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April Newsletter

Seasonal Floral Displays Planning your floral display with annuals is a good landscape investment because they’re so versatile, colorful, produce quick results and are relatively inexpensive. These dependable single-season flowers hit the ground running and provide a spectacular and easy show all season long. The choices in size, color and growth habit are vast. Some work well as edging plants. Others are best used in planters or window boxes. The majority are useful as bedding plants for mass effects. Because annuals live only one season, and they have no permanent roots from which to grow the next year, they perpetuate their kind through heavy seed production. To produce lots of seeds, they must produce many flowers. If those flowers are cut before the seeds can form, the plant tries again and again in an effort to make up the loss. The more you cut an annual, the more it blooms - it’s like having your cake and eating it too! Some popular annuals that you may want to consider for your landscape include impatiens, zinnia, marigold, petunia, nasturtium, alyssum, aster, morning glory, portulaca, snapdragon and sweet pea. With the right planning, good soil, plenty of water and room to flourish, an annual flower display on your property will be a sight to behold. DON'T FORGET ABOUT BULBS Colorful blooms from bulbs are always a sight for sore eyes after a cold, gray winter. Spring-flowering bulbs of all kinds are a major contributor to year-round color in any landscape. Crocus, daffodil, tulip and hyacinth are all great choices. Feel free to give us a call to learn more about floral displays. We're here to help! Controlling Crabgrass Lurking just below the surface of your lawn is an invisible menace that is just waiting for the right time to make its presence known. While we don't usually think of crabgrass as a comic book caliber super villain, it can nevertheless wreak havoc on your lawn. Crabgrass is incredibly hearty and actually thrives in conditions where turfgrass struggles. Millions of crabgrass seeds can lay dormant for years, waiting to emerge until conditions are favorable. Since crabgrass prefers hot, dry weather, it has the upper hand against your turf during the dog days of summer. By the time you see crabgrass, the large-scale invasion is already underway. The best preventative measure you can take is a pre-emergent treatment early in the year. A well-timed herbicide application can stop most crabgrass before it has a chance to take hold. During the growing season, the best way to keep crabgrass subdued is to provide your lawn with enough food and water to make it a viable competitor. Crabgrass is a formidable adversary, but it is not invincible.

Smoky Mountain Wildflowers in April

fiddleheads

rue anemone

trillium

geranium

trillium

foam flower

trillium

trillium

phacelia 

trillium

frasers sedge grass

maidenhair fern

bishops cap

crested dwarf iris

water lettuce

showy orchis

leucothoe

violet

Late Day on the Lot, 3-14-17

Some of our 30+ trucks at the end of a cold March day

March Newsletter

Weed Management in Lawns COMBINING RESULTS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CARE Balancing the goal of a beautiful, thick lawn with that of taking responsible care of our environment has become an essential part of professional care. When it comes to weed management, there are effective ways to greatly reduce herbicide use, while delivering very satisfactory results. MANAGEMENT CONCEPT REPLACING TOTAL ERADICATION Some change in weed control expectations is necessary to an environmentally sound management program. The most effective way to maintain results, while reducing weed control applications, is to inspect and treat when and where weeds are actually a problem in the lawn. Because weeds can sprout almost all season long, there may be a few weeds present in a lawn at any given time. The goal is to manage weeds and prevent them from becoming a serious problem – not to guarantee there will never be a weed present in the lawn. The need to accept the presence of a few weeds in an otherwise very attractive lawn is basic to the weed management approach. HERBICIDES: ONLY AS SUPPORT FOR GOOD FEEDING AND CULTURAL PRACTICES When your lawn is properly fed, watered, mowed and aerated, weed control materials become less and less necessary. Spot treatments for weeds are much better for your lawn and the environment. We’re dedicated to working with you to keep your world green and healthy. Dealing with Deer Deer are beautiful creatures. A family of deer prancing across your yard is an event worthy of gathering the kids for an encounter with nature. While there may be a sense of wonder attached to the fact that such large animals live so close to humans – this situation does not bode well for your landscaping. A century of suburbanization has rid deer of most natural predators causing their populations to soar. Suburbanization has also provided deer with a convenient food source – pretty much anything you are trying to grow in your yard! Limiting plant loss from deer is a challenging proposition. Once upon a time, bags of human hair hung from trees drove them off. This was in a bygone era when deer feared humans. These days, fragrant soaps hung in mesh bags can help ward off the deer. Commercial repellants also exist, but be sure to research which one is best for you. Some repellants can damage food plants, and most will need to be re-applied after heavy watering or heavy rain. Some plants such as black-eyed Susans, daffodils, and lavender are unattractive to deer and can be planted throughout your yard. Unfortunately, the most effective way to secure your plants against deer damage is a physical boundary of some kind. Netting or chicken wire around (and on top of) your garden plants will often do the trick. Fences around your yard will also help (although deer are VERY good jumpers). These barriers may be unsightly, but often they are the only solution to a serious deer problem. The best way to gauge your situation is to try several solutions to see what will work. Not all deer are repelled by the same things, and some populations are more tame than others. Trial and error is your best bet in keeping your plants from becoming a deer buffet.

March 5, 2017 in Ault Park

flowering on March 2, 2017....myrtle and daffodils