An Ounce of Prevention

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Truer words were never spoken when it comes to gardening in general and spring gardening in particular. What you do now in the way of weed and pest control and general maintenance can have a direct impact on your success later this spring and summer. It can also have a big impact on the extent of brute physical labor that is required to keep your landscape in line. If your back is anything like mine, I’m sure you’ll find that these activities will have been well worth it.

If you haven’t done so already, you’re nearing the last call for applying pre-emergent to control crabgrass, foxtail, and other annual grasses. It is also time to kill last year’s dandelions, buckhorn, thistle, and chickweed with post- emergent weed controls. Use these as soon as this year’s growth appears. If you have shrub beds or areas with groundcovers, you’ll probably want to put down pre-emergent seed germination controls in them to prevent new weed growth from seed. However, it is futile to put pre-emergent on yet to be planted annual or perennial beds since planting and other traffic will break the barrier and destroy the control’s effectiveness. For grass that is out of place or carrying over into beds, use a product such as “Round-Up” to kill it now that the grass is in full active growth. Be sure to use these products only on things to be totally killed as they are non-selective. Then edge beds to help prevent grass tillers from growing back under and across the set bed lines.

Now is also the time to apply summer weight oil sprays to those plants that need it. Oil sprays and horticultural soaps work to eliminate the over-wintering stages of many insects and are very eco-friendly.

If you have roses, take a few minutes to remove old mulch before this year’s new leaves expand and the old disease spores can splash up off of the mulch. Wait to apply fresh mulch in mid-May or early June after the soil has warmed up. As a preventive measure, you should start applying a fungicide to new growth so that black spot won’t take hold.

Since the soil is still too wet and cold to work or plant, use this time to prune flowering shrubs and trees that have already bloomed. Do the rest in stages within two weeks to a month after each type has bloomed. This is also the time to check for dead or crossed branches on all of your trees and shrubs and take them out.

Begin making the rounds of your landscape to check for damage or insect and disease infestation. This inspection should be an ongoing process and now is the time to start preventative controls. If you discover problems with disease or insects, check with the experts at your local nursery or garden center to determine what the best solution is. They can help you target the attack, if one is necessary, and avoid making the mistake of using a cover spray.

Finally, take this time to rake stray leaves and otherwise clean color beds, reset stones, check your garden equipment and, in general, tidy up a bit. It will probably be your last chance before the growing season gets in full swing. And - remember, what you do now can save time and energy later, allowing you to enjoy the fruits of your labor.