• To prevent the spread of diseases in your landscape, dispose of infected plants immediately before the disease has a chance to spread.
• Pick up rotting fruit or dead leaves, which can be a source of the disease.
• When in doubt, throw them out. Do not compost diseased materials.
• Don’t forget to disinfect your tools to prevent diseases from spreading.

• A late summer application of nitrogen fertilizer helps fruit sizing more in the fall than in the spring.
• Cut off spent blooms to stimulate re-bloom.
• Water less often as plant needs decrease with the shortening and cooling days.
• Be sure to dig, divide and replant overcrowded perennials that have finished flowering.
• Feed new flower and vegetable plants with liquid fertilizer two weeks after planting them.
• After several hard frosts add mulch to your perennial flower garden. A one inch layer of straw or chopped leaves will help conserve soil moisture and protect the root system.

• Plant winter hardy trees, shrubs and vines.
• Feed cool season lawns to support their growth in the fall season.
• Continue to pick up fallen, decomposing fruit that could harbor insects and pests.
• Don’t allow leaves to accumulate on the lawn. Rake them up regularly, and store in a pile for use as mulch in your garden next summer. By allowing leaves to accumulate on your lawn, they can become matted down by the rain and can kill the grass.
• Autumn is a good time for improving your garden soil. Add manure, compost, and leaves to increase the organic matter content. Before adding lime to your soil, have your soil tested to determine if your soil is acidic and needs lime.
• Mulches applied too early can do more harm than good. A mulch is used to keep soil temperatures constant and prevent frost heaving, not keep it warm. Therefore, it is best not to mulch until the soil temperature has reached the freezing point.
• When deciding on new trees or shrubs to plant around your home, remember to select varieties that will fit the location when they are at their mature height. This will greatly reduce pruning and other maintenance in the future.

• Garden tools are expensive! Take care of your tools and bring them inside so they don’t need to be replaced. Clean them off and with proper care, quality tools can last you a lifetime!

• Make a note of any particularly productive or unsatisfactory varieties of vegetables that you planted this year.
• Fall is an excellent time for taking soil samples in your lawn and garden. Soil tests will measure the pH of the soil, organic matter content and the levels of some of the major elements required for plant growth, such as phosphorus and potassium.

The post October Chores and Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

• Now is the time to plant peonies. Be sure to bury the crowns one and a half to two inches below the ground level. Planting them too deep can prevent them from blooming.
• Before the first frost happens, dig up caladiums. Allow them to dry and store in a dry place for the winter.
• Allow your plants to finish the summer growth cycle in a normal manner. Never rush the growth by over fertilizing or excessive pruning.
• Fall is a good time for improving your garden soil. Add manure, compost and leaves to increase the organic matter.

• Warm season grass will begin to turn brown once the soil temperatures fall below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, but you can enjoy a green lawn during the winter months by overseeding with perennial ryegrass seed.
• Make sure you grow your lawn longer for two weeks prior to overseeding.
• It is important to remember not to fertilize for 4-6 weeks after overseeding.
• Select accent plants for your landscape that will provide autumn colours such as trees or shrubs.
• Water newly planted trees and shrubs and add a three inch layer of organic mulch around the base to retain soil moisture and help manage temperature.

• Be sure to rake up leaves, twigs and fruit from crabapple trees and dispose of them in the trash to help control apple scab disease.
• Do not wait for frost warnings to move your plants indoors. Temperatures lower than 45 degrees Fahrenheit can damage many plants.

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• Water your plants more as the weather gets warmer and the sun gets hotter. Pay attention to how much water they need in a day/week.
• Place mulch around plats that are sensitive to the hot sun. This will help keep the roots of the plants cool.
• Break or cut of dead pieces of plants. This will help more of the plant to grow.
• If you have planted a new tree, then be sure to have it supported by a stake. You wouldn’t want high winds to blow it over.
• Do not prune heat sensitive plants in the summer. This may kill your plant.
• Try to avoid watering too much, you want to grow beautiful plants, you don’t want to rot the roots

• Use golf tees to mark where you have plants like perennials and bulbs that don’t grow or grow slowly in the summer.
• Plants that are grown in containers can only absorb so much water at a time. So be sure to watch plants that are in sunny areas and water them more, if required.
• Hanging flower baskets need water daily. The sun and wind absorbs the water much more quickly than other plants.
• Clean up flower petals and leaves. They can become infected with disease and bugs if they are left.
• Take out old plants that are dead and have stopped growing. Keep such things gives a home to insects and bugs that are not wanted.
• Water your garden before the hot sun comes out and dries up the already dry ground.
• Pick up fruit that has fallen off of the tree of plant. This will prevent bugs and rodents.
• Pull weeds before they make seeds. The longer you leave the weeds the more weeds you will have to deal with next spring.

The post August’s Chores & Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

• Dig up and separate clustered spring-flowering bulbs and tubers.
• Feed roses after each growth, water regularly and remove dead heads of flowers
• Feed growing annuals every month, to keep them blooming
• Feed potted plants twice a month with half – strength liquid fertilizer like 20-20-20 or less often with a controlled-release pelleted fertilizer
• Check to make sure that the soil is moist in plants that are grown in pots every day. If it is hot some plants may need to be watered twice a day

• Plant trees a minimum of 6 feet from sidewalks or driveways to prevent the concrete from cracking due to growing roots
• Be sure to keep up with watering plants, trees, and grass in the warmer months. Pay attention to the watering needs of plants
• Apply mulch to plats that are sensitive to the heat. The mulch will help to keep the roots of the plants cool.
• Help protect your recently transported trees by staking them. This will help to protect them from high winds and storms.

• Use room temperature water to be sure that you don’t make indoor tropical plants to cold. The cold tap water can harm or kill the sensitive roots on these plants.
• Keep indoor plants away from air conditioner vents. This will also cause your plants’ roots to get cold and harm or kill them.

• Check outdoor sprinkler systems to make sure that they are all in working order.
• Indoor plants should be kept out of direct sunlight to protect the leaves of the plants. Use sheer curtains to make sure they are getting enough light, but not too much.

The post July’s Chores and Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

• Stop fertilizing as often on established roses to encourage plants to slow down for the hot summer.
• Water deeply as temperatures climb; a garden needs one inch of rain or water each week. The best time to water is early morning. Evening watering is less desirable because plant leaves that remain wet through the night are more susceptible to fungus diseases. By mulching plants it will reduce water losses and improve yields.
• Hose off your plants in the early morning to increase humidity and control spider mites.
• Cut off dying blooms to help regrowth.
• Stake your tall flowers to protect them from the wind. Use stakes which are large enough to support the entire plant. Use soft twine or twist ties to secure.
• Cover fruit trees and vines with plastic netting to protect ripening fruit from the birds.
• The best time to harvest most herbs is just before the flower when the leaves contain the maximum essential oils. Cut herbs early in the morning on a sunny day.

• Apply mulch to the ground around heat sensitive plants keep the roots cooler and prevent evaporation.
• A brown or grayish cast over a lawn can be caused by dull or improperly adjusted mower blades that shred grass rather than cut it.
• Control mosquitoes by eliminating all sources of stagnant water.
• Clean up dead brush and debris to reduce fuel volume in fire-prone areas.

• Store pesticides in a safe place in their original containers, away from children and pets. Use pesticides carefully in your garden. Read the labels and follow the directions. The warnings and precautions are for your protection.
• Feed houseplants once a month or apply fertilizer diluted to quarter strength every time you water.
• Protect sun sensitive houseplants from direct sunlight by moving them to a cooler location or covering your windows with a translucent curtain.
• June is the perfect time to clean out the greenhouse. Discard dead or diseased plants and old potting soil. Good sanitation is necessary to control greenhouse pests.

• Cutting flowers is best done with sharp shears or a knife which will help avoid injury to the growing plant. A slanting cut will expose a larger absorbing surface to water and will prevent the base of the stem from resting on the bottom of the vase. It is best to carry a bucket of water to the garden for collecting flowers, rather than a cutting basket.
• Hanging baskets exposed to sun should be checked daily and watered if needed. They should also be sheltered from high winds.

Have any other tips? Share it with us in the comments below!

The post June’s Chores and Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

• Watering your roses with soaker hoses or drip irrigation will reduce the spread of black spot disease.
• Be sure to stay out of the garden when the vegetable plants leaves are wet. Walking through a wet garden spreads disease from one plant to another.
• Grass clippings can be used as mulch in flowerbeds and vegetable gardens if allowed to dry well before use. Just be sure never use clippings from a lawn that has been treated with a herbicide.
• Four or five layers of newspaper can serve as an effective mulch in your gardens. Just cover it with grass clippings or straw to prevent it from blowing away.
• Be sure to plant your gladioli bulbs in late May.

• Set out your marigold, petunia, ageratum and fibrous begonia transplants. All of these plants are good border plants.
• To grow annuals in containers on the patio, use light weight soil mixture. Keep the plants well-watered, because the soil dries out fast. Apply a water soluble fertilizer according to the package direction every two weeks.
• Mulch around newly planted trees and shrubs to reduce weeds, control soil temperature, and retain moisture. It also prevents damage from lawn mowers and looks attractive.
• For maximum landscaping interest, try annual vines. They can disguise ugly walls and fences. When trellised, they can create shade and privacy while hiding undesirable views. Morning glory, nasturtium vine and scarlet runner bean are typically your best options.
• Lawns maintained at the correct height are less likely to have disease and weed infestation. Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue should be mowed at two or three inches in height. Mow frequently, removing no more than one third of the blade at each cutting.

• It might sound obvious; put your tools away at the end of the day. Clean them and hang them up so they are ready to use and easy to find when you need them.
• To better evaluate your gardening successes – keep weather records along with garden records. The most important items to report on are daily minimum and maximum temperatures, precipitation, cloud cover and frost occurrences.

The post May’s Chores and Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

• Do you have roses? Fertilize your established roses. Liquid fertilizers can be added at two week intervals but follow the instructions on the container.
•  Make a plot layout of your flower borders so you will know where to locate the spring flowering bulbs you plant next fall. It will always make spring and summer gardening easier. You will be able to identify the plants in your border and plan for continuous blooming by setting young annuals between bulbs and early flowering perennials after their blooms have faded.
•  April is a great time to clean up plants and flower beds; pick out dead leaves, twigs and prune dead limbs.

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• As the weather gets warmer and the days lengthen, adjust your irrigation timer to water more frequently. Be sure to run your system long enough to wet the top two feet of soil. A deep, infrequent water is much more beneficial than a daily sprinkle.
• Allow your wildflowers to go to seed so they will produce a natural healthy feast for birds as well as reseeding themselves  so they grow again next year.
• Begin fertilizing Bermuda grass lawns during late April or early May. Follow the instructions on the container.
• Control lawn weeds now through late May before they get too large.
• To determine if soil is ready to work, squeeze a handful of soil into a tight ball and then break the ball apart with your fingers. If the ball of soil crumbles easily, the soil is ready to work. If the soil stays balled, it is too wet to work.
• Once new growth begins on trees and shrubs, cut them back to where the green wood begins to remove any twigs that were affected by winter kill.

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• Your lawn mower blade should always be sharp so they do not tear the grass. If you sharpen the blade at home, make sure you balance it too. Place the center hole of the blade on a screwdriver handle held upright in the vise. If it doesn’t balance, sharpen the heavier side until the blade balances on the handle.
•  Invest in a hose-end shut-off valve this spring. These are available separately as part of a watering wand. This allows you to turn off the hose as you move around the yard and shut off the water immediately, rather than letting the hose run while you hurry to turn off the main spigot.

The post April Chores and Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

• If you’re still receiving snow, be sure to shovel and brush off the snow from any raised bed covers.
• Onto warmer thoughts… Prep any new garden beds as the weather permits.
• If the soil is workable, add compost and any other soil amendments as needed.
• Make sure to fertilize plants that are starting to grow actively.
• Be sure not to plow your garden while the soil is wet, as it will form clumps that are difficult to break up. This will interfere with the cultivation during the summer months.
• If there are weeds in your bulb beds, be sure remove them by hand so the bulbs and roots will not be disturbed.
• Spring is a great time to renew and add more variety to your landscape… Buy some new perennials for your flower border.

• When buying bare-root trees, look for the ones with the largest root system in relation to top growth. It is not necessary to purchase a larger tree to get a quality plant.
• Dig, divide and replant crowded summer and fall flowering perennials.
• Plant your spring flowering annuals.
• Prune your shrubs and ornamental trees before the growing starts (except for the spring flowering shrubs – prune those as soon as they finish flowering.
• Early spring is the perfect time for these turf treatments – if needed. Special equipment is available for each operation… Consult a lawn-care specialist or rent the equipment and do it yourself!
  • Vertical cutting or thinning to remove thatch and aerification
  • Or coring to reduce soil compaction.
• As the nice spring weather approaches, it is a perfect time for repositioning stepping stones that have heaved or snuck below grass level. Do this by lifting them, spreading sand in the low areas and replacing the rocks. A bed of sand under the stones will allow for better drainage and decrease the sinking for next year.
• If you built and birdhouse in the winter, now is the time to put them out. The birds will begin looking for nesting sites very soon.

• Start more seeds growing inside.
• Keep an eye on your indoor transplants and make sure they’re happy and healthy!
• Repot any houseplants that have grown too large for their containers. Cut back leggy plants to encourage compact growth. To increase your supply of plants, root the cuttings in moist soil.
• Protect yourself and the blade of your pruning saw during storage by making a cover using a piece of old garden hose the same length of the blade. Cut the hose lengthwise on one side and place over the saw blade.
• If you haven’t already, check your stored tools and outdoor furniture for signs of rust. Remove any surface rust with steel wool and pain with rust inhibitive paint.

The post March Chores and To-Dos! appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

• Shop for early spring flowering shrubs and vines, such as Carolina Jessamine, daphne, azalea, camellia, and early rhododendrons.
• Order perennial plants and bulbs now for cut flowers this summer. Some of our favourite choices are phlox, daisy, dahlia, cosmos, aster, gladiolus, and lily.
• Plant your bare-root vegetables such as artichoke, asparagus, horseradish,and rhubarb.
• Plant your spring flowering perennials. Choose from alstromeria, bleeding heart, coral bells, campanula, euryops, and perennial dianthus.
• Fertilize your spring -blooming flowers and fall-planted annuals and perennials. Wait to feed azaleas, camellias, and rhododendrons until after bloom; use an acid based fertilizer.
• Be careful not to remove mulch from perennials too early. A warm day may make you think spring is almost here but there may be more cold weather yet to come.

• If the soil against your house dries out under the eaves where rain rarely reaches, water well during a thaw to prevent loss of plants. Remember that plants require water during the winter to replace water lost due to wind desiccation and lack of rain or snow.
• Late winter is the time to prune many deciduous trees. Look over your plants now and remove dead, dying, or unsightly parts of the tree, sprouts growing at or near the base of the tree trunk and crossed branches.
• If bird feeding has been a favorite activity this winter, order trees and shrubs which provide cover and small fruits for your feathered friends. Consider species such as crabapple and hawthorn which can help lure hungry birds from cultivated fruits, if planted on the opposite side of the yard.
• Finish pruning cane berries, deciduous fruit trees, grapes, roses, and wisteria by midmonth.
• Wait to prune spring -flowering deciduous ornamentals like forsythia and quince, and spring – flowering shrubs until after they flower.

• If you’re antsy to start gardening, you can grow micro greens and sprouts inside to reduce gardening restlessness.
• Branches of forsythia, pussy willow, quince, spirea, and dogwood can also be forced for indoor bloom. Make long, slanted cuts when collecting the branches and place the stems in a vase of water. Change the water every four days. They should bloom in about 3 weeks.
• Finalize garden design plans for the 100th time.
• Remember to handle seed packets carefully. Rubbing the outside to determine how many seeds are inside can break the protective seed coats, thereby reducing germination.
• Check your stored bulbs, tubers, and corms. Discard any that are soft or diseased.
• Repair and paint window boxes, lawn furniture, and other items that might need it, in preparation for outdoor gardening and recreational use.

The post February’s Chores and Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.

Here are some tips and to dos to take care of your landscapes and gardens.

1. Browse through the many different seed catalogues, compare varieties and try not to get carried away.
2. Figure out what your family eats the most from the store, make lists of your most purchased produce and use this to help figure out what to grow.
3. Plan and design your garden. Make sure that your crops are adequately rotated from the previous growing season.
4. Start your onions, celery, celeriac, leeks and slow-growing herbs like rosemary and sage at the end of the month.
5. Start a frozen compost pile. For tips on how to do this, see our article: Five Tips for Winter Composting. http://www.yardproduct.com/blog/5-tips-for-winter-composting/

1. Be careful when spreading salt to melt the ice on walks and driveways to avoid damaging nearby shrubs. Consider using sand or sawdust instead.

2. Brush the snow from evergreens as soon as you can after a storm. When using a broom, brush in an upward sweeping motion. Serious damage may be caused by heavy snow or ice accumulating on the branches.

3. When pruning large limbs, always undercut first. To do this, cut from the bottom up, one-third of the way through the limb, then finish by cutting from the top. The undercut keeps the limb from splitting and breaking off, which could damage the trunk and become an entryway for insects and diseases. Make sure to not cut flush to the trunk, the collar or the enlarged base of a branch as it produces hormones that help heal wounds.

4. To create easier lawn maintenance, eliminate the hard to mow spaces. To do this, you need to eliminate acute angles in beads and borders. Combine single trees or shrubs into a large group that is connected with ground cover. Put the bird bath in your flowerbed or surround it with ground cover.

1. Check your indoor plants closely for insect infestations. If you receive any plants as gifts, quarantine them until you are positive they are not harboring any pests.
2. Your house plants and holiday plants should not be placed on top of your television (especially if you have a flat screen)! This location is too warm and in most houses, it is too far away from your windows to provide adequate light.
3. During the winter, most houses are too dry for house plants. You can increase your humidity by placing plants on trays that are lined with pebbles and filled with water. If you heat your house with wood, keep a pot of water on the stove. The added moisture will make your home healthier for both you and your plants!
4. If you have some extra down time this winter, paint the handles of your garden tools red or orange. This will help preserve the wood and make the tools easier to locate next summer when you lay them down in the garden or on the lawn.

The post January’s To-Do’s and Tips appeared first on Landscape Edging Blog.