Fall Gardening and Lawn Care: Getting Your Yard Ready for the Season
Hello, again!
Johnson's green chile roadshow made its last stop this past weekend at the Old Town Plaza. Orie's Farm Fresh Garlic Festival has become a yearly Wichita favorite and attracts thousands of attendees to enjoy all things garlic. There was everything garlic there, from cookies to ice cream, honey, bagels, bierocks, and more. Our crew served garlic green chile cheeseburgers, pork chile verde, and, new this year, garlic green chile quesadilla rollups. It's always fun to try something new with green chile; who knows what we'll come up with for next year's festival.
Mid-festival, we had a quick rain shower, and what normally would have sent attendees running to their cars seemed to be welcomed by all! I noticed people looking to the heavens, enjoying the little reprieve from the drought. While we still have high temperatures forecasted for the rest of the week, the recent rainfall, and more forecast this weekend, makes us hopeful that our lawns will soon be on the road to recovery.
My turf needs attention along with everyone else's turf. I'll start by adjusting my sprinkler heads to ensure the turf is getting the proper amount of water. Too much water and inadequate coverage can cause issues during the summer. My next project will then be to overseed thin areas with our Blue Ribbon Fescue Blend.
We created our A-List (Alliance for Low Input Sustainable Turf) blend with performance, the environment, and value in mind. It contains a mix of drought-resistant and heat-tolerant fescue varieties that require less watering, fertilizer, chemicals, and pesticides. So you'll have a healthier lawn with less work. It performs well in sun or shade, and quickly develops a deep green color in the spring. Most importantly, it contains 0.00% weed seed.
Another key component of healthy turf is soil with plenty of active beneficial organisms to help plants thrive. Whether in containers or in the ground, our favorite organic soil amendment is ferti•lome Green HuMic. Humic is designed as a soil conditioner for established lawns, new grass, flower beds, and vegetable gardens. You can also use it on outdoor and indoor potted plants. It can even be mixed with compost for an added boost of nutrients. It's everything you need to promote eco-friendly, healthy growth in your plants and lawn.
Beyond turf, our stores are transforming into all things fall planting. Our nursery departments are restocked with fresh trees and shrubs to add to your landscape. Piet has supplied the stores with new spring flowering bulbs for this fall's planting season. Our growing operations have started filling our displays with mums, ornamental kale, celosia, and asters. Pumpkins and decorative gourds will be here soon to go along with corn stalks to decorate your porch or patio. Our greenhouses are filled with fields of home-grown pansies and violas that should start arriving next week to transform your flowerbeds and containers with three seasons of color.
As we wrap up our chile roasting season, don't forget to stock up on green chile for the year. We are down to our last few bushels of Hot and Dynamite (Xtra Hot) chiles, and are offering Buy One Get One Bushels and Half Bushels until we run out. Call ahead to ensure we have the quantity and heat level you want in stock.
Fall is one of our favorite times of year in the garden. There's always something new to plant, something to improve, and something to look forward to next spring. I hope you'll stop by Johnson's and let us help you make the most of the season.
Your friend in the garden,
Marty Johnson
Owner - Johnson's Garden Centers
