Doitnowlandscaping.com News: How's your lawn looking?

The grass of your neighbor is greener than your own is a age old envy ... but is it really true? This is a question on the minds of millions of Americans. For some reason we can't help it. What is it about having the best yard on the block? We spend a good portion of our weekends mowing, trimming and pruning. The end result is a perfectly manicured lawn. Sure, it lasts for about a week, but then it's back outside you go. We do the same with our gardens. Not only do we want them to provide the best produce, but we also want them to look perfect for all the neighbors to gaze in jealousy. That's suburbia for you. Now, the question is; how do you keep up your lawn and garden groomed? Do you put that A+ effort into it each week, or do you simply hire someone to come in and tackle the dirty work for you? In all honesty, says one of our former customers: I do my own lawn and garden care. After a few bouts with the local lawn and garden service, I wasn't too impressed. One thing is for sure, it pays to find landscapers who truly know what they're doing. If you really have a problem visit www.topdressing.biz for some additional help.

Are you struggling with your lawn and garden care? If this is the case, you can attain a plethora of helpful tips via the interne. This is where I acquired most of my knowledge regarding lawn and garden maintenance. And in the end, you can take a gander at your local landscaping services for help. It's always good to get one that's referred by a valid source. So ask around and see who your neighbors recommend.

www.do-it-now-landscaping.com could be a good choice.

Do-it-now-landscaping.com News: What should i do with my suckers of my tomato plants?

Source: National Gardening Association

Question: I'm getting ready to stake my tomato plants. Should I remove the suckers?

Answer: Removing the suckers, called suckering, encourages earlier, larger tomatoes, and it keeps the number of fruits low in relation to foliage, which improves the flavor of the fruits. Suckering is the process of removing the side shoots that grow from the node where a leaf attaches to the tomato vine. There are many different techniques. One method is to allow three suckers to develop into strong stems. Then keep pinching new suckers that form to encourage the plant to put its energy into fruit production.

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Mulching Tips

Where Should Mulch be applied?

Mulch should be applied on annual and perennial planting beds, as well as on the surface of container plantings. Trees and shrubs would also benefit from proper Mulching..

The application of Mulch can repair an off balanced pH level of your soil and stimulate a tremendous growth of your plants.

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Do-it-now-Landscaping.com News: Much ado about mulch

Concepts:
mulch, mulches, wood, gardeners, soil, bark, perennials, plants, growing, decays, laid, Scotts, pallets, Titko, red mulch.
Summary:
Colored mulches are the fastest growing segment in the huge but unquantified mulch trade.Natural mulch, dark and rich-looking when laid, is soon bleached by the sunlight.The Scotts version of red mulch is actually subdued compared with others.Bright red mulch is nothing more than an acknowledgment that mulch is as much for the gardener as it is the garden, perhaps more so.Spread it too early, and you retain winter's chill in the soil and risk smothering emerging perennials and spring bulbs.Colored mulches are used by some producers to mask that they are made of recycled scrap, including wood pallets.Wood from pallets is not inherently bad for the garden, but it is more likely to be part of a waste stream that includes building construction and demolition products that may contain pressure-treated woods impregnated with copper, chromium and arsenic.Protecting the integrity of an unregulated product has been "the hottest button in our industry," said Titko, who is officially director of technical services for growing media at Scotts.The company has joined other members of a trade association, the Manassas, Va.-based Mulch and Soil Council, to establish voluntary regulations for mulch sources.The council's certification requires manufacturers to meet standards for selling bark mulch, which is considered by purists superior to mulches made from shredded wood.Bark mulch doesn't break down as quickly as wood, is not as attractive to termites and doesn't deprive plants of nitrogen in the same way that wood mulch does as it decays.Smart gardeners lay some form of nitrogen fertilizer with the mulch to compensate; otherwise, you risk leaf yellowing and stunting in nitrogen-starved plants.Mulch that is too thick will prevent moisture, air and nutrients from reaching the soil and become a growing medium for plant roots.Viette likes crushed pea gravel; others favor chicken grit, which will retain soil moisture but keep crowns and foliage dry.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/living/home/11528932.htm

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I-cut-large-lawns.com News: Let's Plant Trees for Arbor Day

Tip: Source: National Gardening Association

Choose the right tree to plant on Arbor Day. Choose shorter-growing trees such as crabapple for under power lines and columnar shaped trees such as poplars for narrow spaces between buildings.

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Do-it-now-landscaping.com News: How to Pinching Back Zinnias

Q&A:
Source: National Gardening Association

Question: Should I pinch back my zinnias when I transplant them outside? By "pinching back" I mean pinching off the top leaves of the transplant.

Answer: Pinching should begin early. You can start the process when the zinnia seedlings have developed their second or third set of true leaves. Remember, at each node (where the leaf stem or petiole meets the main stem), there is a bud. When you pinch off the growing point, you are removing hormones which suppress the growth of those lateral buds. Once the lateral buds start to grow and they produce a second set of leaves you can pinch those to encourage even more side growth! So pinch away! (You are wise to check, though--because some plants don't respond well to pinching.)

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Do-it-now-landscaping.com News: How to weed Perennial Flowers

Tip: Weed Perennial Flowers Source: National Gardening Association When weeding perennial beds, but don't pull up any self-sown seedlings of flowers such as foxgloves or hollyhocks. After weeding, top dress the beds with a 1- to 2- inch thick layer of compost.

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Do-it-now-landscaping.com News: Pruning Clematis Source

Q&A:: National Gardening Association & ArcaMax.com

Question: I recently moved and inherited two beautiful and very large clematis vines. A friend asked me whether I was going to cut them back and said some clematis need to be cut back and some don't. My question is should I cut my clematis back or not? I'm sure I have one which is a Jackmanii but I'm not sure about the other. It is more of a fushia color Marti Johnson Cincinnati, OH

Answer: Named varieties of hybrid clematis bloom in 2 different ways: some bloom on wood grown the previous year and some on wood grown in the same year. Clematis in the Jackman group of hybrids bloom on new growth (wood grown in the same year). You'll have to watch where the blossoms occur on the other clematis to determine if they are on new or old wood. If you wish to prune the Jackman clematis, do so in spring as the buds swell or slightly before. You can prune to within 4-6" of the base if you wish. If the other clematis flowers on old wood, prune dead and broken growth in the spring. After flowering, a portion of old shoots should be cut back severely.

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Do-it-now-landscaping.com News:Way to a better yard starts now -

5http://www.detnews.com/2005/homestyle/0504/08/B01-143584.htm
Concepts:
lawn, grass, fertilizer, greens, Berns Landscaping Services, crab grass, Kraus, Detroit News, soil, mowing, Cieslak, house, recommends, beds, lawn-care service.

Summary:
/ The Detroit News Sara Zobl and Cesar Sanchez of Berns Landscaping Services prune last year's perennials and decorative grasses at a Grosse Pointe Park home.Todd McInturf / The Detroit News Steven Schmidt of TruGreen ChemLawn fertilizes a customer's lawn in Rochester Hills.Professional full-service treatments -- including all the bed care, shrub-trimming, fertilization, deeper treating and mowing -- can cost in the ballpark of $20,000 per year."You get what you pay for," says Jim Berns of Warren's Berns Landscaping Services Inc.· Ask for referrals and listen to word-of-mouth.Now's the time to get cracking, because what you do to your lawn in the coming days and weeks could determine how good your grass looks come that big outdoor luau you're planning for July."It's going to wake up your grass a little earlier and green it up," says Ted Kraus of Applegate Landscaping in Novi.The best time to lay down that initial layer of fertilizer is around the middle of April.Science-wise, Kraus says, it's best to get it down when the soil reaches temperatures of about 55 degrees.It's essential to make sure the fertilizer contains crab grass pre-emergent, which kills crab grass seeds before they germinate and make your lawn look like a crab grass farm.Wait until your grass greens up, and if it looks like a patch of your lawn was done in by snow mold, rake it out, top dress it with a little soil and reseed.

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