Certain garden projects or control measures are best done at specific times of the year, such as...

1. Pre-Bait!
Pre-bait flower and vegetable gardens before transplanting and before seeds germinate. Much of the frustration associated with gardening is the damage done by nocturnal critters eating your tender plants. Feeding damage from snails, slugs, earwigs and cutworms can destroy your garden (and enthusiasm) in one night alone. Sprouting seedlings and setting out plants is ringing the dinner bell for nighttime pests. Much of this damage can be eliminated by setting out control materials like Master Nurserymen's Snail, Slug and Insect Meal. This product has a bait to entice the pest to feed, giving good control-before- plants have appeared in their environment. Give the bait a couple of nights to work to ensure thorough control. This year, get to the pests before they get to your plants.

2. Automatic Timers: Don’t "Set and Forget."
Automatic sprinklers are not automatically correct. They require attention and calibration to perform properly. Visually check the operation of each station and each head and emitter at least monthly. All too often plants or portions of a lawn suffer because we think everything is running just fine. It does not take much to disrupt irrigation systems. Also, make sure your plants are getting the water they need, not what you think they need. Dig in the soil and make sure water soaks in the full depth of the root ball and dries down 6-9 inches before the area is watered again. How do you tell? Dig in the soil and look. There is no other way to make sure.

3. Go outside and enjoy your yard:
What? Go in the yard? It has become a common problem. Many persons have come to enjoy their yards by getting a glimpse of it out the window for a few minutes each day. With the advent of automated irrigation systems and yard maintenance services, it is not surprising that this has taken place. A suggestion: get a glass of iced tea (or any other beverage) and grab the hose and go out into your yard. Footwear is optional. Imagine a nice balmy evening and you in your yard. Feel the stress melt away. Isn't this what gardening is all about?

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