January's Landscape Tip

Crabgrass prevention begins in January, before the ground warms and the thousands of tiny seeds already present in your soil begin to germinate.  Crabgrass sprouts when the soil is moist and reaches at least 50 degrees or so.  Apply a pre-emergent herbicide that contains Dithiopyr, (brand name Dimension) now and you will be blessed with protection from crabgrass until May.  Better yet, fertilize with a product that has “crabgrass prevention” in the bag, as now a great time to fertilize your lawn at the start of the New Year.  If you prefer to skip the pre-emergent application, buy fertilizer with a mix of 19-4-4 or similar.  Just remember, pre-emergent control products effectively stop all seeds, not just crabgrass seeds, from germinating. If you were planning to over seed any bare spots in your lawn, do not use crabgrass prevention now; it will keep that new seed from sprouting.  The cold weather in January is also the best time to hard prune your rose bushes. A good rule of thumb is to cut them back to about ½ their original size, leaving a nice round open habit.  Dormant hard pruning of roses is not a precise science and you should never worry about doing any harm. Prune away any crossing branches, dead wood, and shape the plant.  Plant bare root trees and roses in the garden, and if you are feeling really ambitious, you can plant winter blooming annual flowers like alyssum, calendula, California poppy, Dianthus, Iceland poppy, and snapdragon now too. You will be rewarded with a springtime look far earlier than your neighbors.

Bonus tip: Take the lawn mower in for a tune-up and blade-sharpening. Another  great tip is to buy an extra mower blade. Most homeowners do not sharpen nearly enough. Blades need to be sharpened three or four times during the growing season, so you can always have one on hand while the other is at the shop -- or on your workbench -- getting sharpened

---