New Ideas from the TNLA

Hello again,

I have just passed my exam from the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association and attained certification as a Texas Certified Landscape Professional. There are only 20 of us in the state that have both TCNP and TCLP certifications( if you don't mind a little bragging) . But really the reason for getting both of these certifications was my desire to obtain knowledge in these areas, and it also gives me the ability to give my customers truly accurate and up-to-date information on the current favored procedures in landscaping.

One of the new directions, is Reducing the Input into the Landscape. What that means is less maintenance time, less need for chemicals into the landscape, less water, etc. Less input in a broad, inclusive nature.

Choose plants that are native and drought resistant, water only the plants and not the ground between your plants, don't water concrete(like they do at the QuickTime gas station), be able to live with some insects instead of having to nuke all of them, do away with grass as much as possible and replace with landscape beds(grass is great user of water), and so on.

If I could get all who read this blog to do one thing it would be to know why you are doing what you are doing. Please come to the store and ask me for any information. Make sure that, before we dump chemicals on our yards, it is the best necessary action to be taken. Chemicals, inevitably end up in our lakes which are our drinking water supply. Be a good steward of the earth for the generations of kids to come! And I do practice this myself.

walter

Great Website for Gardeners

Hello everybody,

I have run across an excellent website for gardeners. It is full of useful information. I wanted to send it out to everyone who would like to check it out for themselves.

Dave's Garden: Gardening Tips, Seeds, and Design; Flower Gardens, Organic Gardening

you can search for all sorts of things, including pictures of many varieties of plants.

Hope you enjoy it too!

walter

Planting Trees-How To

Hello,

Well a lot of people are planting trees here in the dormant season so I thought I would give you what the experts are instructing is the best method.

If you buy trees from my store you will see a tag on them telling your to add MiracleGro potting soil in the hole around the tree ball. WRONG!!!!

The correct method, from the experts, is to dig the hole just as deep as the depth the tree is in the pot that contains it and three times as wide as the diameter of the pot . Ie, root ball is 10" deep and 8" across, you dig hole 10" deep and 24" wide. Set the tree in the hole by handling the tree ball not the trunk. Then fill the hole with the original dirt that you dug out of the hole and firm the soil around the roots so that there are no air pockets. If you want then you can create a burm( like a dam) around the tree about 3' in diameter to hold water when you water. Then water the tree deeply and you are DONE. No fertilizer should be applied until just after bud break in the spring. NO ROOT STIMULATOR or ANY OTHER FERTILIZER when you plant your tree. MiracleGro products all contain fertilizer!

Newly planted trees need to be watered more often than older established trees. I would recommend slow deep watering twice a week unless we have a good rain. Soaker hose on for about 3 or 4 hours would be the type of watering I would suggest. Water needs to penetrate to a depth of 6-8" no matter which method you use.

The tags on HD trees should not be followed.....that represents a method that is now NOT considered to be the best for your trees! OK?

walter

Spring is Around the Corner

Hi folks,

Now we will be getting a few days of warm weather and you will want to do something in the yard but HOLD ON, don't get too carried away. The average last freeze is around March 15!! Grass is still dormant.....don't put down fertilizer on dormant grass. DO water your plants and grass occasionally because we are in a very dry period and they still need water.

We have our fruit trees in at the store right now, and we generally get only one shipment, so if you want to plant fruit trees, now would be a good time to select and plant.

Later in Feb. we will be getting in our bare root roses and container roses. Also, around Valentines day is the time to do your pruning of roses.

Also, Feb.1 is the time we recommend putting down your preemergent to prevent our broadleaf weeds in the spring. That is just around the corner.

This time period is a good time to prepare your tools for the spring. Sharpen blades, maintenance mowers, etc.

The experts say that scalping your grass IS NOT RECOMMENDED !!!!!!!!

Note: I have Texas Certified Nursery Professional(TCNP) and Texas Certified Landscape Professional(TCLP) certifications from the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association in Austin, representing the nursery and landscape businesses of Texas.

Please do not seed bermudagrass until the latter part of May after temperature of the ground is at least 70, ok? Otherwise your seed will not germinate, and will become bird food.

walter