I am sure several of you are experiencing the same thing I am.  I have a young Crepe Myrtle and some young Maple Trees, and with the long hot summer they are stressing out.  Granted I have not watered them at all this year, but I am experimenting with what they will do.  I am seeing many Crepe Myrtles leaves turning funny looking colors and they are beginning to fall off.  Same goes for the young Maple Trees, mine are already naked of leaves when all the other trees aren’t even turning colors.

Trees usually don’t begin dropping their leaves until after the first hard freeze.  The freeze sets in motion for the tree to go dormant.  The way a tree goes dormant is the sap exits the plant from the top down.  The sap goes to the root system and motivates the roots to grow during the winter to get ready for next years growth.

Back to this years problem.  I keep watching my trees and so far wherever the leaves are dropping, there are nice big healthy buds on the stem.  That tells me the plant is still alive, but because of the stress of the heat, the plant has decided not to support these leaves anymore and focus of just surviving.  I will keep you informed next spring as to if the trees reappear in the spring, but right now, I am convinced the tree is fine, but just naked.

Happy Tree

I always enjoy answering questions from customers and my online friends.  I am hearing more people make simple comments this year that they want to plant new shrubs, etc. but they should wait til spring.  I ask why they are waiting, and the answer I get is surprising.  They say “well, it is not good to plant in the fall, right?”  I have to bite my tongue before I start laughing, and gently explain to them how planting in the fall, actually allows for a stronger plant next year.  Now, of course this is true for most climate zones.  Zones 5 are along the border, but zone 4 cold be getting too cold to fully agree with this thought process.

What happens with the plants, is when the plant goes dormant in the winter, the roots will continue to grow and when the heat comes next summer, the plant has a strong foundation on which to live on.  This concept goes for the grass seed we talked about the last blog.

Don’t be scared to plant all winter long if the ground is not frozen.  In Nashville, our ground is never frozen.  It gets crispy, but never frozen.

Happy Plants

I have always enjoyed a good argument, but this one for some reason comes around year after year and I just keep fighting it.  It is the question of seed now,  or seed later.  Not too many people enjoy working in their yards at the end of the season.  We are all tired of doing yard work and are ready to watch football, but there is always this one last step that makes your neighbors jealous next spring.

I live in the border of zones 6 and 7, so if you are up or down from me, you must adjust accordingly, but by the textbooks, September 15 is the day to put out your grass seed.  We are talking about Fescue, Rye, and Bluegrass.  We are not talking about Bermuda, Zoysia, and St. Augustine.  I want to give you 3 reasons why you should plant your seed in the fall instead of the spring…

1. Plants develop roots during the winter while the plant is dormant.  This gives you stronger plants as the spring arises and the hot summer begins.
2. The weather is cooling off, not getting hotter.  Fescue seed needs the cool nights to germinate quickly.
3. You cannot seed and kill weeds at the same time.  Seeding in the fall allows for you to control weeds in the spring.

Happy Seeding

When I think of Fall, I think of Mums, Pansies, Cabbage, or Kale.  Why do I think that?  It is probably because those are the only flowers I can sell to make some money before winter begins.  This year, we have been trying to figure out what we can do to charge less for our plants and still make money.  I have become very tired of my suppliers charging whatever they want to me, and giving away their product to the big box stores for nothing, so I decided to do whatever it takes to not have to buy from them!  Saying that, I grew out about 600 mums, 2,000 cabbage and kale mix, and a bunch of pansies.  My mums are BEAUTIFUL!!!  Because it is still hot outside, they have not colored out yet, but they are full of buds.

So what does this mean for you?  It means I can sell you my plants as cheap as the big box…and I DON’T CHARGE SALES TAX!  That means many savings for you.

Mums are a plant which while it is blooming is gorgeous.  When it stops blooming, it is done.  No more blooms for that year.   If you plant it in the ground, it more than likely will return next year.  It can get huge, so watch where you plant it.

Pansies are the only winter ‘flower’ you can plant to fill in the seasonal color area of your garden.  They will survive the freezing temperatures and will look awesome as the temperatures warm up next early spring.

Cabbage and Kale are great foliage plants which can accentuate the pansies.  They will stay colored out all winter and really add to your winter color.

Happy Flowers.