Your trees and shrubs represent a large investment that will keep adding value to your property as long as they’re kept in good shape.
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Start Planning Now for Spectacular Spring Bulbs
As long as they’re planned and planted correctly, spring bulbs will provide a beautiful color show next year with a minimum of maintenance requirements. In general, the planting window for spring bulbs is from mid-September to mid-October, which gives the bulbs enough time to grow roots before the ground freezes.
Reseed and Repair Damaged Turf
Almost every lawn can use a little fixing up or repairing, and the end of summer (or early fall) is just about the best time to do it.
When hot weather arrives for the summer it puts your lawn on the defensive. Lawns have several enemies that seek to prevent you from having that beautiful green carpet of turf that you're looking for. Fungal disease is an enemy that your lawn will most likely encounter in some form or fashion. While disease damage can be ugly, it's no reason to panic.
An automatic irrigation system is a valuable asset when caring for your lawn and landscape. Water conservation is more important than ever, and these systems can save a lot when compared to traditional hoses and sprinklers.
There are parts of your landscape that you're glad to welcome back year after year. Watching trees gradually mature or your favorite shrubs burst to life every year is a great part of spring.
Warm spring breezes, longer days, and blossoming gardens and trees are all welcome signs of spring and the summer to come. Flowers and turfgrass are not the only plants that look forward to warmer weather. Crabgrass and broadleaf weeds are invaders that love spring as well and, if left to their own devices, will take over your entire lawn.
Mulch Season
Most of us think of mulch as something there to make the ground look good. With a clean edging job, fresh mulch does just that. The consistent color and texture do improve the looks of your shrubs and flowers. In fact, dark-colored mulches even widen the pupil of the eye, making bright plants stand out even more. Mulching also cuts down on the amount of time and effort needed to keep your beds and your whole property looking good throughout the entire season. Here are some of the advantages of spring mulching.
Most homeowners have heard at some point that fertilizer can make their lawns look great. What is fertilizer even made of, and what good does it actually do?
There are many details to consider in keeping your lawn and landscape in top condition. For example, most properties have a wide variety of trees, shrubs and lawn areas, along with flower and mulch beds in all sizes, shapes and kinds.
Keeping a landscape in top condition is an ongoing challenge. For example, most properties have a wide variety of trees, shrubs and turf areas that all need to be maintained in different ways at different times of the year.
July Gardening Tips for the Northeast
Keep up with the harvest and tend to watering chores -- just a few of the garden chores that need to be done this month.
June is the culmination of spring in the North, a month friendly to plants and people alike. It is a different matter in the South, where summer takes over and brings with it oppressive conditions for both plants and people. We can't rule out a heatwave in June even in the North, though.
By Better Homes & Garden
Welcome spring! Step outside and soak in the sights of the season as you tackle this month's garden chores. Enjoy these April gardening tips for the Northeast!
Tidy up spring-flowering bulbs by snipping spent blooms of daffodils and hyacinth. Don't braid or clip leaves. Their photosynthetic efforts fuel next year's flowers.
Test Garden Tip: If ripening bulb foliage is an eyesore, consider planting bulbs behind partners whose leaves will hide unsightly bulbs. Choices include peonies, daylilies, coral bells, tall sedum hybrids, or perennial geranium.
Create your own container full of bulbs.
For an instant spring show, fill containers with purchased forced spring bulbs from supermarkets and garden centers. Tuck in sweet alyssum for a ground-hugging, sweetly scented filler.
Dress spring pots with color, courtesy of flowers that love cool weather: pansy, viola, and snapdragon. Plant flowering stock for a spicy clove fragrance.
In northernmost regions and higher elevations, you can still plant cool-season crops. By seed, plant your radishes, peas, lettuces, and other greens; put in transplants of broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.
In warmer regions, the last average frost date is this month. Go ahead and plant seedlings of warm-season edibles (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, basil) when all danger of frost has passed.
If you haven't already, get potatoes in the ground as soon as possible.
The best cold tolerant veggies.
Learn more about this hardy evergreen hybrid which blooms in May with greenish-white flowers in small clusters that produce showy bright red berries on female plants in fall.
March is almost here! Take advantage of these helpful tips to get your yard and garden ready for the growing season!
September is the Month to …
Start your fall clean-up plan. Diseased materials should be removed to avoid further spread and overwintering of pathogens. However, leaving some twigs, leaves, and branches can provide overwintering habitat for pollinators. Before clean-up begins, scout your yard for problem areas that should be thoroughly cleaned up as well as for areas where some debris left over the winter is acceptable. If you haven’t started one already, consider a compost pile for your fall cleanup. Just keep in mind to not include diseased materials.
Plant! Early to mid-fall is a good time to plant, since cooler temperatures help reduce plant stress. Adequate time after planting should be provided for root establishment prior to soil freezing.
Keep watering when needed. September can be a dry month; if so, supplemental water can help plants to remain healthy and hydrated heading into winter. This is especially important for newly installed plants.
Divide spring and summer blooming perennials such as iris. Stake tall fall blooming perennials such as asters.
Plant spring blooming bulbs such as daffodils and crocus. Lift and store tender bulbs such as elephant ears and caladium.
Start preparing your houseplants to move indoors. It is best to move houseplants inside when the temperatures are similar inside and out, or about a month before the heat is regularly on. Prior to moving plants inside, check for any pests and consider washing leaves with a diluted soap and water mixture. Plants should be moved inside prior to the first frost, which for western Massachusetts is late September, and for the Cape and the Islands, late October to early November.
Make a sketch of your vegetable garden. Note where each crop was planted so that they can be rotated to a new spot next year. This helps to prevent the build up of diseases in a particular area.
Be on the lookout for rose rosette. This disease can occur at any time of the year, but is frequently seen during fall growth. Also known as witches’-broom of rose.
Harvest and dry or freeze herbs. Or pot up herbs and bring inside for continued use throughout the winter.
Do a soil test. Fall is a great time to add organic matter to the soil. Fall applications provide amendments time to break down prior to plant growth in the spring. Amendments should be based on a soil test. For more info on getting a soil test, go to soiltest.umass.edu.
Visit an orchard. Pick your own peaches, apples, or pears for a tasty pie or crisp!
Aerate your lawn. Aeration helps to relieve soil compaction. Fall is also a good time for re-seeding lawns.
Amanda Bayer, Extension Assistant Professor of Sustianable Landscape Horticulture