Month: January 2020

If you’ve had lawn grass problems in the past, your grass will usually repeat the same growing pattern in the spring. As a preventive course of action, you have to apply preemergent herbicides to the yard before the weeds emerge. Preemergent herbicides prevent weed seed germination. Before applying the herbicide, you must maintain your lawn’s health using regular mowing. New Lawns Sensitive grass purifiers require time to set themselves before you apply any preemergent herbicides. In general, your lawn needs to be mowed approximately three times before you use any substances. This enables the grass roots to stretch deeper to the soil for nutrients and moisture when strengthening the grass blades as they mature. Solid grasses contribute to a well-aerated soil structure that offers ample space for the preemergent to spread evenly throughout the lawn, where even deeply embedded bud seeds cling to the chemical program. Established Grass Healthy lawns…

A distant relative to the poinsettia and native of Cuba and the West Indies, the tropical evergreen shrub Jatropha only flourishes in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 and 11. Although many species exist under the Jatropha genus, the most popular and commercially accessible cultivar for home gardeners is variously called spicy jatropha, peregrina and firecracker (J. integerrima “Compacta”). Clusters of rose-red flowers appear on the 4- year to 6-foot tree the majority of the year. Tropical Blooms One-inch flowers saturated at a pinkish-red hue are hot jatropha’s most distinguishing attribute. Masses of those flowers, held erect over the foliage, can attract attention to a certain area of the garden. Typically multitrunked, the plant boasts leaves, as long as 7 ins, that could possibly be oblong or fiddle-shaped. Almost as interesting as the blooms, the new foliage comes in purple but turns a bright, shiny green. Butterflies often…

Small ponds provide a number of the very same benefits as a sizable body of water, but without taking up a great deal of room. Adding plants to the pond will create a balanced ecosystem while providing hiding places, food and nesting areas. If the small pond receives six to eight hours or more of sunlight, then pick pond plants that thrive in full sunlight. Marginal Plants Some species of grasslike aquatic plants grow best in the borders or margin of small ponds. Needle spikerush (Eleocharis acicularis) and corcksrew rush (Juncus effusus spiralis) are just two such marginal plants that won’t overtake the small pond with large leaf. Needle spikerush — sometimes called dwarf hairgrass — rises to only about 8 inches tall in shallow water or along the edge of slopes. It provides shelter and protection for tadpoles and small fish. It grows in full sunlight in U.S. Department…

Vines serve many purposes in the landscape and are often valued for their ability to add grace and beauty to a fence. A vine-covered fence provides a degree of solitude for an outdoor space or breaks the monotony of a long, unsightly fence. Typically classified by their scaling habit, vines grow up a fence by clinging, twining or tendrils. Clinging Clinging vines may require a little bit of help initially, as the vines climb by small rootlets that attach themselves to the timber. Once the vine is established, it rises a fence with no advice. Vines suitable for growing a fence comprise Armand’s clematis (Clematis armandii), a hardy perennial vine valued for its stunning blooms. Armand’s clematis, suitable for growing in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 3 through 9, reaches heights of 15 to 20 feet at maturity. Cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) is a showy vine with trumpet-shaped blooms that…

Erosion is one of the banes of home gardening. Often thought of as a phenomenon which affects beaches and hillsides, vandalism also eliminates dirt from home gardens when conditions are appropriate. Installing shrubs, flowering plants and other plants usually helps keep dirt in place only when they have fibrous root systems. If they’ve taproot systems, your erosion-control campaigns would not have as much success — unless the taproots have extensive lateral roots. Development of Soil Erosion Soil erosion occurs when something carries away soil on a regular basis and the dirt isn’t replaced. As an instance, water may wash dirt down slopes, and wind can blow away dry dirt. The dirt within an erosion area gradually lessens over time, leaving exposed rock or such shallow layers of dirt that planting becomes hard unless topsoil is additional. When water or wind can’t be controlled, then controlling erosion requires stabilizing the dirt…