September Newsletter from Tom's Thumb Nursery & Landscaping

Tom's Thumb Nursery & Landscaping News
September 2015

SEPTEMBER

"Well, the sun's not so hot in the sky today

And you know I can see summertime slipping on away..."

James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Beaches and seawall traffic are less congested;

school and football have begun;

the sun rises earlier and sets later.

It must be September!

Two special events, plentiful fall vegetables,

great sale items, new home and garden décor

and more await you this month.

Come in and see!

I ntroduction

In this newsletter you will find.......

Seasonal Ideas & Information for September
From Our Landscape Architect: "It's the Summer Fungus Among Us!"
Event: Sept 19 Fall & Winter Gardening Class with Andi Chidester
Event: Sept 26 Dr. William Johnson presents "Beneficial Insects in the Garden"
Explore Fall Migration
In The Garden
10% Coupon (look for Charlie!)
Around the Gift Shop
Garden Statuary, Fountains & Pottery
Annual Christmas Open House October 24th
Christmas Trees and Tree Stands
Seaside Casual 25% off MAD and SYM Collections
Mark your Calendar: PAWS Gala Sept 12 & Fall Garden Tour Oct 4 & 5

Labor Day Monday Business Hours 9am to 2pm

Seasonal Ideas and Information for September

The following are a list of activities to consider for your September gardening:

Vegetables and Herbs - Time to plant those cool season vegetables. Crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and collards can be planted now. Tomatoes will be setting fruit as the temperatures start to drop a little. Fall is the best season for peppers and cilantro.

OUR SEEDS HAVE ARRIVED!
Perennials & Annuals - Some of the flowering annuals and perennials have been struggling with the effects of heat and limited soil moisture. Now is a good time to cut them back by a third, give them a dose of fertilizer and a good soaking. This boost should get them growing and blooming again.
Tip - Soak transplants with a good watering before planting, and then, after planting, water them in with a liquid fertilizer such as LadyBug's John's Recipe.
Trees, Shrubs & Vines - Fall is the best planting season of the year. Do some plant research or let us help you select some new shrubs, trees or woody vines for your landscape.
50% off select trees, shrubs & vines!
Fruits & Nuts - Fall is a good time to clean up any fruit lying on the ground. This will help to prevent future disease and infection. Fruit trees that are still carrying fruit should be kept adequately watered until harvest.
Lawn & Groundcovers - If summer drought, diseases or insects have taken out parts of your lawn, you can still replant now. Wait until next month to fertilize. Organic Lawn Care Guide

CHEMICAL CONTROL OF LAWN FUNGUS

Fertilome F-Stop available in granules and ready to use liquid hose- end sprayer

Chemical: Myclobutanil

Bonide Infuse available in granules

and ready to use

liquid hose-end sprayer

Chemical: Propiconizol

JAPANESE BEETLE GRUB LARVA CONTROL

Life cycle and feeding habits of the

Japanese beetle

Larva stage of the Japanese beetle

Calendar shows the grubs feeding on the grass roots in September and October

Grub

ORGANIC

Active Ingredients:

Rosemary

Sesame

Peppermint

Thyme

Cinnamon

Garlic

Monterey 7 lb. All Natural Lawn Grub Control is made from 100% naturally occurring plant materials. It repels surface- and root-feeding grubs and insects living under your lawn.

Repels Japanese beetle grubs, masked chafers and other types of grubs

Kills cutworms, armyworms, billbugs, European craneflies, sod webworms, mole crickets and more on contact when watered in the soil during application and repels them afterwards

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL

Active Ingredient:

Milky Spore, or

bacillus popilliae

Milky Spore is a one time application using only one teaspoonful every 4 feet in a checker board pattern on your lawn, or use the Lawn and Garden Dispenser.

Natural bacteria eat the grub from the inside.
Ten year performance quarantee on the Japanese Beetle Grub (Can last up to twenty years).
Not harmful to man, animals or the environment, safe to use around water ways.
Does not harm beneficial insects.

CHEMICAL CONTROL

Active Ingredients: Imidacloprid

and Lambda-cyhalothrin

Only one application controls insects both above and below the soil surface. Fast acting long lasting control of grubs, cranefly, billbugs, chinch bugs, weevils, mole crickets, ticks, fleas, fire ants, cutworms, millipedes and many more. Protects from top to bottom, Also makes a great perimeter treatment around premises.

Warning: This product is highly toxic to Aquatic invertebrates. Do not apply directly to water or to areas where surface water is present or to intertidal areas below the mean high water mark.Keep unprotected persons and animals out of the area

From Our Landscape Architect:

"It's the Summer Fungus Among Us!" by Janielle Guzinski

It's the time of year that we start seeing visible signs of fungus on lawns here in Galveston. There are two especially common diseases, Take-All Patch and Brown Patch. Both are more common in lawns with high pH and in lawns with deficiencies in zinc and magnesium. Unfortunately, our soils in this area tend to be very alkaline and often have deficiencies since nutrients wash right through the sandy soil. That doesn't mean there aren't treatments and preventative measures you can take. They may look similar at first glance, but there are ways to tell them apart.

Take-All Patch - Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis or avenae

This is root rot fungus that occurs at this time of the year. It often manifests as a circular or ring-shaped patch of lawn that is yellowing. Soon that same patch will be dead. When you look closely at the grass, you see nothing but dead material. There is no green or growing left. You see only dead stolons, leaves and root buds. It is important to apply a fungicide to halt the disease when you notice it. There is some difficulty with getting an effective fungicide , but we will do all we can to get you an effective treatment. It is also important to know that putting down new sod in a place where take-all patch was without treating for the fungus is likely to cause the new lawn to become infected. The following article and video by Jerry Naiser of Real Green Lawns in Austin are great resources with many images of take-all patch and with treatment tips. Take-All Patch Article

Take-All Patch Video

Brown Patch - Rhizoctonia solani

This fungus is a different kind of disease. It is a leaf/blade disease. The look of brown patch can be similar with an irregular circular patch of brown lawn. However, the stolons/runners of the St. Augustine grass do not die in brown patch. If you look closely at grass affected by brown patch, the runners are still alive and the leaf blades are often brown/black and slimy. The blades of grass rot but the stem remains alive. The active infection is where the leaves are still yellow on the edges of the patch, but the fungus remains in the brown areas as well. Do not be fooled into thinking that just because your lawn put on new leaves after having brown patch last year it won't have it this year. Unless you treated with a fungicide, you still have the disease in your lawn. This can be a chronic condition without application of a treatment such as the fungicides we sell. This other article and video by Jerry Naiser of Real Green Lawns in Austin has pictures of brown patch to help differentiate it from take-all. Brown Patch Article

Brown Patch Video

I would also recommend watching those videos if you are interested in learning more about telling the difference between take-all and brown patch. You need to keep in mind that he is based out of Austin and so we have different times of year when these diseases are active. Of course, my hope is for a low fungus year, but it is necessary to know how to deal with the fungus among us.

EVENT: Fall and Winter Vegetable Gardening Class

Presented by Andy Chidester

of Lady Bug Natural Brands

Topics include the fundamentals of organic gardening.

Andy is an avid gardener, especially vegetables and has worked in the garden industry for 15 years. She is a member is the Master Gardeners of Bexar County and is a certified Square Foot Gardener.

PLEASE JOIN US!

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

11AM

Please bring a non-perishable food item for our local food bank.

You will receive a 20% off coupon

to be used toward any Lady Bug products you purchase that day.

EVENT: "BENEFICIAL INSECTS IN THE GARDEN"

Presented by William M. Johnson, Ph.D

County Extension Agent - Horticulture

Master Gardener Program Coordinator

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Galveston County Office

PLEASE JOIN US!

11 AM SATURDAY

SEPTEMBER 26

for an informative presentation from Dr. Johnson on "Beneficial Insects in the Garden"

We will have free Ladybugs for all attendees.

REGISTER NOW!

Dr. William M. Johnson presents "Beneficial Insects in the Garden"

You may also register by responding to this email

or register by telephone.

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR THIS EVENT. THANK YOU.

EXPLORE FALL MIGRATION

JOURNEY NORTH
A Global Study of Wildlife Migration

Travel with the monarchs and the hummingbirds this fall.

Report sightings - Download the Journey North App

Weekly Migration News

Real-time Maps

Field Notes and Photo Galleries

Follow the links below to

Monarch Butterfly Migration

Hummingbird Migration

Help the Monarchs: Report your sightings and track migration!

IN THE GARDEN

SHADE TREES

50% OFF

10% coupon	Hey, Here I am!	Charlie says............... Save 10% off your next purchase (Gift Cards, Outdoor Furniture and Sale Items are excluded) *Show this coupon* *when making your purchase.* *Please share this offer* *with your friends and family.* *Landscaping services are also excluded.*
Offer Expires: September 30, 2015