Spring Gardens Are Blooming! Here's What to Do in April

Colder climates may still be shrugging off winter, but most gardeners are excited to be back to work by April. Dry summers in California and the American Southwest call for drought-tolerant plantings and water-wise practices. Butterflies signal spring's return in the Great Lakes region and elsewhere,while flowering native trees make their presence known in the Northeast. In Texas and the Southeast, warming temperatures mean everything from herbs to vegetables to annuals can be sown from seed. Here's what to do in your garden, by U.S. region, this April.

 

Rocky Mountain Gardener's April Checklist

Photo: Lake Irene Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park via Flickr user KrossbowPlanting is the name of the game in the April garden. Plants in all forms can be installed as soon as the soil is warm and workable. In the meantime attend to the last of the spring cleanup chores and get your lawn in shape for the coming season. Enjoy the symphony of greens that's being played right now by all of the emerging new foliage.

Plant bare root plants. Roses, clematis and young fruit trees are commonly available for sale in our region this month, as well as asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries and grapes.

Bare-root planting is an economical option that comes with a small window of time to implement, so take advantage of the opportunity. Select plants that have not leafed out yet with a well-developed, healthy root system (not dried out or rotted). Plant them as soon as possible - if not immediately - after purchasing and keep them moist until the root system is established. 

Transplant or divide crowded perennials when new growth emerges. Summer and fall bloomers like asters, hummingbird flower (Zauschneria spp), Maximillian sunflower (Helianthus maximiliana), gayfeather (Liatris spp), tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), coneflower (Echinacea spp) and ornamental grasses may need attention.

A plant with a dead center or a lack of blooms last year may indicate that it needs to be divided. Here's how:

• Use a sharp spade to dig out the plant with as much of its root system as possible (6 to 12 inches beyond the drip line).
• Remove some of the soil from the root ball and pull or chop it into large sections that include both stems and roots.
• Replant the divisions - or share them with a friend - and water thoroughly.

Plant cold-tolerant annuals in containers as a colorful welcome to spring. Good flower choices include pansies, violas, English daisies, snapdragons and sweet alyssum. Prep any previously used containers by cleaning them thoroughly with a solution of one part bleach to nine parts hot water. Fill your pots with a growing medium made specifically for container gardens, one that's lightweight and well draining yet moisture retentive.

Cut back woody perennials and subshrubs to within a few inches of the ground. These include Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), Powis Castle Sage (Artemesia), bluemist spirea (Caryopteris spp), butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii), leadplant (Amorpha canescens), rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) and St. John's wort (Hypericum spp). 

Sow cool-season vegetable crops directly into the ground once the soil temperature is at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Plant potatoes, peas, Swiss chard, kale, turnips, carrots, spinach, radishes, onions and lettuces. Keep frost blankets and cloches handy to protect seedlings from the inevitable April snowstorms.

Get your lawn off to a good start.

• Core aerate your lawn before fertilizing it mid month. Leave the plugs on the lawn to decompose and add nutrients to the soil.
• Overseed thin lawn areas with high-quality grass seed when the soil temperature reaches 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Rake the area to be seeded to expose the soil, then scatter the seeds in a dense, single layer. Cover the seeded areas with a scant ¼ inch of compost and water thoroughly. Keep the area evenly moist until the seeds germinate. 
  • Note: do not use preemergent weed controls, such as corn gluten, in areas that have been newly seeded.
• Tune up your lawn mower and sharpen the blades. Sharp blades not only make your job easier (especially if you're using a push or reel mower), but a crisply cut blade of grass is less susceptible to disease infestations than one that is torn and ragged from a blunt mower blade.

Install plant supports - such as circular cages, loop stakes and grow-through grids - to support tall, floriferous perennials once they come into bloom. Placing supports now will allow the plant to grow into and through the structure with a more natural appearance. Peonies, catmint (Nepeta spp), baby's breath, delphiniums and tall varieties of yarrow (Achillea spp) are all good candidates for support.

Rocky Mountain Gardener's October Checklist

Photo: Bev's Colorado GardenOctober is the beautiful bridge month between autumn and winter. The days are noticeably shorter, bright and cool. October is a busy month in the garden, the time to prepare for the harsh cold and snow of winter while enjoying every moment you can spend outdoors.

Winterize Water Features

The freeze-and-thaw cycle of winter weather can wreak havoc on these valuable garden assets. To minimize the damage:

1. Drain, clean and store or cover freestanding fountains and water pots.
2. Remove plant debris from ponds and set up a bubbler (a submersible pump with a short piece of pipe attached to the outlet) to keep some of the water surface free of ice.
3. Disconnect pumps to recirculating waterfalls, especially if the water volume is fairly low. Ice buildup can divert water and cause problems. Moving water will also make your pond colder, which may be an issue if you have fish.

Prepare for Snow

If you haven't had frost or snow yet, you will soon. Early snow tends to be heavy and wet, and can damage plant - especially those that haven't shed their leaves yet. Keep a broom handy and be ready to sweep snow away to lighten the load on tree and shrub branches.

Winterize Your Watering System

Frozen pipes or components can be costly and inconvenient to repair. To prevent this:

1. Drain your irrigation system and insulate the backflow preventer.
2. Remove hoses from faucets and drain them. Store hoses and sprinklers in a handy location for winter watering.

Remove Leaves From Lawn Areas

Leaves left on lawn areas will compact under the snow, smothering the lawn and contributing to disease problems like snow mold.

• Use leaves whole or shred them with your lawnmower or a commercial shredder.
• Add them to your compost pile now or stockpile them for future use.
• Use leaves as mulch, 4 to 6 inches deep. Apply now to new planting areas to maintain soil warmth and permit better root growth, apply to bare soil areas to prevent erosion, or apply after the ground has frozen to prevent frost heave and premature soil warming in spring.
• Keep leaf mulch 6 inches away from the bases of trees and shrubs to prevent damage from rodents.

It's important to remove any diseased foliage from the garden completely - don't compost it.

Amend the Soil

Planning to install a new vegetable or flower garden next spring? Now is a great time to prepare the soil. Use organic amendments to increase water-and nutrient-holding capacity and to improve aeration and water flow. Adding amendments now allows you to work in the garden while the soil is relatively dry, thus preventing the potential for soil compaction that can occur if you try to do it during the wet months of early spring. Come springtime the soil will be ready to plant:

• Amendments must be mixed well into the soil - spade or rototill to a depth of 6 to 8 inches.
• Composts and aged manures work best for sandy soils; sphagnum peat or wood chips are ideal for clay.
• Incorporate 3 cubic yards of amendment per 1,000 square feet of soil. That's about 8 cubic feet of amendment for a 10-foot by 10-foot area of soil.
• Mulch the bed with a couple of inches of leaves or shredded wood to help prevent soil erosion during the winter.

Enjoy Puttering

Pull weeds and spent annuals, plant bulbs and harvest herbs and cool-season veggie for hearty meals. Most of all, spend time with family and friends surrounds by nature's October glow!

Give Your Turf the Fall Tune-up It Deserves

Photo: Turfmutt.comYour lawn probably has taken a beating this summer - family gatherings, fetch with the dog, and kids' games and toys have likely been working together with heat and drought to make your grass gasp for a breather. If you lawn is in need of a little TLC, you're in luck - fall is the best time to revitalize it so that next year's grass is the greenest and healthiest it can be.

Know Your Grass

There are cool season and warm season grasses, and several varieties in each category.

• Cool Season Grasses: Kentucky bluegrass - fescue - perennial ryegrass; are better suited for cooler climates, are most productive in spring and fall, sometimes take more irrigation and are generally mowed higher than warm season grasses due to their erect growth habit. 

• Warm Season Grasses: Bermuda - St. Augustine - big bluestem; grow best in warmer climates, are typically more drought tolerant and are often mowed at lower heights.

Be sure to check with your local lawn experts for specific recommendations for turf grass in you area.

Fertilize

In the fall, fertilize your lawn with an NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) ration of 3-1-2 or 4-1-2. The ratio doesn't need to be exact, but do try to get a product with similar amounts. Plan to use approximately 1 pound of fertilizer per 1,000 square feet of lawn and always follow the package directions. Applying too much fertilizer will not help your grass and, in fact, may damage it.

Dethatch

Thatch is the buildup of dead roots and stems that develop between the soil and the green grass blades. If you have just a little buildup, you can use a hard rake or a dethatching rake to remove the dead grass, but if you have more than ½ inch you will need to core aerate in the fall or the spring.

Core aeration uses rentable equipment to remove plugs of soil, increasing the soil's ability to receive water, air and fertilizer. If your buildup is thicker than ⅔ inch, you will need to not only core aerate but add ⅛ to ¼ inch of organci matter like compost or peat. Water in well. 

Control weeds

September and October are the best months to control perennial broadleaf weeds like clover and dandelions. These weeds are busy taking in sun and nutrients to get them through the winter months, so that means they are open to receiving weed killers as well. 

If you have just a few weeds, pull them out by hand, but more numerous weeds may require additional tactics or chemicals - either organic or non organic. As with fertilizers, always follow the package directions when applying any chemical to your lawn to avoid damaging it and the surrounding plants. Don't worry about any bare spots left by weed removal; your healthy grass will take over those areas in no time.

Sow grass seeds

If you have large bare areas left by weed removal or simply need to establish a new or extended part of your lawn, mid-August to mid-September is the best time to sow grass seeds. Always check with your county extension office or trusted local nursery about the best times to sow seeds in your area, however.

Before you sow, be sure you have prepared the soil correctly to get the best results. Till the soil at least 6 inches deeps, add ½ to 1 inch or so of compost or peat, rake the soil smooth and sow the seeds. Water in well and keep the soil consistently moist until after the new growth emerges, or about 6 weeks.

 

8 Flowers That Dazzle With Fall Color

Although springtime seems to own bragging rights to the most profusely blooming flowers, autumn is not far behind. Now that we're done with the scorching summer months, it's time to kick our fall gardens in gear by adding some dependable bloomers in autumnal tones, offset by brilliant blues and purples. Most of these flowering plants will work well in many areas of the country, but be sure to check with your local nursery professionals to choose the best varieties for your area.

Photo: Heather Lacey | Gardening She Knows 

Purple Sage (Salvia spp)

The salvia genus offers a wide range of plants that feature those enviable purple fall blooms. This coloration makes it a perfect foil for more fall-hued plants, like rudbeckia and Red Hot Poker. Because there are a wide range of salvias with varying heights and sun requirements, be sure to check with your local nursery to make the best choice for your garden. Great varieties to consider are: Salvia leucantha, Salvia farinacea and Salvia guaranitica.

• USDA zones: 8 to 10; colder climates can use purple sage as an annual

• Water requirement: average

• Light requirement: full sun to dappled shade

• Mature size: 18 to 48 inches tall

• Bloom time: summer to fall

• Planting tips: plant in spring or fall and prune back after the first killing freeze

Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

This staple in the summer-to-fall garden features sunny daisy-like blooms with dark centers on top of tall, coarse stems. Although it's attractive to birds, bees and butterflies, all parts of this plant are poisonous, so be aware of this if you have small children or pets that frequent your garden. Black-eyed Susans pair beautifully with mums, ornamental grasses and Autumn Joy sedum.

• USDA zones: 5a to 10a

• Water requirement: average to low

• Light requirement: full to partial sun

• Mature size: 3 feet tall

• Bloom time: summer to fall 

• Planting tips: plant in spring or fall and remove spent blooms. Prune after the first killing freeze and mulch during winter

Fall Aster (Symphotrichum oblongifolium)

Asters are time-honored plants in the fall garden, and with their profusion of purple daisy-like blooms, it's easy to see why. They are deer resistant and are attractive to bees, butterflies and birds. They also are a great companion plant for ornamental grasses and other flowering perennials, such as rudbeckia.

• USDA zones: 4a to 9b

• Water requirement: average

• Light requirement: full sun

• Mature size: 2 to 3 feet tall

• Bloom time: late summer to fall 

• Planting tips: plant in spring or fall and pinch back growth regularly throughout the summer to encourage a tight-growing form. Cut back after the first killing freeze and mulch lightly over the winter

Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia spp)

This unusual plant features stunning red and yellow flower spikes a top slim green stems and leaves, creating a dramatic focal point in the fall perennial bed. Red Hot Poker is also very deer resistant, while at the same time being attactive to bees, butterfiles and birds. Pair it with the blue or purple tones of Salvia leucantha or fall asters.

• USDA zones: 6a to 10b

• Water requirement: low once established

• Light requirement: full sun

• Mature size: 3 feet tall

• Bloom time: Late summer to fall 

• Planting tips: plant in spring or fall and prune back before the first killing freeze

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum spp)

Nothing quite says "autumn" like mums, with their multipetaled flowers in shades of russet, cream, orange, yellow and pink. These mounding plants are perfect for edges of borders and beds as well as containers, and combine well with Black-eyed Susans, Mexican bush sage and fall asters.

• USDA zones: 6 to 10

• Water requirement: average

• Light requirement: full sun

• Mature size: 3 feet tall

• Bloom time: fall 

• Planting tips: plant in the fall, cut back after the first killing freeze and mulch lightly over the winter

Autumn Joy Sedum (Sedum "Autumn Joy')

Also called stonecrop, sedum comes from the succulent family of plants, so you already know it's low maintenance and drought tolerant. If you've never grown this plant before, you will be delighted with its fleshly leaves and broccoli-like blooms that start out green, changing to pink and finally bronze as they age. They will look spectacular when planted with other drought-tolerant plants, like succulents, ornamental grasses and flowering perennials.

• USDA zones: 6 to 11

• Water requirement: low

• Light requirement: full sun to partial shade

• Mature size: 2 feet tall

• Bloom time: late summer to fall 

• Planting tips: plant in spring or fall and remove flower stalks when they are done blooming, new growth resembling tiny cabbages will emerge in the spring

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia pulchella)

Blanket flower is a reseeding annual that features trustworthy blooms in shades of red, yellow and orange, making it a perfect addition to your fall-hued garden. Great for meadows and wildflower gardens as well as for perennial beds and borders, blanket flower pairs beautifully with ornamental grasses as well as rudbeckia and salvia.

• USDA zones: as an annual, it will fare well in most all zones

• Water requirement: average to low once established

• Light requirement: full to partial sun

• Mature size: 18 to 36 inches tall

• Bloom time: summer to fall 

• Planting tips: plant in spring or fall and let seeds fall to the ground when the plant is done blooming, remove spent flower stalks after the first frost

Rose (Rosa spp)

You only thought roses were just a springtime feature in your garden, but if you care for them properly, some of the repeat bloomers will give you a dazzling fall display as well. Pair them with ornamental grasses and other flowering perennials, like Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha)

• USDA zones: 2 to 10, depending upon variety

• Water requirement: average, but may need supplemental water during extreme heat

• Light requirement: full to partial sun

• Mature size: 2 to 4 feet and taller, depending on the variety

• Bloom time: spring, summer and fall intermittently

• Planting tips: plant in late winter or early spring, and prune hard around Valentine's Day
  • to promote more fall blooms, fertilize with a rose fertilizer in the first part of September and again in October, and give the bushes a light trim in late summer.

September 2012 Newsletter

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American Cabinet & Flooring, Inc. - September 2012 - Newsletter      Featured in House Beautiful's 2012 - Kitchen of the Year - Kraftmaid Cabinetry teamed up with Chicago based kitchen designer Mick de Guilio for House Beautiful's 2012 Kitchen of the Year. The 1,000-square-foot kitchen was on display through Friday - July 20, 2012 - at Rockefeller Center in New York City. It represents transitional style and features a Butler's pantry sporting dove white painted Sedona cabinet doors with glass doors and matching interiors. The asymmetrical kitchen includes cabinets of varying heights that incorporate Slate stain contrasted by polished nickel hardware. All of the doors and drawers feature KraftMaid's soft-close Whisper Touch System.  "The Kitchen of the Year showcases the best of kitchen design and inspires homeowners with ideas they can bring into their own home," said Kate Thompson, lead KraftMaid designer on the project. The design did leave many dreaming about bringing the Kitchen of the Year to life in their homes. Well, dream no longer! Thanks to The Suffolk ReStore and KraftMaid one homeowner will have the opportunity to make the Kitchen of the Year cabinetry their own. As Kitchen of the Year came to an end, KraftMaid donated the cabinetry to the ReStore of Suffolk County, NY; which will sell the cabinets and donate the proceeds. The sale of the cabinetry will raise over $24,000 for Habitat for Humanity, giving one lucky individual the kitchen of their dreams and providing support to families in need. American Cabinet & Flooring is a proud carrier of KraftMaid Cabinetry. Come visit our design center and meet with one of our talented Design Specialists to get your remodel project started today!   Nine Whimsical Touches to Wake Up the Garden As the August heat started to wilt everything outdoors, ask yourself how you feel about this season's garden. Do you love every inch of it, or does all of that dead headed, pruned perfection leave you wanting more? It's time to have some fun in the garden, and this is the perfect time to start playing around and planning for next year. September is a great time to plant new trees, shrubs, and fall bulbs, and as everything starts to wither on the vine, you can spend your time painting the shed, building window boxes, adding trellises, bringing in a statue, changing up the plan, putting out birdseed in funky feeders and scooping up outdoor furniture and decor on clearance. Here are nine fun elements that will get your gardening mojo flowing again.  Vertical Delights: today's vertical gardens can take on all sorts of graphic designs. You can even create a sign, a painterly composition or spell out a monogram with plants on the wall. Cutouts: heart shapes entice visitors to pass through your garden doors. Unexpected Color Sneak a Design into the Plan View Wall Planters: classical statuary plantings with Medusa-like 'dos made of succulents bring a giggle to a fence or wall. Birdhouse Villages: the only thing more fun than a single birdhouse is a swinging singles birdhouse community. Embellish the Shed: you can go over the top with a shed in a way you can't on the main house. Have some fun with color and accents such as barn stars, window boxes, trellises and climbing vines. Surprising Scale: oversize items become eye-catchers when placed strategically in the garden. Kooky Statues: place a statue in a spot where people will delight in stumbling across it. We want to hear from you! We value feedback from our customers and want to hear how we did on your project. You can easily submit a review as well as see what others are saying about American Cabinet & Flooring by clicking on the following links: Angie's List Facebook Google Local CitySearch Yahoo Local Yellow Pages DexKnows Houzz Forward to a Friend GE Capital Fast. Smart. Simple. Quick Credit Decisions Simple & fast application process Low minimum monthly payments Come in & see a Sales Associate for program details and apply today! To subscribe to our monthly newsletter click here.