Thinking Spring

With the calendar showing March and the clocks changed forward, I can feel spring coming around the corner. And it's time to get ready.

Regarding the lawn, I still have a lot of details to sort out but I've laid out the rough plans. First couple of things on the to do list will be to get a soil test, spray shampoo for aeration, and apply Corn Gluten Meal as pre emergent. Need to keep an eye on temperatures and forsythia bloom to time the CGM application.

Also thinking about spring fertilization of the hydrangeas. Read mixed information some saying fertilizing hydrangeas isn't necessary, to other saying a slow release 10-10-10 is best. Trying to stay organic, I looked at Espoma Plant Tone 5-3-3, Espoma Holly Tone 4-3-4, Happy Frog Acid Loving 6-4-4, Happy Frog All Purpose 5-5-5, and Espoma Soil Acidifier. Ruled out the Soil Acidifier pretty quickly under the assumption that the soil is naturally acidic already, there was no NPK rating, and Nikko flowers are blue despite ph. So in the end, this weekend I picked up a 40# of Holly Tone to use on the hydrangeas and perhaps also the blue junipers, drawf cypress, and boxwoods - need to confirm those.