I'm dreaming of a green garden.

I'm dreaming of a green garden.
What else does a gardener's dog dream of? Long walks, running through the trees, and just being with me. What more could I want? Family, thoughts of warm spring days to come and my friend Lucy always by my side.

Thanksgiving Garden Workout!

Thanksgiving Garden Workout!
Did you enjoy lots of turkey? I sure did and then some! So to make sure the lbs don't stick to my ribs like that scoop of stuffing I did some end of year garden chores today. Mow your lawn one last time short to prevent spring snow mold. Rake/blow out the rest of those fallen leaves out of the garden to elliminate hiding places for moles and voles. Drain, roll up and hang in the shed all the garden hoses. 

Now off to the left overs... Larry

Victoria & Richard MacKenzie-Childs Jewelry Party at Grossmans Garden & Home

Grossmans Garden & Home presents: Victoria & Richard MacKenzie-Childs Jewelry Party and Holiday Preview, tomorrow November 20th, 4-7pm! Victoria has just made available two NEW Jewelry Pieces to be unveiled tomorrow night. These pieces have never before been publicly shown.
Victoria & Richard MacKenzie-Childs at Grossmans Garden & Home Video.

Party Details @ Grossmans.com

Help Me Design My Garden!

Help Me Design My Garden!
HELP! Here' the action and reaction. ACTION: I cut down deseased Austrian Pines that looked ugly. REACTION: Frances couldn't beleive the massive view she could now see of the YMCA. REACTION: Whats my plan? Darn it! I dont have one. i thought i could wing it! I always say "Plan, Prepare, Plant " I Prepared by cutting down dying trees I hated to see. I did not Plan to Plant until spring 2010. What am I to do? Let me know what you think? HELP ME CREATE since that is what I do for you my customers everyday. The best idea gets a free consultation from me!
grossmans.com

Kill Weeds in the Garden

Warm day, 67 degrees and climbing. Weeds are starting to grow, again! Today's garden task; spray an herbicide to kill the last of them off. When temps warm up, weeds take off and will absorb the chemical willingly. Tomorrow will be warmer and the weeds will keep on growing. If you do this, expect to see weeds die off slowly due to cool nights. Need more knowledge, ask a question. I'm sure others will want to know too.
www.grossmans.com
Grossmans Garden & Home Facebook

Victoria & Richard MacKenzie-Childs at Grossmans Garden & Home

You are personally invited to attend
An Extraordinary Private Appearance by...

MacKenzie-Childs

Friday, May 1st from 3 - 8pm
for a Private Appearance for you, and only you, our special customers. This is a golden oppurtuntity to experience the whimsical spirit of these two world renowned artists launching their brand new company. Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs' new creations include dinnerware, pottery, urns, candles, lamps, rugs & more. Thier new jewelry line features unique designs infused with fun, fancy & color! Victoria and Richard are also making available very special 'one of a kind' creations from their personal collection. This is your chance to be 'up close & personal' with Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs while they sign purchases made only at this event.

Open to the public Saturday May 2nd at 9am

1801 Fairport Nine Mile Point Rd, Penfield, NY 14526
585.377.1982
Mon-Fri: 9 to 7. Sat & Sun: 9-6
www.grossmans.com

What do I feed my lawn?

Do you want to know what I feed my lawn? The answer: Jonathon Green products; Organic or 4-Step Programs. The reason: Frances and I love a lush lawn. The real reason: we look at our grass and feed it the right percentage of nutrients at the right time to grow a great lawn the whole year.
Quick information about the numbers on the bag; they represent three nutrients and the percentage of each in the bag. Nitrogen for top growth, Phosphorous for root growth and Potassium for general health. So let's take a look at the ingredients in the bags of Scotts and Jonathon Green.

Scotts Lawn Pro 4 step Program.
32-3-8
29-3-3
29-3-4
31-3-10
Nitrogen 32,29,29,31% Roughly the same amount in every application. Does your lawn grow at the same rate all year; or does it slow down in the summer and fall? If you say it slows down read below.
Phosphorous 3,3,3,3% The same amount in every application. Roots need to be be fed and grow differently during the year; read below.
Potassium 8,3,4,10% More plant health provided at the beginning and end of season. If you want a healthier lawn all year; read below.

Jonathon Green Lawn Program
22-4-4
26-3-6
18-0-3
10-18-20
Nitrogen 22,26,18,10% My grass starts to grow in April 22%, speeds up in May-June 26%, slows down in July-August 18% and goes to sleep in October-November 10%. See the numbers go up and down? If your grass grows like mine; use Jonathon Green.
Phosphorous 4,3,0,18% My grass grows some roots in April 4%, grows about the same in May-June 3%, goes dormant (green, not brown) in July-August 0% and in the fall I push roots to grow deep to prepare the grass for the winter 18%. If you want your grass to withstand summer drought and produce deep roots to carry the lawn through the winter; use Jonathon Green.
Potassium 4,6,3,20% My grass wakes up with good plant health in April 4%, needs a bit more when it is growing the fastest in May-June 6%, needs less when it is hardly growing in July-August 3%, and is incredibly healthy when it goes dormant in the fall with 20%. If you want your grass to be strong and healthy as it prepares for winter; use Jonathon Green.
If you want better control of crab grass; use Jonathon Green step one with Dimension. And as an added bonus Jonathon Green is less expensive than Scotts.

Stop in and talk to Barry Green, the owner of Jonathon Green this Saturday April 25th, from 9am-3pm. Talk turf, get in the know and grow a great lawn!
see you in the nursery...Larry G

Roll me another...in the Garden

No matter what they say, my wife loves a lush lawn and don't I know it. So if I can stay ahead of the curve and get the yard work done I believe she will love me even more.
To roll or not to roll...that is the question. We roll and aerate the lawn every year. It smooths out the winter mole/vole tunnels and freeze thaw bumps. The aeration allows for the lawn to cycle soil to the surface while loosening up the soil to allow the roots to expand again.
Next, I love Jonathon Green 4-step products. They feed the lawn the right amount of nutrients when the grass need them. None of this 29-32% nitrogen level in each bag all the time like the national Sc_tts product slams out. J Green provides the right ratio of N-P-K at the right time that makes my life easier by growing grass the way it wants to grow.
So if I love Jonathon Green lawn products and my grass loves the results and my wife sees the results of a lush lawn, I know she loves me too.
Bottom Line: A lush lawn,,,gets me a lot of lovin' too.

Woodpecker Valentine in the Garden

How would you like to wake up on Valentines Day to "Happy Valentines Day Honey! Can you do something with that woodpecker of yours"? Groggy eyed I said "Now that's what I'm talking about!" She said, "Hold on mister". I said "OK". And then I woke up... If only I heard what I thought I heard, what a glorious start to my day it would have been.

Our conversation went something like this: "Did you hear that little pecker pounding on the house"? "No. I was having a great dream". "When it got done with the house it moved over to the tree. Did you hear it peck on the tree'? "No. I was still in the middle of that great dream". "Well look outside. Look what that little woodpecker did to our house and tree! Can you get rid of it"?

So out the door we went ... hoping dreams to be finished later. "Show me what you are talking about"? There was the damage with no bird in site. Nice job. Oval shaped holes coming to a point on the inside. Uggg! Just what I wanted to do today; plug some holes with wood putty. Sand, stain and seal the molding. Fill the hole in the tree and let the wound heal over on its own. Lastly the solution; hang an Owl from the eve of our log home to scare off the Woodpeckers.

And yes, the romantic dinner, wine and dessert were out of this world. Some men thank their lucky stars ... I thanked my little woodpecker friend instead. For if you peck, you will receive....

Mud, Moles and Mess in the Garden...

So the snow is gone and Frances says "Hey honey check out our gardens". So boots on feet, hood on head, I'm out there looking in the gardens...and for what? She didn't have to tell me, I already knew. Moles and Voles in the beds and on the edge of the lawn. So like a good gardener I mush down the tunnels, check a few perennials where the tunnels have lead to, and push some mulch/soil/mud under a few plants to fill in the voids. Then it's off to the shed to break out the MoleMax. As a natural organic repellent, I spread it in the areas where I see tunnels never having to worry that the dogs might want to go snooping around there too.

So take a break from your favorite book or seed catalog. Check out your gardens before the next snow fall and spread a little MoleMax to fend off the moles and voles. Your plants will love you, you'll give your husband something to do (sorry guys), and you can go back to nesting for the rest of the winter.

See you in the nursery for a class or two.... stay warm....Larry

Winter Harsh Gardener

Hey All! I had a follow up question asking more about zone 6 plants and what happens to them during this harsh winter...

Here are some zone 6 plant families that may dieback this winter:
Rhododendron
Azalea
Japanese Andromeda
Mountain Laurel

With in these plant families are specific varieties that are hardy for zones 5 and below. Grossman's Country Nursery tends to air on the conservative side and carry varieties that are hardy so that the gardener will be successful not only during mild winters but harsh ones (like this year) as well. Where a gardener can run into trouble might lie with in the ‘box stores’. A buyer for the box store is purchasing for their territory which could be made up of multiple plant hardiness zones. They tend to have general family and varieties of plants stocked on their shelves for their entire territory. Some varieties might not be suitable to sell in one store while others would be.

If a gardener experiences any of these plants dying over a period of 3-5 years; this is an indication the plant is not conducive to the micro-climate of which they are growing. This year’s cold weather will speed up the dieback process and shorten the life span of the plant. Gardeners should heed our advice before purchasing a plant and remember; “Right plant for the right growing conditions. Then buy the plant. Buying a plant on a whim without the right advice and having it die tends to make that plant the most costly of all plants”.

Winter Weather Plant Concerns

Right now the is cold and snowy. Here's whats going on in the garden.

With the amount of snow on the ground, covered plants are well insulated which keeps them from coming out of dormancy prematurely. Bulbs for example. Plants that are more tender, Rhododendrons, Azaleas are protected from winds by the snow cover. This will help prevent their flower buds from freezing off due to wind desiccation.

If a garden was not raked out of leaves and debris in the fall; with the high amounts of snow cover, moles and voles will have a field day because of the snow cover. Once we get a thaw and can see the ground use an organic repellent to keep the rodent problem to a minimal.

Heavy snow loads are ok on shrubs that are properly pruned to hold the weight. Snow should not be removed, but let to melt naturally. Usually the shape of a shrub will ‘bounce back’ once the snow is off. If it does not, pruning will be necessary to eliminate leggy branches. Ideally, all plants should be pruned 2x per year to prevent leggy growth.

Cold weather is great to finally have a hard freeze in the ground. As you can remember during the past few winters, the ground never froze. When high winds occur, trees were wind or top heavy and pulled out of the ground because the ground was water laden and soft. Roots right now are locked in and high winds should not be a problem at this time.

Plants are very resilient. The weather is not so unusual to plants that are hardy to zone 5 or less. Because we have been tempted with mild winters in the past 5 or so years, gardeners have been experimenting with plants that are zone 6-7 hardy. These plants will probably die back and possibly die off. Gardeners will be mindful to realize they can only temp Mother Nature so long before she kicks us in the butt with a brutal cold winter like this one. Global warming doesn’t necessarily mean we are going to have a mild winter. Though this has been the case for several years, I think we all can recall the days past when this type of winter was the norm.