Prime's Clippings April 2016

Gold, white, red, and a little bit of lavender Lantana

Looking Forward to a Great Spring

With regular rains and cool nights, spring is starting off nicely, except for those of us that were caught in the hail storms. There is lots of color showing up on roses, wisteria, spiraea, and azaleas, and trees are budding out everywhere. With the warm winter I noticed several plants blooming weeks earlier than normal, including bluebonnets and bridal wreath. Pansies have held up well this spring in most places, but a few have been lost to aphids or wet soils last fall. I hate to see them go, but it’s about  time to start changing out to summer color. 

So what might this year bring? More floods, drought, bugs, blooms, or all of the above? It's as hard to predict how our gardens will perform as it is to predict our weather, and of course they are inexorably entwined. At least the rains have filled area lakes and our soil moisture levels are good, so we will start the 2016 gardening season in reasonably good shape. 

April is absolutely the busiest month of the year for gardening, so please be patient with us if we can’t always get to you right away- we promise to do our best!

How to Water Newly Planted Shrubs

A reminder to anyone planting new shrubs and trees. Although sprinkler systems will supplement rains adequately on lawns and established plants, most new plants need to be thoroughly soaked once a week until they get established and very few sprinkler systems are capable of soaking an entire root ball.

This means that if you do not receive a good soaking rain every 6-10 days, you need to get the old water hose out and hand water your new plants weekly. 

The bigger the plant, the more important this is. Most plants like a well drained soil, so container grown plants are usually planted in an organic mix that drains very well. Nurseries water most plants daily as going without water for even a couple days can dry out the root ball to the point of damaging the plant. 

When your new plants are taken from that container and placed in soil, the same effect can be seen, although not quite as rapidly. When a healthy plant fails within just a few weeks of installation, 95% of the time it is due to that root ball being allowed to dry out. We’ll chalk up 4% to the other culprit, over watering, and 1% to a damaged root ball. So please help us keep your new plants looking good by watering correctly!

Almost Time for Summer Color

Start making plans now for your summer color!

Mixed colors of Pentas

We are planting petunias now for a big show through May, and then around mid-April we will start planting summer flowers so they can get rooted before hot weather. 

There are so many choices, but low maintenance plants that are not too finicky work well for most of us. Few people have the time or inclination to constantly check and treat for insects or diseases, and we need plants that can outlast a long summer season with extreme temperatures. 

So with this demanding criteria, here are some proven winners and appropriate applications for them. 

Gold, white, red, and a little bit of lavender Lantana

Full sun or afternoon sun areas: 

Lantana is hands-down the toughest choice for high heat, and the absolute best choice for dryer beds. Some folks think lantana can get a little unruly, but there are new compact dwarf varieties that really perform. Pentas are another heat lover with few problems, and for big accents use purple fountain grass, esperanza, and sun coleus. Scaevola is a great trailing plant in lavender or white, and Blackfoot daisy is a fragrant mounding/trailing plant—both great for rock walls, containers, or borders. Periwinkles love the heat but cannot be planted here until about mid-May due to pythium and rhizoctonia root rot when nights are cool or it is too wet. Dwarf zinnias can have similar issues if planted too early. Sweet potato vines are another great accent as long as you have the space for them or the time to periodically cut them back, and artemesias such as Dusty Miller or Powis Castle provide silvery foliage. Other choices for sun include Angelonia, Blue Daze, Moss Rose, and Purslane. Bronze begonias tolerate sun or shade so are great for those places that go in and out of the sun, but they struggle with uneven moisture, and with twice a week water restrictions it can be hard to keep them looking good in July-August.

Impatiens with just the right amount of sun

Shade areas:

In the shade, caladiums and begonias are king with impatiens close behind. Impatiens need a little light to look good all summer. In heavy shade they tend to get leggy in July-August. Caladiums also need consistent water and once they start withering they take a long time to recover. 

Dragon Wing Begonias

You can also use foliage plants like shade coleus, Japanese painted fern, alternanthera, or lamium. 


We have had great luck with Dragon Wing Begonias in shade despite uneven watering.

Reminders

Email

Please call or e-mail us to start getting your invoices and statements via e-mail. We will never share your contact information or blast you with solicitations. It is simply the most environmentally friendly and efficient way to do business. contactus@primelandscapeservices.com

Scheduling

During the spring season, we have many homeowners with different preferences for their mowing schedule. If you are not on a 12 month pro-rated contract, please let us know when you want to start weekly services. Also please give at least 24 hours notice to change a regular service.

Lawn Problems

It has been a wet spring so far, and if April starts off cool and wet these are optimal conditions for brown patch, take-all patch, spring dead spot, and other fungal turf diseases. Keep an eye out for circular brown patches or yellowing and call if you think you have a problem.