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Landscaping Newsletter and Garden Tips
May, 2017   Volume 146
 A Personal Message
We're still celebrating our 20th year in business.  Thank you everyone for the kind emails and calls to wish us a Happy Anniversary.

Here's another little look at how we operated 20 years ago...  

I'm standing near an old garden we're ready to revive.  Since we were just getting started in business, I worked all day and met with clients at night.
 		  
 
Melissa is working at a computer that was already 4 or 5 years old at the time.  What a difference in technology!
   

In other news, we've had a chance to spruce up one of our entrance beds with purple phlox.  It's a common ground cover, but one that I've always loved.

The entrance bed to the left of our offices was just gorgeous this spring,  However, all of the beautiful plants on the right side passed away this past winter.  Honestly!  The garden was bare.

I rectified that in early April.  Here's what our entrance beds look like now.
Here's how the left side currently looks.  This is phlox at its' finest!   
 


This is how the right side now looks.  The plan is for lots of expansion before next spring. 

As we continue our anniversary celebration this year, we'll have lots of coupons in our newsletter.  Keep watch for some special deals.

If you see a service that you're interested in, feel free to use a coupon and get some great savings.  Estimates are always free.

Call me at 410.770.5882 or email me at dellsadler@dellsadler.com 

 

May Garden Tips

*  Start pinching chrysanthemums as soon as you see shoots that are 4 to 6 inches long. Remove the last inch of growth until early July and you'll enjoy bushy plants loaded with colorful flowers in fall.


*  We found a new (to us) website that offers lots of landscaping tips.  They have a lot of do-it-yourself projects, recipes and design tips too.

Check out The Spruce at https://www.thespruce.com/  One of our favorite gardening tips for May was on the subject of pruners.

They compared bypass, anvil, and ratchet tools.  Here's what they had to say... 

"Which is better? Each style has its devotees, but because of the closeness and cleanness of the cuts, a bypass hand pruner would be the style to start with. If possible, you should try out or at least hold the pruners before making a purchase. Get a sense of the feel in your hand, the weight and the ease of grip."



Here's a photo of a bypass pruner, that's very similar to the ones we use. 


*  You know those vegetable seedlings from Bonnie Plants that we all buy?  Most of the time, I have great success with their plant material.  But, I never knew they had a website.

I was actually looking for some information about heirloom tomatoes.  I found a wonderful essay on the difference between heirloom and hybrid tomatoes.

We all seem to plant at least one or two tomatoes at this time of year.  Check out this post from Bonnie Plants for details on these yummy varieties.  
https://bonnieplants.com/new-gardeners

Then, go to the picture that looks like this and click on one of the tomatoes.

Click on this beautiful photo and read all about what the experts recommend for 2017 plantings. 

 Bonnie Plants offers a guide to the difference between heirlooms and hybrids.  It's a good read, so I'd suggest you check it out, if you have an interest.


And here's the #1 garden tip for May...WARNING!  It's not much fun.

Weed Aggressively: Weeds are easiest to pull when they are small and the soil is still damp, making hand weeding a perfect May garden task. The more weeds you pull now, the fewer there will be to propagate later, and the fewer chemicals you will need to control them.

We've pulled a weed or two during our 20 years in business!  Please don't hesitate to contact me if we can assist with any of your outdoor projects.    
 

Our Tick Repellent Program 


I write a lot about our tick repellent program because it's a subject I'm passio nate about. My family has a troubling medical history associated with tick bites.

I've been hospitalized several times due to a tick bite.  One hospital visit resulted in Ehrlichiosis, a bacterial illness that affected my immune system.  I was in intensive care for a week. 

Also, my Dad was diagnosed with Lyme Disease about seven years ago.  His symptoms persist to this day. 

Our tick repellent service was developed because of these health issues.

My program is designed to keep ticks away from your outdoor "comfort zone." Any area that we spray around your house should remain tick-free. 

If you allow us to treat your property twice a year, we return and retreat the area where you found a tick at no charge.

We now treat hundreds of properties with our barrier tick repellent service twice a year.

After inspecting your property, we'll identify the areas of activity and recommend our barrier spray treatments there.

Our foreman, Bill, is treating a wooded area of this property.  We also sprayed the entire lawn and all the landscape beds to ensure total perimeter protection. 


Barrier sprays are the most effective method of tick control at this time. It is sprayed on your lawn and landscape beds, then concentrated in areas where ticks thrive - brushy areas, woodpiles and tall grasses. 

We may also suggest placing Damminix tubes during our Spring treatment.

Damminix tubes are cardboard tubes that contain cotton batting which has been soaked with a pesticide which is deadly for ticks. Squirrels take the cotton material back to their nests to use as bedding. It kills ticks at that site, but doesn't harm squirrels or mice in their nests. 


   
 Our tick repellent service is priced affordably with results that speak for themselves. 

We've received so many compliments about our service over the years.  And, we're always working to upgrade our program to make it even more effective in the fight against tick born illnesses.