Spring Lawn Care Tips 

 

As your lawn begins to wake up this spring, there are four things you need to do to get it started right. At the top of your list should be a spring lawn aeration. Aeration is one of the most important steps in maintaining a healthy lawn.

The most effective aeration involves removing plugs or "cores" of soil from the lawn. Core aeration reduces soil compaction and allows air, water and nutrients to reach the root area of your grass. We do not recommend "dethatching" a lawn.  

 

Once the lawn has been aerated, the next step is to work on improving the soil your grass is growing in. Start out with an application of ferti-lome HuMic, a highly concentrated soil conditioner. HuMic contains humate, a product that helps improve clay soil structure, enhances nutrient uptake and encourages soil microbial activity.  

 

Once HuMic is down and watered in, treat the lawn with Revive®. Organically based Revive® reduces compaction and optimizes water utilization, encouraging irrigation water to penetrate deeper, with less runoff. Once you've aerated your lawn and conditioned the soil, it's time to feed the grass. 

 

If you’re interested in reducing the number of weeds in your lawn this season, choose ferti•lome For All Seasons II. This product fertilizes your lawn and acts to prevent germination of any seed that may have wintered over in your grass. It's important to note that For All Seasons II, just like every weed prevention product acts the same with all seeds, not just crabgrass and other annual and broadleaf weed seeds. If you’re planning to over seed your lawn this spring, don’t use a weed preventing product on your lawn.  Weed prevention products – called pre-emergents need to be applied before the ground temperatures get warm enough for seeds to start sprouting.  

 

If you’re looking for a good lawn fertilizer without weed control, choose Richlawn Pro-Rich. Made in Colorado, organic based Pro-Rich will provide the nutrients your lawn needs this time of year.   

 

Animals, both domestic and wild, can cause considerable damage during the winter. Applying Dog Spot treatment or liquid Revive will often restore the damaged turf. If after a couple of treatments, the turf has not started to green up, then it’s time to consider reseeding.  

 

When it comes to seeding your lawn, turf grasses are divided into two categories: cool season grasses and warm season grasses. Cool season grasses include Kentucky Blue Grass, Perennial Rye Grass and Turf Type Tall Fescue.  Cool season grass seed can be sown now and will begin to germinate as soon as the soil temperature reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  While Kentucky Blue grass is the predominate turf grass in our area, many lawns are combinations of blue grass, Perennial Rye grass and Turf Type Tall Fescue.  

Choosing the right grass seed is the first step to getting your lawn in shape for the coming season. We carry a variety of turf grass seed, and we can help you select the right seed for your lawn situation. 

 

Finally, know what you're dealing with. Coarse grasses you may see in your lawn right now isn't "crabgrass", so products labeled for crabgrass control won't work on them. If there are large patches of dead grass in your lawn, it could be from insect activity, winter kill or fungus.   

 

The point is whether it's weeds, diseases or insect damage, correctly identifying your lawn's problem is key to picking the right solution. Bring a sample of your lawn into our Diagnostic Center for an analysis.

Lawn samples should be about as big as a sheet of typing paper with 2" to 3" of soil and include a portion of healthy lawn along with the problem area. After a thorough examination of your lawn sample, we'll be able to recommend solutions to your problem. We do not charge a fee for our diagnostic services.   

A Guide to Growing Roses in Colorado

 

When it comes to flowering plants for your garden, it’s hard to beat roses. They’re hardy, reliable, they live a long time and most varieties flower throughout the growing season. Roses are available in a range of sizes, forms, and colors, which means there’s a rose for every garden.  

  

When we think of roses, it’s the hybrid tea variety that most often comes to mind. Hybrid tea roses represent an amazing pallet of color and fragrance, such as the rose pictured here: Henry Fonda.  Depend on hybrid tea roses to bloom consistently throughout the summer season.  

  

Grandiflora roses are very similar to hybrid teas. They tend to be taller and bloom in clusters rather than one rose per stem. Like all roses, grandifloras will attract pollinators. This is Strike it Rich.  

  

Floribunda roses such as Angel Face, are valued for their ability to bloom continuously.  

  

If you want to cover an arbor or trellis, choose a climbing rose. The Fourth of July is an excellent choice.   

  

  

Roses need a minimum of six hours of full sun to grow and bloom properly. Roses need a bed of their own, away from trees, shrubs and perennials that compete for sunlight, space, and nutrients. Roses need space. They don’t do well when crowded together.   

  

Roses need well-amended soils to establish strong root systems and achieve vigorous growth and bloom potential.  For the best results, use organic material that is produced locally, such as Earth Essentials Sheep, Peat and Compost or Nature’s Yield Compost. These products are formulated to work in our clay soils. 

  

Roses are available one of two ways: own root or grafted. Own-root roses are plants that start with and grow from their natural root systems. Grafted roses combine two plants. A cutting from one variety of rose bush is grafted onto the root system of a different variety of rose bush. This is done to improve plant vigor and hardiness. The area where the two varieties are joined together is called a bud union. The bud union forms an obvious bulge at the base of the rose.  

  

Each type requires a slightly different planting technique. For own-root roses, prepare the planting hole just as deep as the pot and twice as wide. For grafted roses, dig a hole 2” to 3” deeper than the bud union line and twice as wide. This is to allow room to bury the bud union 2” to 3” below the soil line. Once the planting hole is dug, fill it with water and observe how long it takes to drain. If it takes more than five minutes, add more organic material. 

  

Next, add one to two tablespoons of Big Foot Mycorrhiza or Happy Frog Steamed Bone Meal. Both these products contain mycorrhiza to encourage strong root development.  

  

Remove the rose from its pot, center it in the hole and back fill with amended soil, using enough to create a shallow basin to facilitate watering. Deep water your new roses 2-3 times a week during their first year.  

  

  

  

Thanks to the knowledge, experience, and expertise of The Flower Bin Perennials Manager Billie Jo, all our roses are well-established and, following a brief acclimation period, ready to plant.  

  

With their beautiful color and pleasant scent, roses can transform a garden and we’re here to help you make it happen.   

  

  

For a list of roses available for this year visit our webpage:  

https://www.theflowerbin.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/roselist2024-2.pdf