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cityandbeachmom
Vineyard hopping time
Member since 6/10 1821 total posts
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Suffer the pain of discipline,
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Help me with my garden
Crocus flowers are the first to make their appearance soon enough.( Unless I killed those too) I planted lot of various bulbs in the fall to bloom in spring.
Should I be applying fertilizer or some sort of pest control to flower beds. Just flowers, no fruits/vegetables.
We put mulch down in the flower beds last year. Do we need something else to prevent more weeds from emerging? It seemed like even with mulch some weeds emerged.
With our hydrangeas and hostas, there were little holes on some of the leaves. What can I do to prevent that?
What do you do to your lawn and when do you start treatments for your lawn for those who DIY? Thank you!!
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Posted 2/28/11 1:54 PM  |
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Nifheim
allo
Member since 1/09 5476 total posts
Name:
Jennifer
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Re: Help me with my garden
Normally i fertilize and mulch in late April early may but i am finding that things are sprouting now - so not sure what my game plan is.
As far as weed control i try to pull them out as best as possible. I try not to use chemicals at all unless its on concrete with cracks.
as far as holes in leaves (slugs) you could take soapy dish water and put it over the plants. Its a green way of pest control and then take tiny shallow dishes of beer and lay them down in the beds (the only thing is you have to clean them out or replace them since you have tons of dead slugs drowned in them)
lawn care (this is my first year to really do any) i plan on doing fertilizer and seed) but definitely not until late April. I may do grub control since I had issues last year.
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| Posted 2/28/11 3:10 PM |
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Re: Help me with my garden
Posted by cityandbeachmom
Crocus flowers are the first to make their appearance soon enough.( Unless I killed those too) I planted lot of various bulbs in the fall to bloom in spring.
Should I be applying fertilizer or some sort of pest control to flower beds. Just flowers, no fruits/vegetables.
We put mulch down in the flower beds last year. Do we need something else to prevent more weeds from emerging? It seemed like even with mulch some weeds emerged.
With our hydrangeas and hostas, there were little holes on some of the leaves. What can I do to prevent that?
What do you do to your lawn and when do you start treatments for your lawn for those who DIY? Thank you!!
Flower Beds: Depending on what is in them, you can.
Mulch: Some weeds will emerge even with mulch, you will just have to pick them.
Hostas & Hydrangeas: Possibly slugs. You can get slug bait at home depot or lowes.
Lawn: Do you want to use organic or chemical?
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| Posted 2/28/11 6:10 PM |
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cityandbeachmom
Vineyard hopping time
Member since 6/10 1821 total posts
Name:
Suffer the pain of discipline,
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Re: Help me with my garden
thanks for the responses. We have an organic lawn BUT I don't need to have it remain that way. I can't stand the sight of all the weeds, so this year we want to begin treating the lawn to prevent all of this. When, how and with what. We want to DIY.
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| Posted 2/28/11 6:43 PM |
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Re: Help me with my garden
No need to fertilze now. Start applying in early april. To prevent weed growth apply Preen in early april as well. The holes in the hosta and hydrangea are most likely caused by slugs and/or earwigs. Purchase a pesticide which controls them and apply when damage is first noticed. Ortho Bug-geta plus is a good one. In late april apply a lawn fertilizer which contains a pre-emergent crabgrass control. Take note of the date and fertilze the lawn every 6 weeks thereafter til fall. Along the way you may need to apply a weed control or pest control if either of those problems are present.
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| Posted 3/3/11 2:53 PM |
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greenfreak
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Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
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Re: Help me with my garden
Posted by cityandbeachmom
thanks for the responses. We have an organic lawn BUT I don't need to have it remain that way. I can't stand the sight of all the weeds, so this year we want to begin treating the lawn to prevent all of this. When, how and with what. We want to DIY.
As an organic grower, I understand wanting to steer clear of chemicals. They're easy but can be very harmful. Give me a little time to research and I'll try to answer your questions with what I'm going to do this spring.
In the meantime, what kind of weeds are in your lawn? Do you have a lot of shade, or is it sunny?
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| Posted 3/3/11 5:36 PM |
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greenfreak
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Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
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Re: Help me with my garden
Posted by cityandbeachmom
Should I be applying fertilizer or some sort of pest control to flower beds. Just flowers, no fruits/vegetables.
I don't blanket fertilize and have hundreds of thriving flowers and plants. I apply free compost instead, and maybe a balanced 10/10/10 fertilizer to the "heavy feeders". The plants that put out masses of flowers. I google the names to find out. Pushing plants with an unbalanced high nitrogen fertilizer will net you some more flowers, but you're stressing them out and they might not be happy with that.
We put mulch down in the flower beds last year. Do we need something else to prevent more weeds from emerging? It seemed like even with mulch some weeds emerged.
Weeds are the bane of my existence, and a lot of other people here! What kind of weeds? Removal depends. If you only have "some", you're way ahead of the game.  Are we talking about dandelions? Crabgrass?
With our hydrangeas and hostas, there were little holes on some of the leaves. What can I do to prevent that?
I found a great way to battle slugs and snails last year, completely by accident. Believe it or not, pine needles as mulch. I wrote a note about it on my "Green Garden Tips and Tricks" Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=131498193556371
What do you do to your lawn and when do you start treatments for your lawn for those who DIY? Thank you!!
The first thing I would do is not assume that you must do anything to your lawn. People get so crazy and kill them with kindness. I really don't understand the fascination with constantly screwing with lawns. 
Water less frequently but for longer periods to let the water soak in deep. Mow 3" or higher to allow less light to the surface of the soil. Leave the white clovers alone - they put nitrogen back into your soil. Spread compost instead of chemicals.
I had a crabgrass problem last year on the apron where my lawn meets my flowerbed. I vowed I would find an organic way to control it, and I think I succeeded.
This year, I am going to order Corn Gluten Meal. I found it on Amazon here. It hasn't caught on in stores yet so at the end of last season, I called a bunch of local places and couldn't find it. So Amazon it is. I don't have a weed problem in my front lawn so that one bag will cover all the areas I need for at least the spring application as the ground gets warmer. Maybe the next one in mid-summer when crabgrass goes through it's second cycle.
Here's the deal with Corn Gluten Meal:
- It's not just Corn Gluten, it must say meal
- It is a pre-emergent herbicide. It will kill any seeds, before they germinate and grow. Including grass seed, so don't apply if you want to lay down more seed.
- It also is a fertilizer, putting nitrogen back into your soil
- The recommended application from what I'm reading is 20 pounds per 1000 square feet.
- If you don't have a significant rain after the application, you should water it in deeply.
- It lasts about 4-6 weeks (which can be timed for the germination of your worst offenders)
- Seeds germinate at different times, but if you google the name of the weed and germination temperature, it will tell you what the lowest ground temperature is for the seed. Dandelions are 50 degrees. My dandelion area is in full sun, so it will get to be 50 degrees before the other shady spots. I have NO idea how to find out the ground temp, but I'll be looking into that next.
Sorry for the huge post but you said you wanted info and I'm trying to talk you out of poisoning the ground and air. 
Message edited 3/3/2011 6:25:09 PM.
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| Posted 3/3/11 6:20 PM |
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