lawns and Landscaping

• Variety in form and texture is important when designing a planting. However, too many different types or mixtures of plant materials should be avoided because it can create a confused or cluttered appearance as well as increase maintenance.

• Consider using ferns in your home landscape. Maidenhair, sensitive, cinnamon, and Christmas ferns are good choices. Ferns like an even supply of water throughout the growing season, so soil with a high humus content is ideal because it retains water.

• When choosing plants for the landscape and garden, remember crops that are suited to your soil and climate will be more resistant to problems. If you experiment with exotics, be prepared to give them more care.

• Don't forget wildlife when creating a landscape plan. They need both living and dead trees for survival.

• If you think back over the yard work of last year and feel it took too much time and effort, an analysis of your site and the suitability of your plantings is in order. Landscaping looks best and is most easily maintained where a site has been analyzed for its natural characteristics, including soil texture, pH, drainage, slopes, sun and shade patterns, wind direction and intensity, exposure to salt or air pollution, and so on. With such an analysis in hand, you can select plants that work with your site, rather than in spite of it. The result will be reduced maintenance and a better-looking landscape.

• Avoid walking on grass or ground covers while they are frozen. The frozen leaves are brittle and easily damaged. Ajuga is especially sensitive to being walked on during the winter, and large portions can die back, leaving bare spots for the spring.

• Place stakes in intended planting spots and view from several angles to help you picture how new plants will look. Once you have the plants ready to plant, always place them, still in the pots, where you intend to plant and step back and view the whole area one last time before committing the plant to the ground.

• While going about your business, keep an eye out for plants with interesting winter form or color. Consider planting similar varieties in your yard so you can enjoy them at home next year.

• Watch the sun as it wheels around your house. See which sheltered outdoor nook it illuminates, and begin to plan your sunspot today.

• Cold winds this month should remind you to order evergreen windbreaks. Some suggestions: American arborvitae, Austrian pine, Canadian hemlock, and white spruce.

• Plan to attend garden and landscape meetings and clinics arranged by the Extension agents in your county or city. The latest and best in gardening information will be presented. Call your local Extension office to find out what is offered in your area.

• If bird feeding has been a favorite activity this winter, order trees and shrubs that provide cover and small fruits for your feathered friends. Consider species such as crabapple, hawthorn, holly, dogwood, and pyracantha that can help lure hungry birds from cultivated fruits, if planted on the opposite side of the yard.

• Top dress fescue lawns with an inch of compost or an application of an organic fertilizer such as Espoma 'Plant-tone' (5-3-3) to encourage healthy growth.

• Remember, clover in a lawn is a natural source of nitrogen. A diverse lawn is more natural, healthier, and less boring.

• Don't fertilize warm season grasses, such as Bermudagrass, because they are dormant now.

Want to

Get back to where you were?