Hy-Vee Store Newsletter

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Fall 2011

JERRY’S LETTER

Jerry Kluver Jerry has been in the lawn care and nursery business for more than 40 years. His passion is solving your gardening problems and turning your landscape dreams into reality.

The tail end of summer is a great time of year. We can still enjoy all of our hard work and there’s plenty of growing time left.

But as the weather starts to change, we have to be on our toes to prepare the lawn for winter and ensure it emerges in good shape next spring.

August is when you need to be on the lookout for signs of disease. I recommend Infuse brand read-to-use granules, reapplied after seven to 10 days to prevent and control more than 30 diseases.

And don’t forget the water. Make sure that your lawn is getting about 1 inch of moisture per week, either from nature or the sprinkler. Try to water in the morning between sunrise and 8 a.m. And don’t mow the lawn too short; maintain a consistent 3-inch height.

September is a crucial time to weed and feed the lawn. Apply Hy-Vee Lawn Fertilizer and keep an eye out for grubs, those pesky larvae that cause damage. To spot them, look for rings of dead grass. If the diseased areas are large, sometimes it’s best to re-seed.

By the time October rolls around, lay down the final application of Hy-Vee lawn fertilizer, and after the first frost, mow one last time; you will have done all you can to guarantee a lush, healthy lawn in the spring, when it will be time to get growing again!

Oh, and one more thing. Go ahead and plant trees in late fall. I’m not afraid to plant all the way up to Dec. 1. As long as the ground isn’t frozen, you’ll be fine.

THE LATEST DIRT

Rita Peters has a horticulture degree from Iowa State University. She supervises floral operations at Hy-Vee stores in four states.

Welcome to “The Latest Dirt,” where every gardener’s must-do list is put into a three-month calendar:

AUGUST: Keep deadheading your flowers and cut back any leggy plants in your planters or patio pots. Now is when you fertilize. Even though August signals summer’s approaching end, there are still a good two months of growing season left. If some of your planters look a little tired, add some mums to freshen them up. You can also condition the hydrangea soil with pink or blue Color Me kits. Both products feature a pre-measured scoop and easy-to-follow directions right on the waterproof container. Water annuals once a day, but wait until the sun goes down.

SEPTEMBER: This is a good time to treat creeping charlie, a low-growing perennial weed. Use a Dial ’N Spray sprayer, which allows you to apply liquid weed killers such as Ortho Weed B Gon, as well as insecticides and fungicides, with no mess. Use three ounces of Weed B Gon for every gallon of water. Add 1/3 of a bottle of a spreader sticker, an additive that improves coverage. Some wetting agents are made of emulsified soybean oil, but common dish soap can also be used. Apply the weed killer three times, 10 days apart, and say so-long to creeping charlie.

OCTOBER: Now is the time for a final application of Hy-Vee Winterizer Lawn Food, a controlled-release nitrogen that extends the greening process Use on all urf grasses to give a quick green-up without danger of burning. You can order a 16-pound bag at your local Hy-Vee and arrange to be contacted when it’s ready for pick-up.

QUICK HITTERS

August and September are great months for canning and freezing the season’s bounty to carry a taste of summer into the colder months. Check out the Iowa State University Extension website—extension.iastate.com—for tips on how to preserve tomatoes, fruits and fresh herbs.
Before the snow flies (and really, who knows when that will be?) pull up all your annuals and pitch them on the compost heap. If you don't have a compost pile, start one. They are a great way to dispose of yard waste in an environmentally friendly way, and compost is a good fertilizer.
Cut back any perennials that suffer damage from the first frost, typically around Oct. 25, but leave purple-coneflower seed heads for the goldfinches.
If you have any newly planted trees, especially fruit trees, wrap them with a protective wrap to prevent rabbits and rodents from nibbling.
Perennials and strawberries do best if covered with 1 to 4 inches of a loose, removable mulch. You can use straw, but it often distributes seeds into the flowerbed.
If the fall is dry, water any evergreens, trees and shrubs that were planted less than a year ago. Otherwise, they might go into winter dehydrated.
Plant mums. There are two basic types: Florist's mums, which aren't winter-hardy, and garden mums, which are more wild looking but will come back next year. Florist's mums are great for pots, indoors and out, while garden mums are good for permanent planting.
Fall grass seed planting is an excellent way to fill in the bare spots. You can plant the seeds in September and the grass will germinate and establish itself. Or you can plant later and the seeds will germinate in early spring. The bonus of late fall planting is that many of the birds will have left, leaving their free dinner behind.

Don’t forget to catch “Get Growing with Jerry Kluver” Fridays at 5 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. on KCCI-TV, channel 8.

SPRING BULBS

“Nothing says spring like tulips, crocus and daffodils,” says Rita Peters, Jerry Kluver’s Get-Growing partner. “But to get this spring color, you have to plan ahead and plant the bulbs in the fall.”

That’s because spring-flowering bulbs require a long period of cool temperatures to spark the biochemical process that causes them to flower.

Most bulbs can be planted until the ground is frozen. Plant at a depth of 6 to 8 inches and add some bone meal. Don’t worry about winter conditions. Spring-flowering bulbs are tough. They can usually take what Mother Nature dishes out.

Once spring arrives, a short freeze won't do lasting damage to emerging plants, although it can burn already open blossoms. Many spring bulbs, such as snowdrops, crocuses, and early rock garden narcissi come up in very early spring, sometimes peeking through the snow. An unseasonably warm spell may cause some bulbs to bloom earlier than anticipated, but in most cases they won't get damaged if the cold temps return for an encore.

Planting times depend on your climate zone, but generally, earlier is better. Good bulbs are firm, with no signs of rotting or softness, and they should not exhibit cracks. Avoid bulbs that are already growing shoots or roots. Keep them in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight until you’re ready to put them in the ground.

“This is also a good time to divide the bulbs of your established flower beds, such as day lilies, that may be overgrown” adds Rita. There will also be bulbs that have to be dug up and stored for the winter. Among them: gladiolus and cannas.

Get Growing’s Jerry Kluver has some final advice: “Store dug-up bulbs in Vermiculite, which is a soil conditioner that corrects the soil's structure and nutrients, and keep them in a dry, cool area. They like it between 45 and 50 degrees. Be careful, because a lot of basements are warmer than that, which can leave your bulbs dehydrated.”