Pest Control!
Aphids, snails and slugs continue to be a major problems in the landscape. Check your new plants daily as snails and slugs can destroy Small plants in one night. Look for honey dew, curling leaves and ants as these are all signs of possible aphid infestation. Watch plums and cherries
closely and if you spot curling leaves check for aphid immediately. Remember Peach leaf curl disease rarely effects any plants other than peaches and nectarines so assume it aphids. Treat aphids with an insecticidal soap to avoid any pesticide residue on your fruit. Additionally, gopher,
mole and vole activity is beginning to build up because these critters are searching to food as soils are drying out in the open space! Keep an eye out to burrows and holes that may mean you have a critter reeking havoc in your yard.
Tip: Birds can also become pests as your fruit ripens, therefore, it is a good idea to protect your crop with tree nets to keep the birds out.
Let’s get Planting!
Plant your asters, coleus, daisies, impatiens, marigolds, petunias, verbena, and Zinnias!
Fertilize and Thrive!
Place fertilizer around azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons, citrus and roses. Also, it’s a good idea to mulch around lilies, azaleas, camellias, clamantis and citrus to keep soil temperatures low and conserve water.
Pruning and Tuning!
Start to thin apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums if too much fruit has set; A general rule of thumb is one piece of fruit every six to eight inches. However, Apricots should be thinned to three to six inches apart.
REMEMBER Do your fruit thinning before your fruit reaches cherry size.
Remove old fading flowers on your annuals and cut your roses back to pencil sized Wood to promote continued blooming.
Lawn Love!
The temperatures are increasing and the days are getting longer, therefore the lawns will require more water. Be sure to set your lawnmower to three and one half inches for tall fescue (3%), two and one half inches (2%) for blue and rye grass and bentgrass and bermuda grass lawns should be kept at one to one half inches (1/s), to help reduce soil temperatures and promote deeper rooting. A
If you lawn was not aerated last month, it’s a good idea to aerate lawns now to increase water penetration into the soil. Aeration brings thatch eating microbes to the soil surface so please do not rake the soil cores away, instead allow the cores to break down and the soil to filter back down into the thatch.