spotlight
Spring... into summer
Many of us associate spring with certain fond memories of our childhood...excitement at finding a Crocus popping its colorful head out of the ground or up through a blanket of snow; watching a robin trying to extract its meal from a half-frozen earth; the almost magical transformation as trees, naked and shivering throughout the winter months, cover themselves - many with delicate flowers, then brand-new leaves, all fresh with the scent of spring.
Warmer temperatures, longer days and brighter sunlight combine to trigger nature's time clock, sounding the wake-up call to spring. While many people just take this annual phenomenon for granted, nature has been at work, even before the onset of winter, preparing the soil and plants for this rebirth of life.
Caring for your plants is not the easy task some would have you believe. Stressful conditions, some natural and some man-made, are always at work causing various levels of disappointment and frustration for the homeowner and plant care professional alike.
But, like horticulturists and gardening enthusiasts around the world, we are anxious to continue caring for the myriad of plants that surround us, especially those that make up your landscape.
During the past several months we have invested some of our resources, enabling us to properly care for and protect the investment you've made in your property.
Time for a New Beginning
Like clockwork every spring our lawns, trees, shrubs and perennials begin their life cycles again. We can count on it - and it is reassuring.
Having a fine lawn and healthy trees and shrubs is a true source of beauty and pride. The great thing about your landscape is that it needs very little input…to get out a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment.
Our wish is that you take the time to enjoy it all. We are glad to be of service to you during this important part of the season.
Spring Tree & Shrub Care
Many homeowners often overlook the very items that create value and maintain the beauty of their landscape.
Perhaps it is the old saying coming true about "not seeing the forest because of all the trees" or more likely, not realizing the natural cycles at work and cultural requirements of their trees and shrubs.
Most homeowners acknowledge the need to care to their lawn (feed, control weeds, protect from insects and diseases), but believe that their trees and shrubs require little care, if any. After all, trees growing in the wild don't receive any care.
As logical and simple as that may seem, the trees and shrubs that make up your landscape are probably NOT the plant materials that would grow there naturally. We choose specific landscape plants based more on desired aesthetic characteristics than on the soil and climate requirements for successful growth.
That is why an annual maintenance program for your trees and shrubs would include:
- Feeding with a balanced and complete fertilizer and soil conditioner
- Pruning to remove damaged parts
- Insect and disease controls as necessary to keep pests at a level which will minimize stress on plants.
Lawn Care Lite
Your lawn is just starting to "wake-up" after its winter nap, and requires a little TLC to get it off to a good start.
Lightly rake the lawn to remove surface debris that may have collected over the winter months. Often the turf is not strong in the early spring (depending on the variety of grass), and a vigorous raking may uproot perfectly good turf. Raking that "fluffs-up" matted down grass is also important, especially if snow mold, a winter fungus disease, has been present.
A light feeding will also nourish the grass and help it return to an active growing condition after its winter dormancy. Applying too much fertilizer in the spring will actually reduce the root mass of the lawn, placing additional stress on the turf during the summer months.
Your Lawn Needs
With warmer temperatures, food reserves allow your grass plants to put out new green foliage. Often there is some damage from winter weather. Additional "fuel" gets it growing quickly and spreading to cover small bare or thin areas. Sometimes seeding is required, especially in shaded areas or where physical damage has occurred. Fertilizer speeds up the natural greening process and intensifies it for a pleasing appearance. When spring temperatures are low, the grass takes longer to begin growing and early weeds may become prominent. Once the grass grows more rapidly, and the temperatures rise, many of those weeds disappear. Other weeds need to be controlled selectively. Crabgrass, in most cases, needs to be addressed with a pre-emergent material that prevents germination.
Considerations For Life-Long Landscape Enjoyment
- Turf as a pathway to exhibit your landscape features; as an outside living area carpet; as a play or picnic area.
- Greater combinations of shrubs to provide season-long color and fragrance.
- Easy-to-care-for perennials and annuals used for accents and color.
- A more "natural" look.
- Soil preparation and care to produce healthier plants.
- Natural material mulches (not recycled lumber) to enrich the soil, protect shallow-rooted plants and cut down weed problems.
- A definite year-by-year budget for fertilizer and insect control in order to maintain health and appearance.
Drought Protection
Plants that exhibit vigorous growth, like your lawn, show the effects of drought very quickly, and are capable of recovering just as rapidly. Unlike the lawn, your trees and shrubs may take a much longer time to exhibit symptoms of drought-related stress. By the time these larger plants show obvious signs, significant damage has been done - damage that will affect the plant's health and growth for years and may even cause death.
While trees and shrubs expend tremendous amounts of energy to regenerate millions of microscopic root hairs, these plants are extremely vulnerable to insect and disease attacks. So, if the plants don't die from thirst, disease or bugs complete the job. What should you do and what shouldn't you do to help save your valuable plants?
DO protect your plants from any new or additional insect or disease damage.
DO use a soaker-type hose to thoroughly drench the soil from the trunk to the drip-line throughout the growing season.
DO use a humate-based material to condition the soil and restore its balance and vitality.
DO plan to have an antidesiccant applied to all evergreen shrubs and small trees prior to winter.
DO have any thinning or shaping (done primarily to remove dead or damaged wood) including deep root fertilizing with a complete and balanced, humate-based tree food and soil conditioner.
DO NOT feed the tree with cheap, fast acting, chemical fertilizers that will stimulate unnatural growth (prone to insect and disease attacks) and further deplete both energy and moisture levels.