Lawn & Garden

By KELLEY R. DAUGHERTY
Special Sections Editor

According to Peggy Daily, inside manager of Andy's Nursery, it's time to thoroughly clean out ponds, ridding it of weeds and dead plants.

In order to avoid some spring cleaning, try purchasing a screen to filter out falling leaves. Many people have pumps that will do this job, but clogged pumps can lead to burned up motors, which can be costly to replace.

As fish don't feed though the winter, but lie dormant at the bottom of the pond, "fatten them up" to ensure survival through the winter months.

It's also time to separate perennials, which includes water lilies and lotus.

Grass:

Many yards you will see this winter will be brown and unattractive. Avoid a dismal lawn by overseeding a Bermuda, fescue or centipede lawn with rye.

Just add eight to 10 pounds of seed per 1,000 sq. ft. for a lush green lawn.

Rye grass will only stick around through the winter, but when it dies in the spring it adds organic material that will fertilize your lawn, according to Teri Escalera, certified nurseryman, at Home Depot.

Furthermore, Escalera recommends aerating your lawn, which will relieve soil compression and will allow nutrients and oxygen to reach the roots.

If you are planting a new lawn, overseed with fescue about 10-12 pounds per 1,000 sq. ft. To raise the pH, use 40 pounds of lyme per 1,000 sq. ft. Make sure you cover any bare areas with wheat straw to keep birds from eating up the seed.

To avoid the hassle of pulling up weeds next spring, try treating your existing lawn with pre-emergent. Pre-emergent stearalyzes weed seeds and will zap weeds before they even grow.

It's also time for the last fertilizer treatment of the year, particularly with the ratio A825, which is low in nitrogen.

Flowers:

While it may be cold, damp and gray outside, cheerful flowers can brighten the entire yard.

Typically, the only colorful flowers to be found in the cold, rainy seasons are mums (crysanthemums), pansies and violas.

All three of these flowers should be planted by the end of October to allow a good root system to be established.

Pansies are available in a wide variety of colors from purple, pink, burgandy, white and yellow. A new pansy hybrid perfect for Halloween features black and orange petals called Jack-O-Lanterns.

Mums also yield a multitude of colors including yellow, gold, purple, pink, burgandy and wine.

Violas typically do not last throughout the winter, but are a good fall flower. They also are available in several colors.

Other good flowering plants include flowering kale and ornamental cabbage.

While you won't see these during the winter, it is essential to plant bulbs tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths by mid-October.

Also, it's time to divide those perennials. They won't look very pretty said Peggy Daily with Andy's Nursery, but they will look great by next spring.

Trees and shrubs:

Any tree or shrub, particularly azaleas, are prime for planting. Right now is the best time to plant or transplant woodies before they become dormant.

When planting a tree or shrub, Escalera recommends digging a hole approximately two times the root container.

Trees serve many purposes in the yard, not to mention the aestetic pleasure they provide, they are useful as shade, a home for birds and wildlife and are environmentally helpful.

When pruning or limbing flowering shrubs and trees such as azaleas and crepe myrtles, it is essential to trim only after they have bloomed. When limbing, make sure to cut no less than two inches from the trunk.

Crepe myrtles are also ready to be fertilized.

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