•Spray roses susceptible to black spot disease every week with fertilome Systemic Fungicide, Copper Soap, or Triple Action. 1 Tablespoon Horticultural oil mixed with 1 Tablespoon baking soda in 1 gallon water is a good organic spray.
•Install wire “grow-
•For easy watering of many plants at one time, use a soaker hose for 1½ hours
every 7-
•Check plants for spider mites and bagworms, especially evergreens. Handpick bagworms and destroy them, or spray with Natural Guard Caterpillar Spray with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) or Natural Guard Spinosad. Spray mites with Insecticidal Soap, Horticultural Oil, or fertilome Triple Action.
•Plant gladiolus, cannas, dahlias, caladiums, calla lilies, and elephant ears once soil is warm. Remove leaves of spring flowering bulbs after they have yellowed.
•Treat trees for borers in May and June, especially cherries, plums, dogwoods, and white birch. Use HiYield Garden, Pet, and Livestock Spray containing permethrin.
•Plant annual bedding plants and combination planters. Use Metromix potting mix
for a lightweight, well-
•Prune azaleas and rhododendrons after blooming. Fertilize these and hollies, dogwoods, magnolias, and evergreens with cottonseed meal to make the soil acid. Use 1# cottonseed meal per foot of height for vigorous growth.
•Repel moles from your yard by using Holy Moley castor oil granules or Mole Go liquid repellent on your lawn and flower beds. They will not harm plants, animals, or beneficial organisms in the soil. Make applications spring, summer, and fall.
•Spread lime around the base of lilacs, clematis, sweet peas, pink hydrangeas, dianthus and phlox to promote a higher pH and better growth. Do a soil test first in your garden or lawn to determine if lime is needed in these areas.
•Clean water gardens removing winter debris, sludge, leaves, etc. from the pond.
Pump out the bottom ¼ of the water, dechlorinate with TetraPond or Aquascape chlorine
remover, and top off the pond with new water after the pond goes through its “spring
green-
May -