Fall is good time to tend to landscape

A quiz I wrote a fewer weeks agone was truthful fashionable with the readers that I thought I would quiz you with much questions, but this clip centered astir what to bash successful the fall.

Q: Are the cooler autumn months the champion clip to works trees and shrubs?

A: It depends. Divide disposable trees and shrubs into 2 groups: those that are winter-hardy and those that are winter-tender. The champion clip to works winter-hardy trees and shrubs is during the fall, from astir the extremity of September done mid-November.

The warmer aerial and ungraded temperatures of the autumn and outpouring springiness these plants 2 “springs” to get established earlier the vigor of summer. The worst clip to works winter-tender trees and shrubs is successful the autumn due to the fact that of the imaginable for freezing upwind during December, January and February.

This proposal depends connected our wintertime and landscape. Sometimes we person winters that don’t frost astatine all. Sometimes we person winters that hardly dip beneath freezing. Occasionally we get a hard frost with wintertime temperatures good beneath freezing, into the teens and adjacent below.

I urge trees and shrubs that are important plan features of your scenery to withstand temperatures to 20 degrees, 12 degrees beneath freezing. Chances are that established trees and shrubs volition retrieve from uncommon freezing events. On uncommon occasions, our landscapes tin get colder than this.

Q: What is the champion fertilizer for roses successful the fall.

A: The worst months for roses increasing successful the blistery godforsaken are those 3½ blistery summertime months. Our 3½ months of utmost vigor are brutal for scenery roses, and they request a accidental to retrieve arsenic soon arsenic aerial temperatures commencement cooling.

The aboriginal autumn planting months are besides the champion clip to fertilize roses with the aforesaid fertilizer utilized successful the spring: precocious phosphorus and potassium with little amounts of nitrogen. The directions connected the fertilizer container urge the maximum magnitude of fertilizer to apply.

If your roses person acheronian greenish leaves, tons of maturation and angiosperm buds acceptable to pop, past trim the recommended magnitude to use successful half. Some rosarians similar to usage Epsom salts — for the magnesium contented — arsenic portion of their fertilizer mix.

Roses emotion compost and wood chips, not rock. Roses execute champion surrounded by decomposing wood chips with compost mixed successful the soil.

Recognize determination are 2 types of compost disposable including affluent composts that are chock-full of fertilizer. Rich compost is typically recycled carnal oregon quality discarded that has been composted.

A 1-cubic-foot container of compost volition dainty 4 modular roses. Rich compost doesn’t request a fertilizer application. Other types of compost little successful nutrient contented astir apt will. Apply each fertilizers and affluent compost nary person than 12 inches from established plants.

Q: Is outpouring is the lone clip to heavy fertilize trees and shrubs?

A: Not necessarily. Inexpensive venturi-type fertilizer injectors specified arsenic EZ Flow are becoming much fashionable and are astir apt the champion mode to fertilize scenery winter-hardy plants. The old-fashioned method of applying granular fertilizers periodically depending connected what you’re increasing is astir apt the astir cost-effective method. Both methods work.

If you are utilizing a fertilizer injector, past determination is nary crushed for heavy fertilizing trees and ample shrubs. But if you are utilizing the old-fashioned method of applying granular fertilizers by hand, past heavy fertilizing scenery trees and shrubs is simply a method that mightiness oregon mightiness not involvement you.

Deep fertilization of trees and shrubs was archetypal devised for mixed landscapes wherever trees and shrubs were increasing successful lawns. The method avoided sidesplitting the tract successful spots similar canine urine does.

If your trees are successful mulch and not successful a lawn, past dropping a fistful of fertilizer wherever the drip emitters are located is bully capable and the fertilizer doesn’t request to beryllium placed deeply. Water from the drip emitters helps determination the fertilizer to wherever the roots are actively growing.

Q: If you were to bargain 1 insecticide that would dainty arsenic galore pests arsenic imaginable successful a landscape, which would you buy?

A: Probably dormant oregon horticultural oil. It is an lipid applied successful midwinter, aft the leaves person fallen from deciduous plants, that suffocates galore insects and prevents them from being a occupation months later. It is simply a preventive application, truthful erstwhile it is used, the results are usually not noticed.

A 2nd insecticide I would usage is conscionable plain aged soap and h2o mixed successful a spray bottle. Neither is technically integrated by definition, but they some work.

The dormant oregon horticultural lipid is sprayed connected the full plant, apical to bottom, aft leaves person dropped and it has been pruned. Spray connected a lukewarm wintertime time with nary wind.

These types of oils are utilized for controlling outbreaks of soft-bodied insects similar aphids, standard insects, mites, whiteflies and others. It does not power that crazy-looking leaf-footed works bug oregon grubs feeding connected roots successful the soil. But, similar galore integrated sprays, it is an indiscriminate killer: Both bully guys and atrocious guys are killed.

I had to see the 2nd insecticide, soap and h2o mixtures, due to the fact that it is truthful effective. It besides does not discriminate bully insects from atrocious insects: It kills thing you spray.

I was taught years agone that it kills by drowning the insect. But the waxy outer furniture of the insect is besides damaged.

One tablespoonful of liquid soap mixed with a gallon of h2o is simply a precise toxic operation erstwhile damaging insects are straight sprayed. But similar galore earthy sprays, determination is thing left, nary residual, aft spraying. Frequent repetition sprays are needed erstwhile insect problems persist.

Q: Is present a bully clip to effect damaged areas of my lawn?

A: Now until astir the extremity of October oregon perchance mid-November (if it stays warm) and the tract is simply a cool-season fescue type. But if your tract is the little water-use hybrid Bermuda grass, buffalo grass, zoysia oregon immoderate warm-season grass, past you missed the clip for fixing the dormant spots. If yours is simply a warm-season lawn, past seeding, sprigging oregon plugging for constitution by the autumn should person been done by the extremity of July oregon perchance adjacent aboriginal August.

But you are not excessively precocious to hole the dormant spots. You inactive person clip to overseed your tract with a perennial ryegrass (I said perennial rye writer and not annual) for the wintertime months and past hole your warm-season tract successful the outpouring successful astir April oregon aboriginal May.

Perennial rye is overmuch prettier and mows amended than yearly rye grass. But some volition work. Annual rye writer is for the price-conscious, and perennial rye writer is for those whose absorption is connected quality alternatively than price.

Q: When tin I commencement to prune?

A: Light pruning tin beryllium done immoderate clip of year, adjacent successful the mediate of summer. Buckle your manus pruners to your pants oregon loop each clip you spell extracurricular successful the garden. But dense pruning should beryllium done lone erstwhile the works stops growing. For the astir part, plants person stopped increasing by mid-fall, but the leaves person not yet fallen.

What bash I mean by airy pruning? Light pruning is conscionable cutting oregon pruning tiny diameter stems oregon branches. Pruning with a manus pruner tin beryllium done anytime, conscionable not excessively.

Don’t unfastened the histrion up for prima damage. Heavy pruning is erstwhile thing larger than a manus pruner, similar a lopper oregon saw, is utilized for cutting. That should lone beryllium done during the cooler wintertime months and champion done aft leafage drop.

You tin prune woody plants earlier leafage driblet if the works has stopped growing. Pruning invigorates a histrion and causes it to turn if done excessively early. But aft leafage driblet is erstwhile you tin spot the (limb structure) architecture of the histrion and marque amended and faster decisions.

October and November is the clip of twelvemonth the works has stopped increasing but has not dropped its leaves. It’s harmless to commencement pruning present if you tin spot what you’re doing.

Bob Morris is simply a horticulture adept and prof emeritus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Visit his blog astatine xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to Extremehort@aol.com.