Green Thumb Tips
Echter’s Plant Doctors are available
during store hours seven days a week to answer your gardening questions. For
accurate diagnosis, it helps to bring in a sample.
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Flower Gardens
Check your gladiolus, dahlia and canna
bulbs you have stored to make sure the media in which they are stored is still moist.
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Perennials & Roses
When planning your flower bed, whether it is
planted in annuals or perennials, don’t overlook ornamental grasses for a
beautiful contrasting texture.
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- Be
sure that the winter mulch around your perennials, roses and bulb beds is still in place. Replace mulch that has
been blown away
by heavy
winds.
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- Cut back last year's growth
from ornamental grasses now before this year's new growth begins.
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- Lawns
When
snow and ice are gone from shady areas of lawn (especially on the north side of
structures) rake the grass to prevent snow mold.
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- If you see
“trails” in your lawn, you may have voles, a common rodent in Colorado. We carry products to eliminate this pest. Voles have been known to
chew on bark of trees and shrubs, especially junipers. You may notice dead branches on junipers
later in the spring. Look deep inside the shrub and
you will see
where the bark is missing.
Vegetable Gardens
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February is the best time to prune grape vines.
By waiting until just before growth
begins in spring, you can recognize and remove any dead or damaged wood.
Your spring crop of asparagus will benefit greatly from the addition of manure
to the bed.
Test your soil for pH and nutrients so
you'll know what is needed before you plant this spring. Soil amendments that improve your gardens can be tilled or
spaded now and worked in. Use one of our easy-to-do test kits and test it yourself
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- January
and February are the best months to purchase your flower and vegetable seed. The best availability and selection is early.
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- Take
inventory of your seed starting supplies, such as pots, soil, and
flats. Sterilize any that you have
used before or purchase new
supplies. Be ready so that you will have everything you need for a
successful project.
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- When starting seeds indoors, use a
propagation mat. It keeps the soil in the trays at a constant warm
temperature. You will get quicker germination, more seedlings and more
uniformity.
Trees & Shrubs
Knock down heavy snows from your shrubs and tree branches by gently pushing up
with a broom. Start with the lower branches and work your way up the tree
or shrub.
It is very important to keep your lawns,
trees, shrubs, perennial and bulb beds watered once a month throughout the
winter as weather permits. You will reduce the chance of root damage on
perennials, trees and shrubs and reduce insect population and disease problems
in your lawn next year.
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Prune
summer and fall blooming shrubs in February.
This is the time to shape up your trees as
well. Remove dead, dying, or unsightly parts of the tree. Your
pruning arsenal should include bypass pruners, a compound action lopper, a
tree saw and a pole pruner at minimum. Bring in your tools for
sharpening if they have become dull.
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If you have large trees
that need pruning, call us for
the name of a tree service. The sooner you call, the more likely
you will get your trees pruned at the best time of year.
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When shoveling
snow from your sidewalks and driveways, pile the snow around trees,
shrubs and perennial plants instead of out in the street as long you
have not used chemicals or salt to melt the ice. These plants will
benefit from the added moisture.
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Indoor Plants
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If a houseplant
is not doing well, check these five growing factors: light, temperature,
nutrients, moisture, and humidity. They must be favorable to provide good
growth. Bring the plant in to our plant doctors if you need help with a diagnosis.
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- Cyclamen are great plants for brightening your home
in winter. They prefer a cool, dry and bright place.
The pink, red, white or maroon flowers will continue for weeks.
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Grow
your own herbs inside. Either from seeds or plants, there is nothing
like fresh herbs for all kinds of winter dishes, like soup, stews, and many
other comfort dishes for those cold winter days.
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If
you have a problem with those very annoying fungus gnats coming from
the soil under your houseplants, let your plants dry out down to at
least 1 inch before watering them. Gnats thrive in moist soil and
multiply. Quick Kill Mosquito Bits with Bti, a biological pesticide,
can be mixed with water and watered into the soil to kill the larvae. Applying a pyrethrum or permethrin to the soil will reduce their numbers. Whitefly sticky traps will also catch
those that come out of the soil.
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Birds
Echter's offers many seed mixes for all types of birds who are seed eaters. Individual types of seed are
also popular and there is a great selection to choose from. Sunflower seed, safflower seed and nyjer seed are among the favorite choices. Insect-eating birds such as flickers and nuthatches have a taste for suet and peanut butter rather than seed, so be sure to consider their needs as well.
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Ever
wonder about how the birds protect themselves in the freezing cold
weather? First of all, they need clean feathers, so an unfrozen water
source is essential for birds to bathe.
They need
water in the winter as well as spring and summer. By placing a electic de-icer in your
water source, the birds will stay happy all winter.
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- Another
requirement is shelter. You will often find a lot of birds in dense
shrubs, spruce and pine trees.
Any protection you can offer would be
appreciated very much by our feathered friends.
If squirrels are a nuisance, use a squirrel-proof feeder.
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Home & Patio
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Urea is a safer ice melt
around lawns, plants and pets, but it only melts ice down to about 15 degrees.
If you need to use calcium chloride for cold-temperature ice melting, try to
avoid pushing it onto desirable plants. Only use as much ice melt as is
necessary and try to keep it in the center of the walk.
We can sharpen your mower blade for a
nominal fee.
Bring in your lawn
mower blade on or off the mower.
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Echter's
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