Gardening and Then Some

2010-04-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

Now's the time to be pruning your Spring flowering shrubs/trees. When the flowering is finished, prune to reduce the size or correct the shape of your shrubs and trees. Here in Central Illinois, that means you can go ahead and prune forsythia, some viburnums, dogwoods and red bud. In a couple more weeks you can start pruning the later flowering viburnums and crab trees. For the daffodils and tulips.......fold the foliage down and secure with a rubber band, do not cut off until the green leaves are brown. Around Decatur, it is getting dry, believe it or not, it has been 2 weeks since our last rain event.......water...water especially the newly installed plants. Think about investing in a rain harvest system to catch and store rain for using during dry times....like now...... Call us for an estimate. Enjoy

2010-03-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

Hey you'all you better be workin that soil and cleanin those landscape beds.........beautiful weather the past 2 weeks. Cut back your grasses and any other perennials from last season and then apply a fresh layer of compost or hardwood mulch. If you use Preen for pre-emerge weed control, you better get to it PRONTO....weeds will be germinating very soon. Remember, when your bulbs are done flowering, DO NOT cut off the green leaf part of the plant, these is what will provide the "food" for the bulb and next years flowers. Take care and happy gardening....

2010-03-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

I went up to the Chicago Flower and Garden show Monday (3/8/10), great event, awesome garden displays, however they could cancel the "cheezy" retailers section. If you have never gone to the show, you should try to get up to Navy Pier this year or next to see the gardens, and to think that all that work is for an 8 day show....cudos to the landscape companies for giving the public great ideas.

2010-03-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2010, with spring just around the corner this is a great time to get the garden and yard cleaned up. On your "to do" list should be things like: cutting back grasses and other perennials before new growth starts up; pruning any shrubs that were damaged either by animal browsing, snow load or shubs missed last fall. Be sure you know the variety and/or flowering time of the shrubs before you prune....you could be removing a spring display of flowers. This is a great time to apply hardwood mulch if needed because it is alot easier to spread while the plants are leafless. Pre-emerge chemicals, if you choose, should be applied now to your landscape beds. Here in Central Illinois, my spring bulbs are about 2-3" up now....looking forward to the color. I am busy assisting the"early birds" with landscape plans, if you have a project in mind for this year, you better get a call into your landscaper to start the planning. I am already booked with jobs through the end of May so far. Take care.

2010-02-18T17:06:00.001-08:00

Well , it's been a long snowy winter for Central Illinois (Decatur)...we've plowed more snow this year than in the past 5. I am ready for spring and landscaping again. What should you be doing right now???? You should have all your vegetable choices picked out by now and already started any seeds, if you do this. If you are planning on any landscape improvements and you need to hire a landscape firm....you better make the contact very soon...we are booked for 8 weeks as soon as we begin work this spring. Take care.

2009-12-05T05:51:00.000-08:00

first real freeze last night....16 degrees, ice around the edges of my pond. I will do the last of my garden clean-up today. A few more christmas lights on the trees, and adding a timer. In January I will be attending the Mid America Horticultural show in Chicago. This is the Midwest landscapers show.....new plants, new equipment, new hardscapes, all the "stuff" we use on a daily basis. It is an excellent show, I will be reporting back on this for sure. Later

2009-12-02T04:33:00.000-08:00

gettin excited for our first litle snowfall....yep prob only a dusting....but it will be white, yeah!! Tonite is the annual Christmas Walk in downtown Decatur, looking forward to the event. Decorations are up at our home and our store in downtown Decatur.

2009-11-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

Installed the christmas lights outside my home today. White lights wrapped around grapevine balls, looks realy great......try it, you'll like it. Did some more garden cleanup activities, which will go to the Decatur Compost facility. Sprayed anti-dessicant on my evergreens for the winter protection. Ate the last of the turkey leftovers. Later

2009-11-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

CUT-EM-BACK...that's right, late fall early winter is a great time to enoy the out of doors and cut back your perennials for the winter.....now I leave my coneflower heads because the birds love the seeds. Grasses????your choice...I leave mine throughout the winter, great interest in the garden, ust make sure you cut the grasses back by the middle of March.

Want to keep your evergreens from getting winter burn????keep the plants watered until the ground freezes, and apply an anti-dessicant to the foiliage. Take care

2009-11-25T04:38:00.000-08:00

Hi, since landscape design has been my gig for the past 30 something years, I thought it was about time to start my own blog. Discussions will be pertinent to the season and to zone 5. watch for upcoming stuff and enjoy.