Frazee Gardener: August 2010
Frazee Gardener: August 2010
October 2, 2010
by Frazee Gardens
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You have until August 31 to send in a photo of either your
1) best container/combo planter or
2) perennial flower bed that you have created.
The winner of each category will receive a $20 gift card from Frazee Gardens and will have their photo featured in our October newsletter!
Please email photos to melissa@frazeegardens.net to officially enter the contest.
The subject line of your email must say: PHOTO CONTEST:YOUR NAME & PHONE NUMBER.
We will be posting photos on facebook and will consider comments as votes for each photo. One vote per facebook account. Voting is from Sept 1-30, 2010. Keep photographing as we may have a more contests in the future for fall and winter gardening displays.
Gift cards valid on merchandise only. Not for use on services, delivery, the Jim Shore Collection or consignment items. LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE
Rain, Rain, Rain...
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Rain, rain and more rain is what Central Indiana has been seeing over the past two months. With all this rain comes a few problems with landscape materials. New plantings may have seemed to enjoy the rain, but remember to water again once the rain lets up for a few consecutive days. Plants that grew accustomed to excessive water are doubly stressed when they dry out. With so much moisture readily available, they had no need to grow roots out for more, and in some cases roots even “drowned” and became unable to absorb water.
New and established landscapes have had an increase in plant diseases with all the rain. Some of the most common are fungus leaf spot and powdery mildew. These can defoliate your plants and spread quickly through your garden. It is much more effective to prevent these diseases than to cure later. Note when black spots, mildews appear and spray preventative fungicides a couple weeks earlier next year. We have systemic fungicides to protect to protect grasses and ornamental trees & shrubs (meaning those which do not produce edible fruit or vegetables). It is absorbed and is inside the plant to fend off disease, much like the flu shot protects humans. It is helpful to rake up and dispose of infected leaves in the trash rather than putting them in your compost pile. When watering, water the ground under the plants, not the foliage.
We like Fertilome’s Triple Action that treats funguses, mites and insects. Much like people with more than one health issue, frequently plants have more than one problem, and this will treat several. Unsightly leaf spots never “heal”; treatment keeps them from getting worse.
Dottie, Frazee Gardens Horticulturalist
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
The Fall Planting Season Will Be Here Soon - Start Planning Now!
The intense heat of August is a very stressful time for plants. It is best to wait until the temperatures cool down a bit to make any planting improvements. However don't put off the planning until then. Start designing now so you are ready to go once the hot weather breaks. If you want to get a head start on installation, go ahead and get your hardscapes installed now. Brownsburg Landscape can help you with the design and installation of your landscape or hardscape improvements. If you would like our help, give us a call today at 852-8440!
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PLANT OF THE MONTH
SEDUM
A.K.A: “stonecrop” and “live forever”
Sedum is a great addition to any landscape. Growth habits can be upright to low groundcover plants. Some upright varieties: ‘Autumn Joy’, ‘Purple Emperor’ and ‘Matrona’. Low Groundcover varieties include: ‘Angelina’, ‘Blue Spruce’, ‘Dragon’s Blood’ and ‘Mossy’. Foliage colors can be light green through shades of red, yellow and blue. Flower colors can be shades of white, pink, red or yellow. It is a plant that offers great late season color, can thrive in neglected landscapes, is very drought tolerant and is a great addition to rock gardens. Foliage colors vary in sun and shade; most varieties thrive in either. If left uncut the upright varieties offer great winter interest.
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Questions and concerns from novice gardeners are about as variable as Indiana weather, and weather is usually the problem! In my case, despite adding a mixture of topsoil and compost to raise the garden a little, a couple of inches wasn’t nearly enough for this June’s record rains. And when it finally dried out, I didn’t water or add additional fertilizer soon enough. But the eggplant is liking benign neglect, and herbs in pots on the porch are going crazy.
Most gardeners are seeing some plants thrive while others fade away. We try to grow a variety of our favorite foods in a small area, that happen to be from around the world, preferring very different drainage, water and nutrients. Care of raised beds depends very much on their soil mix. Generally, aim for good drainage so that roots aren’t soggy, fairly high nutrients, and enough moisture to avoid drooping. Don’t blame the weather and give up; it’s likely to be different next year!
Mid August is the perfect time to refresh your herbs and veggies. Cool season crops such as lettuce, spinach, radishes and peas can be seeded directly into the garden or into large pots. Many herbs will grow well outdoors from seed, to be brought indoors to a windowsill before winter.
Dottie, Frazee Gardens Horticulturalist
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Crabgrass
This has been one of, if not the worst year for crabgrass I have seen in 15 years. There is a combination of factors that have caused it to be so bad. Unusually warm weather in late March and April warmed soil temps quickly so crabgrass began to germinate in April instead of May. We also had 2 weeks of dry weather right around that time which delayed many pre-emergents from activating. Then we had close to 10 inches of rain in June which really did us in. This wore down any remaining protection against crabgrass. And finally hot humid weather has caused stress from heat and disease to grass leaving openings for crabgrass to come up. If you only have a few plants along the edges of sidewalks or drives, pull them out to prevent seeds from falling into the soil. One crabgrass plant produces up to 100,000 seeds so pulling a few plants before they drop seed can help for next year. There isn’t any type of treatment that is effective against crabgrass at this stage. It will die in the fall with frost. Apply 2 applications of pre-emergent next year to extend prevention. Replace your typical late spring application with crabgrass prevention if crabgrass is a major problem for you this year. With normal conditions the 1 application is adequate and it is unlikely we will have this many factors favor crabgrass next year, but it never hurts to play it safe.
Josh, Brownsburg Landscape Lawn Care Professional
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Habit of the Heart
Join us September 24 & 25 at Primo West in Plainfield as we attempt to win the vote for Best of Show in Habit of the Heart’s “The Giving Tree” decorating contest. The theme for our treescape is ‘winter.’ For more information visit http://www.frazeegardens.net/
Bret Neylon Garden Pot Raffle
We have extended the raffle purchasing time through the month of August. Please support the Bret Neylon Paralysis Foundation by purchasing of $2 raffle tickets to enter to win a $100 value gift pack of gardening goodies. There is no limit on the number of tickets each person may purchase.
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