John C. Fech - Extension Educator

Water and fertilizer go together in many ways. They are both needed by turf and other landscape plants.  They can also be used correctly to achieve positive results and incorrectly to cause pollution or waste precious resources.  In order to minimize the latter, a simple set of questions should be asked before using fertilizer.

Though December traditionally brings weather conditions during which outdoor plants enter winter dormancy, there are still many considerations to act upon in the landscape. Due to the diversity of plantings and locations in the state, some of the following will apply now and others in future years.

In your lawn is overly shaded and/or has poor drainage, moss may be a problem.  Moss is a fast growing, shallow rooted plant that covers the ground, smothers grass and exhausts food reserves from the soil. When moss appears in a lawn, it is usually because growing conditions for turfgrasses and landscape plants are adverse, usually too little light and air circulation.  Other conditions favorable for moss invasion include soil with poor aeration and percolation, compaction, low fertility and high acidity or alkalinity.

Following are effective strategies for managing lawns during periods of hot and dry weather: 1. Learn to recognize wilting in turf plants. It is relatively easy to recognize wilting on a houseplant. The leaves droop and the stem may wither, and the whole plant may have a “dull” appearance. Because turf plants are much smaller and thinner than houseplants, it is much more difficult to recognize drought stress in turf plants.

With a tip of the cap to National Groundwater Awareness Week, which was March 11-17, the landscape and gardening industry must do their part to prevent groundwater and surface water pollution on the properties we manage.

In the overall “holiday” turf fertilization schedule, where Arbor Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Halloween are indicators of good timing for applications to cool season turfgrasses (Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass), early summer is a key timeframe for encouraging healthy growth.  When growing warm season turf species such as buffalograss and zoysiagrass, Memorial Day is perhaps the most important time to apply fertilizer, perhaps followed by a light 4th of July application if a lawn is thin or in need of recovery.

Here in the dead of winter, a valuable service to hire to maintain a residential property is a snow removal company.  No more aching back, slipping and falling and shivering in the cold.  Of course all of that comes at a price, so you have to determine if it’s worth it.  As well, as their employees clean off the snow, there’s a chance that your mailbox or landscaping might be harmed, so that may be a factor in the decision.

When a tree fails, it is sometimes difficult to determine the cause.  In many cases, it is due to a failure to spread the roots out in the planting hole or simply planting it too deeply.  Doing so leads to girdling or lack of an adequate amount of oxygen, resulting in death.  Other than the correct planting procedure, lack of good follow-up care is the next most common cause.  Each is very important in ensuring a successful planting.  Just like planting errors, many follow-up procedures can be done improperly or forgotten altogether.

You hear these terms – “the dead of winter” and “dead to the world”, but what do they really mean?  In most cases, they’re exaggerations or synonyms for other situations; in this case, really cold weather with no end in sight and really, really tired. In the plant world, the question of “is this plant dead?” comes up quite frequently, especially in winter, and especially with broadleaf evergreens such as arborvitae, yews, holly, boxwood and Oregon hollygrape.