Out of the office!

That's right. Mongoose is taking a few days off from creating ridiculously brilliant landscaping solutions.

I know.. I know.. everyone is probably tossing their arms up in utter dismay.. But, wait!

Jon, Matt and I are going to Louisville, KY to spend three days of learning the newest products, trends and techniques at the national Green Industry Conference. I am pumped.

Jon will focus his time on hardscape design.. Matt will be test driving the most effective and efficient new equipment.. and me.. I know i will make time to visit the Wild Turkey distillery. : )

In a few days I will share with everyone what we learned… and what new benefits we’ll bring back for our clients! Stay tuned!

Winterizing Tip: Care for Annual Beds

1. Remove annual plantings from the garden bed. This is important because the remains of annuals left in the bed have the potential to invite disease for next season.
   
2. Till the soil. Loosening the soil in the fall makes the task of re-loosening the soil in the spring much easier. Garden beds should be tilled both in the spring and fall.
   
3. Cover with mulch. Providing a thin layer of mulch will inhibit weed growth before snowfall. Ideally it will decompose and be promptly tilled into the soil next spring.

Fall is also the ideal time to check the pH balance of your soil. Adjusting soil conditions requires planning ahead and patience. For example, if you need to add lime – it takes months to have an affect. If you added lime in the spring, the effects would not be realized in your soil in time for that seasons plantings. I will have a post on how to check the pH balance of your soil.. maybe later this week?

Winterizing Tip: Dethatching Your Lawn

This one is not necessarily a winterizing tip per say. It can be done in the early fall or spring. OK, let’s back up.. what is thatch?

Thatch is the layer of built-up plant material between the green top growth and the roots of grass plants. Thatch develops naturally as lawn grasses grow and slough off roots, shoots and leaves. Some thatch helps protect the roots, but excessive thatch prevents moisture, oxygen and nutrients from penetrating the soil.

You can easily determine if your lawn has too much thatch. Start by digging up a small plug of lawn. Next, measure the layer of thatch between the top growth and the root zone. If it measures more than 1/2" in depth, you should dethatch the lawn.

Thorough raking with a metal spring rakes does help. However, ideally effective thatching should be done with a thatching rake.

Two examples of a thatching rake below:

After thatching the vast amounts of material. You can go over it again with a metal spring rake to remove the smaller debris. Caution: when you are done your lawn will look a bit beat-up. That is normal. It is good to water and feed the lawn after a thorough thatching.

Winterizing Tip: Protect Your Plantings with Mulch

It’s that time again – the crisp smell of fall permeates the air, the leaves are changing, natural beauty of our landscaping is fading. Sometimes it is easy to forget that our gardens need to be cleaned and protected for winter.

Our winters here in Western New York often have extreme change in temperature. This can cause serious damage to plant material. For this reason we recommend protecting plants from the freeze /thaw cycle. Wait until the soil has cooled, but not frozen, and apply two to four inches of mulch. Avoid using leaves as mulch. Leaves tend to mat and will exclude water - they are best composted or removed.
Mulch all the way at least to the drip line of the plant (see graphic below).

However, leave two to three inches from the trunks of trees and shrubs. This will help to discourage rodents from feasting on the bark.

More information?
The International Society of Arboriculture has a good resource for detailed information on mulching techniques.

Graphic credits to: 2007 International Society of Arboriculture.

Buffalo's Finest Clay is Given the Boot

After years of work and countless hours in the yard, a new customer of ours became fed up with the lack of productivity in her gardens. She selected beautiful plantings which were properly installed and maintained. But her garden beds never grew-in to the flourishing collage of colors as she had hoped. This season, she finally gave up on weeding, as the compacted clay in her garden beds held roots too firmly in place. The solution was easy to see: In order to fix the garden beds - we had to fix the soil. Whether building a patio, getting an education, or planting a tulip, a good foundation is essential for best results. By removing the thick layer of nutritionally barren clay and replacing it with an aerated compost, soil and sand mixture, plant roots will be free to spread and absorb all the nutrients needed to support a vibrant and healthy plant.

We hope to have an update on this one next season!