Tag Archive | nutrients
The Importance of Fall Fertilization
If you fertilized your trees, shrubs and perennials in the spring, it should probably be done again now. The best rationale for fall fertilization is explained in the process a plant uses to convert the nutrients it consumes into food. Although you place fertilizer around the base of your plants, you aren’t “feeding” the plants. […]
Testing One-Two-Three: It May Be Time for a Soil Test
You probably thought you were done with tests once you finished school, but nooo — lawns, gardens and other landscaping areas need soil tests every so often! Luckily, these are easily managed projects with important benefits for the long-term health, vigor, growth and beauty of your landscape. The why of itSoil in any landscape, whether […]
Let’s Get Ready For Lawn Season
There’s an old saying that pre-emergent crabgrass control should be applied when forsythia bloom. Although other factors enter the picture, the appearance of these prolific yellow flowers serves as a good reminder. And, they will soon make their appearance for 2019. Crabgrass is, possibly, the peskiest weed in our lawn, and the only one that […]
Why Fertilize In Fall?
This is a question I get asked quite often. Fertilizing in spring seems logical. After all, plants need energy to flower, leaf out and sustain themselves all through the summer. In the fall, however, they are getting ready for winter dormancy. So, why do they need energy if they’re “going to sleep”? Confusion may have […]
Why Fertilize?
Fertilizer companies advertise their product as plant food. Who would want to starve a plant by withholding food? So, people buy the product. According to the late tree biologist, Dr. Alex Shigo, however, plants make their own food so fertilizer is not plant food. Good soil is full of minerals, beneficial fungi and bacteria, and […]
Preparing Your Lawn For Fall
Good news! Barring any sudden, severe drought at this late point in the summer, preparing your lawn for fall will be a bit easier than it would in a normal year. We’ve had no dry spell this summer. Consequently, the grass didn’t go dormant, brown up, crunch under foot and create good conditions for weeds […]
Ever Hear Of Domesticating Plants?
When talking to people about trees and plants, some will make the comment that trees live quite well on their own in the forest, so why spend money on caring for the trees in our yards. My answer is always a comparison with the family dog. The trees in our yards are about as far […]
Maintaining Your Lawn All Through The Season
Turfgrass is a high maintenance plant, which means that growing a beautiful lawn requires a significant amount of time and effort. That’s in addition to keeping it mowed. Weeds like crabgrass and dandelions are the scourge of every lawn owner. To keep weeds to a minimum, I recommend both pre and post emergent weed treatment. […]
Getting Ready For Mowing Season
Soon neighborhoods will be abuzz with the ubiquitous sound that breaks the sleepy silence of weekend mornings. Lawnmowers. Will you be one of those? Or will yours be the one that’s coughing and sputtering? It all depends on how you prepare for the mowing season. I admit that I’m not a mechanic. That’s why we […]
Are You Composting Yet?
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 […]
Keeping Our World Green 