“Thymely Advice”…Prevent Crabgrass Now!

“Thymely Advice”…Prevent Crabgrass Now!

If you have had crabgrass in your yard and understand what a pain it can be, then let me remind you that right now is the time to choose your plan of attack for avoiding having to deal with crabgrass at all this year! We know you work hard to keep your lawn looking nice, and we want to help you keep it that way. Sure there are sprays that we offer that help kill it after it matures, but wouldn’t it be great to prevent it all together? 

We recommend one of two plans of attack.

 The first is All Seasons Crabgrass Preventer with Fertilizer by Fertilome. This product has a pre-emergent that controls crabgrass before it germinates. It provides season long coverage with only one application, and it covers your Spring fertilization all in one! This is definitely for lawns that are established and not going to be seeded in the Spring.

The second option is for anyone that did dormant seeding or plans to put down some grass seed this Spring. Hi-Yield Turf & Ornamental is another great option for a pre-emergent to nip crabgrass in the bud before germination. While this product contains no fertilizer, it can be applied 2 weeks after signs of your grass germinating! You don’t need to wait until you’ve mowed your lawn 2 or 3 times like you would with a typical weed killer or fertilizer, because there is no fertilizer. If you are seeding this Spring, this is your option!

Good Gardens Start with Good Prep

Good Gardens Start with Good Prep

How many of you take care of your soil like it takes care of you? Do you know that our soil needs to be fed just like we do? Whether you grow all of your own food or simply love your ornamentals, here is a list of things you can add to improve and maintain your soil’s health:

• Compost: Start your own pile with food scraps and yard waste, or buy bagged cotton burr compost and composted manure. Use every time you plant!
• Earthworm Castings: Start your own worm farm, or pick up a bag of Kansas Kirk’s pure worm castings already bagged. This will introduce beneficial microbes and bacteria to your soil with a neutral ph.
• Soil Conditioner: Happy Frog produces a blend of earthworm castings, bat guano and mycorrhizae that stimulate and feed the microbes in your soil and give your soil some umph! 
• Trace Minerals: Improve the nutrient content of your fruits and vegetables by replacing the minerals that the veggies absorb. Soil Mender Minerals Plus will do the trick!
• Cover Crops: Cover crops are typically planted in between food crops. They improve the overall fertility of the soil and release nutrients to the microbes in the soil. Many varieties of cover crops exist from nitrogen fixing legumes, alfalfa, rye, buckwheat, and red clover. 
• We understand that your garden and flower beds are an investment of time and money. Yearly maintenance of your soil will prove beneficial for your plants and for you!  

Onion Sets

As we push through the ups and downs of this cold late winter, I am reminded about a question that we seem to get every year….do I need to plant onion sets or onion transplants?  Onion sets are typically what we plant when we want green onions (scallions) early, or larger onions with more of a traditional onion flavor later on. Onion transplants, sometimes just called plants or starts, are typically sweeter tasting onions that are sold in bundles identified by their names. Popular varieties include Red Candy, Yellow Candy, Texas 1015, Yellow Granex (the Vidalia Onion) and Bermuda.   Typically sets can be planted in mid-March and plants in early April. Of course, this all depends on the curveballs that Mother Nature throws us! Onions have shallow root systems, and need regular watering and fertilizing in order to get the best results. Managing weeds is also crucial for a decent bulb size!  Our sets are in! We have red, yellow, and white sets, as well as my personal favorite Cippolini onions. We should start getting plants in well before St Patty’s Day, and as always, the most popular varieties tend to go fast!  If you have any questions about onions or what you might need to be successful, stop by the Garden Center. We’re always glad to help! -Mike Ray

Earthworm Castings

What’s New?...Worm Poop! Kansas Kirk’s Gardenworks is some of the finest quality worm castings you can find anywhere!  We are thrilled to carry this new local product! Produced only about 50 miles from Skinner’s, Kirk Junod is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, and is super passionate about organic gardening…and WORMS!  Kirk feeds his cultured night crawlers, organic peat moss and local grains and their poop, aka…worm castings…is a natural fertilizer that provides your plants nutrients to help them grow. Each bag is packed full of worm castings and does not contain leftover peat moss or fillers like other worm castings products. This is great for vegetables, annuals, lawns, seed flats, trees and shrubs, and more…even worm casting tea!

Big Beautiful Amaryllis!

Big Beautiful Amaryllis!

This time of year things begin to slow down a little bit for me.  The weather is much cooler, it gets dark earlier, and I spend quite a bit more time inside.  I still love to watch plants grow, however, so I have to get creative with how that happens inside. 

For several years now, my wife and I have really enjoyed growing amaryllis bulbs inside in pots.  They come in a variety of colors and shapes, and have quite a stunning presence on holiday tables and just about any place we put them. 

Here at Skinner’s we have a huge variety of the largest amaryllis bulbs you can find!  The coolest thing about having the biggest bulbs is that they produce multiple very large blooms.  We regularly get 2 to 3 stalks per bulb, each producing 3-4 flowers apiece!

You still have plenty of time to get your bulbs started before your holiday season begins.  And, right now all of our amaryllis bulbs are BOGO!  That’s right, 2 for the price of 1!  They have been flying out of our store, as this kind of deal doesn’t come around very often.  Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to fill your home with color and blooms today!

What's Dormant Seeding?

Many of us understand that the best time to seed or over seed your lawn is in the Fall.  Typically the time frame is from Labor Day through the second weekend of October.  We also know that is usually a very busy time for most of us.  So what happens if we didn't have a chance to work on the lawn then like we had hoped?  Maybe you should consider dormant seeding.

Dormant seeding is performed like fall seeding, except it is done when the soils have cooled enough to prevent germination. Usually that time in Kansas is sometime after Thanksgiving. In a dormant seeding operation, the seed will lay in the yard, "dormant", until next spring when the soils warm back up.

There are benefits and pitfalls to dormant seeding. The main benefit of dormant seeding, compared to spring seeding, is avoiding the mud and getting seed up early in the season. Many times in the spring the snow is melting or it is raining, making it difficult to get out and work the ground for seeding.  The pitfalls of dormant seeding come in the form of wind and water erosion moving the seed around.  In some situations, if the seed is not incorporated into the soil well, or if the soils are sloped and not covered with erosion control material, the seed can be washed away or moved around on the soil.  If you suspect erosion will be a problem, use erosion control material like Curlex to prevent erosion, or wait until next spring to do your seeding. 

Remember that any turf grass that gets established in the spring rather than the in the fall is going to have a less extensive root system and will be less mature than its fall seeded counterpart. Therefore, monitor both spring-seeded and dormant-seeded areas a little closer. They will need watering sooner than other areas during dry spells.

We are always here to help with any questions that you may have, including whether or not dormant seeding is right for your situation!

Focus on Natives: Bittersweet

Focus on Natives...Bittersweet

A fall walk in the timber just wouldn't be the same without this bright colored favorite. It goes unrecognized most of the season, but when its fruits take on the bright orange their known for, Bittersweet really grabs your attention.

This native plant is a vine. It is commonly found growing in the underbrush of wooded areas, in fencerows and on the edges of the timber. Although it is frequently found growing in shady areas, it can also be grown in more sunny areas...all it needs to something to twist around as it grows...and lots of room! In the wild it can be found growing 20-30' tall...or more!

The fruits are really what everyone falls in love with. The fruit capsules ripen late in the season, around September, orange in color and popping open to reveal red-orange fruits. Once ripe, they are often harvested by humans for decoration. Birds love them too, helping to disperse their seeds as they feed on them.

Interestingly, bittersweet is primarily dioecious...that's the fancy, plant term for plants that have male and female flowers on separate plants, like hollies. That means only the female vines produce fruits which is why some vines you come across never do. In the landscape, it is always best to plant one of each to ensure fruit production or plant a self-fertile form like 'Autumn Revolution'.

One last note. A very similar looking cousin called Oriental Bittersweet should be avoided. This non-native looks almost identical to its North American counterpart, but it tends to be more aggressive and particularly back east, it has become invasive. Stick with our native.