February 2016 Bloq Getting Ready for Spring @Sunrise Inc.
Preparing for Spring
It may not feel like it, but we are just about there. Spring is knocking on the door. Here are some garden tips to tackle in February to help you get ready for the busy season ahead.
- Spring bulbs should start emerging this month. Exposed leaves may get burned a little by the cold temperatures but don’t worry, this will not harm the flower buds.
- Spread wood ashes around vegetable gardens, flower bulb beds and non-acid loving plants. Ash is a good source of Potash for plants. Potash helps plants regulate metabolism, which helps them get through stressful periods. Potash also works like lime in making soil less acidic.
- Continue to feed wild birds. Black oil sunflower seeds and suet cakes are a good choice for a wide variety of birds. Keep bird feeders clean and provide water
- Trim ornamental grasses, mondo grass and liriope. This will ensure a better looking plant in the spring
Here is a short checklist to help you achieve the best results for your landscape this spring:
Clean your flower and shrub beds of any leaf litter. Dead leaves can foster fungal or bacterial spores that may infect new leaf tissue as it emerges in spring.
- Cut back flowering perennials like roses and butterfly bushes. If you cut these back
too early in the winter the remaining tissue can dry out and delay spring flowering. - Inspect your irrigation system so that you can supply the needed moisture to plants as they become active. This includes inspecting drip lines to ensure they are unclogged and positioned correctly.
- Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to your turf to decrease nuisance weeds such as crabgrass, foxtail, and spurge.
- Prune trees like Apples and Crabapples that are infected by fire blight bacterial disease.
- Make sure you have signed and returned your Plant Health Care Proposal to ensure your landscape will receive the timely care it needs throughout the growing season.
- Inspect large trees and heavy tree limbs for cracks, breaks, or cavities before the new leaf canopy obscures the view of the tree’s branch structure.
- If starting vegetables and herbs indoors, set up fluorescent grow lights and gather needed materials.
Sunrise Inc. will have Top Soil, and 3 way Garden mix ready to go in the Spring (Weather Permitting) so stop by and get all your soil needs for all your landscape projects.
