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Clinton News-Record, 1974-04-25, Page 17Tree Protection Checklist Now we are in the season when insect-control 'factor. Attract them our trees give us their greatest to your tree environment with feed- rewards—in beauty, shade, air ers and water. Create your own purification, noise abatement, cool- wildlife sanctuary. ing. But this is also the season Fohr. Be alert' for symptoms of when enemies are most likely to trouble—tiny holes in the trunk attack, soJtteAtnerican-Association,thAUPftteat4;theVresence,ofyb6irers;, of Nurserymen suggests this simple or spots or holes on the leaves five-point checklist of simple steps left by insects or disease. to provide protection. One. Keep your trees well watered if rainfall isn't sufficient. Two. Remove any dead trees or limbt that may provide a hideaway for harmful insects. Three. Birds provide a major Flower Power Your Yard In Springtime . Five. If you're going to spray to prevent or eliminate insects, get professional advice and follow directions on the label of whatever material you use. (Try to get your neighbors to spray when you do because insects can leave for awhile then return.) THE OTHER HALF. Good grass Is the "other half" of Multicolored flowers are displayed to their best when your landscaping. Without a lawn for their backdrop, I contrasted with the vivid green of a healthy lawn. flower beds would hardly be a satisfaction. So You Want A Beautiful Lawn? Mushy, April 25, 1974 SECOND SECTION 109 Year - No. 17 Have Carders A guide to home improvements How to Prepare The Lawn For Summer Sometimes cultivation of a soil- bed early in the year is difficult because the ground is so wet. Yet, seedbeds are generally more satis- factory if plowed, disced, or rotary tilled than if left uncultivated. Try to take advantage of a dry spell for preparing the soil, mixing in fertilizer at the same time. At least scuff the soil surface on a reasonably dry -day, making scratch marks into which seed can settle. Powerid thinning machines can often be rented to accomplish this fairly easily. A chunky soil surface with crev- ices into which seed can settle is ideal. It will accept rain rather than causing it to run off. A mulch gives added protection against seed and soil wash. Straw a few straws deep, excel- sior matting, or burlap nettings available in many garden centers' are typiCal mulches which retain soil moisture and encourage quick sprouting. The seed should be spread uniformly before the mulch is applied. Bluegrass-fescue seed blends or those containing perennial ryegrass are typically sowed about' three pounds to the thousand square feet, colonial bentgrasses at about half this rate. Seed is distributed most accurately with a lawn spread - 61.. The Cyclone type casts seed in a wide arc and covers ground fastest. After seeding is completed "all systems should be go," In spring nature is almost always charitable, with enough warmth and mois- ture to trigger vigorous sprouting. But if rains fail, you will have .to water. Watering is best done lightly and frequently until the grass is up, after which it can taper off as the seedlings root more deeply. Some reeds may appear from seed in the soil. Most of these need not prove worrisome because they will disap- pear after mowing begins. Others can be cleaned up with weed killers later, after the turf has had a mowing or two. Use 2, 4-D combinations for broadleaf (i.e. non-grassy) weeds, and perhaps a crabgrass preventer. Mowing should start when young turf reaches about half again what will he its customary mowing height. Now is a good time to add flow- ering shrubs to your landscape, and there's a myriad variety to choose from in colors, flowers, textures, form, and foliage. Plan them as a hedge, windbreak, screen, or a changing focal point in your lawn or garden. Choose the location and the effect you want, then check_the condi- tions—sunny or shade, hot or cool, soil well:drained or dry, sandy, loamy or clay. Then let your nur- sery garden center or mail-order nurseryman help you select the specific shrubs that will best serve your purposes and conditions. Once those selections have been made, these planting suggestions from the American Association of Nurserymen will help make your placement of the plants simple and successful. If you have decided on bare root. plants (instead of container-grown), soak them in Water shortly before planting. Clip away any dead or broken branches, flowers or roots. The hole for planting should be large enough to allow the roots plen- ty of room to spread out naturally, deep enough to allow the shrub to set about an inch below its previous soil line. With balled or container- groWn shrubs, the hole should be about SOTercent wider and just slightly deeper than the ball. . Mix the removed soil with peat moss or other organic material. (This is particularly important if your toil is clay or sandy.) Sprinkle the bottom of the hole with the same material. Place the plant in the center of the hole, making sure it is straight and held at the proper depth while you backfill the hole with the soil mixture, packing firmly around the• roots as you go. (If the shrub is balled, cut the string around the burlap and let the burlap fall away, from the top of the ball. Pack' the soil around the ball. The burlap will rot away later.) The final planting step is to water thoroughly, making sure the roots become soaked. Later, 'flowering shrubs will require a thorough soaking every week to ten days if there •has not been a good rainfall during that period'. A mulch of organic materials such as leaves, compost, straw or hay, grass clippings, sawdust or wobdchips will help keep mois- ture in the soil, reduce weeds and add nutrients for healthy growth. Spread the mulch about two to three inches deep around the base s of the shrub extending beyond the perimeter of the lower branches. Spring Seeding Damaged portions of a lawn should be spot-seeded early to make the spring growing season as lengthy as' possible. Seeding grass on frost-pitted soil is often effect tive. But sloppy soils, unworkable 'as they thaw, 'hake a peer seedbed. Wait until the ground dries enough so that its surface can be scratched with a rake, loosening the soil enough to catch the grass seed. To have a good lawn and home landscape requires, first of all, a desire for beautiful surroundings. Without this desire there is little likelihood of success, because getting and keeping high-quality turf means a willingness to care for it, feed it regularly and mow and water properly, notes the Fertilizer Institute, An attractive landscape also means selection of best-suited ornamentals and shrubbery, and proper shrub placement and care. Well-landscaped grpunds with healthy green turf means added home value, as well as satisfaction. On the other hand, just one or two unattended, run-down lawns in the• neighborhood detracts from the value of all the homes nearby. 'Developments in lawn and orna- mental varieties hase increasingly boatted vigor and disease resistance white "specialty" fertilizer products have' been formulated to fit the requirements of virtually any plant, soil type and climate. Fertilizers have been capsulized for precise feedings of house plants, coated for timed soil release, and placed in solution for rapid liquid or foliar feeding. In short, there are many differ- ent, specially formulated fertilizers on today's lawn and garden market that will result in a more beautiful landscape for any home.. The product of any reputable fertilizer manufacturer will be accompanied by directions on how to use the material for best results. Directions are usually given as td amount to apply and how often. For lawns, the instructions nearly always are in terms of pounds of the fertilizer material to use per 1,000 square feet of lawn area, Or, if the fertiliter is applied as a liquid, directions will tell the amount to use per gallon of water. Today, many lawn and garde* fertilizers are marketed in com- bination with an herbicide, insecti- cide or fungicide, For these prod- ucts, instructions for use are based on correct amounts of material needed for full plant protection, as well as that needed to maintain healthy growth. Such combination products are a convenience to the home owner and present a safe and effective way of application with minimum chance of honie owner error, ' You can rely on reputable lawn and garden centers for latest infor- mation and recommendations on plant and lawn care. In many instances, your local county extension office, a branch of the state agricultural university and Department of Agriculture, have agents with speeial training in horticulture. These authorities are fully qualified and ready to ad- vise home owners on lawn and plant are, soil testing, home landscaping and other gardening questions.