Warning

JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 786

Friday, 18 September 2015 12:51

Great Time to Transplant Perennials

I’m still impressed at how quickly the days get shorter this time of year. We’re losing daylight at a rate of almost 3 minutes a day! It adds up day after day. There are signs of fall everywhere. The asters are beginning to flower in the meadows. Ajax the dog has begun collecting seed pods in his fur from every thistle and burdock within shouting distance. The cats are QUITE interested in visiting with us overnight now. There’s dew on the windshield and lawn every morning. I’ve noticed the Monarch Butterfly migration is in starting up. The hummingbirds will be gone soon. All these are indications that our glorious growing season will be coming to a frosty end. You would think that this would be a quiet time for gardeners. Not at all!

There are bulbs to plant and it’s a great time to plant trees and shrubs that are on season end clearance at the garden centers. Cool weather makes it a great time to catch up on any lingering landscaping projects. Most of us have more time to devote to garden tasks in September. In spring, with all the preparation for the vegetable garden, raking the lawn and other pressing chores, it can be hard to find time to keep up. Rainy spring weather can also make it difficult to accomplish all you wish to. Many of the gardening chores that you’d normally think of doing in spring can actually be taken care of now. 

One task that I like to tackle in fall is the dividing and transplanting of perennials. Most of our perennial flowers are just about finished for the season. They go dormant as frost approaches. This is a great time to make improvements and adjustments to our flowerbeds and borders. You may have underestimated how large a plant would get and need to move it. You may have some perennials that have become mature and need to be divided. This is a great time to take advantage of cool, crisp “work weather” to get a jump on next spring. 

For instance, I’ve got some daylilies and hosta that are in need of dividing. It is a good idea to have the new location ready to receive your transplants before you lift them from their present spot. Dig you holes and add you soil amendments. The most important soil additive is Bio-tone. Bio-ton provides nutrients and beneficial soil microbes and fungi to promote a strong, healthy root system. If you have sandy soil, the addition of compost or peat moss will improve the soil’s ability to retain moisture. 

Next, slice all the way around the plant you wish to divide with a sharp spade and lift it from the soil. If you’re simply moving it to a new location simply plant it and water it in well. If you need to divide the plant, simply slice the clump apart (as with hosta) or gently pull the clump apart (as with daylilies). Sometimes this seems a bit brutal but remember, most perennial plants NEED to be divided every few years to remain healthy and vigorous. 

Remember your gardening friends when you’re dividing your perennials. I always set a few small divisions aside to share. My friends share with me so, there’s always something new for all of us to enjoy. 

You might not think of it but it’s also a good time to purchase and plant potted perennials. The selection of perennials won’t be as good at the garden center in fall as it is in spring and summer but what there is will undoubtedly be on sale. I’ve got some great bargains by being willing to poke through the perennials at the garden center in fall. Thanks for the read. 

Friday, 07 August 2015 15:07

The Amazing Hibiscus

During the last part of July, I was trying very hard not to complain about the heat. Perhaps I did grumble a bit but I think I did a pretty good job biting my tongue. My wife, Sharon, was having some trouble getting a decent night’s sleep in spite of the window fan blowing at top speed in the bedroom. She kept threatening to buy an air conditioner, and I kept insisting that it wasn’t worth it for the few days of excess heat we have to put up with. At night, I’d run the larger window fan at full speed to try and cool the house off and then close all the windows in the morning to trap any coolness I’d gained overnight. As the hot days continued, it became harder and harder to cool the house down as the heat penetrated the structure. Needless to say, there’s now an air conditioner in our bedroom. 

Speaking of air conditioning, it was during a hot July a hundred years ago that Willis Carrier invented air conditioning. Considering how much we love air conditioning, you’d think that he invented it for comfort’s sake. Actually, he was prompted to invent it for a printing shop in Brooklyn that was having trouble with color printing because the paper couldn’t run through the presses properly with the hourly changes in temperature and humidity during summer. Carrier created modern air conditioning and it not only cooled the air but it removed moisture from it as well, in the process making the paper much easier for the presses to handle. I imagine the press operators were thrilled. It soon became apparent that people would enjoy this new air conditioning, and it was installed in restaurants, hotel ballrooms and bars. Establishments with air conditioning did so well that soon everyone wanted it. The rest, as we say, is history. But, I digress.

All around town, I see that the various members of the hibiscus are putting on quite a show. This includes althea, The Rose of Sharon. I have a short row of purple althea that has a double flower much like a carnation that is putting on a nice show. It seems that althea are gaining in popularity. While mine are double flowering, I greatly admire the single flowering varieties that I’m beginning to see more of. Their flower closely resembles that of the tropical hibiscus that is so popular in the south. These single flowering altheas weren’t available when I planted my hedge 10 years ago or I would have surely opted for one of those. Rose of Sharon is available in a wide range of colors but tend toward the reds and lavenders. There are even varieties that have a bi-colored flower and there’s a nice white that I’ve see as well. While the althea is a woody shrub, there’s another hardy hibiscus that is perennial in nature (it dies to the ground in winter) that is well worth commenting on.

Like althea or Rose of Sharon, the mallow hibiscus is a relative of the tropical hibiscus although the flowers are much larger. The showy mallow hibiscus will grow from the ground to a height of 4’ to 6’ during each growing season. Mallow hibiscus flowers range in color from white to deep purple and encompass every shade of pink in between. As if this weren’t enough, the flowers can be as large as a dinner plate! I know you’ve seen these around town since they are in flower right now. A lot of folks don’t realize that this plant is hardy in our area and will easily survive over winter to return larger and showier each year. Each of the giant flowers that mallow hibiscus produces will only remain open for one day. Fortunately, they produce plenty of buds so the show goes on for at least a couple of weeks and even longer for a well-established clump.

 

If you plant either of these northern members of the hibiscus family, you’ll need to be patient in spring. Neither the woody shrub althea nor the perennial mallow hibiscus will show any sign of life until spring is well under way. I usually see no sign of life from either in my yard until the lilacs are in bloom. That’s when the first leaves appear on my althea and the mallow hibiscus is just poking a shoot up from the soil. They are amazing plants and easily deserve a place in your garden. Thanks for the read.

Friday, 05 June 2015 14:36

Tips For a Better Lawn

We usually run into dry summer weather in June.  This is great for our vegetable gardens and flowerbeds.  They love the heat and dryness, but our lawns are starting to dry out and struggle.

The first step in helping your lawn survive dry summer weather is to let your lawn get taller -- as tall as your lawn mower will adjust -- maybe four-to-five inches.  If you mow your lawn very short as we have been all spring (which was ok at that time), the sun will heat the soil to temperatures that will permanently kill the roots of your grass.  Letting the lawn grow taller allows the blades of grass to shade the soil preventing soil temperatures from getting high enough to cause permanent damage to the roots.  You may like the look of a shorter lawn, but if the soil temperature goes above 85-to-90 degrees for three consecutive days, the root system dies.  Once that happens, you’re looking at a lot of grass seed and a lot of watering in late summer and early fall as you try to replace a lawn that could’ve been saved had you allowed the grass to get taller during dry summer weather.

Traditional wisdom tells us that, for a lawn to remain healthy, it needs an inch of water a week.  What you need to know, though, is that the lawn needs that inch of water all at once to get any real benefit from it.  This means that you should water your lawn heavily, then not at all for a week.  With a limited amount of water available to most of us, we have the tendency to try and move the sprinkler around the yard to make sure that we get the whole lawn watered at one time without any regard to whether it is getting enough water for more than temporary relief.  I’d like to suggest a different way.  If you have watering restrictions that only allow you to water every other day for two hours, let your lawn sprinkler soak one area for the full two hours.  When your next watering opportunity arrives, move the lawn sprinkler to the next section and soak it with at least an inch of water.  

Folks with underground sprinkling systems need to follow the same advice.  These systems can be programmed to water different zones at different times.  Unfortunately, most folks set them up to water each zone for ten or twenty minutes every day.  Instead, set them up to soak one zone each day with an inch of water then do a different zone the next day.  The reason for all this is to take the best advantage of the limited water we have.  By putting an inch of water on the lawn, you’ll be soaking the soil to a depth of six inches.  Water at this depth in the soil will not evaporate quickly, and it’s where the roots of the grass are located so it can be absorbed.  Quickly spraying the lawn might perk it up briefly but most of that moisture is lost to evaporation and can never penetrate deep into the soil to get to the roots.   

At this point folks will ask me, “How long do I need to leave the sprinkler on to put on an inch of water?”  Since we all have different lawn sprinklers and water pressure, I can’t answer that question.  This is something we must all determine on our own.  You can get a rain gauge and leave it out there until it has an inch of water in it.  There’s no need to buy a rain gauge though (but they are handy).  You simply need to take a small, empty tuna fish can and place it in the area you’re watering and don’t shut it off until it is full.  Make a mental note of how long it took and you’ll always know how long your setup takes to put out an inch of water.  That’s it.  Water deeply, then take a break for a week. Thanks for the read.

Blotter

  • Saratoga County Court  Kathleen M. Callanan, 62, of Saratoga Springs, was sentenced to 1 year in local jail, after pleading to felony grand larceny.  Cassandra R. Barden, 38, homeless, was sentenced to 1-1/2 to 3 years incarceration after pleading to felony attempted assault, charged in Milton.  Ashley Vetrano, 35, of Glens Falls, pleaded to felony robbery, charged in Moreau. Sentencing May 23.  Gabrielle Montanye, 63, of Stillwater, was sentenced to 5 years probation, after pleading to felony attempted identity theft, charged in Ballston Spa.  Daniel J. Koenig, III, 53, of Round Lake, was sentenced to 2 to 4 years incarceration, after…

Property Transactions

  • BALLSTON Eastline Holdings LLC sold property at 12 Aspen Dr to Shaun Scott for $596,673 Sunmark Credit Union sold property at 15 17 & 19 Main St to Landmark Holdings 2023 LLC for $240,000 CORINTH Gary ONeil sold property at 115 Hollister Dr to Aaron Schips for $345,000 GREENFIELD Jeffrey Fuller sold property at 4 Lanie Dr to Jacob Brooks for $221,700 Bernice Moeller sold property at 395 North Creek Rd to Devin Vernon for $270,000 MALTA  Maureen Weise sold property at 13 Pepperbush Pl to Robert ONeill for $245,000 MECHANICVILLE Robert Murphy sold property at 406 Park Ave to…
  • NYPA
  • Saratoga County Chamber
  • BBB Accredited Business
  • Discover Saratoga
  • Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association