Hurry Up the Harvest…
Ways to Extend the Growing Season

Have a hankering for homegrown tomatoes? Even if it’s early March, you can extend the growing season and hurry up your harvest by trying some of these tips and products:

• Gain 3 weeks on the growing season by pre-warming the soil with Weed Shield, a black, porous plastic landscape fabric. Weed shield can be laid over your prepared garden soil and secured with landscape pins. Allow at least 5 days of sunny weather to warm the soil. Once the soil has warmed, cut x’s in the plastic and plant. As the season progresses and the air and the soil temperatures increase, remove Weed Shield and replace it with a salt hay mulch.
  
  
• Warm the soil around your plants with floating row covers (Plant & Seed Blanket or remay fabric) or cloches (mini greenhouses). Lay remay fabric over your newly planted seedlings to hold in the heat. Anchor with landscape pins. Remember to pin the blanket loosely so the plants have room to grow – or, use hoops. Cloches like the Wall O’ Water store the heat in plastic tubes of water that absorb heat from the sun in the day and radiate it back to plants at night. This will protect plants to temperatures as low as 19 degrees. Hot caps can also be placed over plants to hold in warm air.
  
  
• Another way to extend the growing season is to plant in a cold frame. Cold frames can be used to warm the soil, grow plants as in a mini greenhouse or protect plants like a large cloche. They’re also good for transitioning seedlings you’ve started indoors until they are ready to be planted directly into the garden. This is called ‘hardening off’ seedlings. When using this technique, place your cold frame near the wall of a heated building if possible. Manure may be used to warm the soil. If warming the soil, place the cold frame in the garden 10 days before you want to plant. Orient the frame so it runs east to west so more sun will reach the plants. Then, plant directly into the frame. Remove the cold frame when temperatures are no longer a threat to young plants. In all situations, be sure to vent the cold frame to keep it from getting too hot and be sure to water with water that’s at least as warm as the soil.
  
  
• Automator Tomato Trays are 12” square black plastic trays that will warm the soil around your vegetable plants. These trays have spikes attached to anchor them into the ground and holes in the plastic that allow water and oxygen to reach the roots of your plants. Because the Automator Tomato Trays cover such a small area around the plant, they may be left in place all season.

Spring Lawn Renovation

Seeding:
If you are planning to seed a new lawn or overseed an existing lawn, it is best to seed as early as possible. It is important to get seed germinated and growing before trees begin to leaf out. This is especially true in shaded areas. Keep the area moist at all times until the roots become established, then you can gradually decrease the frequency of watering. The new grass can be mowed when it reaches a height of about three inches.

Rejuvenating a Weak Lawn:
Your lawn cannot live without air, water and nutrients. When a thick layer of thatch builds up, water and fertilizer may run off instead of penetrating the soil. Aerating and dethatching can help rejuvenate a lawn by restoring passageways to the soil. Late spring is an excellent time to dethatch cool-season grasses. Thatching rakes can be used. For lawns with severe thatch problems or if you have heavy or compacted soil, aerate the soil and add Profile Soil Conditioner.

Test your soil to determine the pH. We recommend a small handful of soil to a depth of 3 inches. At a pH of 6.8 to 7.0, nutrients are most readily available to turfgrasses, and beneficial microorganisms are more active to decompose thatch.

Fertilize with Seed Starter Fertilizer and top dress with peat humus or cover with salt hay or Penn Mulch.

Crabgrass Control:
On established lawns that you are not overseeding, apply a fertilizer with crabgrass control in early to mid April. Straight Team products can be applied with separate fertilizers like Espoma Organic 18-8-6. Reapply Team in early to mid June for the second germination of crabgrass. Remember, crabgrass seeds start to germinate when the soil temperature reaches 50 to 58 degrees.

On newly seeded lawns and those seeded in late fall or during the winter months, use a starter fertilizer with crabgrass control. You will need to reapply in four weeks because Tupersan is not as effective as Team. Apply a Team product in early to mid June.

Insect Controls:
An early season application of Merit will provide effective white grub control for the growing season. This preventative method tends to give better results than applying insecticides when you notice damage in that it may be too late.

Think Outside the Window Box

No matter how large or small your outdoor living area, no matter what types of plants you favor, you can always find the space for a new garden when it's housed in a container. And, whether you choose to feature your container gardening efforts sitting on the floor or suspended in a basket, we've got the selections that will suit your taste and your lifestyle:

Hanging Baskets – Choose from willow, moss, wire, cocoa, resin wicker weave or rope weave. We also carry self-watering planters and pots in several different sizes and colors.

Pots - Shop our extensive line of pottery from around the world – Italy, Malaysia, China, etc. Choose from a selection of clay, plastic, fiberglass, cement, tin, resin as well as designer and lightweight insulating pottery.

Planters – Choose from our lined hayracks, cradle planters (also lined), railing/fence/deck planters as well as pot trellises & obelisks.

Accessories – To coordinate your décor efforts, we have saucers, caddies, plant stands and brackets, hangers, chains and s-hooks for both indoor and outdoor use.

So stop by and take a look for yourself - We're sure that you will find a container that holds your interest - as well as your plants. And, of course, we also carry Window Boxes!