Winter buds, don't cut them off!

I want to take a short moment and remind all of us when to prune a blooming shrubs.  Blooming shrubs would include, but not limited to, Azaleas, Rhododendron, Lilac, Jane Magnolia, Forsythia, etc.  These are the plants that bud out in the fall with the bloom in the early spring.

DO NOT prune these type shrubs in the fall.  YOU WILL cut off next years bloom if you do.  These type of plants need to be pruned right after they bloom in the spring.

Plants not included in this rule include, but not limited to…Crepe Myrtle, Hydrangea, Itea, etc.  These type plants bloom off of the new growth it puts off in the spring time.

Happy Blooming

White Out Rose

I wanted to talk for a minute about the new White Out Rose.  The White Out Rose was developed by the same guy that the other Knockout Roses were.   If you remember, the Knockout Rose is a great rose for any application because of its lack of maintenance requirements.  It doesn’t get the rose black spot and can be pruned just like a regular shrub.

The new White Out Rose, if you notice, does not have the name Knock in it.  It looks just like a Knockout, but I am being told that it gets blackspot.  That would mean you have to spray this rose probably twice per year to keep them looking decent.  Blackspot will make the leaves turn black and fall off, so if you don’t spray, your bush will have blooms and no leaves.

I just wanted to give you the news that I heard about yesterday on this new rose bush that people have been waiting so anxiously for.

Happy Roses

Beautiful Grass Seed

I struggle every year with the question, “Is it too late to plant grass seed?”  Most of the time it is a trick question because I don’t always know what to expect with the weather.  The rule in Tennessee is ‘If you don’t like the weather, just wait 20 minutes!’

Grass seed is both easy and difficult to figure out.  Also, knowing what grass you are planting can be an issue.  It you want to plant a warm season grass, i.e. Bermuda, Zoysia, St. Augustine etc. then you have to have hot temperatures in order for it to grow.  If you want to plant cool season grasses, i.e. Fescue, Rye, Bluegrass, etc. then you will want to wait for cooler temperatures to plant them.  Most people in my zone like to plant Fescue for year round green.  The ‘textbook’ time to plant Fescue is September 15^th.

Fescue seed in average 70 degree temperatures, takes two weeks to germinate.  “What does germination mean?”  Good question.  Germination is the process of the shell of the seed cracking open and the root goes down and stem goes up.  Warm, moist conditions help accelerate this process.

Back to our original question.  The later in the season you get, the colder the ground temperature becomes.  When you are getting freezing nighttime temperatures, it will hinder the germination rate.  Will it still germinate, yes.  Waiting until November to spread grass seed is a gamble that we will still be getting warm temperatures to help germinate the seed.  It should work, but it also might not.

A side note…The old wives tale of throwing out grass seed in the snow is actually an accurate statement.  The snow provides ‘thermal warmth’ and will give the seed plenty of water to germinate.  Try it and see.

Happy Seeding

Lots O Mulch

I wanted to talk a little today about mulching in the fall.  Is there a benefit, and what is the benefit to mulching your flowers beds in the fall?  That is question that you should be asking yourself.  Most people put down mulch in the spring, but very few mulch in the fall.  Why is that?  I say that most of it is money and by the time fall rolls around, they don’t care about doing more yard work.

So what would be an added benefit to mulching in the fall?  The first thing is the color.  Fresh mulch always looks good and adds appeal to a house no matter what time of year it is installed.  Another indirect benefit would be that usually before people mulch, they want to pull weeds and trim the shrubs.  That would mean that you would top off your shrubs and make your beds look perfect going into winter.  As we have talked about before, the shrubs go dormant for winter and with pruning them at the end of the season, they look good all winter.  The last benefit would be extra weed control.  Mulch, of course, will not prevent all weeds, but it will hinder many of them, so you can keep down many of the winter weeds.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I think spending the money for more mulch and not wanting more yard work are the biggest reason for NOT mulching in the fall.  That brings us to the question, ‘If I don’t mulch in the fall, what can I do to make my beds look the best they can?’  That is actually easier than you might think.  Get rid of any weeds, trim the shrubs, and rake out the mulch from the spring and viola, you have a nicer looking bed than your neighbors!!  You still have to put the work into it, but you don’t have to spend any money.  Great for you, bad for the garden centers.  HaHa.

If you want total winter weed control no matter if you mulch or not, spread the granular Treflan over all the mulch areas and it will prevent weeds for up to 4 months.

Happy Mulch