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April 14, 2004

A Cautionary Tale...
I learned a very valuable lesson this past weekend. Always ask for permission before cutting. A mile from where we live, in what I thought was a vacant lot, are eight, fully bloomed forsythia bushes. They are magnificent! Every time I drove by I contemplated stopping to snip a couple of branches to bring home. So Saturday I grabbed my clippers and Morgan (our thirteen-year-old daughter) and I jumped into the car to clip some sprigs. As I was cutting, a man approached me and asked me what I was doing. I explained that I was simply cutting a few twigs for a vase. He demanded that I stop what I was doing as the forsythia were his property and I was stealing. I apologized and picked up my things to leave and before I knew it he had taken the keys from my car and told me that I was not going anywhere. To make a long story short, I tried to retrieve my keys but was thrown to the ground in the process. Moments later the police arrived (thank goodness). I was ticketed for theft and the man who threw me to the ground was ticketed for battery. All over three twigs of forsythia. Who would have thought? Please learn from my mistake and misfortune.

A year ago, friends of ours Jeff and Susan Green purchased Randy's Lakeview Nursery & Bulk Supercenter. After getting through a very hectic first year they have joined Savvygardener.com as a sponsor (making this free newsletter possible). I had the opportunity of visiting with them last week at their nursery and boy was I impressed. Pallets of pavers and natural stone, a selection of decorative rock you can not even imagine, and a wide variety of plants, trees and shrubs. You'll find mulch, topsoil, sand and anything else you might need to complete your landscape project. Take time to visit their business. They are professional, friendly and just great people. Don't forget to tell them that you're a Savvygardener!

This weather is perfect for gardening. Get out and enjoy it!

~ Shelly  

Tuckered Out Tulips?
Unfortunately it's not uncommon for many modern tulip varieties to "wear out" after a few years and eventually produce insignificant blooms or no blooms at all. Here are some tips to increase the chances of perennial blooming of your tulips:

  • Plant the bulbs at the depth indicated on the packaged they arrived in.
  • Water them - especially in the fall - to help develop strong roots.
  • Clip off flower heads after they have bloomed.
  • Do not remove the foliage until it has turned brown and withered.

Longer Life for Lilies...
No doubt many of you received a lily or two (or more) for Easter.  Unfortunately the lily doesn't survive as a houseplant, but it can be transplanted outdoors where it may bloom again this year. 

Find a sunny spot in the garden to plant the bulb.  Remove the plant from its container and loosen the roots.  Plant the bulb a few inches deeper than it was in the container and cover it with soil.  Water thoroughly and fertilize with an all-purpose garden fertilizer.  For the remainder of the season water and fertilize as you would your other garden plantings.  Don't be alarmed when the top withers and dies.  New shoots will emerge and may flower in July or August. 

Understand that lilies are not normally winter-hardy in the greater Kansas City area.  To improve your chances for success, mulch them with 4 inches of straw or leaves in the fall.  With luck you will have new flowers again next June!

Circular Logic...
A popular and effective way to prevent disease in the vegetable garden is called crop rotation.  By rotating the location of vegetable plantings within the garden each season you can greatly reduce the likelihood of soil-borne disease.  This method works best when you rotate crop families from place to place and the rotation includes at least three families.  The effectiveness of crop rotation is diminished when the total gardening area is quite small.  Just do your best!  Here's a list of the most common home garden vegetables and their associated families:

Family Family Members
Alliaceae Chive, garlic, leek, onion, shallot
Apiaceae Carrot, celery, parsley, parsnip
Asteraceae Endive, lettuce
Brassicaceae Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, kohlrabi, radish, rutabaga, turnip
Chenopodiaceae Beet, Swiss chard, spinach
Convolvulaceae Sweet potato
Curcurbitaceae Cucumber, gourd, melons, pumpkin, squash
Fabaceae Lima bean, pea, snap bean, soy bean
Malvaceae Okra
Poaceae Corn
Solanaceae Eggplant, pepper, potato, tomato

 


Randy's Lakeview Nursery
& Bulk Supercenter

Your one stop shop for all of your landscaping needs!

Find out more here!

 

 

Daffodil's Deadly Secret...
If you take my cue and decide to cut some flowering bulbs from the garden make sure you keep the daffodils separated from other cuttings.  Daffodil stems secrete a fluid that can drastically reduce the life of other cut flowers in the same vase.  After a couple of days in a vase they should be OK for sharing the same space. 

Lumpy Lawns?
Most lawns become bumpy because of the natural settling of soil over time. Professionals will apply thin layers of sand or soil over finely manicured turf and then use modified brooms to move the topdressing down to the soil surface. This topdressing will eventually help to smooth out minor undulations over many years while not harming the turf plants. Home lawns can accept up to about
¼ inch of topdressing.

If the lawn is in really bad shape, it is better to start over. Kill it with a non-selective herbicide like Roundup, till the soil to 2"-4” deep, work it smooth, and allow it to settle with rain, irrigation, and/or time (the more time to settle the better). Then work it smooth with shallow raking once more after it settles and seed this fall. This settling part of the process is regularly overlooked by contractors and homeowners anxious to see grass, which usually results in a bumpy lawn down the road.

Source

 


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What's Hot On The Hotline...
As promised in last week’s article, here is an update on one of the area’s newer “demonstration” gardens. This garden provides the public with an unusual opportunity to stroll, enjoy and learn.

The garden is the Monet Garden at the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Garden located one half mile west of US 69 on 179th Street. Since its dedication almost two years ago, the one-acre Monet Garden has become increasingly popular.  You'll find more details in this week's What's Hot On the Hotline...

Crabgrass Preventers...
Crabgrass preventers are another name for preemergence herbicides that prevent crabgrass seeds from developing into mature plants. They don’t actually keep the seed from germinating; rather, the germinating plant takes up some of the herbicide and is killed. With few exceptions they will have no effect on existing crabgrass plants. Therefore, preventers have to be applied before crabgrass germinates. Additionally, they don’t last forever once applied to the soil. Microorganisms and natural processes in the soil begin to gradually break them down soon after they are applied. Most crabgrass preventers are fairly ineffective after about 60 days, although there is considerable variation among products (Dimension and Barricade are longer lasting). For our area crabgrass typically begins to germinate around May 1, or a little later. Therefore, April 15 is a good target date for which to apply the preventer; this gives the active ingredients some time to evenly disperse in the soil before crabgrass germination starts. Additionally, weather varies from one spring to the next, and with it the timing of crabgrass germination. For this reason application-timing of preventers is sometimes based on the bloom of ornamental plants. The Eastern redbud tree is a good one to use: when the trees in your area are approaching full-bloom, apply your crabgrass preventer. A follow-up application will be needed about 8 weeks later, unless you are using Dimension or Barricade.

Source

Finally...
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."

~ Cicero

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