Outdoor Yard and Garden Tips
- Evergreens like hollies, boxwoods, and pines can be moderately pruned. The trimmings can be used for holiday decorating.
- Water young and newly planted trees and shrubs until the ground freezes.
- Seed catalogs are beginning to arrive in the mail. How do you narrow the choices down to make the selection easier? For help, refer to How to Choose a Seed Catalog?
- Cover strawberry plants with a piece of floating row cover to help prevent winter injury and promote early growth in the spring.
- Fire blight damage on apples and pears should be pruned out during the coldest periods in December or January. This will lessen the chance of spreading the bacterial infection.
- Test your soil before planting blueberries. The desired soil pH for blueberry is 4.3-5.3. Use iron sulfate and elemental sulfur to drop the soil pH, a process that can take 6-12 months. These plants establish more quickly and are more productive in soils heavily amended with compost.
- Store birdseed in metal cans with tight-fitting lids to keep squirrels and mice at bay. These critters can chew through plastic lids.
- Keep your Christmas tree stand filled with water and check the level in the reservoir daily. There is no need to add preservatives to the water.
- Christmas trees can harbor praying mantid egg cases or spider eggs. Indoor temperatures can cause them to hatch. No need to panic. Small 'guests' can be vacuumed up or caught and released outside.
- An amaryllis is a popular holiday gift. With proper care, they can bloom again.
- To keep poinsettias healthy keep them away from dry, drafty locations. Do not place near heat vents, doorways or drafty windows. Remove the decorative pot cover or make holes in the bottom of it to make sure the water drains from the container when you water.