Where is EAB a problem?   http://www.emeraldashborer.info/surveyinfo.cfm

The second outbreak is caused by the Walnut Twig beetle, which is actually a carrier of a fungus that kills black walnut trees. Bucks County is at the center of a quarantine zone, as this disease has not been found elsewhere in the state at this time. The regional epicenter is in Pipersville, where dead black walnuts have been found, and verified as infested. All the wood has been destroyed (burned), but to ensure area walnut trees’ survival, the quarantine was imposed. Click this link for more extensive info. http://www.thousandcankerdisease.com/

Please DO NOT transport any firewood to other parts of PA. Buy it locally if you must use it. Help protect our natural resources.

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Most of my colleagues are burnt-out! And I can’t say I blame them. It had been a trying experience attempting to get all of our work done, while trying to please all our clients at the same time. No small feat. But we managed.

And now, as we bring our leaf cleanup season to an end, (finally), all we can hope for is NOT HAVING ANOTHER WINTER LIKE LAST ONE! Can I get an Amen on that one?! I’m personally hoping for an average (don’t know what normal is anymore) winter of about 22 TOTAL inches this year, not in one &$@*?# storm!

So, as I sit here typing furiously to you all for the last time this season, thanks for reading these blogs. Thanks for the opportunity to work for you (if you’ve used our services). Thanks for putting up with my rants (helps reduce the stress). I hope to keep you all informed and hopefully a little more educated about landscaping.  See you all in 2012. Have a wonderful holiday season, and a great Winter!

PS Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eden-Landscaping-Company/136526306424773?sk=wall

This got me thinking… How many of the purchases at Eden Landscaping are solely American made? So I began a search, both of physical inventory, and mentally, going back over past purchases. I think we did substantially better than the family from Texas.

Our biggest machines, our mowers, are all produced by Exmark, and are all Made in the USA! I’m glad, because we are talking thousands of dollars here. Likewise our Ingersol-Rand Bobcat skidsteer loader. Born in the USA. Then we got down to our smaller gas-powered equipment, such as backpack blowers, weedwackers, chainsaws, and hedge trimmers. With only one or two exceptions, we have been purchasing Echo products. I did a little research. Echo has been headquartered for the last 30 years in Illinois. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese corporation Kioritz. I cannot tell 100% from their website if they actually build their machines here, but it kind of alludes to this fact. I will check into this further tomorrow morning. I plan to call their corporate office for an answer.

It’s much more difficult when we get to the little stuff; rakes, shovels, tarps, and the other less expensive stuff we use during our normal activities. I’m pretty sure that if I checked my shop tomorrow, there would be a great deal of stuff that was made in China.

Just as the ABC crew had difficulties replacing every single item with those made here in the US, such is our dilemna as well. But I have decided to make a concerted effort from this day forward to look at the label of every item I buy, looking for that ‘Made in the USA‘ label. Will you join me? The ABC  program said that if we all spent as little as 18 cents daily, or about $65.70 a year in purchasing Made in US items, we would help creat over 200,000 new jobs in this country! I spend more than that for a night out with my wife! I think I can make an effort to help my fellow Americans by shopping US-made products.

Again I ask, will you join me, and Eden Landscaping, in just spending an extra few minutes each time you shop, and look for the ‘Made in the USA’ Label?  Your country will thank you.

To Seed or Not To Seed…

Many of our lawns were greatly affected by the drought we had for much of 2010, and they look it. If you did not seed last Fall, you may be considering it at this time. You need to take this into consideration: if you are seeding, you CANNOT put down just ANY crabgrass preventer! Most crabgrass preventers ALSO PREVENT GRASS SEED from growing! There is ONLY 1  type of crabgrass pre-emergent treatment on the market today that will allow you to seed, and permit the seed to grow. It is called TUPERSAN. If you have already had a lawn treatment, don’t waste your money seeding at this time, because it WON’T work!

BED CARE

Now is the time to get the beds prepped. This entails visually inspecting the beds, checking for winter weeds (yes, there are weeds that actually grow in the cold weather), unwanted growth, and accumulation of debris.

You will want to:

• Redefine bed edges
• Clean out accumulated debris
• Apply a pre-emergent weed treatment to the beds
• Spray any existing weeds
• Install or freshen mulch

Admittedly, it is currently still a little too cold to begin planting, and good luck finding an open nursery just yet. That time will be here soon, too. But for those of you who are already fed-up with Winter, we are available NOW to help get your property started up for the new growing season. Please feel free to call or email us.

Hope to see everyone SOON. Have a great 2011!!

Have you fertilized your lawn recently? If not, do it now! The lawns are still growing, contrary to popular belief. The soil temps are still promoting root growth, so you want to choose a fertilizer with a higher 2nd number (i.e., 10-20-10). That second number is the phosphorus portion of the fertilizer, and this time of year, the lawn uses that to help increase root stock. Our lawns lost a lot of roots this summer, due to extremely high soil temperatures. Give your lawn a chance to re-establish its root systems, otherwise, you’ll have more problems next year as well.

And, as long as temperatures are in the upper 50s to low 60s, the grass continues to grow. Do not leave your lawn long for the winter. Long, uncut grass can develop snow mold, which can actually grow under snow cover. It will leave dead, matted areas. It also looks much nicer if your lawn is short over the winter during those times when there is no snow cover (though we didn’t have much of that last year, did we?)

Next, cut back your perennials. The dead and dying flower stalks and leaves will mat down, and cause hiding spots for overwintering insects. And, it just plain looks bad.

Same deal for the leaves that are falling. Pretty as they are, you are asking for more lawn damage if you allow them to block out the sun to the underlying lawn. Left alone, you will end up with soggy dead spots. It also allows fungus to grow underneath, and piles of leaves left against the house and in beds will allow  many insect types to overwinter, and cause new problems in the Spring.

Finally, there is no rule that says you can’t plant at this time of year! As long as the ground isn’t frozen, and you can find plants, you can plant!  We actually have several jobs coming up, nursery stock has been ordered, and we’re going to be planting our brains out next week! Still time to get those undone projects in, folks.

As always, still taking your questions. Feel free to contact us here, or on our Facebook page.

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Now you may ask, “Eric, how will this affect the renovation of my lawn?” Unless they raise the warning to a drought emergency, you will still be able to water your newly seeded lawn. You DO NOT have to soak the lawn. Just make sure that the lawn receives enough water to make the ground moist, but not to the point that its running off. Moist, not wet. This will ensure germination, without wasting precious water.

Once the seeds have begun to grow, it is CRUCIAL that you continue to water. Water is KEY to the survival of your new grass plants. If you allow them to dry out, they will DIE! Period! No coming back. These are little baby grass plants, and require the same diligence of care as you might give to the family pet. Not quite the same thing, but you get my point. If you neglect the watering, the grass will not survive. Just think, how long could you survive without water?

I was at a seminar today, to get some update credits for my pesticide license, and they gave us some interesting facts regarding the severity of this past summer. For the June – July- August period, there were only 5 days below 90, and 14 above 95. Is it any wonder that our lawns are dead? And it’s not just the air temperature, it’s soil temps as well. I learned today that when the soil temperature climbs above 77 degrees, the grass ROOTS start to die. And when you lose the roots, you lose the lawn.

Too many details to bore you with, but I thought that one was key. Bottom line, we’re not out of this yet. And the worst part is, we won’t see all of the effects of this drought until sometime in 2012. That is how long it may take to see all of the really stressed trees succumb to the longer-term effects of drought stress. We will continue to see shrubs and trees fail, and I am just warning you now. Do not be surprised to see plant failure over the next 2 or even 3 years for no seemingly apparent reason.

Sorry to be the harbinger of doom. but drought in this region is cyclical, and we all just need to be aware of it. Now go outside, and plant some grass seed.

Anyway, to the crux of the matter. It’s almost September. (Where has the summer gone?) And as most of us in this area, and surrounding East Coast locales, are painfully aware, our lawns do not look good. (I know, flair for understatement.)

We are now faced with the arduous, and not necessarily cheap, task of repairing what the long hot summer (see prior post) has done. The most frequent question we are asked is “Is it dead, or just dormant?”  At this point, unless you water your lawn for a few days, there is no good way to tell. But I can tell you this: If it is a gray, lifeless color, and you get down to bare dirt by twisting your foot on it, it’s probably dead.

Time for a lawn renovation. There are several methods. We use this one; we thatch the area to be renovated, and overseed. Let me explain for those of you not familiar with these terms. Thatch is an accumulation of dead root crowns and other lawn debris that has not been broken down by natural processes. Thatching is using a machine to ‘power-rake’ the lawn. It removes most of the dead accumulation. It also breaks up the surface of the soil, and prepares it for receiving the grass seed, which needs to contact bare soil to grow. The resultant thatch is raked up and disposed of. (I know, I ended the sentence in a participle. The teachers always hate that.) 

We then overseed the area. Overseeding is simply scattering seed over the area. The seed sits on top of the soil, and must be watered in for better soil  to  seed contact.

One of the reasons we do it this way is because it works. The other is that we do not own a slit seeder. This is a machine that actually cuts furrows into the lawn, and deposits seed in them. You end of with little rows of grass seedlings.

 It works, but the machine is expensive, and frankly, unless you know someone with one, the thatching is a better idea if you’re doing it yourself. Time consuming? Sure. But the thatcher rental is not that bad. If you are planning on doing it yourself, try this. Rent it for the day, and split it with a neighbor. Do all the thatching first, and leave the clean-up for later. It will save you on the rental, and you can split the daily rate. A caution – you will end up with a WHOLE LOT OF DEBRIS! If you don’t have a truck, and somewhere to dispose of it, you may not want to do it.

This is not brain surgery, and is pretty matter of fact. But we do get questions, usually on seed type, and what instructions to follow. I would be happy to answer any questions. Just email me. But there is ONE THING that is MOST IMPORTANT of all, if you areplanning to do this. After it’s all done, and the seed is down……..WATER!!!!!!!!!!!! Water your brains out! The biggest common failure in seeding is not following through with the water. I have seen too many people waste their hard earned dollars by going through this whole, sometimes back-breaking routine, only to not water! Go figure. You may as well just hand me a wad of cash and shake my hand. Same result if you don’t water.

You may have noticed a common theme running through my last few posts. We are in a drought, folks. WATER! If it’s allowed by your local authorities, water! Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time and money. Save your lawn. Save your shrubs and trees. Water. Your landscape will thank you for it.

See you when I get back from the beach. Salt water taffy, anyone?

We started out the season warm and rainy, which was great if you’re a lawn disease. The diseases and fungal problems ran rampant, and what they didn’t kill, they stressed. Then came our drought (although everyone refuses to call it one.) This pushed all the stressed lawns past their limit, and many sections died. Some of the brown we saw was simply certain types of grasses in heat dormancy, and they came back after the rains did.

At this point, we have begun to get rain again. Not nearly enough, but a start. Those areas of your lawn that have not returned to a green color…… won’t. You will need to thatch and seed in the fall. Now is NOT the time. It’s a waste of money and time. Wait until September.

As for your trees and shrubs, well, that’s another story. Their root systems are deeper, and different, than your lawn’s roots. If your shrubs are already brown, there’s not much you can do but replace them. If your trees are dropping leaves, but there are still green leaves on the tree, my advice to you…LOTS OF WATER!! A tree with a 2.5 inch caliper, (the size when we usually plant them) requires 20 GALLONS OF WATER A WEEK! So you can imagine what a larger tree needs! Rainfall alone will not do it right now! So if you want to save your trees and shrubs, set up a lawn sprinkler in a spot where it will hit the most trees and shrubs, and let it run for 2 hours. Then do it in another location.  Then remember to do this WEEKLY when it gets really hot.

Remember, the water bill is CHEAP compared to removing dead landscape plants, and replacing them.

I actually don’t know where to begin. As busy as we were in 2009, in the slow economy, we are even busier in 2010! I can’t explain it, and even though the powers that be say that we’re not in full recovery yet, we can’t keep up with the demand! Now, I know that we do nice work, and our 130 weekly lawn Clients keep us busy anyway, but seriously! We have had between a 4 and 6 week backlog of work since March! And as soon as we get one or two jobs done, and off the list, BOOM! Even more to take their places.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I am NOT complaining. I live for this kind of stuff.  Being a former Type A personality. I still regress sometimes. But it says a lot about the Company and Staff, when we have that kind of draw, and loyalty from Clients, when they are willing to wait that long for us to get to them. Quite frankly, if you can find another landscaper to do the work quickly, I would have serious reservations about it. Why aren’t  THEY as busy?  Quality is worth waiting for.

Which brings me to the supposed point of all this. PLEASE!! We DO NOT  want to disappoint anyone. If you are considering any type of landscape work, be it renovations, new plants, mulch, whatever, do yourself a favor. CALL US NOW!! Get on the list! We always work on a first-come, first-served basis. The sooner you get on the list, the faster you get to the top. It’s good to be at the top of the list.

Thanks to EVERYONE for their patience.  We could use 4 more hours per day, and 2 more days per week, just to get it all done. But we’re working as fast as we can ( without letting quality suffer), and we will eventually get caught up, and be able to relax a little. Maybe by August.