MENUEven though we’re past the mid-point in September, there’s still time to protect your valuable ash trees. Our battle against the emerald ash borer (EAB) doesn’t stop just because we’ve passed the unofficial end of summer. Although trees can be treated until the ground freezes, it’s best if you have them taken care of as soon as possible.[caption id="attachment_950" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Photo: Howard Russell, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org[/caption]EAB control is systemic, which means it’s injected directly into the tree’s vascular system. That’s because these insidious insects live most of their lives inside the tree, where they disrupt the phloem – the vessels that distribute food throughout the tree. Trees continue to take up water until the ground freezes but they stop making food when the leaves start turning color. Since we don’t know when that will happen, it’s best to have them treated early rather than wait until the last minute.If your ash trees are starting to turn color or have already begun dropping their leaves, they should be inspected by one of our arborists. You may already have EAB. If between 50 and 70 percent of the leaves are still green, it may be worth treating them. If less than 50 percent are green, its chance of survival is quite slim.If your ash trees look green and healthy, don’t pat yourself on the back for having dodged a bullet. Any untreated tree is fair game for EAB. That’s why it’s important to have a preventive treatment applied.EAB treatment isn’t a DIY task. The formulations labeled for consumer application just aren’t potent enough to knock out this strong, invasive insect. The formulations for licensed pesticide applicators are much stronger. Plus, it takes finesse and experience to know exactly where to inject it into a tree.The material we use needs to be applied every two years as a preventive and every year as a treatment for trees already hosting EAB.Ash trees are beautiful, stately specimens. They are also commercially valuable for products like baseball bats. It would be a shame if these trees go the way of the chestnut and American elm. Prevention and treatment are investments in both the present and the future. The cost of removing and replacing a dead ash tree could pay for many years of treatment.
How are your summer annuals holding up? Are they ready to be refreshed? At this point in the year, it may be more economical and easier to switch to fall blooming flowers. The workhorse of these flowers is, of course, the chrysanthemum, or mum.
Certainly mums are the most popular and available fall flowers but they aren’t the only fall flowers. There are a number of other popular annuals and perennials that bloom in fall. They include pansies, certain sedum varieties, and asters, to name just a few.Pansies can be annuals or perennials, depending on the hardiness zone. As might be expected, they are annuals here in our Zone 5 climate. However, they may grow back each year like several other plants that die off each fall and grow back each spring.The other plants listed above – sedum and asters – are perennials. You can plant them and give them the same care you’d give any other perennial. Then you don’t have to worry about the best time to plant each one for fall color.Mums are usually sold in pots. If you plant them in the ground, they can be planted as single clumps directly from the pots or split apart and planted in separate, smaller groupings. Some property owners prefer to plant mums in containers. You can remove them from the nursery pot and replant them in your decorative container. This allows you to divide the mums so they fit your container. The alternative is to buy them in nursery pots that can just slip into your decorative containers.There’s still another alternative. Turn the design and installation of a your fall flowering plant bed(s) over to our landscape professionals. Then all you have to do is enjoy your new planting beds right up until the snow flies. No trips to the garden center. No research. All you have to do is approve the design. If you have a favorite, we can incorporate that, too. Remember, landscapes are to enjoy, not to take all of our time maintaining.
This is a question I get asked quite often. Fertilizing in spring seems logical. After all, plants need energy to flower, leaf out and sustain themselves all through
the summer. In the fall, however, they are getting ready for winter dormancy. So, why do they need energy if they’re “going to sleep”?Confusion may have been created by some garden communicators and manufacturers who refer to fertilizer as plant food. It’s not. Fertilizer aids in the food making process much like vitamin supplements aid in our metabolic process.Plants are hard at work over the growing season making food through photosynthesis. The food they make in the fall will be stored in their roots and distributed to other parts of the plant that need nourishment all through the winter.Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, as well as the micronutrients plants need to make food, are all found in good topsoil naturally. The problem is that many residential soils aren’t that good. The topsoil is often removed during excavation and not returned when the house is finished. I even saw one case in which the contractor raised the grade in a back yard by spreading three layers of subsoil on top of the original topsoil. Subsoil is almost always deficient in one or more nutrients and the only way to replenish them is with fertilizer.If you fertilized in the spring, the plants used those nutrients all spring and summer to make the food they needed during the growing season. Now, as they are in the midst of a full court press to make enough food for the winter, they need more nutrients. In addition to winter sustenance, the plants need to have enough energy in reserve to break their flower and leaf buds in the spring. Fertilizer is the source of those nutrients.Granulated fertilizer is fine for lawns and perennial beds but trees and shrubs need accessibility to the nutrients quickly so we apply balanced fertilizer in a liquid form. A giant needle is placed in the soil right at the root zone and liquid fertilizer is pumped directly into the area where the roots can immediately begin absorbing the nutrients. It should be noted that all fertilizers must be in liquid form for plant roots to absorb them. That’s why you should apply granular fertilizer within 24 hours of impending rain or be prepared to water it into the soil by irrigation.Sometimes, roots need some help finding water and nutrients in the soil. In that case, we’ll mix mycorrhizae with the liquid fertilizer. These beneficial microbes (bacteria and fungi) attach themselves to the roots and extend their reach. The mycorrhizae pass the nutrients on to the plant and the plant shares its food with the mycorrhizae. It’s called a symbiotic relationshipThe answer to the title question is that plants need extra nutrients in the fall to “bulk up” for winter dormancy, much as bears and other hibernating animals need to binge eat before they lie down for their long winter nap.
The unofficial start of autumn will soon be upon us. If you’ve been thinking about planting any new trees and shrubs in your landscape, this is when you should finalize your design decisions. This will give you plenty of time to shop the nurseries and garden centers for your plant material.Fall planting has a number of benefits for the plants and for you. They include:• With more moisture, you won’t have to irrigate as often as you do in spring and summer. You may not have to
irrigate at all.• Warm days and cool nights are ideal growing conditions.• Planting in fall gives the plants time to get established before winter. Spring plants don’t really have this establishment time before they have to battle summer heat and drought.• Moist soil is easier to work than dry soil. This makes planting easier on your back.Many nurseries and garden centers order new plants for fall planting. If you are looking for a bargain, you may be able to negotiate deep discounts on those that survived the summer. Personally, I’d rather pay list price and get new stock.Planting in fall is no different from planting in spring. Select a planting site whose conditions are right for the plant you select. Remember – right plant, right place. Dig the planting hole two to three times bigger than the rootball, but only as deep. If potted, remove the plant from its pot. If balled and burlapped, remove the wire basket or rope but leave the burlap around the ball.Set the plant in the hole and backfill, stopping occasionally to press the backfill to fill in any air pockets. Do not pile soil up against the trunk. Finally, mulch and water well.Remember the mantra, Fall is for Planting. Your new plants will appreciate the temperate thermometer readings, more bearable humidity and the return of rain.
If just sitting around enjoying your landscaping is making you a little antsy, I have an idea. Put this time to good use by getting your tools ready for the fall landscaping season that will soon be upon us. If the summer to fall transition is anything like the spring to summer transition, it will be very quick.What do you have to do? Most importantly, find all the tools you’ll need. That can be a problem. So, the more time you have, the more likely it will be that you’ll find everything you need without having to scramble at the last minute.Plan to sharpen bladed tools like shovels, cutters, trowels or bulb planters. Get power tools like your leaf blower ready to go when needed. Have some kind of cart or wheelbarrow at the ready and make sure your personal protective equipment is ready for another season.Personal protective equipment depends on the task you’re doing. However, the basics include safety glasses and gloves. If using power tools, also have adequate ear protection. If you’re using a string trimmer, long pants are recommended, and if you’re pruning shrubs, I recommend a long sleeve shirt as well. Don’t put the wide brimmed hat and sunscreen away just yet. The autumn sun can be just as dangerous as the mid-summer sun.
When cutting anything, remember that a dull blade is more dangerous than a sharp one. Are your pruning shears, loppers, hedge trimmers, mower blades and similar cutting surfaces sharp? If not, sharpen them. Sharpening your shovel(s) will make such autumn jobs as dividing perennials much easier than trying to use a dull shovel. Sharp trowels or bulb planters will ease your fall planting of spring bulbs.Gas power tools should be checked before fall in the same way they are in spring. Replace dirty air filter elements. Clean and gap spark plugs if they need it. Check the crankcase oil for four cycle machines and top it off if it’s low or change it if it’s dirty. Mix oil and gas properly for two cycle machines.For the new battery powered equipment, keep enough charged batteries to do the job. This may include buying one or more spare batteries so you can keep working while run-down batteries charge.Wheelbarrows, wagons, carts and other conveyances roll better when their axles are greased and pneumatic tires are inflated to the pressure stamped on the sidewalls.And you thought summer was just for sitting and watching the grass grow! Follow the Boy Scout motto and Be Prepared…now while there’s no pressure to start working against time in anticipation of the first snowfall.
With the fall planting season just around the corner, this would be a good time to take stock of your landscape. An inventory will help you determine if there are any bare spots in your landscape that should be taken care of this fall.
Check your landscape from every angle possible to see where new plants are needed; existing trees and shrubs need pruning, maintenance or repair; or plants can be moved to a better spot in your landscape. Take photos so you can share the images and your thoughts for the future with your landscape designer.How did your lawn survive the summer? Mother Nature can fill in small bare spots but you’re on your own if the sun damaged big sections. They’ll need repair, which includes raking out the dead grass, roughing the soil, seeding and watering.If your family marked one or more special occasion(s) this year, planting a tree would be an appropriate way to remember the event. Your family will continue to enjoy the tree’s benefits long after you’re gone.After looking over your domain, you may be dissatisfied with the whole thing. Our designers can present you with a master plan for updating or renovating that fits your style and budget. You can choose to have the whole transformation done this fall or spread it out over several years.Landscapes that are phased in will be designed and installed in such a way that neighbors and passersby won’t realize that you are amortizing the job over several seasons. The existing landscape will remain in place until you give us the green light to begin that phase.Remain the monarch of your realm and bring your landscape into the 21st century. We have just the professionals to help you do it.Photo Caption: Upon surveying his domain, this homeowner found that this holly needed pruning.
What an impressive sight each spring. Crocuses peer up through the snow and add color to that drab sea of white. The snow melts and great expanses of bright yellow daffodils appear. They are then followed by the iconic tulip – Mother Nature’s way of saying that spring has finally arrived.
If you wait until spring to decide to share in this colorful show, it’s too late. Such a spectacular show isn’t spontaneous. It takes planning. Planning that starts about now for next spring. That’s because spring flowering bulbs have to be planted the previous fall in order to bloom in spring.Shipments of bulbs are arriving at garden centers now and the stores are advertising all kinds of deals. So, now is the time to make your bulb selections while there are many to choose from. But wait until the temperatures cool down and the rain returns before planting them.Stores have bulbs in bulk and in packages. They are best planted as mass plantings rather than just one or two. It’s all that color that makes the big impression, and that can’t be achieved with one or two lonely plants.Bulbs are packaged in assorted colors or all one color. Which you choose is simply a matter of your taste. Each bin of bulk bulbs usually contains a single color so you can create your own assorted or monochrome bulb garden.To plant your bulbs, clear the area that you’re going to plant. Lay out the bulbs in the pattern you want them to grow. Using a trowel, dig as deeply as you want to plant the bulb (should be twice as deep as the length of the bulb). Pull the trowel toward you to open up the hole. Place the bulb in the hole root end down. The root end is the flat end with root hairs emerging from the bulb. Pull out the trowel and smooth the backfill. When finished with the bed, spread mulch over it and water.If you’re planting crocuses in your lawn, don’t clear the area and don’t mulch. Just dig the hole, place the bulb in the hole, backfill and water. Crocuses are the only bulbs that should be planted in the lawn. They grow low enough to the ground that you can mow the lawn over them if necessary. Daffodils and tulips are too tall. You probably won’t have to mow over the top of crocuses, however. They’ll likely be finished blooming before you have to mow.Don’t fertilize when you plant bulbs. Some people insist that you have to put a scoop of fertilizer in the hole but you don’t. The bulbs are almost entirely food made by the leaves and stored in the bulb. Next fall, it’s OK to spread a bit of fertilizer around the plants.When your bulbs finish blooming next spring, it’s OK to cut off the spent flowers. Don’t cut off the leaves, however. They’ll continue to manufacture food throughout the summer. It’s OK to cut off the leaves after they turn yellow or tan. By then, they’ll have made all the food they’re going to make.
As July fades into August, lawn grubs are hatching and beginning their fall feast on your tender grass roots. This fills their bellies and sustains them as they descend below the root line to overwinter. It also kills your grass, although it may not be apparent until next spring.Checking for grubs is easy. Using a sharp knife, cut one-foot square sections of sod from various areas of your lawn. Pull the sod back. If you see white crescent-shaped creatures, those are grubs. Count them. If each square contains six or fewer, there’s no need to treat for them. They won’t do enough damage to kill the grass or even cause it to be unsightly. If you count seven or more per area, you should treat the whole lawn.The presence of large, brown beetles over the last two months would mean there’s a good chance that you have grubs. These beetles, commonly called June bugs, that fly into your window panes are the adult stage of lawn grubs. They’re flying around looking for a mate.After mating, the females lay eggs in the turf. Immediately upon hatching, the small grubs burrow into the soil, stopping for a meal of grass roots on their way to the warmer depths of the soil. They grow over the winter so that they need even more grass roots when they come back up closer to the surface next spring.In spring, grubs are larger and stronger, making them more resistant to control products. In late summer and early fall, shortly after hatching, they are smaller, weaker and more vulnerable to control measures.Grub control materials are sold at garden centers. But you have to haul them home and spread them. Our lawn care professionals can check for grubs and apply the most effective material available.
Lawns, especially in areas like ours with dense, clay soil, need aeration on a regular basis. Lawns everywhere need dethatching occasionally. The one thing lawns don’t need is rolling.Homeowners who believe rolling is necessary definitely need to follow up rolling with aeration. Rolling presses down on the soil, causing it to compact even more than it does naturally. Notice that landscape and lawn care professionals don’t own rollers and they don’t offer rolling service. That’s because they know the harm rolling can do.
Aeration is one of the best things for your lawn. An aerator is a machine with spoon-like tines that penetrate the soil, pull out plugs of sod and drop them on top of the lawn. These holes give the soil particles space to spread out, leaving wider gaps between particles for retention of the water and oxygen that the plant roots need. Leaving the soil plugs on the surface allows them to break up and return organic matter to the soil to nourish the plants.Dethatching removes dead grass plants that accumulate on the soil surface. These dead plants form a mat that restricts the amount of water that can penetrate the soil surface. Contrary to popular belief, thatch is not grass clippings left on the lawn surface after mowing. Clippings are good for your lawn. They decompose quickly and return organic matter to the soil. Thatch is actually dead grass plants that don’t decompose fast. A special dethatching machine is used to pull the matted material up from the surface and deposit it into a receptacle attached to the machine.Aeration and dethatching machines can be rented at equipment rental outlets. However, they are big, heavy, cumbersome machines that can really test your strength when operating them. You also need a truck or tailer to transport them to and from the rental store. When you add up the rental cost, the transportation cost, your time and the wear and tear on your body, you’ll most certainly be further ahead leaving either or both jobs to our lawn care professionals.
Summers are so short here that it behooves us to make the most of the season. That includes doing what you really like to do – camping, boating, swimming, sitting in the shade reading – but not landscape maintenance. About the only landscape maintenance that should even be considered in summer is watering if it’s dry and mowing if it isn’t. And hiring our arborists if your tree(s) need pruning or repair.Plants actually rest in summer. So you should, too. If the weather is dry, turfgrass goes dormant and turns brown. You can either water it or just stay off it and it will green up again when the weather moderates and the rains return in the fall. If the summer is rainy and the grass continues to grow, you’ll need to continue mowing.
Like turfgrass, annuals, perennials and new trees and shrubs need at least an inch of water a week. If that water doesn’t come in the form of rain, then it’s up to you. Other plants don’t go dormant like turfgrass; they just slow down. Plants prefer to get their inch of water allotment all at once, rather than a little spritz every day. Short of an automatic irrigation system, the most economical way to water is with soaker hoses. They are made of porous rubber from recycled tires.Soaker hoses should be snaked through the root zone of your plants, covered with mulch and connected to an outdoor spigot. Turn the spigot only a quarter turn. Too much pressure will blow holes in the porous rubber. Soaker hoses should be left on for a half hour to an hour, depending on how dry the soil is around the plants. The water should ooze out of the rubber, mimicking a drip irrigation system.Sprinkling is not recommended. When water is sprayed on a hot day, much of it evaporates before reaching the ground, resulting in a lot of wasted, expensive water. Watering your lawn is an exception. The only way to cover large areas is with a sprinkler. The oscillating type sprinkler works best.With plants resting, there should be nothing for you to do, unless you are one of those rare people who enjoys pulling weeds. Forcing maintenance on your landscape plants in summer is like waking up a sleeping child or pet to feed them or give them water. If your green thumb is getting itchy, why not visit one of the fine public gardens in our area like Highland Park, Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua or Cornell Botanical Gardens in Ithaca?Rest now; fall will be here soon, and with it will be plenty of opportunity to flex your green thumb then.
A water feature completes a landscape. Water is part of nature, just like plants and birds. Its sound is soothing, and watching it flow or fall is relaxing, almost Zen like.
All water features are variations on three basic designs – ponds, streams and fountains. Space is one of the primary considerations when selecting a style of water feature. If you have a very small space, you may prefer a fountain. If you want to raise koi, you’ll want a pond. And, for the natural look, consider a stream. Regardless of the type of water feature you select, the water should be circulated through a pump and, in some cases, a filter. All water features should recirculate the water in order to be environmentally sound and sustainable.Ponds with fish swimming in them are the most popular water features in our area. They are followed by streams. Either a pond or stream is built by digging out the water feature area. The space is then lined with a flexible, rubber liner. The liner is hidden with rocks and plants. A place also has to be made to hide the pump and filter. This is often behind a waterfall, which can be incorporated into both ponds and streams.Ponds and streams are usually more rustic and natural than most fountains. Fountains blend in with the hardscape more than the plantscape, and may be of any design that fits your landscape. They range from classic fountains reminiscent of formal European gardens to more modern designs. Bubbler fountains are quite popular because of their unique, soothing sound. Some are at ground level; they look like water bubbling out of a stone or a hole in a paving piece. Regardless of the design, the water bubbling from them is nice and relaxing.Other unique water features include water walls like that pictured. This one was at Minter Gardens, a public garden (now closed) near Vancouver, British Columbia. Creative, cascading fountains know no limits. They are only limited by the designer’s imagination.If the thought of designing and building a water feature is overwhelming, our designers are experienced at integrating water features into all styles of landscape designs. And, we have the skilled installation professionals who can bring it all to reality without you ever having to lift a finger.
A lot of people are buying into the “use native plants exclusively” movement. However, like our human DNA, that of many plants we consider native may not be as native as we think.Have you had a DNA analysis done on yourself? Were you surprised? Most people I’ve spoken to who’ve done it are surprised at the results. Remember the television commercial with the guy who thought he was German but found out he was Scottish? Well, it can be the same with plants.If you go back to the beginning of European settlement in North America, the first settlers brought plants with them. They were familiar with these plants and what to expect. Then Native Americans introduced the new arrivals to their plants and the ways they prepared them for eating, and the settlers included them in their gardens. At the same time, Englishmen returning to England began taking plants and seeds from the colonies back with them, and the Brits couldn’t get enough of them. This led to a brisk transatlantic seed and plant trade.[caption id="attachment_994" align="alignleft" width="150"]
John Bartram (AKA Kirk R. Brown) looks out over his nursery. Photo by Sara Brown.[/caption]John Bartram is credited with starting the first commercial nursery in the colonies. His restored nursery and home in Philadelphia are now owned and maintained by the Parks Department, and is open to visitors. At first, Bartram’s nursery activities were very limited due to his modest means and the need to grow food for his family. However, he struck up a friendship, and then a business relationship, with Peter Collinson. Collinson was a rich English merchant and amateur botanist with an insatiable desire for American plants.Collinson financed Bartram’s plant finding expeditions and kept him supplied with English plants and Bartram kept Collinson supplied with American plants. I’m sure Bartram didn’t discriminate between his American and English plants. If they thrived in Pennsylvania, he sold them.Thomas Jefferson, renowned for his extensive gardens at Monticello in Virginia, was a frequent visitor to Bartram’s nursery in Philadelphia. As a result, some of Bartram’s “neonative” plants must certainly be quite common in Virginia now and, probably throughout the south.John Bartram’s story is fascinating but he wasn’t the only one growing native and imported plants side-by-side in nurseries and selling them to colonial farmers. So, just as has been the case from the beginning of time, little is as pure as it seems on the surface. That’s why I select plants based on their hardiness, ability to stay within bounds, attractiveness and resistance to insects and diseases instead of purely on their country of origin.
The original purpose of foundation plantings were to hide the gray concrete foundation that was thought to distract from the beauty of the house. Today,
foundation plantings have evolved into much more. They range from a few flowers to hide the foundation to elaborate gardens at the front of the house. Meanwhile, some landscape designers argue that foundation plantings are unnecessary. They say that we all know houses rest on foundations, so why hide them with foliage and flowers?No matter which camp you reside in, the bottom line is to enhance your house, not hide it. The first thing to remember is that the front door should be the focal point of the house. To be welcoming, it has to be visible from the street, as well as close up. This means choosing plants that will keep the door visible and welcoming.To be sure your front door is visible, choose your front yard plants wisely. That includes the giant tree in the front yard as well as the tall foundation shrubs. Smaller growing ornamentals are more appropriate for the front yard than large shade or conifer trees.The best path to satisfaction is to learn how each plant you buy grows. For example, a shrub that may be the ideal plant for your foundation planting may also be available in tree form that could grow too big for the space, and even block the view from your front windows. Actually, some shrubs can also grow so tall that they block the windows and require constant pruning, So if less maintenance is one of your goals, be sure you plant shrubs that don’t grow up to window level.If you find you, or the previous owner, chose plants that grew too large for the space or don’t fit the image you’re trying to create, don’t be afraid to pull them out and replace them with plants that do meet your requirements. If the plants you remove can be transplanted, don’t compost them. Try finding an appropriate spot for them in your landscape or give them away to neighbors or friends…or donate them to a non-profit plant exchange.If you are renovating your front yard to enhance the foundation planting, this might also be an excellent opportunity to get rid of some of your lawn and replace it with plants like groundcover. Besides making your house the focal point of your yard, you will also reduce your lawn maintenance time and expenses.Law enforcement officials also give us a good reason to minimize foundation and other plantings near the house. Thick foliage provides burglars with good cover behind which to do their nefarious deeds..If you think this advice makes sense but you don’t know where to begin, our landscape professionals can work with you to create the landscape that best fits your taste and lifestyle.
Now that most spring flowering shrubs have finished blooming, it’s OK to prune them. An arborist’s best practice, however, is to prune only to meet specific objectives, not just because they’ve finished blooming.
Objectives may include reducing the height or girth or removing interfering shoots. Shoots may be cascading over a sidewalk or driveway. This doesn’t mean that you should cut back the whole shrub. Just remove the offending shoots.Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs back to the ground like you do with later blooming shrubs like butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii). These plants bloom on new wood. Early blooming shrubs like forsythia and lilacs bloom on last year’s wood. If you prune that wood as far back as you would a butterfly bush, you could kill the shrub since you’ve removed most or all of the leaf buds, as well.Early blooming shrubs set their flower buds in the fall. If you prune before they bloom, there’s a good chance you’ll cut off these flower buds. This could result in a spring with no flowers on the pruned shrub.When pruning early spring bloomers, use good, sharp, bypass pruners. These work like scissors; the blades cut cleanly as they bypass each other. The other style pruning shears are anvil style. As you apply pressure, a sharp blade on one half goes into a shallow groove on the other half. As the blade dulls, the cuts become more ragged. For pruning in hard to reach places, use loppers. (Loppers are always bypass style.)Ideally, you should make your shrub pruning cuts at ground level and remove whole shoots. If you are just reducing the height rather than thinning, make your cuts at branch joints if possible. Absent any joints, cut just above a leaf.It’s not a good idea to use hedge clippers on woody shrubs. The wood is usually too dense to make a clean cut with hedge clippers. Wood can also jam in the teeth of electric clippers and removing the wood can be dangerous.Wear a long sleeve shirt and gloves when pruning shrubs. When you reach inside a shrub, the surrounding branches can be very sharp.DIY shrub pruning is not as dangerous as pruning trees but it isn’t accident-free. Our arborists have the training, experience and equipment to prune shrubs safely, and they would be happy to do the job for you.
There’s a reason why Memorial Day is considered the start of the spring growing season. That reason was quite apparent this spring. Even when days felt like spring, nighttime temperatures dipped down into the 30s, sometimes even below freezing. Tender annuals, even those rated for our hardiness zone 5, have a difficult time acclimating to these wide temperature swings.
Memorial Day is this Monday (May 28), and garden centers will surely be open that day. So, if you can’t get out to buy annuals this week, you can always do it between the parade and cook-out. Before you go to the garden center, note where you’re going to plant annuals. How big are the planting beds? If you plot out and measure where you’re going to plant each variety, you’ll know how many plants to buy? Then buy a few more. If you can’t use them all in your planting beds, you can always plant the extras in containers. They’ll bring a nice spring freshness into your house.Speaking of containers, you can do your knees a favor by planting annuals in decorative containers and then placing them in strategic spots in the planting beds. Besides looking nice and complementing the other plants in the beds, this planting method makes deadheading (pinching or cutting off spent blooms to encourage reblooming) and replacement easy. You can use a stool to sit down and deadhead. Most annuals need to be changed out during the season or as seasons change. You can sit on your stool to do that, also.If you really want your annuals in the ground, buy individual plants like geraniums and begonias and sink the nursery pot into the ground. If you buy annuals by the six pack, you can stand at your potting bench and transplant them into old nursery pots and sink them into the ground. An even easier shortcut is to sink one size bigger nursery pots than the ones you’re using for the annuals. Then you only have to slip the transplant pot into the sunken pot when you “plant” them initially and when you change them out. Can’t be much simpler than that.If you aren’t able to plant your purchases right away, keep them outside on the deck or patio during nice warm days. But if the nighttime temps are forecast to dip down below 40 or 45 degrees, bring the plants inside for the night.Annuals are like the frosting on your landscaping cake. Regardless of whether you embrace the tried and true traditional planting method or one of the labor (and knee) saving ideas presented here, the weekend to plant annuals is coming up. Why not put it on your calendar?
June is the time when many evergreens have finished their new growth, which means you can prune them without worrying about additional new growth. The best way to be sure they are ready to prune is to watch the needle or leaf color at the end of the branches. New conifer needles are lighter green and feel softer than older needles. New broad leaf evergreen leaves are smaller and lighter green. When the new growth is finished, the needles and leaves will begin to darken. This is the time to prune because the wood is still soft. Pruning too early results in additional new growth and the need to reprune.Shrub pruning may be a relatively safe do-it-yourself job, but we don’t recommend that you attempt major tree pruning. Pruning a large pine or spruce tree can
be very dangerous for several reasons.• Leaving the ground to reach the upper branches can result in serious injury or even death if you fall from high up in the tree.• Those needles are sharp, especially if they fall on you or whip around and hit you. If this happens up in the tree, you can fall, adding to the injuries caused by the branch.• Each cut lets more messy sap ooze out to get all over you.Please wear eye protection when pruning any size evergreen. If you are pruning over head, wear a hard hat. And, if you are using power tools, wear ear protection, too.When pruning broadleaf evergreens like rhododendrons and boxwoods, follow the same procedures as pruning deciduous trees. In the case of tight plants like boxwood, cuts can be made just above a leaf’s attachment to the branch. Cuts on looser plants like rhododendrons should be made at a branch joint or at the base of the branch you want to remove.Our arborists would be happy to take pruning of both shrubs and trees off your to do list. Since our late spring has caused you to postpone many spring landscaping tasks, I’m sure you’d be happy to share the work, so why not turn this one over to our professionals?
If you’re still undecided about landscape plans for 2018, here are some ideas from the industry’s annual surveys. Each year, landscape and gardening magazines ask landscape designers what customers are asking for this year.
Smaller gardens top this year’s list of trends. That’s because more and more people are opting for smaller homes on smaller lots. The benefits include less maintenance and cost savings that can then be invested in higher quality products. Smaller landscapes also allow a sense of enclosure to be created. This, too, is on the lists of trends I reviewed.The tranquility of water features continues to be popular, as does the outdoor living concept. One magazine even showed an example of an outdoor eating area in the middle of the landscape, quite some distance from the house. The living space becomes part of the landscape, rather than the landscape simply being a view from the patio.There is also a trend towards trying new things, including growing unusual edibles.Imperfect gardening may be one of this year’s hottest trends. This even has a name – Wabi-Sabi. It’s said to be a Japanese term for the appreciation of nature’s imperfections.Imperfect landscapes are more natural than formal landscapes. As humans, we have always sought order in our lives, and that spilled over into our landscaping. Mother Nature, on the other hand, prefers a more informal, almost spontaneous approach to her landscape, which we call wild.Today, we have a large group of baby boomers who are finding it physically difficult to maintain the formality they’ve been used to. On the other end of the spectrum, we have millennials who have other interests and commitments, leaving no time to maintain the traditional formality. So, each group is looking to Mother Nature for help and her answer is, “Embrace imperfection.”For assistance in designing the transformation from formal to informal, and the installation and maintenance of the designers’ creation, turn to our professionals. To them, imperfection is perfection.
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Photo: Howard Russell, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org[/caption]Soon the tiny, metallic green emerald ash borers (EAB) will make their annual appearance. Seeing these tiny insects is rare because of their size. Their sole purpose is to mate so a new generation of larvae can continue the damage the adults began last year. And, they do this dastardly deed high up in the tree.Does this mean your ash tree is doomed? Yes, if you don’t have us treat it. Even then, it’s an ongoing process with no guarantees. However, the cost to have your tree treated for a considerable period of time is less than the cost of having a mature tree removed and replaced.Ash trees with a half or more of their foliage remaining are good candidates for treatment. They have a good chance of surviving. Those with less than 50 percent are doomed.EAB can be prevented. If your ash tree shows no EAB symptoms, we can apply a preventive every two years. It’s the same material that we apply to infested trees. However, infested trees have to be treated annually.Applications, whether for treatment or prevention, have to be made systemically. This means injecting the material directly into the tree because the EAB spends most of its life inside the tree. It literally destroys the tree from the inside out.Systemic materials strong enough to control the EAB are sold only to trained, licensed professionals. A diluted, consumer version of several products are sold in garden stores but I don’t recommend them. They’re just not strong enough to do the job, and doubling up on the amount you apply won’t make up for the reduced strength.Anytime is a good time for us to apply preventive but shortly after the adults emerge from an infested tree is the best time for us to apply a treatment. That’s because newly hatched larvae are smaller, weaker and more vulnerable, increasing the ability of the product to control this insidious pest.
If you didn’t divide your spreading perennials last fall, you might want to make that an early task this spring. Just letting them go may result in their squeezing out other plants that share the same bed. If your spreading perennials are near a sidewalk, they may impede you or guests using the walk. If the bed is next to the lawn, these spreading plants may overflow the bed and kill the grass. Dividing is the method used to keep these spreaders in check. It’s also an inexpensive propagation method.
you’ve never divided perennials, it’s an easy DIY job. Just dig up the whole plant and lay it on a tarp. Then cut the root in half from the foliage to the bottom of the root. Finally, cut each section in half again, so that you’ve quartered it. The cutting method depends on the thickness of the roots and your strength. While many of our landscape professionals can cut sizeable roots with one blow from their sharp shovel, you may be more comfortable using a pruning saw or loppers. Your tool choice depends on the size of the job.Once cut, return one quarter to the original planting hole. Backfill just as you would when planting a new plant. Finish by thoroughly watering it in.What you do with the other three sections is up to you. I suggest you plant them in other beds on your property, give them to friends or contribute them to a charity plant sale.Dividing perennials has a similar effect on them as pruning has on trees and woody shrubs. It makes them grow stronger and healthier.If you’d rather not divide your own perennials, our landscape professionals will be happy to do it for you. And, the next time you buy perennials, check the nursery tags and ask one of the garden center horticulturists about their behavior pattern and if the plants you’re considering need dividing.
A tree’s days like those of all life are finite. The loss of a tree can evoke many of the same emotions as the death of a human and a beloved pet. Just last week, our[caption id="attachment_959" align="alignright" width="225"]
Birchcrest tree crew removes Pittsford copper beech.[/caption]arborists had to remove one of the most majestic trees in the Rochester, New York region.Surely you heard about the copper beech tree in Pittsford. News of its impending removal reached the four corners of the globe, thanks to the Associated Press. I even read the story in the New York Times.That majestic tree had stood in the same spot since the early part of the 19th century. Its graceful branches spread out over the village as if protecting it. Its beautiful copper-colored leaves gave a unique hue to the park that the village built around the treeImagine what that tree witnessed over its lifetime of more than 200 years. The settlement, the growth and the development of the village and the town that surround it. But alas, all good things must come to an end. In this case, the copper beech’s decline was caused by a microscopic fungus.The cooper beech was so beloved by Pittsford residents that it was incorporated into the town logo. And, the night before our crew was scheduled to take the tree down, the town invited resident to join in a ceremony to say good-bye to it.While the rot fungus, Kretzschmaria deusta, ate away at the tree from the inside out like a cancer, the forward thinking town leaders had healthy cuttings taken from high up in the tree. These have been rooted and are now about a year from sapling size. Once they reach sapling size, these clones, which will have the same exact genetic footprint as the parent tree, will be ready for planting at various locations around town. One place they can’t be planted, however, is in Copper Beach Park where the original tree stood. That soil is contaminated with the fungus.It is my hope that the story of the copper beech and how Copper Beech Park got its name is written into any local history curriculum taught in Pittsford schools. Then, hopefully, some local official won’t come along years from now and question why the park is named Copper Beech Park when there’s no copper beech there…and move, with no opposition, to change the name. That would prove the truth to what Spanish poet and philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
This Friday, April 27, we observe a holiday that could be considered “Gift of Life” day. It’s Arbor Day. Although Arbor Day is set aside to plant trees, it’s also a day on which we should consider the tremendous gifts trees give us.Sure, trees are beautiful and they provide shade in the summer and protection from wind and snow in winter, but they also provide us with the very oxygen we breathe. Trees also take in the harmful carbon dioxide we exhale.
Plant one or more trees this Friday. If you make it a family affair, you can turn it into a learning experience for your children. Have everyone take a deep breath when you’ve finished planting and then thank your new tree and all the rest of the trees in your yard for their contribution to your life and health.If you can’t celebrate Arbor Day on Friday, fear not. Saturday or Sunday will be just fine. Trees don’t know the difference.Arbor Day can be a great family outing. Decide where you’re going to plant your new tree before you go to the garden center to buy it. Take note of the conditions in that location. Is it full sun, partial sun or shade? Are there power lines nearby? Is it in the path of the wind? Is it at the top or bottom of a hill or grade? When grown, will the tree hang over your house, pool or other structures? All of these conditions determine the species of tree you should plant in that location. All of the tree’s preferences should be listed on the nursery tag attached to the tree. If you have any questions about the information on the tag, talk to one of the horticulturists at your nursery or garden center. That way, you’ll be sure that you’ll be planting the right tree in the right place.Right tree – right place is the landscaper’s mantra. If the tree isn’t happy where it’s planted, it will be very high maintenance. I guess it’s just like people who aren’t happy where they are. In the case of trees, however, high maintenance can mean frequent pruning and annual or twice annual fertilization. If the tree isn’t happy, it will show stress and its health will decline. This attracts insects and diseases. All this can be avoided if you do a little research and plant the right tree in the right place.Join families all over the country who will make their trip to the garden center and tree planting experience a fun family outing to celebrate a holiday that dates back to 1872. Happy Arbor Day…and remember the mantra, Right Tree – Right Place.
A few weeks ago, I recommended that you not venture into the garden due to soggy conditions. Well, the snow has melted, the sun has warmed the ground, and it’s now safe to walk on your grass and into most of your planting beds without fear of sinking in or leaving footprints.Winter can leave even the most beautiful landscape somewhat messy. The wind blows debris from the neighborhood that ends up in your yard. Twigs and branches break off and dot your lawn. Your plow guy leaves big divots of grass from beside the driveway in the center of your yard.You should pick up the debris, including twigs and branches. Let the twigs and branches remind you to look up into your trees. There may still be broken branches up there that are still partially attached. We call them hangers. They should be removed by our arborists as soon as possible to prevent them from falling on people or property.To replace divots from your driveway edge, carefully lift them from their resting place on your lawn and piece them together along the edge. You can cut the pieces to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Rough up the soil before laying divots in place. Then walk on the replaced sod so the grass roots make contact with the soil underneath. Finally, water well. This is the way we lay sod.In a year like this, with a great deal of freezing and thawing, you may suffer significant heaving. This is when the soil movement causes plants and pavers to rise up or sink. See my March 20 post for repair tips for hardscapes like pavers. Plants that have heaved or sunk need to be replanted. Dig them up and replant them if the soil is dry enough. If the soil is too wet, but roots are showing, stake them up until you can replant. Cover the exposed roots with soil. Leaning plants whose roots aren’t showing may be staked into an upright position. Don’t leave the stakes or lines on the plants for more than a year. Keep an eye on them to see if they decline or appear stressed. If so, you’ll have to replant tem. Sunken plants have to be dug up; soil has to be added to the hole and the plant replanted so it is higher in the hole..Also rake up any leaves that you didn’t get to last fall and check trees and shrubs for animal damage. Remove any extra mulch you spread on beds and fluff up the remaining mulch. If you didn’t add mulch, just fluff up the mulch that you do have. Finally, make an appointment for our Plant Health Care professionals to apply dormant oil to your trees and shrubs. This diluted petroleum jelly will smother a lot of overwintering insects while they are dormant. Also ask us to check any plants that suffered animal damage and we’ll make repair recommendations.
If your green thumb starts itching on these sunny, snowless March days, resist the urge to get out and start working in the yard. Your yard isn’t as ready for spring as you are.
The soil is still very wet. And there’s still a chance for a hard, killing frost. Wait for temperatures to moderate before beginning your spring planting. There’s a reason why we consider Memorial Day to be the start of our growing season. We can have hard frosts well into the month of May.Once the ground firms up and you don’t leave footprints in the lawn, it’s safe to go out and begin your spring clean-up. But you should wait to begin planting. Even though the plants you select may be hardy in our zone, a hard frost while they are young and tender can kill them.I’m not suggesting that a Memorial Day start is cast in concrete but wait until it “feels” right to work in your planting beds. Let the lawn be one of your gardening barometers. If the grass needs mowing and the mower doesn’t leave tracks in the turf, then it is probably OK to begin working in the beds. The soil is another barometer. Take some in your hand and squeeze it. If little or no water comes out of the soil then it’s OK to work. If a lot of water runs out, it’s still too wet.Spring bulbs will provide you with early spring color, provided you planted them last fall. Spring flowering trees and shrubs will also brighten your landscape. You should wait until bulbs and woody plants are finished blooming before planting annuals. Annuals will be most susceptible to any late season frost, and our unpredictable winter may just bid us farewell with a late frost, or even a storm.You can use this time to get a head start on your spring clean-up so you’ll be ready to work the soil when the soil is ready to be worked. As you are cleaning, make a mental note of what needs updating or renovating in your landscape. Commit it to paper when you go back inside. You can also use this time to set up your patio or deck. Furniture and statuary can be placed. However, taking out your temperature-sensitive plants could do them irreparable harm.Although our growing season is relatively short, there will be plenty of days to work the soil. It may not seem like it, the season is actually more than half the year.
When your lawn has greened up for the season, you will be able to see any damage that it suffered over the winter. That’s the time to determine the cause and make any repairs. All lawn damage is mechanical, chemical or disease damage.
Mechanical damage is usually confined to the edge of your driveway or the road, and it’s usually caused by a snow plow. When the grass is firm enough to support you without leaving footprints, you can replace divots just as you would lay a new sod lawn. It’s done by roughing up the bare soil with a rake, cutting the divots so they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, placing them on the bare spots, walking on them to make contact with the soil and, finally, watering them in.If the divots are damaged and unusable or you can’t find them, seeding is the most economical alternative. Begin by roughing up the soil. Then, spread compost or fertilizer, followed by seed. I suggest taking a small sample of your sod to the garden center so you can match up the seed composition with the rest of the lawn. After you’ve seeded, rake in the seed, and water your new planting. Keep watering until the new grass has become established.Most chemical damage is caused by road salt. Sodium chloride melts snow and ice and mixes with the resulting water. This is very toxic to plants. Passing vehicles then splash it on to your lawn. Chemical damage is usually confined to the grass in your tree lawn (the area between the curb and sidewalk), although splash can cause damage further into your front yard. This repair is made the same way as the seeding repair from mechanical damage. I recommend a hardy seed mixture that can withstand salt water for your tree lawn. It would be a good idea to overseed the whole tree lawn with the hardy mix as a preventive measure.Several fungal diseases attack lawns in winter, leaving patches of dead grass. Some have interesting shapes and colors. The thing they all have in common, though, is that they kill patches of grass. The most common reaction is to apply a fungicide. Resist the temptation. Fungicides won’t help. Instead, rake the dead grass out and throw it away. If the dead area is small, the healthy grass will fill in the area. If it’s larger, you’ll have to reseed, using the same method as you would for chemical damage. If mushrooms are present, manually remove them, especially if you have pets or small children, since these fungi may be poisonous. When reseeding, use a fungus-resistant seed variety. Overseeding the whole lawn with fungus resistant seed will help keep your whole lawn fungus-free next winter..If you need help nursing your lawn back to health, talk to of our lawn care professionals.
All winter long, your ornamental grasses have endured the wind, ice, snow and cold weather of winter. Spring is the time to reward these hardy plants with their annual hair cuts. This ritual isn’t just to make them look nice. It’s also necessary for their health.Other colorful plants may bloom around the trimmed ornamental grasses and hide them while they begin to grow new leaves. Soon the grass leaves will overshadow the companion plants and you’ll be ready to watch the fall and winter ritual of plants dying and going dormant for the winter while the ornamental grass begins to assert itself and tower over the planting bed.This annual ritual of cutting ornamental grasses back nearly to the ground each spring lets light get into the area where seeds are germinating to grow into new ornamental grass plants that will provide you with nice color this winter.The brown sheaths of grass you see above the snow each winter are actually dead, or more accurately, spent. Last spring, those sheaths were
nice and green as they grew to their extended height. Seedheads then formed on the tips and the mature seeds dropped to the ground. So, you are actually making way for new plants when you cut the old ones back.Grasses should be cut back to just inches from the ground. The tool you use is up to you. I’ve used manual hedge clippers, power hedge clippers and even pruning shears. If the snow pack has caused the grasses to flop over, tie them back upright with rope or twine before cutting them.Don’t wait too long to cut your ornamental grasses back or you may cut off some new growth. You may not be able to see new growth through the old growth, but small green leaves are starting to push up among the old sheaths. Once trimmed, you’ll be able to see the new growth in the remaining stubble.
