Learn more here on a note from the Penn State County agent…. http://extension.psu.edu/greenindustry/news/2012/emerald-ash-borer-detected-in-bucks-county

An additional article was published in the phillyBurbs.com from the Bucks County Courier Times. It is an interesting read. Click here: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/emerald-ash-borers-found-in-warrington/article_69840efd-1bdd-550f-9f14-0410c38f06b1.html

Nature will not always clean up after itself, and needs some help from time to time. By this process, you will improve the health and appearance of your tree.

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.

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

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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