watering lawn

Garden To Do List for April 2018

March 30, 2018 by Wendy Pettit

Early Color & Turf Care – “Plan” is Part of Planting

If you’re excited to work in your yard or garden, but not sure where to start now that Spring is here, then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve put together a garden to do list for April 2018 of things to do throughout the month. Don’t feel overwhelmed, there is always a bit more in the beginning of the season.

You must do everything on this list! April Fools! – In reality, you may not need to do everything on this list. For example, if you don’t have shade trees to fertilize or transplants to harden off, skip those items on the list. Just pick what applies to your yard and plan out when you will do it all throughout the month!

Photo by Felipe Santana on Unsplash

PLAN and PLANTING

Plot and Plan – If you don’t have one already, get a spiral notebook or anything you want and create a Garden Journal. (Or at least take out a piece of scratch paper.) Sit down and plot out or list the tasks you need to do specifically in your yard. ie. Where you are going to transplant certain plants? What new material you want to add to your yard this season?

Plant Trees and Shrubs – You can plant trees and shrubs anytime your ground is not frozen. Be sure to follow your garden expert’s procedures for a successful planting of your material. It truly can make a big difference in your success.

Photo by Pixabay

TURF CARE

Turf Training – Now is the time to train your lawn’s roots. Do not water your lawn! Mother Nature is taking care of that for us this month and into May. We highly recommend reading our ARTICLE for details on how to properly train your lawn. Depending on your soil type and seed type, it is possible to eventually water your lawn once every two weeks or less. If you live in Utah, this post is a must — Learn how – Train Your Lawn article.

Turf Weed Protection – If you haven’t already, apply pre-emergent or weed blocker. The blooming Forsythia bush is your guide for timing. Spurge & Crabgrass get started now, so you be vigilant at eradicating it early.

Turf Aeration – now is a perfect time to aerate your lawn. Watch out for the sprinkler heads! Also, Snow Mold can be an issue if you’ve had a lot of snow piled in certain areas of your lawn when the warm days hit. Read this article on how to prevent or deal with snow mold.

Turf Fertilizing – Apply the proper spring fertilizer. Follow the directions explicitly. Good time to apply is just before a rain storm so Mother Nature waters it in for you!

Turf seeding or overseeding – Our April weather is ideal to seed a new lawn or fill in patches. Come ask us about our new product of drought tolerant lawn seed and steps on how to properly do it yourself for success! Here is a good post of step by step instructions to reseed bare patches.

Lay Sod, if you can find it. It is safe to lay now.

TREE & SHRUB CARE

Deep soak ALL trees & shrubs – Deeply water if rainfall has been inadequate. You may have to turn your water off again if our temperatures drop below freezing, so watch the weather. Your trees will like a very good drink. Remember we do live in a mountain desert!

Fruit Trees – If you haven’t already done so AND your tree hasn’t begun to bloom or bud, you can still apply the dormant oil spray. Some trees have already passed the time, i.e. apricots

Shade Trees – Now is fertilizer time. Use the correct tree and shrub fertilizer for the type of plant material; ask our experts.

Plant your trees and shrubs – You can plant anytime the ground is not frozen. Plants LOVE to get their roots settled in the spring. Also, your best selection of trees and shrubs are when the first shipments arrive at the garden center. If there is a particular tree or shrub you are looking for, visit your garden experts at Western Gardens and ask if they will be getting some in or if they can find it from their growers.

Photo by Kiki Siepel on Unsplash

A gardener’s favorite! Bumper Crop! Photo by WensLens

FLOWER BEDS

Soil Amendments – Now is the time to prepare your soil. A good practice by most expert gardeners is to mix in or just over-dress your beds with our favorite product “Bumper Crop”. Your plants will love you and you will love your harvest!

Perennials – Time to divide and transplant any of those summer and fall blooming perennials. It’s fun to share with others. Do not divide or transplant those that bloom in spring. They won’t like it until they are finished blooming.

Annual color – If your ground is not still frozen, plant those pansies or other spring cool tolerant annuals.

Bulbs – Spring bulbs that are blooming are absolutely gorgeous. Remember to only deadhead the flower when done blooming. Leave the greenery. During this time, the greenery is taking nourishment down to the bulb so you will have color again next spring! Bone meal can also be applied during this time. Do not trim back the greenery/leafs until they are brown. Gardener’s Tip: Fold over the leaves of the plant and wrap with a rubber band. The leaves are still attached, but your spring garden will look more tidy and kept. They the clumps turn brown, the clump will easily pull out from the ground, leaving the bulb to sleep until next spring.

Containers/Planters – Sift out any dead roots from last fall. Loosen soil. Remove about one-third of your old soil and mix in our favorite product “Bumper Crop” to amend your soil. Your plants will love you and you will love your masterpiece in a bit!

Photo by Marjorie Carter

VEGETABLE GARDEN

Planting Outside Schedule – Be sure to follow a planting schedule of when it is safe to plant outdoors in Utah, or know your area. At our garden centers, we display a sign for our customers about those tender plants that need protection from the cold. You can always ask one of our experts too.

Seedlings – If you already started seeds indoors during February or March, now is the time to thin out your seedlings. Choose the healthiest and leave it to continue growing.

Hardening Off – Harden off transplants and seedlings while we are transitioning out of winter. Move seedlings to a cool place like a garage for two or three days before planting them outside, next month for most plants!

Second Planting of Cold Crops – Examples are lettuce & radish. Plant first crop if you didn’t in March.

Raised Beds / Grow Boxes – Time to prepare these for planting. Kid-friendly grow box building project. Mix in our favorite product “Bumper Crop” to amend your soil. Your plants will love you and you will love your harvest!

PEST CONTROL

Snails and Slugs – NOW is the best time to rid your yard of snails and slugs. They are just coming out of dormancy, looking for food, and laying their eggs for hundreds little baby snails. If you are persistent this month, you will have less plant damage during the season. See our experts for some very good products and for some organic alternatives. Here is an article of 3 ways to rid your yard of snails. Just remember, consistency is your best friend and the snails worst enemy!

Puncture Weed – Photo by WensLens

WEED CONTROL

Remove or spray for weeds when they first appear; don’t let them set seeds. This will cut down on future weeding work! Past article on tips for weed control.

Bind Weed and Puncture Weed – Be on the look out for Field Bind Weed and Puncture Weed. These can make your yard and your life miserable if you let them take over. They are tough to eradicate, but again begin early and be consistent.

SONY DSC

SUPPORT REPUTABLE INDEPENDENT GARDEN SHOPS

Why? Because you don’t want to purchase plants that have already been stressed before you ever buy them. Next time it snows this spring, go by a big box store and see how many poor little plants are buried in snow and will definitely die, or if they bounce back, they are very stressed by the time you get them. Independents take care of their product because they own it until you purchase it. Big box stores don’t own the product, therefore, not as much TLC is given those plants. Read Article about spring experience 2017

WINTER TOOLS

Sno-blower – Time to drain the old gas and put away until next season.

Snow Shovel – Keep a shovel around for those little spring snows we Utahans enjoy!

HOLIDAYS APPROACHING

Mother’s Day is just a few weeks away next month. Ask your local expert about a good tool that will help your loved one in the garden. We have expert gardeners to help you know what tools are worth your time and money.

Father’s Day will be in a couple of months. Keep your eye out for something Dad would enjoy in the garden.

GARDEN TOOLS

Assess Your Garden Tools – Time to pull them out of the shed if you haven’t already and dust them off.

Add one new tool to your garden work this year. Eventually you will have just what you need and want.

Visual Satisfaction Idea – Purchase a new fresh pair of garden gloves. If you have had a problem in the past with family members taking your gloves, mark them with a sharpie. Faithfully use these gloves throughout the season. By the end of harvest next fall, you’ll have a pair of well used gloves to serve as a visual reminder of the time you spent to get such a wonderful garden.

ENJOY NATURE

Be sure to enjoy the more frequent days we can wear just a t-shirt and work in the yard.

Help a friend – Share this garden to do list for April 2018 with a neighbor!

Turf Training – Train your Lawn

March 29, 2018 by Western Gardens

Welcome Friends! Glad you dropped in to learn about saving water and money by Turf Training.

You can train your dog and train your lawn too!

You cannot teach a lawn to fetch the paper or to roll over. Even though some say that it can play dead, in the winter! Now that your lawn is coming out of the dreary winter, it’s time for turf training. You can train your lawn to grow deep lawn roots, so that you can cut your water bill during the summer and your lawn can be happy during those hottest Utah summer weeks. Turf Training is more painful for the owner than the lawn itself, but by July, it is possible to be watering your lawn once every two weeks or less, depending on your soil type. I know it works; I’ve lived it. This plan is for established lawns; new turf requires other care. Follow these steps and you too can have a well trained happy green lawn.

This month (April & into May), do not water your lawn! Mother Nature is taking care of watering lawns for you. DEEP INFREQUENT watering creates deep roots and thriving healthier plants.
Aerate your lawn. Perfect time is just before one of our spring rains.
Apply the proper spring fertilizer. Follow the directions explicitly. Again, the ideal time is just before a good rain to wash it into the turf.
If you haven’t already, apply pre-emergent.
Keep your finger OFF the automatic sprinkler system. Do NOT water your lawn. You are in turf training mode. I know it is painful because the sun is shining and spring is here, but don’t do it. Your lawn is stretching its roots deep. Let them go!
In May, repeat #5 unless one of the following occurs…
- Mother Nature hasn’t watered for 3 weeks. Time to water.
- When you walk across your lawn, your footsteps don’t bounce back up. Time to water.
- When you look across your lawn, you notice a dull bluish green tone in spots. Time to water.
DEEP WATER – Put a good inch of water or so on your lawn. Placing a tuna can on your grass will let you know when you’ve watered sufficiently. All this water will soak down deep and you will train your lawn, by withholding watering cycle, to stretch deep for the water. The roots will grow deeper and in the hot summer months of July & August, your lawn won’t get as stressed out. Its roots will be cooler down deep.
Repeat steps #6, #7 and #8.

As you can imagine, it will take time to train your lawn to grow deep roots. That is why it is important to begin first thing in the spring. For established Kentucky Blue grass, you may need to follow this method for two seasons, but it can be done.

This method to train your lawn is not meant for flower beds, newly seeded lawns, newly placed sod, trees or shrubs. Learn from our experts those proper watering techniques.

Watering Lawn Methods graphic by Texas Smartscape

http://www.txsmartscape.com/design_tools/water_conservation.asp

Article submitted by Wendy P

How to Water Your Lawn

May 24, 2014 by Becky

Have you ever wondered how to water your lawn correctly? Think you’re watering too much? Not enough? Not at the right time of day? Or maybe you’ve never even thought about it! We’ve put together some pointers for you to cut out the guessing and save you water and money this summer! Because who doesn’t want to go green and save some green?!

Climate and soil and sprinklers are different everywhere you go. When people ask us how long to water their lawn, it would be great to have a tidy, pat answer to give. But because there is so much variation even within the same area, the answer usually starts with, “It depends.” It depends on how well your soil drains, how much water your sprinklers put out, what time of day you water, and even how long your grass is! Even though there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for everyone, it isn’t hard to determine how much water to give your grass.

How Much Water Does My Lawn Need?
Lawns in the Salt Lake area need about 2 inches of water per week (not per watering). An easy way to see how much water your lawn is getting in a watering cycle is to place some straight-sided containers around your lawn. Empty tuna cans work great. Check them after the watering cycle and measure how much water is in them.

How Often Should I Water My Lawn?
If your lawn is planted in loam or clay soil, it’s best to water twice a week with one inch applied at each watering. Sandy and gravel soils won’t hold an inch of water in one watering, so they need to be watered a little more often (every other day works well with about 0.6″ applied each time).

When Should I water My Lawn?
Early Morning is the best time to water. Watering in the evening or late at night is not a good time because the lawn remains wet overnight and is more susceptible to fungus, and makes snails and slugs harder to control. Never water during the heat of the day—most of that water will just evaporate.

What Else Can I do to Save Water?
Set your lawnmower height as high as you can stand it. The longer the grass, the more shaded the soil will be, and the more moisture it will retain. Shorter grass doesn’t shade the soil as well and the heat of the summer sun will evaporate all the moisture you just worked to get in there.

For more specific questions about your lawn or soil type, stop by one of our locations (Salt Lake, Sandy or West Valley) and talk to one of our helpful plant pros!