snow. Ornamental grasses are used for this purpose most often. Proportionally sized clumps of ornamental grasses can break up large areas of snow. These easily maintained plants can also be used for accents year round.Dead ornamental grass leaves and fuzzy seed heads provide the tan color as they poke up through the snow. These attractive seed heads blowing in the breeze give ornamental grasses their winter interest.Brown ornamental grass leaves will have served their purpose as soon as the snow melts. So, they should be cut off at the base of the clump in early spring. You can use a string trimmer or an electric or manual hedge trimmer. In a pinch, I've even used loppers. New, green leaves will grow from the roots. In fall, these tall, leaf-like blades will turn tan again.Witch hazel is a shrub that may be one of several shapes. It is hardy in zones 4 through 8, which covers most of the east coast from northern Maine to the Carolinas. Witch hazel is a late bloomer that flowers from October to December. Its yellow flowers break up nicely the expanse of white snow or shades of gray that envelope our landscapes in late fall and early winter.Dogwoods’ red branches can also break up winter monotony. However, be careful of what dogwood variety you buy. Some, like eastern dogwood (Cornus florida), are very attractive to insects and disease.Winter doesn’t have to be endless weeks of white and gray monotones. However, adding color may take a little creativity. Making winter color plants blend in with the overall landscape design year round is a bit more challenging than simply planting predictable spring flowers. Remember, we have landscape designers who can help you out if you want a word of advice from a pro, or even a complete design.
The winter ascending on our corner of the world might provide the incentive to take stock in that landscape you enjoy watching out the window. Ask yourself a series of questions:
We believe that most will answer that they have done interior renovations within the last five-to-10 years. The number who answered that they have never renovated their landscape will be in the majority also.Few people would live in homes with outdated appliances, decades old paint and wall coverings, or colored bathroom fixtures. They renovate when their décor goes out of style.Because plants are alive, however, many think landscapes were intended to live forever without any changes. Outdoor tastes do change, and your landscape is the measure of your home’s curb appeal.May I suggest that you use the winter wisely to consider changes you’d like to make to your landscape this spring? This doesn’t mean cutting down large, mature trees and yanking out every shrub. It means designing around these mature plants because they form the framework, or skeleton, of your landscape.However, if your shrubs have become “overmature,” it might be time to replace them. For example, Taxus (yews) that you have sheared and sheared over the years may have gaping holes in the foliage. This would be a good time to replace them as part of your yard renovation. This time, consider plants that will always fit their spaces, eliminating the need to shear them each year.Growers have developed new flowering plants and new cultivars of your old favorites. Be bold and adventurous and select annuals and perennials that are in style. Most of all, though, select them because you like them. You can give the old perennials to friends or donate them to a charity plant sale.If you don’t know where to start with your renovation plans, one of our landscape designers would be happy to help you. Designers are under less of a time crunch and can spend more time with you during the winter than they can during the growing season when they also have to oversee installations.Remember, your landscape is a reflection of who you are, and you only get one chance to make a good first impression.
Bears do it; chipmunks do it. Even we humans do it. Hibernate that is. If you plan to hibernate this winter, why not use the time to expand your gardening knowledge? Even if you’re an experienced gardener, there’s a wealth of information out there.Combine “old school” and “new media” in your pursuit of knowledge. The Internet is the easiest place to start. However, the best way to use the Internet is to search for a specific subject. Google a subject and you will get a lot of listings, including many written by land grant university professors and posted on that state’s cooperative extension site. I use this research method extensively.Old school education methods include reading gardening magazines and gardening books. Also, watch gardening programs on television and consider attending one of the many local garden seminars.If you’re an avid gardener, think about curling up in front of a roaring fire with a gardening book or magazine while the snow swirls outside. Gardening is a whole “genre” of books and there are publishers who publish nothing but gardening books. Such an experience can actually change the way you garden. I, for example, have a whole new outlook on gardening after reading Felder Rushing’s book “Slow Gardening.” You can read more about it in our blog archives. Click on January 2013 on the right sidebar and then on the third blog – New Gardening Terms & What They Mean. After all, gardening is supposed to reduce stress, not create it.If you don’t want to invest in a lot of books and are not into reading online or on a tablet, check out the gardening section at your local public library.Broadening your gardening knowledge over the winter can go a long way toward maintaining your interest in gardening the year round.
Trees growing into electric wires have been a problem ever since electricity was harnessed. As people become more aware of trees, their structure and health needs, they look at utility pruning in a different light. For large, mature trees near electric wires, however, it is too late to do anything about it.New, stricter New York State utility pruning standards have resulted in many complaints to the utilities. However, there are stiff penalties for failure to comply with these pruning standards. These standards are much less tree-friendly than the standards used for pruning trees in your yard. The state’s mandate to utilities is to reduce power outages, and most disruptions are caused by trees coming in contact with wires.When you have large trees under or near power lines, you really have only two choices –to live with the hard pruning that utilities, and their contractors, are forced to practice or replace the trees with a lower growing species that will never be tall enough to touch the wires. An arborist can help you select lower growing trees. They, and utilities, have access to a number of resources in print and online. One book, entitled Street Tree Factsheets, has been around since 1993. This volume has facts about 182 popular northeastern species and cultivars, and each one is keyed with red, yellow or green. Of course red means that it shouldn’t be planted near utility wires, yellow means that it could grow tall enough to interfere with wires and green means that it will not grow tall enough to interfere.Our last blog was on renovating your landscape. If you have a tree that interferes with electric wires and requires constant pruning, include its replacement in your landscape plan. If the tree interferes with wires going from pole to pole, the utility may be happy to remove the tree for you. It will cost them much less to remove an interfering tree than to keep pruning it every few years. If the tree interferes with service wires – those going from the pole to the house – you’ll know how much pruning costs, since keeping them pruned is your responsibility.Even if your utilities are underground, you have to be sure that you don’t interfere with wires and pipes when planting. There is an 800 number to call to have utilities “flagged.” If you hire a landscape contractor to do your new renovations, they will take care of having utilities flagged.
Each new edition of the dictionary adds a longer and longer list of new words. Some are coined words but many are compound words or, in horticultural terms, hybrid words. One such word that has begun to creep into our vocabulary is “Nativar.”A nativar is a cultivar of a native species. The name is, generally, attributed to Dr. Allan Armitage, a well known author, lecturer and horticulture professor at the University of Georgia, Athens.Dr. Armitage has been quoted as saying about nativars, "They should rule the garden" since nativars can provide the best of both worlds: a landscape improved by the ecological impact of natives and a way to address problems that usually plague certain native species.Nativars represent a good compromise for those who want to plant native plants but are concerned about certain traits that native species exhibit. Such traits include attracting insects and diseases or becoming invasive. Conversely, Nativars may also be bred to display bigger, brighter, nicer blooms or more fruit and vegetables. The big plus is that they are native plants. Or are they?Not everyone shares Dr. Armitage’s enthusiasm about nativars. Those who express the most concern are native plant purists. It is important to define native, first. The most commonly accepted definition of native plants is those that have grown naturally in an area since before the Europeans arrived. But then, what area are we talking about? Your yard? Your community, state, region, the United States or all of North America?In biology, there are few absolutes, including the definition of a native plant. Those most critical of nativars are those who define a native plant as one that has always grown in a carefully defined ecosystem. They fear that hybridizing these plants, even with other native plants, will result in non-local genotypes, which will not be identifiable to the wildlife that depend on local native plants for food.You will know my opinion on the subject of native plants if you click December 2012 on the sidebar and read the first blog – Native Plants Are The Only Plants – True or False. Hint: I agree with Allan Armitage.
Every fall, homeowners are faced with the choice of raking (or blowing) fallen tree and shrub leaves off their lawns or just letting nature take its course. Hopefully, raking wins out. Here’s why.While dead leaves make good compost, they can smother your lawn when left in their “raw” form. A virtually impenetrable mat of leaves traps water between the leaves and grass. This can cause problems ranging from a fungus to total destruction from lack of sunlight and oxygen.After raking or blowing leaves into piles, scoop them up, grind them and let them “mature” in order to have useable compost. Next season, you will have free fertilizer – natural, organic fertilizer.“But Dave,” people say, “don’t leaves just fall to the forest floor and decompose naturally?” Sure they do, but have you ever looked underneath a carpet of leaves in the woods? No grass.If you don’t have composting facilities, start a compost heap, bin or other receptacle for processing nutrition-rich leaves into great compost. It is easy. You can get pre-built systems at garden stores or build your own. If you want plans or design ideas for a home-built composter, check the Internet.The tiring task when making compost from leaves used to be grinding the leaves small enough that they would decompose completely over the winter. Last year, I shared with you an easy, effective method I saw on a television program. You can read that by clicking on October 2012 on the right sidebar and reading the third blog down.One alternative to composting at home is to rake or blow your leaves to the curb where the town will come through and vacuum them up. The other alternative is to bag them and put them out with your garbage. Either way, you will have to haul the compost back to your yard, if the community or trash hauler even shares the compost with the public. Some communities use the material in their parks and around public buildings.Taking a pass on the raking chore this year isn’t an option. It needs to be done, and with modern composting equipment at your fingertips, it is not as hard a chore as it used to be. Still not fun, but much less onerous with all the new composting equipment.
Why did you plant your trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and even turfgrass where you did? Were you following a design? Did you just think it would look nice in that spot? Or, did you select that plant and that location for some other reason?I hope that, after reading this, you will have a purpose for every new plant that you plant, and I hope that makes gardening even more fun. Planting with a purpose can certainly cut down on maintenance.When you plant with a purpose, one of the ways you cut down on maintenance is to reduce the number of mistakes you make. How many of you have large shade trees too close to your electric service lines, only to realize that keeping trees pruned away from these lines is your responsibility? Or have you planted acid loving plants like azaleas and rhododendrons in alkaline soil?Planning your landscape and the purpose of every plant, or grouping of plants, before committing them to the ground will result in a beautiful landscape that you can sit and enjoy, rather than spending all your free time maintaining.Other common mistakes include planting sun loving plants in shady spots or a thirsty plants in a dry location. You also need to be careful of underground utilities so you don’t plant a thirsty plant where it can satisfy its water needs by breaking into underground sewer pipes. Speaking of underground utilities, be careful not to damage them when digging. Be sure to have them flagged before digging.If you are planting to assist with your home’s comfort, plant deciduous trees to the south and east of your house. When leafed out in spring and summer, they will help keep the house cool. When defoliated in fall and winter, they will let more sun reach the house and help heat it. Plant evergreens to the north and west so they can help buffer the house against winter winds.You also have to be careful that you don’t plant invasive plants or those that attract wildlife that you don’t want to attract.Your plant selection will also influence pest populations. Happy plants that are healthy and strong tend to resist insects and diseases. Instead, pests will migrate toward less healthy trees and those in decline. This all boils down to the horticultural mantra, “Right Plant, Right Place.”
The reason fall is for planting is the same reason why we can usually sleep better on fall nights than on steamy, summer nights – the weather. Once the dog days of summer are behind us, the weather becomes more comfortable. Daytime temperatures continue to be warm, though not as oppressively scorching as summer. Unlike hot, humid summer nights, however, the temperatures cool down on fall evenings. Also, the rains return from their summer vacation.Warm days, cool nights and sufficient rainfall create ideal growing conditions, which trees like. This means climatic conditions will provide your newly planted or transplanted trees with several weeks to get acclimated to their new homes before winter descends on them…and us.The technique for fall planting is no different from planting in spring. Select a planting site whose conditions are right for the plant(s) you select. Remember – right plant, right place. Dig the planting hole two to three times bigger than the rootball, but only as deep. If potted, remove the plant from its pot. If balled and burlapped, remove the wire basket or rope but leave the burlap around the ball.Set the plant in the hole and backfill, stopping occasionally to press the backfill to fill in any air pockets. Don’t backfill any higher than the top of the root ball. Finally, water well.It’s good to mulch any new planting, but it’s especially important in fall. The mulch will help moderate temperature shifts during the winter. Spread 2 to 3 inches, but do not pile it up against the trunk in a mulch volcano. Before winter, add another inch of mulch, but be prepared to remove that in spring.Don’t fertilize when you plant, especially with high nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen will stimulate new leaves at a time when the tree is getting ready to go dormant for the winter. However, mixing compost or other organic matter with the backfill soil is fine.The summer that’s winding down has been unpredictable to say the least. We had a rain deficit followed by a surplus of rain. This was followed by nice summer weather, which helped reduce our garden maintenance. We don’t know what next spring will bring so, it’s a good idea to get a head start with fall planting.Remember, “Fall is for Planting” is more than a slogan.
It can be easy to forget that our landscapes are made up of living organisms. Unlike children and pets that jump and run, plants remain firmly rooted. Yet, when they flower and grow to the point that they need pruning, that should remind us that plants have health needs, just like family members in the animal kingdom.As the summer season winds down, this would be a good time to consider a health plan for your landscape. Such a plan is called “Plant Health Care” and involves a proactive approach to managing insect infestations and disease attacks.A Plant Health Care program, known in the profession as PHC, begins with an inventory of your plant material. This allows us to know what pests to look for. Then one of our professionals checks your landscape at regular intervals during next year’s growing season.According to the International Society, which developed the PHC concept, “The basic premise is that, if a plant is taken care of properly, natural defenses can be strengthened. Energy that would normally be used up fighting stressful factors can instead be utilized to build up defense systems. Regular check-ups and the removal of hazardous factors from the environment help to improve the health of a plant the same as they would the health of a human.”By monitoring your landscape on a regular basis, we are able to identify problems early when they can be treated less aggressively than after they get a foothold. This is better for your checkbook, your landscape and the environment. Natural organic treatments can often be used when a pest is identified early and treatment begun early. More aggressive treatment is necessary once they become established.The emerald ash borer (EAB) provides us with an excellent example of how PHC can save you money. The preventive treatment we use needs to be applied every other year. If the EAB invades an untreated ash tree, the tree needs to be treated every year. Failure to treat will result in the very expensive removal of a once beautiful tree.A Plant Health Care program for your landscape can be compared to an HMO (health maintenance organization) for your family. Use the fall and winter wisely to look into this protection for your valuable landscape.
If you like to be awakened from your winter doldrums with colorful, refreshing crocus, daffodil, tulip and hyacinth blooms, you need to plant them now, unless you already have them in the ground from previous years.Bulbs need to be planted in fall in order to bloom the next spring. Finding just the right spring color and variety at this time of year is easy. All the garden centers feature spring bulbs, and many offer special prices.As with all gardens and landscapes, it’s best to plan before you plant. Random planting can yield some “interesting” results, while planning bulb placement will assure you of an attractive display. Most bulb packaging has colorful photos of the plant in bloom, so you can decide on the color and number of that variety that you want in your garden.You can plot the plantings on paper first or you can just start by placing the bulbs on the soil surface where you want to plant them. Be sure to plan your bulb garden so that the lower growing plants like crocuses and mini-daffodils are in front, the tall tulips are in back and the medium size plants like daffodils and hyacinths are in the middle. Be sure that the colors are compatible, too.Bulb planting is easy. All you really need is a trowel, although garden stores have fancy bulb planting tools. Just thrust your trowel into the ground and pull it back toward you until you have a hole about the diameter of the bulb and twice as deep as the length of the bulb. If the bulb is three inches long, the hole should be six inches deep. Just drop the bulb into the hole and backfill.Be sure to plant the bulb right side up. The root side with small hair roots goes in the bottom of the hole. After backfilling, tamp the area lightly to eliminate air pockets and then give the newly planted bulbs a nice drink of water.Don’t put any fertilizer in the planting hole. The bulb itself is made up almost entirely of starch, enough to provide the new plant with sufficient food until it leafs out and begins photosynthesizing – making its own food.After your bulbs have flowered next spring, it’s OK to cut off spent flowers, but not green leaves. The leaves are needed to continue making food through photosynthesis. The leaves can be trimmed off when they turn brown.Bulbs can be planted right up until the ground freezes, but we never know when, or if, the ground will freeze. Instead of panicking at the last minute, buy your bulbs now and store them in a nice cool place. When we have a nice, fall day, pull them out and plant them. Then you can enjoy the winter confident that these harbingers of spring will delight you with beauty and color as winter begins to break its hold on us.
Fall is for planting…and transplanting. It’s the ideal season to rein in overgrown perennials by splitting them and sharing them with friends.When perennials overtake your garden, dig up the plants and divide the roots into four pieces. Then replant one piece back into your garden and place the others in nursery pots to give to your gardening friends, plant in another of your gardens, or donate to a garden club plant sale.When digging, dig up the whole plant. To divide the plant, lay it on the ground and split the root in half. Then cut each half in half. In other words, quarter the plant. Different size roots will require different tools to split the roots apart. Whatever tool you use, be sure it is sharp enough to make clean cuts. A plant with thin, tender roots may be cut with a trowel or pruning shears. Bigger, thicker roots may need a shovel or axe, while the really obstinate roots may need loppers or a pruning saw to cut them apart.When replanting, the planting technique you use for nursery stock applies. Chances are the hole from which you just dug the plant is the right size. If you are the recipient of a split perennial, however, you will be digging a new hole. Dig the hole at least twice the diameter of the root, but no deeper. Hold the plant upright in the hole as you backfill up to the previous soil line. Tamp lightly to remove any air pockets and give it a good drink of water.Sharing split perennials is a good way to expand and diversify your perennial beds without spending a cent. Getting a group of friends together over a cup of coffee or iced tea and making the plant exchange a social event can be very enjoyable as well as beneficial for all participants.
It’s not too early to begin preparing your trees for winter. We have been known to have high wind events as early as September or ice and snow in October. These storms often catch property owners unaware and unprepared, resulting in tree damage and, possibly, damage to homes and cars.Some trees that look perfectly fine from the outside may be hazardous inside. Trees can rot from the inside out. Depending on the amount of good wood remaining, rotting trees can live for many years. Monitoring how much wood is healthy requires sophisticated instruments, which arborists use to pinpoint decay and calculate the amount of healthy wood remaining. From this, we can calculate how hazardous the tree really is and determine its potential for failure.Even healthy trees that have heavy crowns can break in a storm. Arborists can prune crowns to thin them and reduce wind resistance. Letting the wind pass right through will reduce the chance of breakage in an autumn storm.Early ice and snow storms wreak so much havoc because leaves, and sometimes fruit, are still on trees. Trees have all they can do to support their weighty branches. Add the additional weight of snow and/or ice and it may exceed the limit limbs can support. Deciding which limbs should be removed for storm damage mitigation is a job for a professional.Neither diagnosis nor tree work is a do-it-yourself project. It’s dangerous work that should be done only by people with the specialized training, education, equipment and insurance to protect them and you. We hate to hear about someone learning this the hard way. Yet it happens all the time.A recent issue of the trade magazine Tree Care Industry reported on 17 accidents. Five tree workers and four non-tree worker were killed and seven tree workers and one non-tree worker were seriously injured. This was a good month. We don’t want you to be one of these statistics.
Brown grass could be drought or grubs at this time of most years. This year, however, we have had enough rain that drought should not be a problem. So, if your grass has brown spots, check for grubs.The effect of grub attacks begin showing up in August. Grubs leave brown patches as they eat the roots, killing the grass plants. To find out if you have grubs, and how many, cut several one square foot pieces of green sod and roll it back. Count the number of grubs. If there are six or fewer, they are not present in sufficient concentrations to really harm your lawn. If there are seven or more, you should either spread grub killer on the lawn or call us to do it.Most of the grubs we see in our area lawns are the European chafer. The larvae, which are white, crescent-shaped creatures, overwinter deep in the soil. In spring, they continue to feed and then pupate. In early summer, the adult beetles emerge from the soil and begin flying around looking to mate. We know these adults as June bugs – those big, brown beetles that fly into houses and cars. They are harmless to us, but soon lay their eggs in our lawns and begin the cycle all over again. August and September is the best time to treat; grubs are still small, living and feeding near the surface, and are more susceptible to control material.If you have brown grass that doesn’t re-green after grub treatment, the first thing to do is to rake out the dead grass. If the area is small, the healthy grass will fill in the open space over time. If it is larger, you will have to re-seed. Be judicious in your fertilization, water and mow high.
Imagine the trauma that your lawn suffers every time it’s mowed. Every time it starts to grow, the new growth is cut off. Actually, turfgrass takes these frequent mowings in stride, if they are done properly.Properly means starting with a good, sharp blade. If you have ever tried shaving with a less than sharp blade, you can sympathize with many lawns that are subjected to this treatment week after week.Second, mow high. There is a myth that, if you mow low, you won’t have to mow as often. This is strictly a myth. Unless you plan to putt on your lawn, there is no reason to cut it short. It is unhealthy and it requires more care. People with crew cuts or similar short haircuts need to go to the barber more often than those with longer hair. This is because the crew cut stands up straight and some hairs grow faster than others. The same is true for grass plants.Aesthetics aside, it’s healthier for the grass to mow it three inches high in the summer. Then lower the mower to two inches or two-and-a-half inches for the last mowing of the season. Higher grass is thicker, which reduces the amount of space for weeds to sprout up between the blades of grass. Long, healthy blades of grass also discourage grubs. Like most landscape pests, these insects are adventitious. They seek out the weak, stressed and unhealthy plants. As a result, mowing high can reduce the need for weed and grub control.I recommend the shorter cut on the last mowing of the season because the shorter blades of grass have less surface for turfgrass diseases that can attack lawns in the winter. See our “Check Your Lawn For Winter Damage” blog for more on winter turf diseases.Do you always mow your lawn in the same direction? It’s easy to get into that habit, but it isn’t good for the grass. If you usually mow from the house to the street, try mowing across the yard. Then mow on a diagonal. Notice the interesting patterns on natural turf baseball fields. Groundskeepers vary the direction from mowing to mowing. Sure, it adds interest to the fans, but it is also healthier for the grass.Remember, your lawn is a living carpet. As such, it requires a different type of care than the carpet in your house. Follow these guidelines and you will have an attractive, healthy lawn that is the envy of the neighborhood.
