Prime's Clippings March 2018

The beautiful bloom of the flowering quince

Winter Wrapping Up with Heavy Rains A pretty decent winter is wrapping up with several days of cold torrential rains after 3 months of fairly dry conditions. The cool evenings look to persist and the likelihood of a March freeze still holds true for another 20 days. You might be ready for spring, but plant tomatoes at your own risk! The recent rain was sorely needed, but just wait for a few warm sunny days and weeds will explode onto the scene. Pre-emergent applications from the fall were pretty effective this year. We are applying broadleaf control for plants like dandelion and henbit now and applying pre-emergent to reduce the upcoming summer weeds like crabgrass. Remember though that any of these winter weeds that have begun flowering will take at least 2 weeks and 2 applications to control. Our crews are busy wrapping up the spring cut-back of roses, perennials, and grasses, and it is already time to fire up the mowers and get your lawn cut down a few notches. So here is our annual reminder: If you are not on a year-round contract, please let us know when you are ready for mowing. If you did not place your service on hold over winter, we will start mowing in the first two weeks of March. We don’t want you to wonder where we are, but we also don’t want to start before you are ready. There may be a little freeze damage this year to sensitive plants, but nothing has really stood out. We recommend mowing down Asian jasmine and liriope groundcovers now to remove brown tips and give them a fresh start. Now is the time for fire ant control that is guaranteed all season, and dormant oil and systemic pesticide applications for the crape myrtle scale that is devastating crapes must be made now! Ready or not, spring is on the way! Rainy Weather Promises a Bumper Crop of Fire Ants Fire ants are the most annoying pest of all. They do millions of dollars in damage each year to electrical equipment and agriculture, and swarm out when disturbed to inflict painful bites on children, pets, and unsuspecting gardeners. Fire ants can migrate miles when swarming and tunnel up to 20 feet deep! Eradication is not possible, but you can fight the good fight. We offer two fire ant programs. One is the Texas Two Step program recommended by Texas A&M. We broadcast a bait product throughout your property and use a contact insecticide on visible mounds. This will need to be done 3-4 times a year. Baits offer the lowest environmental impact and cost, but are slow acting and do not guarantee control. We also offer a season-long product that we apply over the entire property. It will eliminate existing colonies and create a barrier to prevent new swarms from moving in. When done in March—April we guarantee control for 8 months! Prices start at just $20 each for the Texas Two Step treatments when done with your regular lawn applications and $155 one time for the guaranteed annual service.  Pond Clean-out Season Begins String algae is the bane of pond owners. As much as we love our beautiful water features, we equally despise string algae. Since aquatic plants have not come out of dormancy and cool water temperatures reduce the bacteria colonies in your filters and gravel, conditions are optimal for the growth of string algae. Algae is a natural, healthy organism in any natural water feature, but it can bloom suddenly in a matter of days and become unsightly. We start our annual clean outs this month, changing the water, washing down the gravel and removing the sludge, cleaning the filters, trimming and thinning out water plants, and changing the water to get your pond started on the right foot for spring. Give us a call to book your spot for your spring clean out! A Crape Myrtle Mystery I observed these strange patterns covering several trunks on a crape myrtle. Was this crape abducted and tortured by aliens? Did a drunken tattoo artist mistake a crape myrtle for an arm? If you read my article on crape myrtles last month and note the blackened bark in this picture, you can already guess the answer. These are the marks left from where scale insects had attached themselves and fed on the crape. They fell off in the hard freezes leaving these strange striations.

March Chores Mow 1-2 notches lower Mulch beds Make last major pruning changes to overgrown shrubs Prune low limbs on trees  Prune dormant perennials and fountain grasses Plant and transplant trees and shrubs Apply pre-emergent and broadleaf herbicides Change water and clean water gardens and koi ponds Our goal is to fulfill the needs of the customer by providing timely, quality services and products. Thanks for your business! John Hoover General Manager

Winter Interest in the Garden

Some of us truly love winter, especially the mild type that we usually see here in North Texas. We have ample opportunities to enjoy our outdoor spaces, but with the dormant season it can be challenging to maintain attractive, interesting settings.

Nandina Domestica

Hollies and nandinas are often taken for granted, but in winter they can be big players with glossy green or red foliage and red berries, and of course they are a summer landscape staple as well. Several shrubs will bloom during the winter months. Include a few quince, camellia, mahonia, and winter flowering honeysuckle for periodic flowers. Certainly pansies and violas are the stars of winter, and an over-seeded lawn of lush rye grass really sets off flowers and shrubs.

A water feature such as a fountain or waterfall entices the senses year- round, and brings a special excitement during hard freezes when impromptu ice sculptures form.

The outdoor living craze has brought the element of fire back into the landscape in a variety of forms, from fireplaces to fire pits to chimineas. Now is the time to really make use of these accessories.

Cedar Wax Wing

And don’t forget to hang a few bird feeders for a stream of colorful, busy visitors all winter. 

So, there you are, on a brisk clear winter day, sitting next to your roaring fire pit, enjoying the splash of your fountain and your colorful flowers, watching the cedar waxwings clean the berries off you mahonia bushes.

Fill your yard and your life with interest!    

 

Fall Water Garden Services

Leaves are dropping regularly and are probably the biggest challenge in maintaining a naturalistic water feature. It is important to empty the skimmers and keep the leaves scooped out regularly. Clogged skimmers cause a myriad of problems, cutting off flow to the pump, and causing fill valves to run excessively since the water level drops in the skimmer.

Since water plants are starting to go dormant, one solution for shaded ponds is to cover the pond with a leaf net using tubing to suspend the net off the water. We can custom fit a leaf net system to virtually any pond.

Call for more details.

Don't let leaves muck up your water feature!

Water Garden Ahoy-hoy!

Prime Landscape specializes in water features!

There's nothing quite like relaxing next to a soothing body of water after a long day.

If you've ever entertained the idea of installing a water feature in your yard, contact us today for a consultation. From small fountains and ponds to crashing waterfalls, we do it all.

And if you're looking for a little help keeping your existing water feature tip top, ask us about our monthly pond services and annual pond clean outs.

A beautiful stream flowing downhill