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Your
responsibility starts on the trip home from the
nursery. Drive straight home because plants left
in the car will cook in the sun! Drive 25 mph
or slower to avoid scorching or windburn on the
leaves if they are hanging out of the trunk or
back of a truck. |
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Unload
plants immediately in the shade or garage until
you are ready to plant. Carry by the pot or ball
not by the stem or branches. Many varieties are
brittle by nature (especially weeping varieties)
so HANDLE WITH CARE. |
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If
you do not plant immediately, keep rootball SOAKED.
It will keep for several days this way. If it
is hot, dry or windy, plant in early morning or
late afternoon. |
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All
plants grow in topsoil-not subsoil, solid rock
or clay. Your container plant needs a minimum
of 6-8 inches of good topsoil and trees need 12-14
inches. If you encounter clay while digging the
hole, stop digging and set the plant at that depth.
Use topsoil to build up the bed to the height
of the ball. This creates a raised bed so the
roots won't drown. Wet feet will kill your plant-sometimes
within one week! DO NOT PLANT IN CLAY.
When digging your hole, make it wide enough to
accomodate your foot when backfilling and tramping
the soil. DIG THE HOLE NO DEEPER THAN
THE DEPTH OF THE ROOTBALL (OR THE PLANT WILL SETTLE
CROOKED LATER). Back fill only to the
height of the rootball (ground level). |
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Plastic
or nylon burlap wrapping and twine must be removed
from the top and sides of rootball. Use a sharp
knife to cut the burlap away from the trunk and
slit the sides of the burlap. Cut around bottom
and remove upper piece leaving the plant sitting
on the excess. Do not attempt to remove the bottom
piece!! DO NOT REMOVE REGULAR BURLAP-
JUST THE TWINE AROUND THE TRUNK. |
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Fertilize
balled and burlapped trees and shrubs as they
are planted. Any all purpose fertilizer should
keep your plant happy. Never fertilize after July
15th because this will push late growth that won't
harden-off in time for winter. This growth will
burn, the plant will look unsightly and weakening
its resistance to insects and disease. |
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Trees
or shrubs over 6 ft. must be staked and guyed
to keep from swaying and breaking off fine feeder
roots. Large trees require 3 stakes. Staking kits
are available at Plumline. |
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Prune
out any dead or broken branches and mulch with
3-4 inches of bark mulch. Mulch keeps roots cool
and moist and reduces weed and grass competition
for water and nutrients. |
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A
HOSE DRIPPING at the base of your plant for at
least 2 hours is an efficient way to give your
plant a drink. Pull the mulch back every 2-3 days
to check moisture in the soil, especially noting
rootball for it will dry out much faster than
the surrounding soil. Some container plants may
need watered one or two times per day while larger
shade trees may only need watering once per week.
CLOSE ATTENTION TO WATERING IS NECESSARY
UNTIL ROOTS MOVE OUT INTO SURROUNDING SOIL
(approx 3 weeks)....then watering may be reduced. |
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Regular
visual inspection for insects and disease will
spot problems while they can be easily solved.
Most "bugs" can be picked off by hand
and disposed of or hosed off the plant with a
strong stream of water. However, some may need
an insecticidal spray. BRING A PIECE OF
THE AFFECTED PLANT AND "A BUG" TO US
- in a baggie w/your name and phone #. If we can't
identify the problem, we will find out for you
and you can call with necessary information. |
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Remember.............plants
need to drink regularly, even if they have been
successfully growing in your landscape for ten
years or more. When summer dry spells occur, give
the landscape a good deep watering once every
week. Dripping the hose at the base of your plant
will conserve water by avoiding run-off. This
encourages deep rooting which helps plants survive
drought and enhances winter hardiness and resistance
to winter burn on leaves. |
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Corrective
pruning is not difficult. Plants can be pruned
or trimmed any time of the year without affecting
it's health. Commercial wound paints are unnecessary
as the plant "walls-off" the wound with
modified cells within hours of the cut. Try to
keep an even scaffold of branches in the case
of trees with the "head" limbed up to
about a 6 ft. height. Do this gradually over the
years not allowing any branches to be removed
to grow over a 3-4 inch diameter. The smaller
the branch to be removed, the less time it takes
the tree to heal over. Prune flowering plants
and trees immediately after blooming so as not
to cut off next year's flowers. |
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Animal
damage has become more and more of a problem over
the past decade here in the Pittsburgh area. As
more ground is developed for homes and commercial
lots, the deer and rabbit population is pushed
into even smaller areas, reducing winter grazing
areas. Unfortunately, most landscape plants are
viewed as a delicacy and Bambi and Thumper have
a heyday grazing on your favorite and often expensive
plants. There are a couple of good repellants
on the market that we have used here at the nursery
with much success. These products are based on
a terrible taste and after one bite, that plant
is usually not bothered again for at least a month.
We recommend spraying Deer Away, an egg-based
product once a month for the first year. After
that, only once every four months. |
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The
drying winds of winter can take their toll on
evergreens, especially in the first 2 years after
planting. Some sort of burlap windscreen must
be erected around broadleafed evergreens from
December 15 to April 1. The burlap is stapled
to wooden stakes driven into the ground around
the plant to keep the full force of wind from
drying out leaves when roots are frozen. Broadleaf
evergreens are rhododenderons, azaleas, japonicas,
mt. laurel, hollies, etc. Other evergreens are
needle leaved, which may be burlapped too. If
your location is unusually windy, or if salt spray
from roadways is likely, anti-dessicant sprays
such as Wilpruf have been shown to have no effect
in reducing winter burn and therefore we do not
recommend that product. |
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WHAT
ARE THE MAJOR REAL PROBLEMS WITH LAWNS? |
| 1.)
Soil is compacted. Over two-thirds of American
lawns are growing on compacted soil.
2.)
Soil is almost dead. Over half of the lawns
are being grown in soil with few earthworms,
less than 1% humus, and with little microbiotic
activity.
3.)
Lawn care practices that are harmful: Many homeowners
mow their grass too short, fertilize and water
improperly, and never aerate or add organic
material to the turf. Collectively, these particles
undermine the best efforts to build healthy
turf. Water early in the day so grass is dry
by sunset. (Nighttime is the worst time to water
because fungus will grow.)
4.)
Grass could be tired. |
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WHAT
IS "TIRED" GRASS? |
| Because
of the stress caused by improper lawn care practices,
most existing lawns lack vigor. Lawns that are
10-15 years old or more lack the benefits of
recent technological developments in improved
grass seed varieties.
The
best of lawn care products can do little to
improve these "tired" lawns. |
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| Rx
for "Tired" Lawns..................
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| PART
1 - Older Established Lawns |
1.)
Improve the soil.
2.) Introduce improved, modern grass seed varieties.
3.) Mow, water and fertilize PROPERLY. |
| 1.)
IMPROVING THE SOIL |
| Soil
compaction is a lawn's enemy! Even if the lawn
is not routinely walked on, years and years
of walking behind a lawn mower - or worse, driving
a mower - every ten days or so has caused most
lawns to become compacted.
Conventionally,
we take care of the grass, when we really should
be taking care of the soil! We need to do what
golf course and athletic field turf managers
have been doing for decades; make core aeration
a regular part of the lawn maintenance program.
Once
we have given the stressed soil some relief,
we can consider top dressing with organic material. |
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| PART
II - NEW LAWN INSTALLATIONS |
| SEED
SELECTION: Here
again, if your future satisfaction is important
(and it should be), use the best seed blend that
is available. If a quality turf is desired, avoid
mixtures containing annual ryegrass and too much
fine fescue for sunny areas. Our personal pick
would be our Plumline Nursery mix at a new seeding
rate of 8-10 lbs. Per sq. ft. |
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| FERTILIZING
NEW LAWNS:
Use
ONLY a slow release product that has been designated
as a starter fertilizer. The less expensive
types of agricultural grades of fertilizer produce
a one -shot burst of leaf growth and short lived
color. This quick "fix" of nitrogen
stimulates leaf growth at the expense of the
root system and the slower to germinate bluegrass.
If
possible, to achieve the ideal results, we would
recommend applying only 1/2 of the slow release
starter fertilizer with seed application. The
second 1/2 would be applied a little later on
- after the bluegrass has had time to sprout.
The reasoning? Today's new ryegrasses are very
aggressive and have a tendency to dominate -
especially if they are over-stimulated when
they emerge. Delaying at least a portion of
the initial fertilizer application will give
the good bluegrass varieties a chance to establish
and compete on even terms. |
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Plumline
Products To The Rescue!!!!! |
| PLUMLINE
is the only garden center in the eastern suburbs
authorized to carry: |
POC-
processed organic compost. $28.00/cu. yd.
This
uniform product resembles coarse peat moss and
is excellent for amending depleted soils, enriching
planting mixes and enhancing the growth of turf
and ornamental plant species. |
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Plumline
Special Mix Grass Seed...$3.75/lb.
This
premium seed is specially mixed for us to best
adapt to growing conditions and soils in our
local area. |
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FOR
LAWNS:
New
Lawns: Initially
apply a 1-2" layer of POC to the soil surface
and incorporate it to a depth of 6 inches. Apply
Plumline Special Mix grass seed, rake it into
the amended soil and water thoroughly.
For
Maintenance: Apply
a 1/2" layer of POC to the soil surface
(lawn), rake, then water thoroughly. If desired,
grass seed may be applied prior to raking.
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Thank
you for taking the time to read through this
information. Please feel free to call with any
questions and we will do our best to solve your
problem. We do KNOW
OUR PLANTS and
grow a good percentage of what we sell. You
can be sure of top quality, "hardy- for-this-area-plant
material".......the best that money can
buy. |
| Bill
& Karen Tribou and the staff
at PLUMLINE NURSERY on the Ridge. |
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