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Articles / Information / Listing Page When Summer Is Late ~ The Gardener ~ In this Issue: Publishers Notes When Summer Is Late...
Newsletter Special
Internet Tip
Elevator Fun
~ Publisher's Notes ~
It's the countdown to Memorial Day Weekend! I can't
believe
it's only 2 weeks away. The weather has been frightful,
and
our installation and maintenance crews are weary of the
rain
and cold. Here in Michigan it seems a month behind
now,
but that usually means warmer than normal, soon.
Please!
~ When Summer Is Late ~
Cooler spring weather has a dampening effect on all of
your
landscaping. It's important to go ahead and
fertilize your lawn
and shrubs, and get your irrigation started up.
The growing
season will be a little shorter, and fertilizing and
pruning done
now will help make the most the warm weather when it
arrives.
Add extra bacteria to your water garden! In fact,
you should
add some every week, until it warms up. Cool
weather inhibits
your bacteria colony. When you start up your water
garden for
the year, often it is less then clean, and will
simply take extra
bacteria. If your water garden is in a wooded
area, the leaves
often turn the water tan or brown. Change all, or
as much of your
water as you can, and see if extra bacteria cleans it
up. If not,
add some activated charcoal between the filters.
That should
so the trick.
Your perennials and wildflowers just seem to break
through the
soil and sit there, wondering if spring has really
arrived. Treat them
as if it is hot, and water and fertilize them anyway.
They will fill with
energy and explode when the weather warms up! This
is especially
true of your lawn. The temptation is to not start up
your irrigation
or fertilize, since it isn't dry, and isn't growing
much, anyway. Food
and water applied now will make your lawn much darker
green then
normal, and you won't have to play 'catch-up' when it
gets hot. The
spring (and winter) rains have surely washed away all
the nutrients
in the soil.
Split up your hosta and other
perennials, now, too. The cool
weather is a great time to move even
established plants to different
locations. Most shrubs and trees will
move easy in the cool
weather, too. To move a 3-4 foot shrub:
Use a sharp flat spade
and cut around the ball of the shrub
about a 24" circle. Then angle
a little in towards the shrub, and spade
around the circle again. Then
spade at the same angle again, but this
3rd time, pry up just a
little bit. The 4th time around
the circle pry hard, and chop any roots
that may be holding the shrub in. If you
are patient, and take the time,
the earth ball will hold together fine,
and the shrub can be lifted onto
a burlap (or anything) and moved to it's
new location. This method
works well on shrubs and small trees.
If the ball you are spading
is too large, your spade won't reach
under far enough, and prying will
cause the ball to fall apart...
~ Special ~
Available to our newsletter readers:
One of our major suppliers has realized an over stock,
and we
can offer a great deal (save $30.) on these ferns:
Hay-Scented Fern or Maidenhair Ferns for $90. /100 .
Hay-Scented fern is a fast grower, upright shaped, 2-4
feet, hardy from
zones 4-9, tolerates a wide variety of soil types, from
acid to alkaline,
sandy to clay, as long as it is well drained, but
receives moisture.
Likes part shade to shade, and is classified a fast
grower.
Maidenhair is a beautiful fern, also called 5-fingered,
from the shape
of the fronds. It grows at a medium rate, but also
can reach 4 feet
under ideal conditions. It likes a sandier soil,
and also likes partial
to full shade.
If interested, go to this special link:
We will try to get them to offer more ferns on special
as the season
progresses. Can you plant ferns in the summer?
Yes. Make sure
they are treated as if it is a hot, dry spring! (To
them, it is!) Water them,
and they will soon emerge. Water them regularly,
and they will establish
themselves well this year!
Plant ferns in several groupings of 25 or so, on 1-2
foot centers, just as
they would be found in the wild. You'll have a
spectacular ground cover.
~ Computer Tip ~ Did you ever wish you could search a site that didn't have
a search engine on it? You can, by
using AltaVista! Simply go
to AltaVista (
http://www.altavista.com
) and in their search
box, type "host:" then the site name
WITHOUT the "www".
Then leave a space, and type the plus
sign ( + ) leave another
space, and type the keyword you are
searching for. So, to
find "bacteria" for your pond at our
site, you would type:
host:greatlakeslandscaping.net + bacteria
You'll get several pages to browse, and the first one is
our bacteria page!
See you soon,
Spike
PS- OASE has been cranking out
fountains in about 3 weeks! Not bad.
Get your orders in so
you're "Stratavating" in color for the 4th of July!
Contact me here ~ http://www.greatlakeslandscaping.net/question.htm I enjoy hearing from you! Web Site: http://www.greatlakeslandscaping.net * Water Garden Kits * Vista Outdoor Lighting * * OASE Fountains * Wholesale Plant Center * * Hunter * Rainbird * Catalog and Brochure * |
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