TIMELY TIPS FOR GARDEN SUCCESS

A lot of home owners tend to forget about their gardens in the winter. But this is possibly the most important time to take care of one's plants. By taking care of some simple tasks now, you will be able to keep your garden looking beautiful, and make it much more productive in spring. 

LAWN CARE:
To prevent crabgrass in spring, feed you lawn with MASTER NURSERY in January. It helps promote deep green color, encourages root development and helps prevent crabgrass and other lawn weeds. Remember to only water your lawn during periods of extended dry weather. Lower your mower height to 2 inches or less. Our FREE LAWN CARE GUIDE is loaded with timely information that will help you achieve the lawn of your dreams year-round. 

FRUIT TREES:
Now is the time to spray for disease prevention for fruit trees. We recommend spraying a combination of LIQUI-COP & ALL SEASONS OIL & SPREADER STICKER. Most fruit trees need to be sprayed more than once, and timing, along with dilution rates vary depending on weather and type of fruit tree. Feed deciduous fruit trees with a 0-10-10 fertilizer in January for a larger abundance of blooms in spring. Pick up your FREE copy of our FRUIT TREE CARE GUIDE for a complete schedule of what to use and when to spray fruit trees. 

ROSES:
Dormant prune your roses in January. Remove any leaves that may still be left on plants. After pruning, give your roses one "clean-up" spray combining SULFUR (for disease) with ALL SEASONS OIL (for insect control). We always recommend adding a SPREADER STICKER to the spray mixture to help it stick to the plant better. Make sure and seal all cane tips with DOC FARWELL SEAL & HEAL. Pick up you FREE copy of our ROSE PRUNING GUIDE for extra rose care tips. 

FLOWERS & VEGETABLES:
Continue to feed flowers monthly with MASTER NURSERY FORMULA 49 ALL PURPOSE FERTILIZER. For a larger harvest out of your garden, feed winter vegetables with DR. EARTH #5 VEGETABLE FERTILIZER. Protect flowers and vegetables from slugs, snails, earwigs and crawling insects with SLUGGO. 

WATER PLANTS:
Divide and transplant water lilies and other dormant water plants into larger pots for the following season. Use AQUATIC PLANT SOIL, not packaged potting soil whose organic ingredients can rot the plant roots. Use wider rather than deeper pots, because most water plants are shallow rooted and grow horizontally. Don't forget to add AQUATIC PLANT FOOD TABS to the soil when you are finished. 

FROST PROTECTION:
Don’t prune frost tender plants such as Bougainvillea, Citrus, Ferns and Hibiscus until danger of frost has passed in spring. Do not cover plants with fabric or plastic unless you can create a removable "tent" structure that does not come in contact with foliage. The use of an anti-transpirant such as CLOUD COVER will offer up to 5 degrees of extra frost protection.  Make sure the soil is moist when a frost is expected. Do not wet foliage, especially in the morning when a plant is still frozen. Allow the plant to unthaw naturally.  Pick up your FREE copy of our FROST PROTECTION GUIDE for extra plant care tips, helpful products and warning signs of impending frost.

WINTER PROTECTION:
Cold sensitive plants can benefit from an application high phosphorus fertilizer such as 0-10-10 prior to first snow, which will help strengthen the roots for winter. Make sure and cover cold sensitive plants with straw, pine needles or some type of other breathable natural mulch to help protect them from cold damage. Don’t prune cold tender perennials and shrubs until all cold danger has passed in spring and plants are showing signs of breaking dormancy or re-leafing again. This will also help you see how far to prune back to.