All annuals, you know those summer blooming flowers, are not created the same. The Blue Ribbon Blooms collection grown by Diefenbacher's Greenhouse in Colerain Township are among the finest grown in the midwest. Elmer takes great strides to use the healthiest plugs (small starter plants), the finest potting mix, and grown under sterile conditions that produce the best quality blooming plants out there in the flower market. Garden centers like ours and others in this market pay a lot more for these quality flowers than most, if not all, box stores. Their growers can't prepare their annual crop with the same quality that makes Blue Ribbon Blooms so good. Remember, as with anything in life, you get what you pay for.

First Shipment of Annuals Arrive ready to load up the Greenhouse

    

Please Don't Pick our Pockets!

I was a little taken back earlier this week when a senior citizen (his admission, not mine) got very upset because we did not tell him how to use the tree food spikes he claimed that he just bought from us. I stated to him that we Do Not recommend spikes or sell them. He did not like that answer and said "I'll never shop your store again". I said I was sorry to hear that but reminded him that we are not a public service giving info on products that are purchased from retailers who possess little to no information on what their employer sells. I don't expect a christmas card from him this year. One of my best slogans for our industry is:
"If you pick my brain, Please don't pick my pocket"

Remember, the courser the hardwood mulch, the better it stays in place and allows water and air through it. In fact before you buy any new mulch check out Pine Straw, we have quite a few beds of it in our Bloomin' Display Gardens.

Still not on the 3 Step Lawn Feeding program? Check out our lawn areas in that same display area at our Garden Centre.

What's the best plant to put in your office? Here are some that can clear your head and/or the air:

Areca Palm - Thanks to its huge fronds (which can reach 6 feet in height), it's especially effective at air filtering.
Peppermint - Sniffing mint can boost alertness - and suppress appetite.
English Ivy - Efficient at absorbing compounds that cause headaches.
Lemon Balm - The scent lifts moods and raises levels of norepinephrine.
Gardenia - It's like long-acting antidepressant, and can live 25 years.
Golden Pothos - This hardy vine reduces indoor ozone.

The warm weather has the grass finally growing. Make sure you start the season with a sharp blade. Lower the blade for the first cut to 2” to remove the winter damage from the edge of the grass blades. Then raise the blade to 3” for the rest of the season. Longer grass blades make a healthier lawn. Mowing the grass low does not decrease the need to frequently mow in the spring. If you use the 3 step program you’re going to be mowing often. Spring is when the November feeding starts working.


  

If you applied grass seed this winter and it hasn’t grown yet, it will. It’s be. If we don’t get timely rain be sure to keep the new seed moist.

Even though the temperatures hit 80 by mid-week the soil temperature is still below 60 degrees. Temperatures are going to take another dip for the weekend. There’s still time to apply the Prodiamine to the lawn and Dimension to the beds to stop weed seed from growing.

Temperatures warmed up to get the leaf and flower buds moving.
Cherry and Magnolia Trees are flowering, so are the Forsythia Shrubs.
Lilacs will be blooming soon.

  

You can start planting new perennials now as long as they are on the same schedule as the ones in the landscape. Stay away from perennials grown in the south or in greenhouses. These plants can be extremely vulnerable to frost.

Another perennial tip. Many garden centers offer perennials in smaller sizes like quart containers in the spring. These are smaller and less expensive than the one gallon plants. They are a great value now as they have time to mature before summer. If you have a tight budget you can fill your perennial garden much easier with smaller plants.

Proactive vs. Reactive Gardeners
So you want a low maintenance landscaped yard in 2013 here are a few pointers be proactive vs. reactive.

Proactive Gardeners - To Do List
Stop insects from eating holes in the leaves of your Knock Out Rose for 1 full year by applying Systemic Soil Drench now. Apply Dimension now to all your landscape Beds to prevent new weeds from sprouting for up to 4 months. Apply Prodiamine to your lawn now to prevent new weeds for up to 8 months. Kill weeds already in your lawn with Weed Free Zone.
Results = Low Maintenance Landscaping.

Reactive Gardeners - To Do List (or NOT TO DO)
Wait until there are signs of insect damage and then you'll have to figure out what it is, how it will affect your plants, how to get rid of it and then have to be concerned with potential plant replacements. Wait until your see weeds and then start your yearlong battle of trying to get rid of them. Battling weeds is not my favorite job and I'm sure it's not yours either.

Don't let us be the ones to say we told you so, better to take a little time now to avoid future frustrations.

New Bloom A Thon Azalea's on SALE now $39.95 (#3 gl.)

Twice as nice as other azaleas!
Why settle for just a week or two of flowers when you can enjoy up to five months of blooms?

Large flowers appear in April, then rebloom in early July, continuing through fall until hard frost.
Even high summer temperatures don't stop this beauty from producing loads of late summer and fall flowers.
The evergreen foliage is disease resistant, and maintains excellent color year-round.
Flowering lasts for 4-6 weeks in spring, and then another 12-16 weeks in summer and fall.
Choose from Lavender, Double Pink, Red or White

Certified Nursery Techs can help Weekend DIY Warriors with training and placement of your small landscape projects.
Get in early to beat the spring rush!

Now is the time to put down your Fertilome Weed Free Zone
a combination of four proven Weed Killers:
2,4-D, mecoprop-p, dicamba and carfentrazone-ethyl.
Post-emergent applications of this product will control a wide range of broadleaf lawn weeds in residential lawns.
Fertilome Weed Free Zone is fast acting with noticeable effects just hours after the application
and plants death within 7-14 days after the application.

All Weed Seed Preventors for your Lawn are Not Alike

Speaking of weed seed killers pre-emergents are made up of different herbicides that all have a limited time that they stay active in your soil. This is important for you to know because different weed seeds germinate at different soil temperatures summer crabgrass germinates when the soil temps reach 63 degrees, dandelions at 58 degrees, nimblewill and nut sedge at 74 degrees, fall crabgrass at 76 degrees and so on. Scott's new herbicide now works against the bad seed for just 30 days. Greenview and many others have 90 day weed seed control. The longest working seed killer is Fertilome with it's use of Prodiamine, an herbicide that works up to 8 months. I say up to because all of the weed seed killers are timed for average rainfall. All are reduced during very wet seasons as extra rainfall reduces the length of effectiveness including this season - wait until soil warms and you see signs of spring like your daffodils blooming.

That's why during the growing season of 2011, there were record numbers of spring and late spring weeds as all the rain that fell diluted all herbicides and 90 day products or less were completely useless in half the days that were expected. The Prodiamine still worked. So if you're not reseeding this spring go out when this snow melts and put your Prodiamine down ASAP. Remember, that's all the lawn food until September.

MARCH - Time to Put Step 1
of Lawn Fertilizer Down.
DIY'ers click here for more info on the 3-Step Program.

Want us to do the work for you?
Call 513-984-8733 for a free lawn evaluation & quote.