If you manage a commercial landscape, you know already know that spring is the time to renovate your turf.
You’ll soon see Plantscapes’ crews at work, aerating, reseeding, and fertilizing the grass around Puget Sound. (If you’d like a bid for your property, just contact Landscape Division Manager John Higgen at 206-623-7100)
However, many people do not realize that your home’s lawn will benefit from the same treatment – and you don’t need heavy equipment to do it.
As grass gets walked on, the soil underneath becomes compact. This makes it more difficult for the roots to take up nutrients and for water to soak deeply into the soil. Instead of burrowing down deeply, the grass’ roots stay shallow. Water runs off or evaporates.
Grass in this condition is more easily damaged and is more susceptible to disease. Fortunately, anyone can renovate their lawn over the course of a weekend.
A tool like this pulls plugs and aerates the lawn
You can buy a small, manual aerator for smaller lawns or rent a larger aerator for larger area.
The aerator will pull plugs from the soil, breaking up the compact, dense mass. You can leave the plugs on top of the lawn, where they will decompose and add organic matter back to your topsoil.
When the grass has been aerated, apply a good, organic fertilizer. You want to encourage root growth in the spring, so you don’t need a fertilizer high in nitrogen. Look for a well-balanced mix. If you have acidic soil (most people in Puget Sound do), add lime as well.
Overseed bare or thin patches with a good quality grass seed. Remeber, rye grass varieties do well in full sun. Fescues are better suited to shade. If your lawn doubles as a play area for kids, make sure your seed mix has grass that can stand up to foot traffic (i.e., more rye grass, less bluegrass).
Finally, add a topdressing of compost to your lawn to build the organic matter. Don’t lay this on so thickly that it smothers the grass. And do make sure that it is well rotted compost – you don’t want to burn tender shoots with a hot chicken manure!
If you follow this routine every spring and fall, you’ll have a lush green lawn that is thicker, requires less water, is resistant to disease – and yet requires less frequent mowing and watering.
They key is to always encourage strong root growth rather than to force weak top growth.
There is always too much to see and not enough time to take it all in at the annual northwest Flower and Garden Show.
Here are a few of the photos taken this year by Kathie Madsen. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger photo.
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The 2010 Flower and Garden Show is over.
If you had a chance to visit the show, you know how many amazing displays there were. The creativity is boundless. No one comes away without a thousand new ideas for their garden.
Now that you’ve seen the final product, we thought you might enjoy a behind the scenes look at how the WALP display came together this year.
BEFORE – BUILDING THE DISPLAY
THE WALP DISPLAY AT THE 2010 NORTHWEST FLOWER & GARDEN SHOW
Cheaper By the Yard
March signals the return of spring. Crocuses are blooming. Grass is growing. Trees are in bud. If you love nature, you can’t help but love spring.
Which is why we designated March as Customer Appreciation Month here at Plantscapes.
Even though we’ve had a very mild winter this year in the Puget Sound, your landscape is probably ready for a good, old fashioned “spring cleaning.” One of the most important steps you can take in getting your landscape ready for the new growing season is to renovate the mulch.
After a year of weathering, bark can get “worn out.” Some has been blown or tracked away. Weed seeds, litter, and insect egss may be lurking just below the surface. In short, the bark mulch can no longer do the job it is designed for.
A fresh layer of mulch not only re-invigorates the landscape, it adds a fresh, clean look to your beds and trees.
Until March 31, Plantscapes clients will receive 15% Off on any bark order.
This is a great way to kick off spring. If you are interested, just give us a call: 206-623-7100
Photo by jspatchwork Released under Creative Commons License.
An apple orchard in winter
Mid-winter, while your fruit trees are dormant, is the best time to start the fight against insects in the coming year.
Dormant Oil is one of natural gardening’s main weapons in the fight against insects and fungal disease on fruit trees. It works by smoothering spores and eggs in a coating of oil. Most commercial dormant oil sprays are made from mineral oil, a highly refined form of petroleum. A special emulsifier allows the spray to be mixed with water.
Lime -Sulfur spray, which is an anti-fungal sprayed for dormant trees, burns eggs and fungus spores hidden in the bark. It is quite caustic and should be sprayed only on calm, dry days. Wear goggles and gloves when using lime-sulfur, and be sure to cover nearby evergreens or other non-dormant plants and shrubs that may be hit by drifting spray.
There are also special year-round oil sprays, usually labelled as “horticultural oil,” rather than dormant oil. These lighter oils may be applied to leaves, fruit and buds without damage. You must follow the label instructions exactly when calculating dilution rates. Even a highly refined superior oil can cause damage if the mix is too heavy.
Dormant sprays are usually considered organic. However, you shouldn’t confuse “organic” with “harmless.” The mist can be dangerous to breathe in high concentrations, and lime-sulfur in the eyes or on the skin can be extremely corrosive and damaging. Be sure to read the label, follow directions, and only use the sprays when there is no chance of wind or rain.
While dormant sprays are a great first step, they are not a cure all.
Spores and insect eggs can over-winter in fallen leaves and mulch under the trees. If you’ve experienced problems with bugs or disease in the previous growing season, it is extremely important that you clean up all debris around your plants, even going so far as to remove the old mulch and add fresh.
The work you do now, in the winter, will pay off in the summer. Your trees will be healthier; they may even yield more fruit; and you won’t have to use dangerous chemicals when you, your children and your pets are relaxing in the shade of your trees.
Photo by Max Used under Creative Commons License
Get Your Tools Ready for Spring
Did you clean and oil your garden tools before you put them away for the winter?
Although most of us know we should do that, many of us don’t. The hand tools go onto their pegs, the spades and rakes are hung upon their hooks, and the shed door is closed before the final cleaning takes place.
Maybe you meant to do to it next weekend. Maybe you just forgot.
Or may be you were fooled by our on-again off-again on-again winter and never were sure if the gardening season was really over yet.
Don’t worry. There is still time to give your tools a thorough cleaning before spring.
Here’s a simple method recommended by lazy gardeners everywhere:
Take a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with sand. Now mix in oil until the sand is damp. Knock any loose dirt off your tools, then plunge them into the bucket. The mixture of sand and oil should clean off loose debris while protecting your tools from rust.
If you are an organic gardener, you’ll want to replace the generic oil with a vegetable oil. Non-organic gardeners can try spraying the surface of the sand with WD-40.
If your tools are especially dirty or rusty, clean them with a wire brush before using the sand & oil mixture. You can use an old burlap sack to knock clods of earth and mud from the blades of spades and shovels.
And while you are cleaning your bladed tools, don’t forget to sharpen them.
For shovels, spades, trowels, etc, use a double-sided flat file. You can pick one up at any hardware store if you don’t already have one. Use the coarse side to file the outside edge of the blade to a sharp angle. Then use the fine side on the inside edge to remove nicks. Lastly, give a nice final polish to the cutting edge with the fine side of the file. Wipe the blade with an oily rag.
Before you call it done, be sure to rub wooden handles with a good coating of linseed oil to prevent cracking.
Sharpening pruners is a tricky task. Be sure to use a tool designed specifically for pruners and take extra care not to knick the thin cutting edges. Some pruners, such as Felcos, sport replaceable blades. If you do much pruning, it is a good practice to start every spring with a new cutting blade. While you are at it, check the spring and anvil blade as well. They may not need to be replaced as frequently, but they do eventually wear out.
Less delicate loppers and hedge shears can usually be sharpened with a small flat file. You’ll also find that some manufacturers, such as Sandvik, sell replacement blades for their loppers and shears.
If you want to keep your hand tools clean and sharp throughout the gardening season, try storing them between jobs in the oily sand bucket rather than hanging them from hooks or leaning them against walls.
Eventually, your sand bucket will be too contaminated with dirt to be an effective cleaner. However, before you throw away the sand, remember that oil is a serious pollutant. Check with the local Department of Ecology for approved disposal methods. Or save yourself the hassle, and use vegetable oil.
Photo by Andy Field (Hubmedia) Released under Creative Commons License
Just a few of the landscape designs created by Plantscapes.
Isn’t it time to start planning your new look for 2010?
Give Kathie a call to get started (206) 623-7100
Master Mechanic Victor Villafeurte and Landscape Division Manager John Higgen review the troops as Plantscapes prepares for spring.
You may not have this many lawn mowers to care for, but take a tip from our mechanical genius Victor, and get your lawn care equipment ready now.
Clean, oil, and sharpen your mower’s blades. If you have a gas mower, give the motor a tune up – change the oil and replace the spark plug.
Then take out your hand tools and polish them up as well. Sharpen the blade on your shovels and spades. Oil your pruners and sharpen or replace the cutting blades.
You might be surprised at how much easier it is to care for your landscape if your care for your tools first.
Spanish Moss On A Tree
It is Moss Month at Plantscapes – and that means it is Moss Month for you, too, if you have an Interior Plant Maintenance account.
Doesn’t that sound intriguing? Do you want to know more?
Interior plants, just like the flowers and shrubs in landscaped flower beds, thrive and grow better with a top dressing on the soil surface.
At Plantscapes, we use Spanish moss for that top dressing.
Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is very different than either peat moss or the moss and lichen you’ll find growing on trees and stones here in the Northwest. In fact, Spanish moss isn’t a real moss at all. It is a type of bromeliad (or air plant).
You’ve probably seen pictures of Spanish moss hanging from tree limbs in the Florida Everglades or in Louisiana bayous. It grows throughout much of the South. The moss Plantscapes uses has been carefully harvested and sterilized. All of our Spanish moss is warranted to be insect and disease free.
Every January, we celebrate Moss Month by replacing and revitalizing the moss at all of our interior accounts – at no additional cost to you, naturally. This program is just part of Plantscapes commitment to keeping your plants looking as good as they did on the day they were first installed.
What’s so great about Spanish moss?
- It helps to cool the soil during hot weather
- It retains moisture in the soil, helping to ensure your plants don’t dry out.
- It hides the rim of the containers, giving pots a softer, more natural look.
- It keeps fungus gnats from laying eggs in the soil
- It hides bare soil – which just plain looks better
- It discourages people from using planters as trash cans – a very important consideration in public places like malls.
Bromeliad with Spanish moss
Plantscapes always “stages” our large containers with Spanish moss. However, after a year, egven the most artistic staging can look somewhat beaten down. Top watering can form little canyons in the moss. People often touch or pat it – “just to see” – and that can flatten or compact the moss. Over time, since Spanish moss is alive, parts of the moss will die off, leaving bare patches.
So with every new year, our technicians evaluate every container at every account. Sometimes we’ll just add a little new moss. Sometimes we’ll pull out the old moss and completely replace it with all new moss. And while we are doing that, we’ll also be inspecting the soil levels in your containers and topping them off when needed, evaluating root growth and root pruning as needed, and checking for signs of insects.
Your business is the reason we are in business. So we will make sure that your interiorscape, no matter how large or small, looks as new as the new decade.
Photo by faul Released under Creative Commons License
The First Sign of Spring
The Northwest Flower and Garden Show is the first eagerly anticipated sign of spring for Seattle gardeners.
This year, the show begins on Feb. 3 and runs through Feb. 7 at the Seattle Convention Center.
In among the 6 acres of gardens and 350 exhibits, you’ll find Plantscapes’ own Kathie Madsen at the WALP (Washington Association of Landscape Professionals) booth. Kathie is serving as Treasurer for WALP this year, and will be on hand to answer all your questions – so please stop by and say hello!