Gardening Tips

Horticultural Tips

Fall is a great time to plant perennials, shrubs and trees.  It is also a good time to divide and replant your perennials.

DO NOT fertilize or prune trees and shrubs.  They will not have time to heal before the cold weather sets in.

Now is the time to aerate and reseed your lawn.  Apply pre-emergent herbicide to control winter weeds.

Plant spring flowering bulbs.  Fertilize them with a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) incorporated at the root level.

As we get into Fall it is time to put our gardens to bed for the winter.  Thoroughly clean plant debris out of the garden to prevent many of next year’s insect and disease problems.  Add organic matter and turn over the soil.

Compost your leaves!

Do you prefer to garden with natural products?  Try these tips!

Milk works as a great fungicide on roses.  Thoroughly spray the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves with milk every week before  blackspot actually develops on your roses.

You might hate the smell of garlic but it is great against whiteflies, aphids and beetles.  It also repels deer.  Blend one garlic bulb into 2 cups of water.  Strain and spray on the leaves and stems.  Thoroughly cover all parts of the leaves and stems to keep insects away.

Eggs  sometimes get a bad reputation but eggshells are great for the garden.  Crushes eggshells provides small amounts of calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium to the garden.  Crush four or five eggshells per plant and mix them into the potting mix or garden soil once a year.  If you would rather, you can pour 2 cups of cooled water from hardboiled eggs onto the soil every week or two.