lawns - Grow-How Blog

Prevent Crabgrass – When to Start

Apr 142012

By John Henning, Buyer, Dundee Nursery and Landscaping

Hello. My name is John Henning, and I have been working for Dundee Nursery for over 25 years. In all that time I have not seen a spring thaw like this year.

With an early warm up like we are having this year, one of the most frequently asked question is “When should we apply our crabgrass controls?” It is a common question every spring but is asked even more often this year. The answer will vary a little from year to year. When we have an average spring we tell people to apply it during the first two weeks of May. However, this is not the average and I think now is a good time to start putting it down. Keep in mind that most controls are effective for around 8 weeks in the soil, and if we have a long cool spring, crabgrass seeds may still germinate into June. To insure the best results it may require a second application in around 6 to 8 weeks.

Soil temperatures, not the air temperatures, play the biggest role in determining when the crabgrass seeds start to germinate. Even though it may be hot during the day, the evening temps may keep the soil from rising too fast. The cool nights are what may lengthen our spring season. This is why I would recommend the second application of your controls.

There are two ways you can get two applications on your lawn. You can apply a crabgrass control with fertilizer now and the follow up application may just be crabgrass preventer alone -OR- you can apply the crabgrass preventer in late May when you apply a weed-and-feed for broadleaf weeds like dandelions and thistle.

If you feel that you missed the prime time for best control there are other pre-emergent controls that can be put down up to 4 weeks later and still give you great results. Look for a product containing “Dimension” (dithlopyr) as this will also prevent some broadleaf weed seeds from germinating.

One last way to determine the prime time to apply your preventers is to look around your yard and neighborhood to see if the lilacs are starting to bloom. The lilacs tend to bloom at the time soil temps are prime for seed germination. Areas that warm up quicker, like along streets, may need the application a week or so sooner. I hope you can use this information to prevent crabgrass from becoming a problem in your yard.

New Garden Center Products for Spring

Garden Center 1 Response »

Apr 122012

By Gill Landis, Sales and Marketing Manager, Dundee Nursery and Landscaping

Spring is the time of year when all of us in the garden center are excited for sun, warmth, plants and new stuff. Nothing symbolizes this more than our Annual Spring Expo coming up this Saturday and Sunday, April 14^th and 15^th. With that in mind I would like to share with you some of the new garden center products you will see at Expo and in our stores this spring.

Hi-Yield has a new weed prevention product this year. What’s different about it you ask? Well, it provides superior control of Crabgrass and many other annual grass and broadleaf weeds in ornamental landscape areas. It may be applied to either bare ground or mulched ornamental bed areas. Application can be applied much later than traditional weed preventers such as Preen.

Jiffy Products has a new Organic, all-purpose soil. 100% Organic Soil, designed for the special pH and nutrient needs of today’s seed and plant varieties. A greenhouse quality soil mix, this is the very best seed-starting mix available!

Tired of mowing the lawn at the cabin up north? Green Guard Freedom Mix is a new blend of grass seed that requires mowing only 2 or 3 times a year. Now that is cool! Where’s the hammock?

What’s super cool with seed potatoes? We have a selection of fingerlings and gourmet seed potatoes from Jack Rabbit Farms. If you have never had a fingerling potato, you owe it to yourself to try them. Fingerling potatoes have a creamy, almost sweet flavor that goes well with meat, poultry, and fish. They’re a nice alternative to your standard white or red potatoes.

Want to be the neighbor with bigger and better plants? Sylva Soils Pro-Growth Formula soil is a product the eliminates the need for manure and peat. Pro-Growth is a complete soil product that is great for amending soil beds for vegetables, flower gardens, and even planting of trees and shrubs. The science behind it is that it reduces compaction, releases useable nutrients in the soil and stimulates the native soil organisms.

Want to try vertical gardening but don’t know where to start? Woolly Pockets has a vertical planter that works both indoors and outdoors. Woolly Pockets are perfect for an organic kitchen, herb garden, or outdoor edible planter. Tropical plants and succulents also love this vertical garden. Easily attaches to wood, concrete, masonry, and chain link. Woolly Pockets are very easy going and love to live it up!

Woolly Pockets

Rocket brand deck plants hooks – install in seconds, no tools required, and it will really dress up your deck instantly!

Tired of lifting the water can up to water you hanging baskets? Rainmaker Garden Shepherd Hooks attach to your garden hose and supply water directly from the hook to your plants from the top down! Now that’s EZ!

Sloggers is a name that has been around the garden center awhile, and this year’s footwear features wonderful colors and patterns. Available in kids and women’s sizes. Sloggers is the perfect garden shoe or boot.

These are just a few of my favorites. Come and talk to our suppliers on Saturday the 14^th of April and learn about other new products at Dundee Nursery and Landscape.

Combat Drought with Spring Watering

Garden Center 1 Response »

Apr 052012

By Vicki Trattar, Social Media/Website/Graphics, Dundee Nursery and Landscaping

I saw the sprinklers going at a local business while I was on my way to work today. April 5 and we already need the sprinkler systems up and running in Plymouth, Minnesota. What an amazing spring. It doesn’t look like we’re in a drought situation, but we are.

We had been in a long term drought before last spring. Spring 2011 was incredibly wet and all that moisture relieved the drought problem and brought us up to normal. So much for normalcy. Late summer and fall were again exceptionally dry. On top of that was our nowhere-near-normal accumulation of snow last winter. All that combined has set us back in a moderate to severe drought situation in the Twin Cities metro area.

Our unusual early spring has brought us some rain along with the warm temperatures, but not enough. Everything is greening up nicely but plants breaking dormancy require warm temperatures, sunlight, and moisture. All this growth activity is using moisture in the soil.

What do you need to do? Bring the hoses out, turn on the outside water, find the sprinklers, and get ready to water. Your lawn and the plants in your landscape generally require an inch of water per week. If we are lucky, nature will provide. If not, it’s up to us. If you aren’t sure how you will know when you have given your lawn or plants an inch of water from the sprinkler, check out our Dundee Fact Sheet on Lawn Watering. The Fact Sheet will tell you how to measure it, plus some other useful watering information.

A long, slow soak is always best. Two days straight of gentle rain might put a crimp in your outdoor activities, but it’s the best thing you can ask for when it comes to your plants. The ground gets saturated, water percolates down, and more water is stored at a greater depth. Torrential downpours mostly run off into the storm sewers. When you water, make sure you go for the long soak and not the quick sprinkle.

If you weren’t watering your plants last fall until the deciduous plants went dormant or the ground froze for your evergreens, you should be out there now making sure your plants get that one inch per week. Everyone else should monitor the precipitation we’re getting and be prepared to combat drought with spring watering. April showers bring May flowers, but there aren’t many chances of rain forecast anytime soon.