Newsletter – August 2015 – Hickory Lane Customer

Hickory Lane customer!

And welcome to the first of our newsletters! I couldn’t imagine doing a newsletter in the busy spring but as things slow down I’ve decided to follow through on something that’s been on my mind for many years. I’ll attempt to write a monthly newsletter to share seasonal ideas regarding the fascinating topic of landscaping and your home environment. After all, what environment is more important to you than your home?

As you are well aware, we’ve just had one of the wettest summers on record. The watering chore for new plantings has never been easier. But in such conditions, plants fail to root deeply so when the weather finally turns hot and dry some new plantings will suffer. Keep in mind…………. an inch of water per week is ideal to keep lawns and plants green and healthy. If mother nature doesn’t provide, we can supplement. This is particularly necessary for new plantings only. If your landscape is well designed, the established plants should be happy where they are and will tolerate the conditions provided by mother nature.

As we enter the fall season, plants will be shutting down for the winter and using less water. Particularly, deciduous trees as they lose their leaves. But, again, give your new plantings a good, deep soaking if conditions are dry before cold weather sets in. Keep in mind that fall is a great time for planting as we move into another cool, moist season.

On another note………………folks sometimes complain that we can’t grow all the nice species in Ohio that we see in the more temperate climates further south and east. Well………..everything is relative. Actually we can be grateful for the number of plant species we can grow here in central Ohio. I was recently on vacation in the Canadian Rockies where they have 2 months of summer! Pretty much the only deciduous tree grown there is Poplar! It is locally known as quaking aspen which creates those beautiful mountain scenes with yellow fall color against an evergreen backdrop. But nowhere did I see anything other than Poplar as a shade tree. No maples for red fall color, no oaks with stately wide heads and not much for flowering trees and shrub diversity. Mind you, the annuals and perennials were beautiful with the cool, short summer, but it surprised me how little diversity I saw. I hope they never get a bug like the emerald ash borer that takes out their only tree species!

I hope you get some benefit from my monthly sharing. I’ll try to keep this brief but informative.

Feel free to suggest topics or ask questions if you like.

 – Mike Epp