TOO EARLY FOR DORMANT FEEDING, PRUNING OF TREES, SHRUBS, PERENNIALS -The key word for all these activities is “DORMANT”. While the plants in our landscapes are still in their active growth stage, feeding will stimulate new growth, which will not harden off before winter. Trees, shrubs and perennials will continue to push new growth that will be weak and vulnerable to winter damage. Generally, winter dormancy begins in the landscape when the larger deciduous trees (maples, oaks, etc.) begin dropping leaves profusely. This’ll happen in early October. Until then, stick to cleaning up the beds, cutting down the annuals, scarifying old mulch and adding new mulch around shallow-rooted shrubs (winter blankets), and planting shrubs, mums, asters, cabbages, kale, and perennials. These will add color to the gardens and planters all fall and are impervious to the oncoming cold weather.
Planting in the Fall – Annuals, even those that have been tended to all spring and summer, are pretty well shot by now. They’re leggy and not producing flowers and fruit much anymore. They should be removed from beds and planters and replaced with fresh, lovely, fall flowering plants – mums. asters, cabbages and kale. Perennials, on the other hand, may be past their bloom time, but they’re lovely in leaf as well. Plus they’re frost-hardy, so by planting them now, you’ll enjoy them this fall and for years to come. The Lawn Depot Nursery Yard is overflowing with colorful fall flowering plants in several sizes and with thousands of lovely, thriving perennials.
Anytime this fall, until the ground freezes solid in December is prime time for planting shrubs and trees to enhance your landscapes. Most nurseries and plant yards of garden centers have great fall sales to reduce overwintering inventory, but be sure that the plants are healthy.
Animals, Varmints, Other Pests in your Yard – As the growing season draws to a close, and particularly during the winter, wildlife has less in nature to feed on, and many of these creatures can become real problems with valuable landscape plantings. Protect vulnerable plants with regular applications of animal repellents. Lawn Depot has a wide variety of these repellent sprays and granular products that won’t harm the wildlife but will protect the plants.
Everything Birds – Many of us enjoy feeding and housing birds all year long. Many more of us choose to only feed in the winter when the birds need our help. Lawn Depot carries a complete variety of bird feeds, from mixed seeds to straight feeds, plus feeders and mounting equipment, houses, and several baffles and squirrel deterrents, all year long. We encourage all of you to get involved with the birds, whether all year long or just in the cold weather. It’s fun, and it’s amazing how many different varieties and colors of birds you’ll attract.
Spotted Lanternfly – Spotted lanternfly is an invasive planthopper, native to Asia, which was first detected in 2014 in southeastern Pennsylvania. It feeds voraciously on many plants, including economically important crops like fruit trees, grapevines, hops, hardwoods, and ornamentals. There are various techniques you can use to stop them. The most effective is to use a combination of systemic and contact insecticides. Penn State Extension recommends using Imidacloprid (systemic insecticide) in drench form in conjunction with a contact insecticide. Apply BioAdvanced Tree & Shrub Protect & Feed Dual Action formula for systemic protection and BioAdvanced Insect, Disease & Mite formula for contact kill. These two great products will ensure your trees are protected.
To see the increase in customer activity over the last several weeks always gives us a lift in spirit. Love the summer for its weather and the outdoor activities it brings us, but spring and particularly the fall lift us because it’s when Mother Nature is at her absolute best. And also, because we see more of you, more often in the spring and fall. We’re ready for all of you. We hope we’ll all enjoy another beautiful Bucks County fall and that you’ll all heed our advice and do all the things that are recommended on your lawns and landscapes before the snow flies.