The neighborhood is awaking with the sound of mowers, chainsaws and leaf blowers. It is Spring and the lawns are growing and the trees are blooming. It is the time to get the garden stuff done.
OK, so I have to make this dis-claimer. I'm the world's worse gardener in practice but I'm better on the concept part. I can lead and direct the tasks but my back is not allowing me to keep an active golf game and do all the weed-pulling and other back cracking work. But, never the less I'm pleased to introduce this subject in order to get your feedback and input as to what works for you. In general the lawns and gardens in HP are great. Please fell free to add your comments to enhance what I'm posting here.
Lawns
All that I have learned about lawns have come from meeting several golf course Superintendents over the years. The guiding principal that they preach is drainage. In HP it is well known that drainage is a problem. We have a heavy layer of sandstone and clay all throughout the plat. When it comes to lawns, if you experience a drying out in the summer and a sogginess during the winter then drainage is your problem. The winter thing is more of a "get water off and gone" issue then the getting water and fertilizer to the roots during the summer. One method that helps this latter issue is a "punch and sand" treatment on a regular basis. This will create a hole, fill it with sand [the "wick"] and then treat the soil with gypsum and fertilizer. I'll leave the rest of the explanation on this to the experts who will post a comment. Look for a comment from the neighborhood expert and the one who cares for many of the yards in HP, Brian Kosko. He's the smartest guy I know on this stuff and is very well trained on lawn issues.
Brian Kosko
Premier Lawn Management
360-886-0440
info@premierlawnmanagement.com
www.premierlawnmanagement.com
360-886-0440
info@premierlawnmanagement.com
www.premierlawnmanagement.com
Gardens
I know that some new to the neighborhood are new to the NW. What plants do well and which ones struggle is a good thing to know. Aside from what you find to plant from the local Home Depot and Lowe's, we have some super Nursery stores locally that have great advice.
1. Haynes Nursery
2. Squak Mt.
Look them up in the Yellow pages to see where they are located but I can't say enough for the expertice that you can find from them for plantings and care of the plants in the garden. They generally have Master Gardener's on site to trouble shoot the sick plants. They also have a good supply of healthy plantings that will live in your yard or they replace what will not survive.
The garden maintanace is another whole subject. This issue comes up kind of at the last minute, in the spring/summer when we realize that we don't have the time to do all that we need to do. I have been tempted to hire my own labor from the hords of Labor Ready groups at Home Depot in Bellevue. The problem is I don't speak spanish that well and you need to deal with their need for using access to your house for rest rooms. A friend of mine recently was reffered a couple of workers, that I'm using today They are super! They work very well and do a quality job. If you need a garden bed cleaning, shrub trimming or any other garden cleanup I can highly recommend them to you.
Quality Garden Workers
Lupillo 253-394-6725
Lupillo 253-394-6725
Please tell him I sent you. He is a very proud guy on the work that he provides. He works the entire day with his helper. They clean all the beds they can in 1 full working day, the 2 of them, getting all that they can do during that time. They do it all. Get some extra green bids for the stuff they will remove. Lipillo works, during most of the week, for a reputable Landscape company. Due to slowdown in the economy, he finds himself with some extra time to do this, on the side. I was very pleased with his job and service.
That's it for now. The rest is up to you. Post a comment to add information and knowledge for all to learn. Do you use someone else or company that has worked well for you. Become a follower to see all the new postings and comments as the come our way. As a follower any new posting comes to your email as well as posted comments. Thanks for participating. This seems to be working out well.
Post your comments on Lawn and Garden
Well thank you for the kind words. Yes this is a great time to provide aeration for your lawn and enhancing the drainage and soil condition is very beneficial for the lawn.
ReplyDeleteThe aeration opens up the soil and allows for oxygen, water and nutrients to reach the root system of the grass, which is where it is most beneficial. The aeration also loosens the soil allowing the roots to expand and grow healthier.
When opening up the soil or exposing soil its always a good time to over-seed. The holes created from the aeration provide for a great seed bed.
To enhance the soil condition I suggest applying gypsum. Gypsum is a natural product (calcium and sulfer) which bonds to the clay that Highland Park sits on and helps to break down the clay and turn it into useable soil for the root system of the grass. This is a great product but one treatment doesn't do the job. In my experience of 27 years of lawn maintenance I have found it takes about three years of applying the gypsum at-least once a year before there is a noticable difference in the soil.
The sand is the most difficult application but in the HP soils is very helpful. The sand will fill the holes created from the aeration and allow water to flow through the holes to much easier reach the root system. The sand helps keep the soil loose and improves drainage.
So to sum it up.
1. Aerate the lawn
2. Apply the proper fertilization, no weed control
3. Apply gypsum
4. Over-seed with a rye mix in most cases
5. Topdress with sand.
If you have any questions in regards to your lawns in Highland Park you can reach me on my cell phone @ 253 232 9777 or 1 800 815 9777. The office phone is 360 886 0444.
Thank you,
Brian Kosko
Thanks Brian for the punch and sand job on the lawn. The over-seed also os filling in the bare spots in the lawn that appeared in the late summer. The grass is already starting to come up and thrive. Good plan...thanks
ReplyDelete-ted burris
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ReplyDeleteThe storm water system which accepts the sump pump discharge usually ends up in a retention pond of some sort and then goes into a water body. The retention pond process is supposed to trap the "first flush" of water from a storm and allow the nasties that run off the roads and lawns to settle and decompose in the pond with the excess water going into the water body.
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