5 Things for Your Garden

Five things to do right now in your yard and garden.

It’s spring! You want to get out and work in the dirt and grass! Well, I’m Pete Moss here with five things to do outside, right now. Yes, right now. If you’re inside reading this, get outside. If you’re at work, go home!

One: Apply Bayer Tree & Shrub Protect & Feed. This is a great way to help your trees, especially younger ones, grow strong and healthy. It’s easy to apply, just mix with water and pour around the base of the tree. It soaks in through the soil and helps prevent damage to your tree from insects. Use it now to help control Emerald Ash Borer on your younger Ash trees.

Two: Apply Bayer 2-In-1 Systemic Rose & Flower Care. This is similar to the above step. Apply this now to your roses, flowers and shrubs to help control insects and to feed them now when they’re growing. Applying this now can help control Japanese Beetles later in the summer. Also simple to apply and also better than spraying later in the year.

Three: Fertilize your trees. If you don’t want to use the products above, you should at least get some fertilizer down to the roots of your trees and shrubs. Jobes fertilizer spikes are great, especially for younger trees. Drive them in to the soil around the tree and you’re done for the season. Even better are Ross Root Feeders. These attach to your garden hose and put water and fertilizer right down at the roots. They’re also wonderful in a hot & dry summer to get water right to where your trees need it. Both are simple to use and afterwards your trees may hug you just for doing so!

Four: Do your dirty work. True, Steely Dan said I’m a fool to do your dirty work, but you’re not a fool to do your own dirty work. In your garden, of course. You may have a few cool weather veggies growing already, but for most of your garden, now is the time to work your soil and get it ready to plant in a few weeks. Turn it over, loosen it up, till it and wake it up from its winter nap. Adding organic compost is great. If you don’t have that, get some soil amendments at your local Ace Hardware store. These amendments don’t even need congressional approval!

Five: Put down season-long grub control on your lawn. This comes in granular form and is applied with a fertilizer spreader. Remember those little white moths from late last summer. The thousands of them that flew up while you were mowing? They left eggs in your lawn that are now hatching in to grubs. These grubs will eat the roots of your grass and could kill large spots of your lawn. Both Bayer Grub Control and Scotts GrubEx work well for this.

OK, that’s five. Now you’d probably better get back to your job. If your boss gets mad at you for leaving, just blame me!