3-23-2019

 

Trees and Shrubs:                          

• If your deciduous trees and shrubs were not fed with Plant Trust Tree and Shrub Fertilizer last fall, then feed them now.
• Now is the time to feed evergreen trees and shrubs, such as spruce, pine, juniper, azalea, and rhododendron. Feed them with Plant Trust Tree and Shrub Fertilizer.
• Check the pH of boxwood and yews using a Luster Leaf pH tester 1840. These plants need a higher pH, i.e. 6.2-6.7. Adjust the pH by using Bonide Hydrated Lime as needed.
• Shape and trim shrubs.
• Prune back roses and butterfly bushes.
• Cut forsythia, Yoshino cherry, or crab apple branches and place in a vase indoors. After a few days they will bloom into a beautiful flower bouquet. 
• Fig trees - If you are located in zones 6, 7. Your hardy fig may be frozen. Remove the dead branches and feed them with Plant Trust fertilizer and they will regrow from the root again.
• Fruit Tree Pruning:
• When pruning fruit trees, be careful not to cut into the branch collar – this will allow for faster healing.
• Maintain 4-5 main branches.  Keep a leader on the 4-5 main branches.
• Do not allow Y-branches on the main branches to develop.
• Cut off all thin, upright and downward directed water sprouts.
• Remove any branches that are too close to the main branches.  Also remove all dead braches.
• Leave 30-70 pencil thin bloom bud spurs per tree, except for cherry trees, which can have more bloom buds.
• Do not allow the tree to become too tall or dense.
• Open up the canopy by removing the tallest branches and the branches that are too close together.
• Do not prune more than 25% of the tree per season.
• After pruning, light and air will need to be able to reach the interior of the tree to help prevent fungus diseases.
• Peach trees are best pruned when they are blooming.  All other fruit trees are best pruned in the months of January and February.

 

Lawn:

• When the snow has melted, apply Turf Trust Lawn Fertilizer as soon as the weather permits.  Grass roots benefit from earlier applications as compared to a later application.
• This spring, be sure to include an application of Kick Start to help repair your lawn’s root system, which may have been damaged from the winter.  See the Kick Start video here.

Zoysia and Bermuda lawns do not need to be fed with Turf Trust until they turn 80% green.