Planting the Kansas Keukenhof

It is late October, many think it is too late for gardening, nothing could be further from the truth. Our good Friend, Piet Stuifbergen (our Dutch bulb supplier from The Netherlands) thinks that October/November is the perfect time for planting these Spring-flowering miracles. We still have an excellent assortment of bulbs to select from, whether it is tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, any of the misc. bulbs. I started my project today by pulling out the geraniums in our flower bed. Tilled the soil with a Mantis tiller, leveled the soil and then planted the bulbs. I like to till the soil 6" deep which will make the planting go much easier. If the area you are planting in is not tillable, then a bulb planter works well. I planted a variety of Species crocus 'Gypsy Girl' in bunches of 6 along the border. These 4-6" tall, yellow with black striped bulb should bloom by March. Next came Gregii Tulip 'United States' This mid-season tulip has yellow and red flowers that will grow to 18". Behind these in the rear come a bunch flowering, Single Late Tulip called 'Antoinette' which is a reverse of the 'United States', red and yellow flowers. Over the top of all the bulb to bloom for 3 seasons in a Yellow Pansy with a dark blotch called 'Colossus Yellow' I fertilized the area with Ferti-Lomes Start-N-Gro Plus, a slow release fertilizer with a weed preventer, which will keep the area weed-free all winter. Most importantly I watered the area 3 times to get the bulbs moist to start the root development. Check back and see what other bulps I get planted, maybe I'll have a showing next spring of my 'Kansas Keukenhof'

My dog had fleas

I am sure you have heard, and probably even sang a few measures of that catchy tune at some point. Our 11 yr old Golden knows first hand what it is like to have fleas. Last fall was the first time Bailey had ever experienced fleas. Last fall I noticed there seemed what I thought was dirt in her coat. Upon closer examination, I saw these tiny insects crawling in her fur. You can imagine what the specs I was thinking was dirt, we won't go there. I knew that we sold several versions of Permethrin, a safe insecticide used in most flea and tick controls for animals. It is even used in clothing that you purchase which has an insect label. I checked the label on Hi-Yield Indoor/Outdoor Broad Use Insecticide and sure enough it had animals listed on the label. this product has 24 pages of uses for all types of insect control in the landscape and inside pest control as well. It is low odor which is nice when using on our pets, and around the home as well. My method of application for Bailey was a Ferti-Lome Air-O-Matic hose end sprayer. If you have swine, poultry, beef cattle, horses, sheep, goats, or a dog, try Hi-Yield Indoor/Outdoor Broad Use Insecticide to control fleas and other insects.

How did the product work on Bailey? Well, last fall it only took 1 application to control the fleas. I am confident that today's spraying will do it for this season as well.

I'm sure all you faithful customers were tuned in to Saturday's radio program on KNSS 1330 and didn't miss a thing that was discussed, but for those of you who were working out in their yard or doing the Race for the Cure we've decided to post some of the questions that were called in. In fact, we may just decide to do this weekly so stay tuned!

Q) Is now a good time to 'dead head' my mums?
A) If the blooms are past their prime you can go ahead and snip off the flower, but realize once this is done, they won't bloom again this year.

Q)Would it be a good time to give acid plant food to Hollies?
A)Yes, now's a great time! You can either use ferti-lome Tree & Shrub Food or Fox Farm for Acid Loving Plants!

Q)I've got a fescue lawn with bermuda grass that creeps in, how can I kill the bermuda?
A)This is a common problem in fescue lawns. The best products to use are Turflon Ester or Bayer Bermuda Grass Control.

Q)When do I plant new grass, and what can I use to control broadleaf and grassy weeds?
A)Now is the perfect time to plant new grass, we've got a great selection in the stores now.
Kill broadleaf weeds with ferti-lome Weed Free Zone after you've mowed the new grass twice, and use Baricade in the spring. You will also want to use ferti-lome All Seasons Crabgrass Preventer to prevent grassy weeds.

Q)I've got stickers in my yard, what can I use to control them?
A)A great product to use is Hi-Yield Turf & Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper. This product provides a superior control of broadleaf weeds and annual grass weeds in established lawns and ornamental turf.

Q)I've just rebuilt a porch where wasps used to reside. If I paint the ceiling of the porch sky blue will it deter the wasps from building nests?
A)While we're not sure if wasps can actually see color, we would recommend using Hi-Yield Indoor/Outdoor Insecticide. You can spray the product using the Air-O-Matic Hose-On Sprayer around the perimeter of the porch to control unwanted pests. This product also helps control fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, caterpillars, cicadas to mention a few.

We hope you will find this information helpful! If you have questions please don't hesitate to ask us . Remember, if you've got a question, there are probably 10 other people wondering the same thing so don't hesitate to ask!
Also, tune in on Saturday Mornings from 8-9 a.m. for Johnson's Radio Show with Marty and Jeremy Johnson. They'll give great advice and answer questions callers call in with. You can call the show at 436-1330!

Fresh look

We've done some rearranging at Johnson's Garden Centers.



We replaced some of the tables with brick flooring in the greenhouses at two of our locations for a more friendly atmosphere and creative displays.



We're excited about the new look, and hope you will be too!



Oh, and speaking of new looks, the Monrovia boutique at Johnson's East has been given a fall look that includes new nursery stock!


Stop by any of our three locations to check it the new displays, colorful fall mums, pansies and nursery stock.

Homegrown Tomatoes

We were without homegrown tomatoes for about 4 weeks this summer after our only hot spell seemed to not let our tomatoes set fruit. Well we had a cool, moist month of August and now we have an abundance of tomatoes. I always label my plants so I can see which ones do the best, but usually they all grow together and I have a hard time finding the labels. I do know the Jet Stars are really loaded right now. I would just recommend plant as many varieties as you can, and enjoy the color, and taste of the different varities.

Seeding Cool Season Lawns

Today was the perfect day to seed a cool season lawn. I had a couple of areas to plant seed, different reasons in each area. The first area had been sprayed with Hi-Yield Super Killz-All about 4 weeks ago, and then again 3 weeks later, to make sure the bermuda grass was dead. Another area were just spots in an existing lawn that were just void of any grass. In this area I set a rototiller about 2" deep and loosened the top layer of soil. Another area, the exitsting fescue was just thin, and needed thickened up. I think in this area, my sprinkler system misses this area, so I will need to address this issue to get good germination.

The key points in getting a good lawn, is to plant the best seed available. We sell Gard'N-Wise premium Fescue blend. We recommend planting 8 lbs per 1000 sq ft. This blend is selected from varieties that have done well in KSU turf research. There is no weed seed in this blend, and it has a high germination percent.

Secondly, it is important to get good seed to soil contact. This is done by using a lawn comber (we rent at the stores) to make a shallow slit in the soil, through the thach, about 2" apart. Small areas can be raked with a garden rake, or use a rototiller as done for small areas.

Thirdly, it is important to use Ferti-Lome New Lawn Starter to get the new grass plants growing. A follow-up application of Ferti-Lome Winterizer in 4 weeks will keep the plants growing this fall, and a final application of Winterizer in November will be the last feeding for the season. If weeds germinate with the newly planted seed, (as happens when the soil is disturbed) Ferti-Lome Weed-Free-Zone with Fertilizer may be used at this time to kill weeds and winterize the lawn

Finally, keeping the area watered to get the seed to germinate is important. Normally a light watering twice a day will get the seeds up and growing.

If you get the lawn planted in the next month you will be fine. The sooner you are able to get it growing though, the faster it will get established this fall. Once this is done, then next week you can plant pansies, mums, and asters. Then in October, the spring flowering bulbs can start going into the ground.

Ready, Set, Fertilize

For many years, we have been telling customers that to have the best looking lawn on the block, they needed to fertilize in the fall. I thought it would be interesting to link you to the source of that information, Kansas State University (GO CATS). KSU has information on about anything you ever wanted to know about for your lawn, garden, landscape. Here is the link to the 'Fertilizing Turfgrass Report' that give us the research.

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hort2/mf2324.pdf
For cool-season lawns, most of the fertilizer should
be applied in the fall. Fescue, bluegrass and ryegrass
benefit most from fall-applied nitrogen applications.
September is the most important time. Nitrogen applied during
September helps thicken the stand, and encourages
development of a healthy root system. A November
application (at about the time of the final mowing of
the season) helps the turf build food reserves. This
enables the lawn to green up earlier in the spring, without
encouraging the excessive shoot growth that often
accompanies early spring Nitrogen applications.

Ferti-Lome's Winterizer contains 5 lbs of Nitrogen, applied to a 5,000 yard will apply recommended ammount of fertilizer. My suggestion would be to do an application each of the next 3 months.