General Care for Plants

Winter:

            Very little care is required in the dormant season.  Evergreens do not truly go dormant, so check to make sure the soil doesn’t get too dry from winds if there isn’t any moisture, checking every 3 to 4 weeks should be fine.  If it’s dry take a hose and let water run slowly to saturate ground and roots.

            Deciduous plants (plants that lose their leaves) don’t need much moisture until they leaf out in the spring.  More delicate plants may be less stressed by our extreme weather changes if before a severe storm comes you mulch around base with bark, leaves, or newspapers.  Some plants can be covered by burlap, or any other woven fabric (plastics are not recommended because they heat up as soon as the sun comes out and can quickly burn covered plants).  When the storm passes remove fabric from plants.  Plants need fresh air and light even in the winter.

            February is a good time to prune fruit trees, use dormant spray & spray oil.

Spring:

            As trees and shrubs start to leaf and flower that is when you need to start checking the moisture in the soil regularly. Do not trust the automatic sprinkler systems to take care of the water without checking on it.  Drip systems especially need to be checked regularly; they can get plugged and not noticed until the plant(s) get very dry.

            Checking the moisture is easy but takes time.  Before the sprinklers come on is when to check moisture.  Dig a small test hole, in several different areas in the year, 10-12 inches deep.  At that depth if the soil is muddy, wait to water until soil dries a little.  If the soil is powdery and won’t pack together, increase you’re watering.  The soil should pack together and feel moist, that indicates that the plant is being watered correctly.  The roots need to be wet all the way around.  If the roots are wet on one side and not the other that stresses the plant on the side that’s dry and some branches may look wilted, or lose leaves.

            We always recommend deep watering.  That is when sprinklers run a one time long enough to saturate soil down to 12-18 inches deep, then do not run again until soil is drying (not extremely dry) 5-8 inches deep.  This will require some checking with a few test holes at different places in the yard.  Remember different season temperatures require different watering amount.  With all the different soils in this area and different plant requirements, really look at the plants and soil to check if your watering is adequate.  Generally deep watering once a week will be enough, until temperatures get up to 85 degrees.  This will encourage deeper root growth; deeper root growth will help plants endure the heat and cold better.

            Fertilize plants in April with a well-balanced fertilizer.  Be sure any fertilizer you use on your plants has trace elements (iron, boron, sulfur).  Always apply any chemical according to directions on the label.  Lawn fertilizer is not a good balance for other plants.  Lawn fertilizer with an herbicide should be kept away from all of your other plants.  Some plants are not tolerant of any herbicides at all.  This is a great time to clear 18-24 inches of the grass and weeds away from the base of trees growing in the lawn.  Bark mulch holds the moisture in and keeps the ground temperature more even.  Lawn and weeds take water and nutrients away from the roots of trees.

            Spring pruning works very will especially if you intend to prune heavy.  Pine & spruce are best when pruned after they have grown.  Flowering plants; prune to shape after blooming.

Summer:

            Remember different season temperatures require different watering amounts.  When above 85 degrees plants will need more water than at other times of the year.  With all the different soils in this area and different water requirements of the plants really look at the plants and soil to check if watering is adequate.  Probably deep watering 2 times a week at 2 hour intervals for established plants is fine but when 95 degrees and above you need to water more frequently for new plantings.  This will encourage deeper root growth keeping plants and lawns healthy.

            Lightly pruning the plants and keeping the weeds under control is a big enough challenge.

Autumn:

            The beginning of September is the last time to fertilize.  Mid September start to slow down on watering.  Reduce the watering time 5 to 10 minutes for 2 weeks.  October instead of watering 2 times weekly water once a week for a longer period of time, maintain deep watering.  The idea is to prepare the plants for the dormant season.  Encouraging plants to slow down growing by reducing water and fertilizer causes less stress for plants when the water goes off and colder temperatures come.  Plants have better fall color too.

            Let’s look at various elements that can affect the life of any plant.  The plants you buy are from 3 to 10 years old; our goal is for them to live long and healthy, for many years to come.

Common plant problems to watch out for:

Moisture (Too much or not enough):

            If plants start to wilt and foliage turns yellow or its fall color.  This indicates plants are to wet or to dry.  Again dig in the soil to determine the moisture.  Plants always in very wet soil can literally drown.  If always too wet use a PVC pipe with holes in it to drain the water away from the roots.  If roots are always dry increase the water and put bark mulch on the ground to the drip line.

Wind Damage:

            Shortly after a major wind storm or transporting plants in a open pick up or trailer, plants can get wind and sun burned, this turns the foliage brown around the edges and between the vanes of the leaves.  There is nothing you can do about this, once the foliage is damaged it won’t change back.  New leaves will grow and that takes time.  Broken branches need to be pruned off.

Trunk (Bark) Damage:

            Lawn mowers and weed eaters are a major cause for plant problems.  Damaging the bark on plants can cause them to wilt, put a lot of stress on the plant or if the damage is all the way around the stem or trunk it can cause the plant to die.  There are products to protect plants called Arbor guards or trunk protectors; they are reasonably priced too.

            Trunk protectors also help keep the bark of the trees from being damaged by cats sharpening their claws on the trunks or other animals from tearing and eating the bark off of trees.

Hot Locations:

            Putting trees in very hot locations like next to hot pavement or sidewalks can be very hard for plants.  To adjust to this, we have found mulching the roots with a layer of bark helps cool them down, and using tree wrap around the trunk helps to keep the intense heat from splitting the bark.

Chemicals:

            Always read all chemical labels, the label tells you the plants it can be used on or not used on, what problems it is meant to take care of and when to use it.  Follow directions carefully.  Remember to use caution to protect yourself and your family, pets, and your neighborhood.

            Chemicals, a very difficult subject to cover.  They can save a plant from being eaten by the bugs, keep plants healthy from fungus, keep unwanted weeds from growing, and maintain good healthy growth.  Unfortunately they can cause as much damage to plants as they cause good.  Chemical damage shows up 1 to 10 days after spraying, depending on the chemical.  Dark brown spots at random form on the foliage, the edges turn brown and curl up or down that is probably burn.  Some chemicals will pretty much dry the foliage right on the plant.  Generally the wood of the plant will show streaks of discoloration, too.  There is too much on that subject to cover here.

Insects & Diseases:

            You have to watch for the basic symptoms of the problem and check to see if you can see any bugs, discoloring of the foliage and anything different about the plant.  Bringing in fresh samples of the foliage damaged and undamaged, a small sample of a branch 5 to 6 inches long helps us to identify the problem.  You can also take samples to WSU Cooperative Extension; they can send samples to a lab for analysis.

Insects:

            When evergreens start turning brown in random are check for bugs.  You may notice ladybugs or other bugs on them more than normal.  On deciduous plants if the leaves are notched, wrinkled, deformed, have holes in them, holes in the stems and trunk, rolled, or the presence of insects (other than lady buys, praying mantis or spiders) can mean that the plant has a bug problem.  You can bring a sample of the bug or take a digital picture of the bug can help lead to identification of the insect and a proper solution can be found.

Fungus or Diseases:

            Generally when a plant has a fungus or disease the leaves or needles are discolored, have blotching or spots, looked like the plant has been burned, rust-like powder, white powder, mold; any of those symptoms typically means that your plant may have a fungus or disease.  To identify the disease or fungus you can take a picture with a digital camera or bring in a sample of the leaves.  This way it can identified and the proper treatment can be used.  To prevent fungus or disease don't water at night, water in the early morning at dawn or later.  This allows the plant to dry out by night fall and keep the environment from being beneficial to fungi and disease.

Pests:

            If your plants look bad and there is a hole in the ground or a burrowing in the ground you may have a gopher or mole.

Ph:

            Some soils are so unbalanced that fertilizers get locked up and plants can’t get the nutrients they need. This is typically common if the soil is too alkaline.  You may need to check the pH balance of your soil.  After this you can correct by using soil acidifiers (Iron additives, Aluminum Sulfate, Miracid) if the soil is too alkaline or products to increase pH if the soil is too acidic.

Learning more about plants:

            We would like informing you of everything there are to know about all plants but that isn’t possible.  You should invest in books that tell you information about the plants that you want to grow in your yard.  A very good book on general information is the Sunset “Western Garden Book”; there are also very good specialty books.

            We are sharing helpful tips with you that work well for us.  We can in no way guarantee these will work for you.  If you see plants are not doing well after starting a new watering program or any other changes.  Stop and try something that is not such a big changes from the care you have been giving them.  Always use your best judgment on caring for your plants.  This is a general guide for growing plants.  Specific plants may have special needs, so if plants aren’t looking right there is a lot of information at Master Gardeners, the book store, the library, or you can call us.  We do not have all the answers, but we do try to help.  Plants not purchased here or grown by us may have needs we are not aware of.

            Thank you and Happy Gardening

                     The staff at Job’s Nursery