South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping

A legislative committee in New Jersey has approved legislation that would allow the state to join New York and Connecticut with laws that would protect schoolchildren from pesticide exposures. If approved by the entire legislature, the law would ban products like Roundup and weed ‘n feed from school grounds.

Here’s the story:
http://njtoday.net/2011/12/15/bill-to-protect-school-children-from-pesticide-exposure-advanced-by-assembly-committee/.

Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/12/child-safe-playing-fields-act-takes-a-step-closer-to-reality-in-new-jersey/

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Author: Kay

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:45 pm (GMT 0)

a big weed ( photo / image / picture from Kay’s Garden )







I found this growing in my flower bed earlier this spring. I had amended the soil with some compost from my work. Our shop is on an old dairy farm, and we pulverize the mounds of manure to use in planting etc.

It was a very nice healthy plant, no bugs, nothing wrong at all, with the exception of being illegal…

It was hard for me to destroy such a pretty plant. Oh well, had to be done.

It grows wild all over in Nebraska. We just don’t pick it, or grow it in our gardens, if we are smart that is…

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The daffodils are officially in bloom here in my Tennessee Garden! Every year I like to mark the beginning of the daffodil blooms as it is one of the many signs of spring. (Coming very soon: Forsythia) It’s hard not to get excited about spring’s arrival after such a cold winter isn’t it? The first daffodil of 2009 was photographed and posted on February 12th! Very early while the first daffodil of 2010 didn’t shine until March 17th. It looks like we’re right in the middle this year with February 25th!

This year the daffodils in the birdbath garden are the first ones to appear in full bloom.  You’ll notice that the birdbath is actually that copper piece of metal resting beside the daffodils. Looks like it’s time to solder. 

These daffodils are planted among some daylilies. You can see the fans emerging in nearly every garden.

Also appearing in the birdbath garden are the hyacinths. These were from Valentine’s Day of 2008 and were transplanted in the fall to the birdbath garden. Originally they were three but the bulbs multiplied of the the years into more than 12.  Some are planted here and others are planted on the other side of the garden.

The stone edges of the birdbath garden bed needs cleaned up before the chickweed invades! At least it’s an easy weed to pull, you can even eat it, or so I’ve been told!

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Coming soon to a lawn or garden near you … Henbit (Lamium amplexicauli)! The cover-all-lawns-with-purple-spring-color ground cover. If you’re tired of the green look – consider purple. It’s easy care with absolutely no maintenance and pollinator friendly! You don’t even have to plant it as henbit will find its own way to your lawn.

It’s a weed but sure is another purty one!

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Posted by PFZimmerman

Mulch has many qualities including weed suppression, decorative, keeping the soil most and disease prevention. Did I say disease prevention?!

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Walk into any supermarket, hardware, store, or general store and you will usually see shelves loaded with fertilizer, pest control
, pesticides, etc. The list goes on and on. People are, however, focusing more and more on health issues from looking for natural ways to encourage a healthy lawn to washing fruit thoroughly before eating.

How many times have you set your lawnmower at its lowest setting to cut your grass as short as possible? You are doing this for basically two reasons: cutting less often and shaving off those unsightly weeds, right?

Did you know that shorter grass encourages weed growth? If you will adjust your mower blades to around 3 inches and make sure they are sharpened, you will actually discourage weed growth and pests! Instead of raking the grass clippings, leave them unless they are very long. They actually work as a natural fertilizer.

It makes since that the more grass coverage you have, the less weeds there are to deal with. Keeping that in mind in the spring and fall, sprinkle grass seeds liberally on bare areas in your yard, so that you choke out any unwanted weeds. You will need to first loosen the soil and spread some type of organic filler like peat moss. Make sure you walk over the area that you have just seeded to flatten the seeds into the earth. If you know a good rain is on the way, this would be the perfect time to plant and then let the rain wash the seeds into the earth.

If you are having a fungus problem, look in your kitchen cabinet or pantry for the answer. Vinegar has so many uses and killing fungus is one of them. Add about 3 or 4 tablespoons per gallon of water and use a sprayer to cover problem areas. Water your lawn in the early morning hours. If you wait till the cool of the evening, the water will not have the opportunity to go through its natural evaporation process, thus encouraging fungal growth. Another way to control fungus is to apply liquid seaweed. It is chocked full of the nutrients that lawns need. Apply it monthly for the full benefits of this cure-all. It is very inexpensive!

Not sure about the health of your soil? Dig for worms! That’s right! Earth worms are a great indicator of the health of your soil. The general rule is that you should find at least 8 to 10 earthworms in a square foot of soil. Earthworms are natural aerators. They do the work for you!

If your soil seems unhealthy, take it to your local county extension service. Many times you can find help at your local cooperative store, also. If the soil is too acidic, you may need to add lime, another inexpensive treatment. If it is too alkaline, then sulfur may be what you need. Your extension agent can test your soil for you and make recommendations.

Composting is an easy way to harvest more nutrients for your soil, and it is recycling, too! If you have a vegetable garden, use your mower to mulch the left over stalks, plants and bushes. Make sure you save any pea shells or bean shells to throw into the mix. Mow them several times to make the pieces smaller, then leave them in the garden through the winter and let nature do its work! You can add various leftovers from the kitchen such as egg shells, potato and carrot peels, fruit peels and cores, etc.

Before you get ready to work on your lawn in the spring, spread your compost pile out a little and mow over it again. Now, spread your compost over your lawn. Less trash for you, and vitamins for your grass! Make sure to save enough to pile around various plantings that you have added to your lawn and flower gardens.

There are many ways to control those pesky insects that invade your beautiful lawn. One simple way is to combine some dishwasher liquid with water and spray your shrubs and grass that have problem areas. Grubs and other insects hate this simple combination. You can also steep approximately 2 tablespoons of rosemary into a half pint of water for about 20 minutes, let cool, and apply to problem areas. Place birdbaths and birdfeeders in your yard to encourage birds to visit and dine on your area pests.

Some insects are good insects, and you want to attract them. Praying mantis and ladybugs eat the insects that attack your plants and lawn. Refrain from using any type of pesticide so that you encourage these bugs to take up residence in your yard. Various types of flowers such as daisies, marigolds, and sunflowers, and herbs such as dill provide food and a place for the good insects to live and flourish. As you can see, there are many ways to have a beautiful lawn without sacrificing the health of you, your family, and your pets.

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Research says that chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides used in lawns can be carcinogenic, and increase the presence of harmful nitrates in drinking water wells. An easier healthy alternative is to go organic.

To get the lushest lawn possible, research well on the varieties of grasses that do well in your climate before planting the lawn, and select the right mixture of grasses. Also figure out the watering time required, so that the roots are strong and less vulnerable to disease. Aerate the lawn so that compacted soil is loosened and water does not run off, but soaks into the ground, this will eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers.

Ensure that you do not have a layer of clippings and dead grass more than an inch thick by regular but controlled de-thatching, so that you do not get fungus, and the water reaches the roots. Apply organic fertilizer containing bonemeal, fish emulsion and manure early in summer so that the grass gets time to harden for winter.

Make sure you mow properly using a sharp blade, because dull blades tear the grass leaving them vulnerable to disease, and do not mow down to less than 3 inches in summer. Let the occasional weed hang in there, because going for bust will mean using chemicals.

Use weed control products containing corn gluten meal to prevent weeds. In short, going organic is all about growing wiser, trying to prevent damage before it happens, and growing a healthy lawn without risking family health.

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We all know that the real homeowners dream is a lush, green perfect lawn that requires almost no work to maintain and that is cheap to grow. The simplest solution to this problem that fills all the required needs is to grown an organic lawn. The organic lawn is the easiest to maintain, comes with a very low price tag, and is hearty against the effects of nature resulting in a picture perfect yard. When you grow an organic yard you need to monitor the way that you mow the lawn, and how you water if you want that picture perfect yard.

Mowing

Mowing an organic lawn is much different than a normal yard and you will need to use techniques that you aren’t used to in order to get ideal results from your organic lawn. The first major difference with the organic lawn is that you don’t want to cut it as low as you normally would lawn. You should instead set the mower to cut approximately three to four inches bout the ground for the ideal cut. Leaving the organic grass at this length will reduce its chance of diseases and will also allow it to fill in quicker resulting in the lush look.

Another added bonus of cutting your grass three to four inches above ground level is that it doesn’t matter how often you cut your grass. This creates an avenue for you to fight the weeds on your lawn without reducing to the use of pesticides that can damage the natural look of your lawn. By going over your lawn only once a week you will ensure that you never see a weed all summer long. After you have finished cutting the grass you want to make sure that you leave the cut grass where it lies. With organic grass this actually helps your lawn as it creates food for grass to eat and helps recycle nutrients.

Watering

Another major benefit of the organic lawn is that it needs to be watered less often than regular grass. You should only water your organic lawn when it is starting to show signs of thirst including wilting. Another great tactic that you can use to prevent weeds is by using water as a weapon. If you drop at least half an inch of water when you are watering this will make your organic grass stretch its roots deeper into the soil which will eventually kill weeds by preventing them from accessing the moisture in the ground.

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Now that we are 100% in the full swing of weed season in most of the country, I figure I’ll share with you one of the misconceptions that a lot of my lawn treatment customers seem to have. (my new customers who don’t read this website anyway!)

That misconception being that lawn weeds can be prevented. Let’s look at this for a moment.

Can Lawn Weeds Be Prevented

The answer is “to an extent.” How is that for dancing around an answer eh? In reality, weeds cannot be prevented, there just isn’t a product available that can do that without also harming your turf. Now, don’t get me wrong, we can use products like Barricade and Dimension to stop crab grass, but not your typical broad leaf weeds.

This is because many of the more common ones like Dandelions, for example, start growing beneath the ground almost as soon as the snow melts. It is just not physically possible to get anything down in time for this. Other weeds, such as creeping charlie and clover have very shallow, surface type root systems, meaning that a chemical burrier would be ineffective anyway.

For the most part, only post-emergent herbicides can be use to actually stop existing weeds, not prevent them.

What Can We Do To Reduce Lawn Weeds?

This is where the prevention can actually take place, and that is in the thickness of your existing grass. Thick turf is the best way to keep weeds from invading. Weeds will attempt to compete with your thick lawn, but they will lose in most cases! Remember, a thick, healthy lawn is the very best way to prevent broad leaf and vine-like weeds in your lawn.

So next time you fertilize your lawn, and weeds pop up a few weeks later, don’t blame your lawn care guy — he didn’t “fertilize your weeds” like you think. Just call him or her back to do a touch up spray and you will be all good!

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10 time-saving tips to give your backyard a head start on spring

(ARA) – Aaaah, autumn. The kids are headed back to school, the leaves are turning, and a chill is in the air. If you’re like most homeowners, fall also means an opportunity to spruce up your yard and cut down on the work you’ll need to do when the weather turns warm again.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned landscape professional or somebody who just wants their yard to look as good as it can with as little work as possible, everyone can benefit from backyard fall cleanup, says Michael Miller, president of Minnesota-based backyard tool manufacturer Hound Dog Products. “A little bit of work in the fall will really pay off when spring rolls around,” he says.

Miller offers 10 tips that the professionals use to ensure a successful backyard fall cleanup effort – and to get a head start on next year’s growing season.

• Rake those leaves. Once the snow flies, an unraked layer of leaves can get matted down over the turf and smother it all winter long. Raking or using a mulching mower in the fall helps avoid dead patches in the spring. But don’t worry about getting every last leaf, especially in the garden. They help insulate plants, and as they decompose, they provide valuable nutrients.
• Feed the grass. Fertilizing in the fall is like a day at the spa for your lawn. Using a slow-release fertilizer allows the grass to soak up nutrients and – just as important – spend the cool days and nights of autumn recovering from summer heat and stress. And building a healthy, rejuvenated lawn is one of the best ways to protect against heat, cold, drought, insects and other stresses.
• Weed all about it. Weeding in the fall is probably the most valuable thing you can do to prepare for spring, and it’s one that many people overlook. The good news: Pulling weeds used to be a backbreaking chore, but tools like the Weed Hound have come a long way from the tiny weeding forks of “the good old days.” There’s no reason to get down on your hands and knees and gouge at the turf. All you do is place the tool over the weed, step lightly on the footrest, and pull.
• Pick up the poop. When the snow melts next spring, the last thing you want to see on your lawn is pet waste. Fall is the perfect time to get out there and clean up Rover’s little leftovers. Don’t look forward to getting on your hands and knees? Hire a neighborhood kid to do the dirty work, or invest in a long-handled pooper scooper.
• Remove thatch build-up. A build-up of aboveground roots called thatch prevents sunlight, oxygen and moisture from getting to the nutrient-hungry soil below. But it’s easy to remove, especially if you don’t wait until it overwhelms the yard. Just go at the yard with a dethatching rake in early fall, or for an easier – but more expensive – option, rent a power dethatcher.
• Aerate. Heavy use throughout the summer can cause soil to become compacted. Perforating your lawn with small holes helps reduce compaction and lets water, air and fertilizer get down to the soil, which strengthens the grass plant’s root structure. For smaller yards, a manual aerating tool that removes plugs from the turf while you step should be just fine. If you’ve got a larger yard, consider renting a power aerator.
• Water trees and shrubs. Dehydration during the colder months is an all-too-common cause of tree damage, but it’s easily preventable. To sustain them over the long winter, it’s important to give trees a drink before putting them to bed. After they go fully dormant – but before the ground freezes – use a soaker hose or root irrigator to water them thoroughly.
• Clean out your garden. Fruits and vegetables left in the garden can rot all winter long, and provide a comfy home for insect eggs. Gross? Not as gross as they’ll be in the spring. Now’s the time to get rid of diseased plants, too, but keep them out of the compost pile so the problem doesn’t spread to the rest of your garden next year.
• Plant spring bulbs. Fall is not all about closing up shop. It’s also the perfect time to plant spring flowering bulbs like daffodils and tulips. But pay attention to the weather in your area; planting too early can cause bulbs to sprout before winter, and planting them too late can mean their roots don’t have enough time to develop before the ground freezes.
• Give your tools a tune-up. When it comes time to put away the backyard tools for the season, don’t just shove them into the garage or shed. Spend a few minutes wiping them down and removing debris and dirt, then apply a light layer of oil to keep them from rusting over the winter. That way they’ll be all set to go again come spring.

Old Man Winter may be on his way, but with a little work now, you can lay the groundwork for a happy, healthy backyard that’s ready to thrive next season. For more backyard tips, visit www.hound-dog.com .

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