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| #3 - More tips from Denny | |||||||||||||
| #6 - Questions Asked | |||||||||||||
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Questions Asked
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| Some Questions asked, Some Answers given November is quickly approaching. I’m listing some very timely lawn questions that homeowners have asked. See how many you can relate to. Q. Can I aerate, my lawn now? A. Aerate your lawn now. Make sure the soil is moist enough to pull out a 2 to 3”soil plug. Do not seed at this time. Grass seed landing in the bottom of those holes will not grow. Q. Please help me. Is there any difference between using a fertilizer labeled ‘Winterizer’ versus one labeled ‘Lawn Food’ on my lawn this fall? I’m confused. A. The name ‘Winterizer’ was added to lawn food labels as a marketing tool to give you reason to fertilize your lawn in the fall. Forget the label for a moment. All lawns want a high nitrogen, quick release lawn food in September and again around mid-November. If the analysis on a bag marked ‘Winterizer’ has more nitrogen (first number on the bag) than Phosphorus (second number) or Potash (3rd number), go ahead and apply it to your lawn. If your Winterizer has a higher middle number, it won’t have enough nitrogen to truly benefit your lawn. Forget the labeled name, just go for high nitrogen. Q. My next door neighbor and I can best be described as ‘Lawn Nuts’. We both reseeded our lawn with turf fescue grass seed 5 years ago. We both fertilize and treat our lawns the same. The last two falls his lawn starts to appear greener than mine. He claims his remains greener due to a sharper mower blade. He also cuts his lawn a ½ inch higher than mine. Is this enough difference to give him a greener look to his lawn? A. Bingo! I don’t know how long you’ve been cutting your lawn with a dull blade but that along with grass cut short will give any lawn a brownish cast especially right after mowing. A dull blade shreds the grass blade causing injury that causes the tip to brown off. Cutting your lawn no shorter than 3” also helps your lawn maintain good color as well as shading the soil below to help retain moisture. Q: I know fall is the time to plant tulips and daffodils. Do they need all day sun to thrive and bloom? A: All spring flowering bulbs do best in a half to a full day of sun. The most common cause of shade is from leaves on our shade trees, but these leaves don’t appear until late April to early May. This leaves plenty of time for daffodils, early tulips and many of the miner bulbs to grow and bloom in those areas that are normally shady due to leaves on trees. Q: We have a lot of deer around our home. The last 3 years my husband and I have planted several hundred tulip bulbs only to see them devoured by deer when they bloom in the spring. Is there any relief or should we forget about spring bulbs? A: I would forget about planting tulips. They’re the Graeter’s ice cream of the garden for deer. Plant Narcissus Daffodils instead. These flowers come in many color combinations as well as solids. The blooms last for a couple of weeks in mid to late April and are poisonous to deer (and they know it). There are some pretty good deer repellants available if you’re set on planting tulips and other spring flowering bulbs. Q: Should I do anything special to my mums to help them winter over? A: Some garden mums are more winter hardy than others. Cut off all the old flowers, but don’t cut the leaves until the cold weather turns them brown. Wait until spring before you cut them back. Place 2 to 3 inches of new mulch around each plant and keep watering when dry for the balance of fall. Next time consider planting Mammoth or European mums that are a lot more winter hardy. |
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