Trust Me, It's Not Crabgrass

Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, appears bright green
with a white seed head

Think you have crabgrass in your lawn? Let me be blunt: you're wrong. Here in the Pacific
Northwest, crabgrass is rarely a significant problem in lawns; in fact, even when it is you won't notice it showing up until summer heat sets in. The fact is, if you think you have crabgrass in your lawn during the cooler spring months, it's not crabgrass at all. It's poa.

Somewhere back in lawn care history, someone thought they'd sound smart if they walked into a nursery and asked for a weed killer that would take care of crabgrass in their lawn. It's the gardening equivalent of walking into your doctor's office with the wealth of knowledge you found on WebMD. You'll sound smart, but the diagnosis is way off.

Don't fault yourself, though--for better or worse, the term "crabgrass" has come to be used among gardeners today to describe a broad range of grassy weeds. The fact of the matter is, however, that the grassy weed you're probably fighting in March, April and May is a different beast altogether, and it's called poa annua, or annual bluegrass.

Poa is a cool-season grass, meaning it typically goes dormant during the heat of summer. This time of year, though, it's rampant in spreading through our lawns. You'll notice poa by the lighter green color of its foliage, a slightly broader blade than typical lawn grass, and a bright white seed head that appears while the grass is still short.

It's that aspect--a seed head at a very low height--that allows poa to spread so readily. Even mowing your grass short will often miss most of the seed heads, and it regenerates so quickly that it will often go to seed just a few days after mowing.

So, now that you know it's not crabgrass, what steps can you take to eliminate it from your lawn? Sadly, to date there's no total cure; since poa is so genetically similar to lawn grasses, most weed killers that outright kill poa would also kill your lawn.

The best method to eradicate poa is prevention. Since poa is considered an annual grass, it won't be a permanent part of your lawn (typically, a poa "plant" only lasts for a year or two before dying). If you can break the life cycle of it reseeding itself, you'll have a good chance of eventually eliminating it from the lawn.

At Vander Giessen's, we've found a couple of very good pre-emergent (preventative) weed killers that are effective in prevention. Both Scotts Halts Crabgrass Preventer and Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer are effective in prevention of poa (I know, they both have crabgrass in the name, but we're still talking poa!). Apply either of these granular products to your lawn in spring and fall to cover the cooler growing season.

A new product that Bonide has just introduced shows a lot of promise in preventing poa from growing, and it offers some help in killing young poa plants in your lawn. Bonide Crabgrass Plus is both a pre-emergent (meaning it kills weed seeds before they sprout) and post-emergent weed killer, but only for young plants. Keep in mind that this product will not kill larger, established areas of poa, but it will prevent it from spreading and kill recently-sprouted patches of poa. If you choose to use Crabgrass Plus, you don't need to use either of the others I've mentioned.

Next time you're ready to get advice on how to deal with the weeds in your lawn, be bold in asking for help, because now you know at least one of the weeds you're dealing with...and trust me, it's not crabgrass!

Four Tips for a Better Vegetable Garden

Shady areas in the garden? Plant lettuces
and spinach and watch them thrive!

With this year’s mild winter, our gardening season in the Pacific Northwest has gotten off to a much earlier start than normal. From lawns that needed a good mowing weeks ago to fields of tulips in bloom well before the height of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, signs of an early spring have been plentiful. As you prepare to plant your vegetable garden this year, here are four tips for a more productive, rewarding garden.

1. Give each plant in your garden the sun exposure it needs. Now, with adequate water, most vegetables will produce best in full sun. The breadbasket of California’s Central Valley wasn’t born from its abundance of shade! However, if your garden space doesn’t have full sun, understand that plants grown for their roots or fruits need sun; those grown for their leaves will do well even in some shade. So, as you decide what to plant where, keep your peppers, tomatoes, beans and carrots in the sun and let the lettuce and spinach grow in the shadier areas. 

2. Know what plants to grow next to each other. Browse blogs and you’ll find lists of plants that aren’t “compatible” in the garden. Here’s a little secret: I’ve broken several of those rules (mostly unknowingly) and my garden grows just fine. If your garden lays out best with beans next to onions, don’t sweat it—you won’t end up with toxic onions or shriveled beans. 

What I’m referring to, rather, is this: give each plant the space it needs to produce. Tomatoes are notorious space hogs in a small garden. Realizing this, I’ve found it best to plant early-season crops like broccoli and cauliflower next to my tomatoes. By the time the tomato plants are big enough to infringe on the broccoli, I’ve harvested my crop of broccoli and made room for the tomatoes to grow. 

3. Don’t expect an abundant harvest without providing abundant nutrients. Having seen the 

results in my own garden and those of many pleased fellow gardeners, I’m a big fan of mushroom compost for vegetable gardens. Spread a layer evenly over the entire garden at the beginning of the season and spade or rototill it through the soil before you plant. Then watch your garden grow! The aged chicken manure in mushroom compost will get your tomatoes growing like nothing else can. At Vander Giessen's, we carry mushroom compost in bulk--bring your pickup or trailer and we'll fill it up!--and aged chicken manure in bags.

Sevin dust is a safe,
effective way to
ensure bug-free produce
from the garden

4. Realize that you’re not the only one looking forward to a rich harvest from your garden in the year to come—bugs are too. While you can somewhat successfully deal with bugs after you find them munching on your rose bushes, nobody wants to deal with bugs in the vegetable garden after the fact (spinach à la aphids, anyone?), so deal with insects in the garden preventatively.

Each year when I plant my garden, I treat it with Sevin insect dust. This insecticide is safe to use on vegetable gardens and is effective in preventing and controlling insect populations. If you prefer an organic option, Captain Jack’s Deadbug dust or liquid is a great alternative made from a naturally-occurring bacteria shown to kill many common insects. At Vander Giessen's, we carry both Sevin and Captain Jack's, in dust form and liquid sprays.   

Given the great weather we’re enjoying this year, now is the time to start planting your garden, particularly cool-season vegetables like lettuces, peas, onions, carrots, potatoes and broccoli. By early May, we should see warm enough temperatures to move into the rest of the planting season with tomatoes, peppers, and squash, among others. 

 

Make the most of your garden this year and stop in at the nursery--we're fully stocked with compost, seeds, vegetable starts and the knowledge you need for a successful growing season ahead!

Spring is Here--Enjoy It!

Treat your trees once for
year-round insect protection--
and no spraying!

So, how about that winter? For the last two months, I’ve cautioned against getting too excited about the spring-like weather we’ve enjoyed for fear that a good dose of winter could still arrive. Although a slim chance of winter weather still exists, with March quickly passing it’s time to plow full speed ahead with spring and all it involves. Are you ready?

Given the non-winter we had this year (save for the one good dose of cold we got around Thanksgiving), my money is on a bad year ahead for bug problems. Normally, a few good freezes throughout the winter help to keep insect populations in check, but with so few cold stretches this winter, a lot of bugs have likely survived just fine. 

Last month I wrote about spraying for insects, and for smaller shrubs and trees that’s a great option. If you have larger trees that are difficult to spray, however, or if you just don’t like the idea of spraying, there’s an alternative: systemic insecticide. For bug magnets in particular—ornamental cherry trees and several varieties of spruce, to name a couple—March is the perfect time to treat for bugs. A product like Bayer Tree & Shrub Protect & Feed from Vander Giessen's is easy to use, requires no spraying and protects your plants from bugs for a full 12 months. If you’ve battled insects before or have concerns about the possibility in the coming year, remember that it’s much easier to prevent an infestation than to try to beat one back later, after your plants are already damaged.

Now, spring is off to an incredibly early start, but don’t get too far ahead of yourself—we still have several weeks to go before you start thinking of planting your geraniums or impatiens. That doesn’t mean that it’s not time to start planting, though! March is a great time to start planting shrubs and trees around your yard; in fact, with several months until hot summer weather arrives, if you plant now, you’ll have a lot less watering to do come July and August as your plants will be rooted in and growing. 

'Whipcord' cedar adds great character to any garden with
its arching, grass-like evergreen foliage.

With plants arriving at the nursery each week, now is the time to start browsing what’s available for the coming year and discover what would work in your yard. Personally, I love conifers—with their evergreen foliage, they provide great anchor points throughout a garden and give year-round structure and character. One of my favorite plants to work with over the last couple of years has been ‘Whipcord’ cedar. 

If you’ve never seen ‘Whipcord’, imagine a shrub with a bad hair day…or maybe a Chia Pet gone awry. This strain of Western Red cedar has long, grass-like strands of evergreen foliage that gently move in the wind, but unlike many grasses, it looks good year-round and is incredibly hardy. A slow grower, ‘Whipcord’ eventually tops out between four and five feet tall and about as wide, so it will work well even in small gardens. 

Finally, take time this month to fertilize your lawn. If you applied a winterizing fertilizer last fall, your grass benefited from the late feeding all winter long, but now it’s time to get your lawn going for spring. Scotts Turf Builder with Moss Control provides an excellent blend of nutrients for early-spring feeding and will green up your turf nicely. As a moss killer, this fertilizer is mediocre, so if you haven’t yet killed moss, do so separately with ferrous sulfate (available at the nursery)—it’s never too late.  

Our beautiful weather this winter may turn into a cool, rainy spring or summer ahead, so while the sun lasts, enjoy the fun of getting outside and playing in the dirt!

Four Early-Spring Garden Tasks

Cut back roses now to encourage
vigorous growth all season long!

Just a month ago, I offered a word of caution in getting too excited about spring’s arrival—barely a month into winter, it hardly seemed appropriate to offer tips for spring work around the yard. As February is now more than half over, however, and with nary a sign of real winter weather in the forecast, you’re likely starting to look around the yard for things to do. Here’s my list of four must-do tasks in the garden this month.

First, it’s time to prune. As I’ve written about in previous months and years, now is not the time to prune some of your spring- and summer-blooming shrubs such as rhododendrons, azaleas, heather and certain hydrangeas. They bloom on the previous year’s growth and thus should be pruned only after they bloom. For many other plants in your yard, though, now is the time for a haircut. 

While the best time to prune back rose bushes is usually later in February, if your plants look like mine, they’re well underway in waking up from winter dormancy and are starting to leaf out. Encourage vigorous, healthy growth this spring with a hard pruning and cut each branch as low as six to eight inches above the base of the plant. 

Second, tackle moss growth in your lawn. Once again this year, our mild winter weather has provided ideal conditions for moss to grow, so kill it now to allow your lawn a healthy start to spring. Ferrous sulfate is my moss killer of choice—its potency is superior to any other moss killer I’ve found and the fine granules allow for more even distribution over your lawn than many other granular products. After you’ve killed the moss, follow up with a dose of Super Sweet fast-acting lime to improve your soil’s overall health and provide better conditions for grass to grow. At Vander Giessen's, we carry both of these moss control products and can help you figure out how much you'll need for your yard.

Plant a combination or espaliered apple tree to enjoy
more fruit in a smaller space.

Third, plant some fruit trees. Late winter or early spring is an ideal time of year to transplant fruit trees into your yard, and now is the time of year they’re in stock at the nursery. With all things edible seeing a huge increase in popularity over the last several years (after all, it’s fun to enjoy the plants in your yard for more than just looks!) fruit trees have become popular as well. Lest you think your yard is too small for a fruit tree or you worry about what other tree or trees you’ll need to pollinate a fruit tree, worry not—with dwarf varieties now the norm and great options in self-pollinating or combination fruit trees, even a novice gardener with minimal space can enjoy the benefits of a fruit tree or two in the yard.

Fourth, spray for bugs and diseases. Unless we get a hard dose of winter later this month or next, which would do damage to a lot more than just insects, many of the plants around your yard may have overwintered insect eggs or fungus spores. Save yourself the headache of trying to undo the damage of an infestation later this spring by spraying now. For insect control for all your plants (including edibles), spray with liquid Sevin insecticide. To control diseases, use a copper dust or spray on your plants. Or, if you’re worried about both insects and diseases, use Bon-Neem, an all-in-one product safe for application on edibles and ornamental plants around your yard. 

Barring a nasty late winter storm, we’re setting up for an early spring in the Pacific Northwest, so enjoy the onset of a new season and have fun getting started with the work around your yard!

A Cure for the Spring Itch

It's time to start planning for
your garden!

Even though it's still January, I have to admit I’m already feeling the itch to start doing some work around the yard, a sentiment I normally don’t feel until February at some point. If you’re also beginning to feel the “need to weed” or get gardening, here are some recommendations to keep you busy without getting ahead of yourself.

First, let me offer a word of caution. Last year we enjoyed a particularly mild, pleasant January, only to get walloped in February by two snowy, icy winter storms and bitter cold. So, as much as I look forward to the signs of spring and the beautiful color the new season brings, I’m going to hold off from doing too much outdoors this month. 

That said, January is a great time for many of the less-glamorous but equally important aspects of gardening. One of the best ways you can ensure an enjoyable year ahead is by taking good care of your gardening tools. If it’s been awhile since you’ve sharpened your shovels and pruners—or, if you’ve never done so—you’ll be amazed at the difference a sharp tool can make. Use a bastard file (available at Vander Giessen's) to put an edge on your shovels and take a sharpening stone to your pruner. With a little bit of work, you’ll enjoy effortless digging, chopping and pruning all season long. 

A second gardening task you can do this month is to begin planning your vegetable garden for the coming year. By early February, we'll have our seed racks stocked for the coming season, and now is a great time to start mapping out what you’ll plant and where. Before your mind gets too focused on the upcoming year, take stock of what grew well last year, what you wish you had grown and what might need to be replaced with something new in your garden plot. With so many varieties of just about every major vegetable and herb available, I make an effort to try something new each year. Don’t be afraid to try new things in the coming year—chances are, you’ll find some must-have plants you wonder how you’ve ever done without!

'Flaming Squirrel'
seed sauce keeps
birds happy and
squirrels away!

Third, January is a great time to take care of the most abundant garden life in winter—birds! While winter is a dormant season for most plants, birds are as active as ever and would be thankful for a little bit of seed to keep them well-fed. To keep squirrels at bay, treat your bird seed with a pepper-based sauce every few fill-ups. A product like Coles Flaming Squirrel seed sauce is an easy-to-use, bird-friendly additive (who knew they actually like spicy food?!) that will deter squirrels or other rodents. Right now, our entire selection of bird supplies is on sale, so stop in!

Finally, if your spring itch is too difficult to not scratch, there are some plants you can begin to enjoy already this month. ‘Kramer’s Rote’ (also known as ‘Kramer’s Red’) heather, blooming now, can be added to a container planting on your porch for a splash of deep rose-pink. Enjoy it in a pot until it finishes blooming in April and then move it to a flowerbed for winter-long color for years to come. Several varieties of hellebore—as I wrote about lastmonth—are in bloom now with many more varieties ready to bloom soon. And of course, primroses are now in stock at Vander Giessen's as well. 

As we enjoy another mild western Washington winter, make the most of the slower pace and begin to prepare for the season of gardening upcoming. Happy New Year!