Taking care of your yard can be overwhelming with all the foreign sounding products to use, the immense amount of time to dedicate to it, and the overall misunderstandings of sustainable maintenance versus immediate gratification. I encourage my landscape clients to use their space to grow beneficial plants that give back so that the time results in a tangible product. In order to better treat your outdoor space, I will post some useful hints on maintenance and what to use and the bad stuff to stay away from.
First here are some general rules:
Lawns:
Apply pre-emergent products to PREvent the latent weed seeds from sprouting into pesky unwanted weeds. I like to use cornmeal by spreading it all over my lawn and garden in late February.
Apply Fertilizer to encourage the good and wanted to come back strong. I like compost tea because it brings healthy microbes to the soil that continue to work for you. Hasta Gro products are good too.
Pull any weeds from the root.
Mow your lawn to height of 1" tall and weekly in the Spring.
Flower Gardens:
Apply the corn gluten mentioned above in early Spring. Use organic fertilizers like Liquid Seaweed or Compost Tea to the perennials that are trying to make a comeback and getting ready to bloom. Add banana peels and Peat Moss to acid loving plants like Roses and Azaleas to encourage extra blooms! Begin to water a three times a week, 10 minutes each time. Scrape back old mulch and replenish with native enriched mulch.
Vegetable Gardens:
Remove Fall/Winter vegetables and compost at home or take to a nearby community garden. Mix in compost to the top 1-2" of soil and plant your veggie starts. Mulch once they are 2" tall.
I will post more on products in the next post....
First here are some general rules:
Lawns:
Apply pre-emergent products to PREvent the latent weed seeds from sprouting into pesky unwanted weeds. I like to use cornmeal by spreading it all over my lawn and garden in late February.
Apply Fertilizer to encourage the good and wanted to come back strong. I like compost tea because it brings healthy microbes to the soil that continue to work for you. Hasta Gro products are good too.
Pull any weeds from the root.
Mow your lawn to height of 1" tall and weekly in the Spring.
Flower Gardens:
Apply the corn gluten mentioned above in early Spring. Use organic fertilizers like Liquid Seaweed or Compost Tea to the perennials that are trying to make a comeback and getting ready to bloom. Add banana peels and Peat Moss to acid loving plants like Roses and Azaleas to encourage extra blooms! Begin to water a three times a week, 10 minutes each time. Scrape back old mulch and replenish with native enriched mulch.
Vegetable Gardens:
Remove Fall/Winter vegetables and compost at home or take to a nearby community garden. Mix in compost to the top 1-2" of soil and plant your veggie starts. Mulch once they are 2" tall.
I will post more on products in the next post....
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