Horticulture Hotline 09/27/21
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
Fall is officially here, and we are already getting some cooler weather. My Tea Olives are getting ready to bloom, so that wonderful fall fragrance is on the way.
Did you put out a preemergent product to your lawn and beds for winter annual weed control in August? If yes, depending on the product and the rate you used, it is time to reapply. If no, now is the time to get it spread onto your lawn and beds. Preemergent products control weeds as they germinate making your life and your plants’ (including grass) life easier.
Winterizing grass, trees and shrubs with either a few products individually or as a multi prone approach will help insure the health of your landscape investment.
A witch’s brew is a good fertilizer for trees and shrubs this time of year. A fertilizer that mainly arborists use with special equipment to inject into the ground can also be used by the avid “Do It Yourselfer”. The DIY can apply “the brew” to the top of the ground and water it in, or make it into a slurry in a bucket and pour the fertilizer around the plant or tree. If you go with the slurry in a bucket method, you can always add SuperThrive, BioRush, SeaHume, Fish / Seaweed blend, Vermaplex, Yucca … “The Brew” will promote good root growth and fast spring green up without stimulating soft growth that is susceptible to damage. A professional’s machine will add some hydraulic aeration (very beneficial) and other benefits. The professional is also use to mixing products at certain rates for different species of trees, age of trees and soil types.
SeaHume (granular is best this time of year, liquid still very good), 00-00-25, Cotton Burr Compost, Nature’s Blend, SuperThrive, Fish / Seaweed Blend, 04-00-10, Possum’s Minors are a few products that will benefit your lawn, trees and shrubs this winter. If you haven’t fed your trees and shrubs in a while 17-00-09 might be appropriate. Like people, trees, grass and shrubs, like to have some nutrition, so they do not go to bed hungry. Don’t be fooled by National Products that advertise heavily in this area as ‘winterizes’ that are designed for fescue and other cool season grasses. These products are not good for our warm season grasses.
For trees and shrubs, you can get ahead of the insect battle by using Neem oil or Horticulture oil. Neem oil has some fungicide benefits also which is a bonus. If you have a tree or shrub with a history of scale, twig borer, aphids, white flies …, apply a drench of Dominion now to protect the new growth next spring.
Leaf spot diseases have been a big issue this summer with all the rain. As the leaves fall, rake them up to remove overwintering fungus. If you had any major problems, you might want to remove your old mulch, spray with lime / sulfur, and replace the mulch with Cotton Burr Compost or Nature’s Blend.
Transplanting on you winter project list? Stay tuned.
Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.
