Skillin's Garden Online Q & A September 12, 2007

Hello again,





We love to get online questions from our Skillin's customers! Here is a sampling of some recent questions and answers we wanted to share with you. If you have any gardening questions, just email us at info@skillins.com. We always try to answer on a timely basis and if we do include your question and our answer in the Skillin's Garden Log we will keep your name to ourselves. So feel free to shoot us a question anytime!



Question: What do you recommend for weeds? I have a 2 year old Golden retriever who plays with his toys on the lawn and always seems to manage to get a mouthful of grass



Answer: For infestations that are not real severe, now is a great time to apply corn gluten to the lawn. Corn gluten is an all natural product that will lie in the lawn and gel as it gets wet. This gelling action covers any seed lying on the ground and prevents that seed from germinating. Right now there is lots of "tassled" crabgrass out there that is throwing a lot of seed onto the ground. Corn gluten will help limit that as well as other flowering weeds that throw out seed.
In terms of profuse weeds, you could certainly apply Burnout--an all natural herbicide that we sell here at Skillin's. It is very effective in warm weather but it will also burn any lawn that comes into contact with the Burnout.
In my own lawn I do have some serious weed infestation of a few varieties in some areas. For each of the last couple of years I have chosen to use Bayer's All in One Weed Killer. Not a natural product but it works quickly on the weeds and I limit my spraying. My plan is to NOT have to use a product that like too often.
Ongoing I plan on applying regular applications of a natural fertilizer called Nature's Turf by North Country Organics. Nature's Turf is a great fertilizer for our northeast grasses. We recommend two to three regular applications yearly. Nature's Turf will greatly improve the soil your lawn grows in. Your lawn's roots will be much happier and stronger. Strong, happy roots make for a dense lawn that can better withstand cold and drought and a dense lawn will crowd out many weeds!