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By Miles Hunter, May 17, 2010

May 17th, 2010

All of the Beauty and None of the Work!

If you are looking for a Rose that has all of the beauty with none of the work you might want to try the new Easy Elegance Roses.

Gone are the days of high-maintenance roses. With Easy Elegance®, you can have hardy, disease-resistant, chemical free roses without all the effort and attention. Let it be known – these are not your grandmother’s roses. You don’t have to spend all day in the yard to make them last. All you have to do is plant them and enjoy the beauty. And there’s nothing easier than that.

This is our first year carrying them and we are excited to offer five varieties including:

• Easy Elegance ‘Coral Cove’
• Easy Elegance ‘Grandma’s Blessing’
• Easy Elegance ‘High Voltage’
• Easy Elegance ‘Sunrise Sunset’ 
• Easy Elegance ‘Sweet Fragrance’

Click here for more information about Easy Elegance Roses. 

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By Miles Hunter, February 5, 2010

Start planning for Summer!

Water plants are slow to emerge from their winter sleep. So the early spring is the time to start planning for summer by seeing which plants have survived the winter and which may need to be replaced. Clean out any debris left from the winter and ensure that the water is clean.

Water Lilies

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By Miles Hunter,

Now is the time to start your garden from Seed!

Many flowers can also be started from seed indoors and transplanted outdoors later in the season when the weather warms up. You can start plants like Geraniums or Sweet Peas indoors now to transplant outdoors in March/April.

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By Miles Hunter,

Spring is a great time to start caring for your lawn!

A well established healthy lawn requires less water, care, and maintenance during the summer. If your lawn is hard and compact aerating the lawn loosens the soil and allows for new roots to grow. The following is a list of a few things that you can do now to help ensure that you lawn is healthy and strong:

Starting a New Lawn

If you are starting a new lawn it is recommended that there is at least six inches of soil. So be sure to till the soil to an even depth to allow for the roots of the grass to develop. Next ensure that the area is level to reduce the possibility of drainage issues in the future. Then you can apply the grass seed or sod to the area and water thoroughly.

If you have an existing lawn you can top dress the lawn by spreading a thin layer of top soil and then apply the grass seed on top. Water thoroughly to ensure that the seed germinates.

Watering your Lawn

Adequate watering ensures that your lawn has an established rook system to cope with the dry summer months. Be sure to water thoroughly and deeply. Watering restrictions come into affect on June 1^st and are in effect until September 30^th. They are as follows:

• 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• Even-numbered address: Wednesdays and Saturdays
• Odd-numbered address: Thursdays and Sundays

Newly planted lawns need special attention. It is best to keep the soil moist for at least 4 to 6 weeks to ensure that your lawn develops an adequate root system. If you are starting a new lawn in the summer be sure to apply for a permit to water outside of the watering restrictions.

Mowing your Lawn

Lawns should be mowed at regular intervals with a sharp mower at the correct height. Lawns should be cut every 7 to 10 days. A rotary mower should to be set at 2 to 3 inches for the season. You lawn mower should be kept sharp at all times. A dull mower tears the grass instead of cutting it, making it more susceptible to diseases. You should use a catcher, or rake the cut grass to remove the cuttings and prevent the build-up of dead grass. If you do not remove the dead grass you should power rake you lawn on a regular basis to remove the layer of dead grass (thatch) that builds up, this is called de-thatching.

Applying Moss Control

Before your moss goes dormant in the summer heat you should take steps to kill and remove the moss in your lawn. To do this apply either a liquid or granular Moss Control to affected areas. Approximately two days later, use a mechanical power rake to remove the dead black moss. The area should then receive a thin layer of soil or sand followed by an application of grass seed to grow where the moss was.

Moss Out

Fertilizing your Lawn

The beauty of your lawn, its resistance to disease, insects, moss and weeds depends largely on how you feed it. With our heavy rains in the coastal area, much of the mineral content (food or fertilizer) of the soil is washed away each year. Every fertilizer shows the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potash (N.P.K.) For example 12-4-8 is 12% Nitrogen, 4% Phosphorous and 8% Potash.

• Nitrogen                     – gives the green to lawns and is the main food a lawn responds to
• Phosphorous            – encourages good root growth
• Potash                       – promotes strong healthy stems

Lawns should be fed at regular intervals.  We recommend an application of 28-3-8 in early spring. This will feed your lawn for 10 to 12 weeks. For late spring and summer, we recommend 12-4-8. This feeds your lawn for 6 to 8 weeks. Fertilizing should be done when the grass is dry and should then be watered in thoroughly. To ensure an even application, it is best to use a fertilizer spreader.

When you apply fertilizer you should water your lawn to make sure that the fertilizer make it to the soil and does not remain on the leaves where it could burn them.

Applying Lime to Your Lawn

Lime is an important soil conditioner that helps you lawn absorb fertilizer and deter moss from growing. Lime does not kill moss, but does neutralize the pH of the soil making fertilizer applications more effective. To be effective Dolomite Lime should be applied in spring and again in fall.

Top Dressing Your Lawn

After power raking and/or aerating in the spring, your lawn may appear sparse. Top-dressing is a reliable way of rejuvenating it. You can top-dress your lawn with Peat Moss for sandy soils, peat and sand for clay soils, sand if you have wet soil, or top soil. Top-dressing is best done in March or April. After top-dressing you can also apply a thin layer of lawn seed to help fill in the spaces left by the power rake.

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By Miles Hunter,

Start your vegetables from seed!

There are many vegetables that can be started from seed at this time of year. Some can be planted directly outside. Others you should start indoors and transplant outside once the weather warms up. Some seeds that you can start outdoors now include Broad Beans and Radishes. Indoors you can start Celery, Leeks, Onions, and/or Parsley.

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By Miles Hunter,

Spring is the time to Prune your trees and shrubs!

Pruning can be done at this time of year to thin out trees or shrubs that have become too dense or simply to cut back those that have grown too big. Be careful not to prune any trees or shrubs that bloom in the early spring, such as Forsythia and Magnolias, as you may accidentally prune the flower buds.

Early spring flowering shrubs should be pruned after they have finished blooming. Come in today to pick up our free pamphlet on “Practical Pruning” to learn what should be pruned when.

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By Miles Hunter, January 8, 2010

If you started your winter vegetables like cabbage, kale, or winter lettuce now is the time to harvest them. To protect your winter vegetable if we receive snow or severely cold temperatures cover them with burlap, a frost blanket or similar protection.

Some other things to do with the vegetable garden include:

• Spray your fruit trees with Lime Sulphur and Dormant Oil to prevent insect and fungus infections later in the season
• Clean up any dead or dying plants as they serve as food for insects
• Prepare your vegetable beds for spring planting by adding compost, manure, and/or lime
• Pick out seeds for the vegetables that you want to grow this summer

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By Miles Hunter,

During the winter months there is no shortage of work that you can do in the garden. Proper care of your shrubs during the winter can enhance how much they bloom or grow during the spring and summer.

Your shrubs will benefit if you take the time to prune them. Pruning should focus on enhancing the shape of the shrubs as well as removing any dead branches. You should be careful not to prune early spring blooming shrubs like Forsythia as pruning them too early might reduce the amount of blooms you see in the spring. When you come by the store pickup our Practical Pruning brochure and ask one of our staff about what you should be pruning now.

You can also spray your deciduous shrubs, like your roses, with the Lime Sulphur and Dormant Oil combination spray. This spray will help to reduce the fungal and insect infections that you may get during the season.

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By Miles Hunter, January 4, 2010

There are many beautiful plants that bloom in the winter months. Shrubs like Camellia, Mahonia, and Sarcoccocca can provide an abundance of flowers from January through March.

Winter is also an ideal time to:

• Clean up garden beds

• Dig over and mulch with manure or compost

• Add lime to balance the Ph

• Wrap up marginally hardy plants such as Bananas, Canna Lilies, and outdoor Palm trees with burlap to protect from frost

• Plant Helleborus for winter blooms in your garden

• Cut back perennials just above the ground level

• Divide spring blooming perennials like Hostas

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By admin, November 3, 2009

At this time of year you should clean up any dead or dying plants as they attract animals that may feed on them. You should prepare your vegetable beds for next season by adding compost, manure, and/or lime.

There are many vegetables that will grow in the fall and winter in our climate. You can grow a variety of lettuce, cabbage, kale, and Swiss chard. We have a selection of these and other vegetable crops throughout the fall.