LET’S TALK GARDENING – Lawn Care

SOLVING YOUR WEED & PEST PROBLEMS

As of this writing, spring is only 56 days away. Are you ready? January is a very important month in gardening. It is now that you do your due diligence with planning out your strategy of what it is that you want to achieve with your lawn care and landscaping. And, to set your budget.

Yes, it is only the end of January. But, now is a good time to spend some educational time as to what needs to be done for your lawn in the coming few months. If you are like some of us then you are enjoying some of these nice days outside looking at your landscape and your lawn.

Like with so many things in life, knowledge is the key to being successful. And, this is true with lawn care. Take this downtime in gardening and lawn maintenance and do some studying to learn what needs to be done and when it should be done.

STEP # 1 – SOIL TEST

I can’t stress enough what a soil test provides when it comes to understanding your soil. A soil test will give you a detailed analysis of what the lawn needs to thrive. Now is the time to do this vital step. We can help you. We now sell soil test kits for your convenience. We use a local laboratory for the soil test. This allows a quicker return of the results. And, we will review the results with you right here at the garden center. To me, this is a no brainer.

TIP: KNOW YOUR LAWN SIZE

For years, chemical weed killers and pesticides have been a part of nearly everyone’s lawn care routine. But, growing numbers of people no longer want to apply chemical pesticides or herbicides to their lawn and garden out of the growing awareness of the negative effects on the environment and on the health of people and animals.

TIP: LEARN WHAT WEEDS YOU ARE NEEDING TO CONTROL

With February just around the corner, this is the month that you want to think about applying a crabgrass preventer and a grub control product.

There is a lot of confusion about the differences between weed killer and crabgrass preventer. Let me try to straighten this out. Crabgrass is an annual weed, unlike most lawn weeds, that grows from the seed that the mother plant produced last summer. The mother plant dies completely over the winter never to be seen again. Once we begin to warm up on a more regular basis, the crabgrass seed will germinate and start to grow. Crabgrass preventer is an agent that dissolves and forms a coating on the surface of the soil. ANY seeds that try to sprout and push a root through that barrier are killed.

TIP: USE OUR FORSYTHIA BUSH AS THE TIME TO PUT DOWN A PREVENTER

Don’t use our calendar to time applying a crabgrass preventer. We could have a warm February and the crabgrass will start growing – thus making the preventer ineffective as a controller. Use the

blooming of our forsythia bush for the right time. It is a convenient coincidence that crabgrass seeds germinate at the same time that forsythias are flowering.

Other lawn weeds, such as henbit, ground ivy, spurge, chickweed dandelion, and others are perennial weeds that grow from their root system and break dormancy and begin to grow with the warmth of the soil.

I hope this blog is helpful and stirs some questions.

Some homeowners want to stay more organic. This is great news. And, we carry organic products for weed and pest control.

For organic grub control, we sell MILKY SPORE, an non-chemical control of the white grub worm.

For organic crabgrass control, we sell CORN GLUTEN, which not only prevents crabgrass but also other weed seeds from germinating. Over time, regular use of Corn Gluten will reduce or eliminate any need for weed killer.

For organic lawn food, we sell ESPOMA ORGANIC LAWN FOOD.

Come see us soon to get the soil test kit and, at the same time, let’s try to answer any questions you may have pertaining to lawn care.

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

To read more from Doug, visit our blog