Watering Tips for your Trees and Home Garden
1) Get a rain gauge and aim for watering your trees and garden equivalent to 1" per week.
2) Water in the morning or evening when air temperatures are lower than at midday.
3) Do not wet foliage or leafy greens in the evening because this can encourage non-beneficial fungus, mildew or disease.
4) It is important to water thoroughly and then allow your soil to become fairly dry between irrigations.
5) If you are hooked up to a municipal water supply, check out garden hose water filters.
For more information on how to water wisely, check out the University of Minnesota Extension website @
https://extension.umn.edu/how/water-wisely-start-your-own-backyard
Weed Management Tips for your Home Garden
1) Rototilling, hoeing, and even hand pulling are the most common techniques for weed management.
2) Use of organic mulches (grass clippings, shredded leaves, sawdust, etc.) and synthetic mulches (plastic) is another method of weed management.
3) Another method is the use of Herbicides; please do your research before applying Herbicides to your home garden.
4) Identify and research what types of weeds you may be dealing with in your home garden. Call or email Zack if you could use help identifying your weeds, we can grow in our learning together!
5) Figure out a garden size that is manageable for you, start small and call us to have a Raised Garden Bed installed.
Check out the University of Minnesota Extension and the University of Wisconsin - Madison Extension Weed Identification pages @
http://apps.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/weed/
Pest Management Tips for your Trees and Home Garden
Pests are living organisms that do something to disrupt human interests, activities or valuable resources:
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compete with people for food, fiber or space
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threaten the health or safety of people, domestic animals, or desirable plants
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can harm ecosystems, (invasive species i.e. buckthorn)
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interfere in other ways with human needs, activities, desires or goals
Integrated Pest Management is an effective and environmentally conscious way to deal with pest problems in your home garden.
1) Identify what types of pests you may be dealing with, what the life cycle is, and the behavior. Call or email Zack if you could use some help in identifying your garden or tree pests.
2) Assess how serious the damage is, determine if the problem is getting worse, determine if the plants or tree will recover, then make a decision about taking action to combat the pests. Sometimes not taking any action is the best decision.
3) You can start by working your way through cultural, physical, biological, then chemical control tactics
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cultural - hand pulling,
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biological -
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chemical - only use Herbicides, Pesticides, and Insecticides if you have ran through the previous control methods and are at your last resort. When in doubt, consult a professional and have it done right!
4) You may need to revisit Step 1 and Step 2 of this Integrated Pest Management plan if your approach is not working.
5) Research more about what Integrated Pest Management is and how you can best utilize this method to achieve your desired goals.
Do you have a pest issue? Check out the "What's wrong with my plant?" University of Minnesota
Extension web page @
http://apps.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/plant/
Here is a list of places where you can dispose of your pesticides safely, legally, and in an environmentally friendly way
Newly Planted Trees - Healthy Establishment Tips
Understanding your site conditions, such as site exposure, air temperatures and humidity, wind, rainfall, soil's moisture-holding capacity and drainage characteristics, can often give you the best clue on how to establish your newly planted tree effectively.
1) Watering - As a rule of thumb, try your best to water your new trees daily for the first one to two weeks. Then, every two to three days for the next two to three months and then weekly until established.
Apply 1 - 1 1/2 gallons for each inch of stem caliper. Apply where the roots are of the newly planted tree.
I.E. 4" tree would require 4-6 gallons of water each watering. (Do you have a 5 gallon bucket?)
2) Fertilizing - Try adding organic matter to speed up establishment. You can add up to 0.2 lb. nitrogen/100 sq. ft. to the soil surface per year of slow-release and natural organic fertilizers.
3) Pruning - Only recommended to eliminate problems and to ensure good branch structure. Try to encourage a central leader and to eliminate narrow branch crotches. Remember, pruning only to compensate for root loss of a newly planted tree is not a reason to prune!
4) Staking - May be necessary for one to three years while roots are growing and beginning to stabilize the tree. Attach stakes with flexible web belting or any other strips of wide, soft, but strong materials low on the tree trunk. Check attachment points of the webbing or strips on the stem every three to six months and loosen if necessary.
5) Trunk Protection - It is important to protect thin bark of young trees from injury from sunscald, rabbits, and rodents during winter. Check out Tubex Tree Shelters online.
Contact Zack @ (320) 232-5741 for your tree health needs!