The best thing to do in October is plant! It is the best time of year to start your trees and shrubs.
And give your existing trees, lawns an shrubs a good feeding with fertilizer high in Phosphorus for healthy roots. That’s the number in the middle of the nutrient analysis. In a bag marked 16-6-8, It is the 6.
Look now for bargains on spring blooming bulbs. You should have ordered early from the bulb catalogues and there may be some good deals available through the catalogues or at your local nursery/ big box store.
Get your bulbs in the ground as soon as possible. December is too late. Plant the bulbs three times the depth of the bulb, water well, and Happy Spring!
Fertilize your roses and keep them well watered but don’t prune now. You should remove spent blooms though, because you will encourage some bonus blooms before the plant starts it’s winter stasis.
Ok, with fall upon us and winter not far behind, most of us are just grateful at getting through the spring and summer weed season. So you are not probably thinking about weeds right now.
But really, getting rid of spring weeds starts right now! Fall and winter, before most weeds begin is the best time to solve your weed problem.
If you wait until spring, winter rains will give the weeds a head start. Once they are above the soil, they have to be killed AND removed. No easy task in planted or gravel areas. Because we are licensed by the state to spray, we have access to the best professional quality products to do the job and the training and experience to do the job correctly the first time.
Most people don’t know that weeds can be prevented before they pop up! We also can apply professional-strength weed preventers ( called pre-emergents) to your problem areas and keep those weeds from ever showing up at all. Be prepared this year. It will be less hassle and cost.
You’d be a little strange not to be concerned at least a little about running into a snake outdoors here in the high desert of Southern California. We got snakes. Lots of snakes. But how do you tell if they are deadly? What do you do if you or someone you love gets bit? The answers to those questions and more are lurking in our September newsletter. Check it out here: Snakes in the garden and more.
The Victor Valley Master Composters are meeting next Tuesday, September 10 from
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the Victorville City Hall, Conference Room D. After the
short Master Composter meeting, Cindy Poore, owner of Perfection Landscape will
be giving a presentation on drought tolerant landscaping. The public is welcome
to attend, so feel free to invite your friends. Don Woo, project coordinator has also invited the Barstow
group in case they were interested in the presentation.
We like to feed our humming birds. I’ve always just put some sugar and water into our hummingbird feeder and shook it up until it dissolved and they seem to like it. HOWEVER, recently the boss ( who is kinda getting into cooking lately) decided to try a hummingbird food recipe. He cooked it up and the birds have been flocking to the feeders! I could only capture 1 or two in the frame of the picture, but there are now usually 4 or 5 hummingbirds at any given time.
Try this recipe. It’s easy!
Nectar for the Birds 1 part sugar to 4 parts water Place the water in a sauce pan. Stir the sugar into the water while bringing the mixture to a boil. Apparently the boiling removes any chlorine and kills mold or yeast spores that might be in the sugar.
Boil for two minutes, no more. More will change the dilution ratio and won’t be as attractive to the birds. No need to add the food coloring. It is not necessary to add the food coloring and it may even be harmful to the birds. Cool the solution to room temperature and fill your feeder only part way so it wont spoil before they finish it. Store extra nectar in your fridge. Try it your birds will LOVE it.
- My Favorite Recipes-Fall 2014 October 30, 2014Fall is for FOOTBALL! Football season means Sundays are casual. Have some soup and some chips and dip. Get your onion fix. Homemade Onion Dip ( no comparison to store bought) 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 ½ cups diced yellow onions ¼ tsp kosher salt 1 ½ cups sour cream ¾ cup […]
- The Drought is No Joke October 27, 2014The last few years have been crazy dry ones. California is solidly into drought territory now. Oh, I know, we toy with it every year. We hear the same old stuff like “fix leaks” (duh) , Take shorter showers” (awww) and ”Make every drop count” (YES!), and my favorite “If it is yellow, let it […]
- Trees are Valuable September 8, 2014Did you know that studies of comparable houses with and without trees place a markedly higher value on the homes whose yards are sheltered by trees? Trees help clean our air. Trees provide shade that can reduce air conditioning costs as much as 15%. So get planting! Fall is the best time.
- Fall is Coming Up, Just not yet. August 25, 2014By Cindy Poore Where did the time go? It is almost fall. I long for fall the way a kid longs for Christmas. (that’s just around the corner too!) Fall is my time. The time for shorter, hopefully cooler days. Time to regroup and plan that last frenzy of activity you just HAVE to […]
- Life Transistions and the Summer Garden July 7, 2014By Cindy Poore Yes, I know. You all have been wondering what has happened to our newsletter. No, you aren’t unsubscribed, as if that could happen. We have been wrapped up in a bittersweet time. Some of you may not know that Darrell and I have been helping a good friend who has […]
The P.L. Newsletter
