On your marks. Get set. Go!

Spring has sprung, and along with the incessant spring rains (and occasional snows) come hungry plants getting ramped up for their marathon growth spurt. Your plants need just a little love to help them shine for their summer performance! Here are some of the nursery’s favorite products and maintenance tips for a healthy and glorious season.

For your newborns (any plants transplanted within the past year), it helps to stimulate their feeder roots with Root Starter. Ideally, they should get three applications during their first season in-ground, and one final shot the following spring. David recommends feeding them on the three Flag Days: Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. This gives your plants an added boost during our short growing season.

You can use the same timing for fertilizing lawns and established plants. Milorganite or 16-16-8 Morgro work wonderfully for this.

Soil Pep, Bark and Steer, or a poultry-based fertilizer will perform well for flowering plants. To prevent insect infestations on your flowering shrubs, knock them out with Rose and Flower Food, which contains a systemic insecticide to keep the aphids and other pests at bay at the same time it fertilizes.

Treat your lawns and flower beds with Gypsum. This inexpensive treatment will permeate clay, neutralize salts, and allow water and nutrients to reach the roots of the plant. I recommend using it along walkways and roadways that were salted over the winter.

Maintain a minimum 2 foot diameter- wide tree well around all of your trees, especially those surrounded by lawn. Tree wells allow the tree to receive all of the available water and nutrients, as well as prevent irreversible damage caused by weed whippers. Top dress the tree well with Soil Pep. Top dress your lawn and flower beds with Soil Pep, bark, or Bark and Steer. All of these woody organic products are an effective composter, weed deterrent, and moisture retainer.

Follow these springtime tips and your garden will thrive and give you many happy returns, for seasons to come.

Plants, on your marks!