13December 8, 2016
We have had our first accumulating snow. I guess summer is officially over !!
If you have set up a Christmas tree in your home, it is very important to check the water level in the tree stand on a regular schedule. During the first few days, your tree can “drink” up over a gallon of water. Depending on the size of the stand, you may have to fill the stand twice a day. After the first few days, the water consumption slows down a bit and you may get away with checking once a day. You must keep the bottom of the tree stump submerged in water. When you set the tree up, you hopefully had a fresh cut put on the bottom of the tree. We offer to do this for our tree customers who buy a tree from our store. Once the fresh cut is done on the bottom of the tree trunk, you need to get the tree into your stand within three hours and fill that stand with water. If you wait longer, the cut will begin to seal over and you will need to put another fresh cut on the bottom of the tree. Once the tree is up and decorated and you allow the tree stand to run out of water, the only way you can get the tree to drink up water again is to take the tree out of the stand and cut about an inch off the bottom of the trunk. Enough said about how much fun that could be. Keep up with checking the water level on that tree stand.
If you brought plants inside that spent the summer enjoying the outdoors, you hopefully treated the plants for insects before you brought the plants indoors. Once the heat is on in the house, the dry air from the heat being on can cause insect populations to skyrocket. Even if you treated your plants for insects, it is a good idea to check those plants every few weeks for signs of any insect infestation. You may have to repeat an application of insecticide on your plants if you notice any insects feeding on your plants. By being vigilant about watching for signs of insects, you can prevent a huge outbreak of insects on your plants.
The weather forecast calls for cold weather later in the week. If you haven’t already done so, disconnect you garden hoses and get them put away. Water freezing in the hose can damage the hose.
Check the garage and the shed for any liquid pesticides and get them into a warm area. If these products freeze, it will damage the product. Each year, in the spring, we have people who come into the store complaining that the insecticide, fungicide or weed killer that they bought last year wasn’t working at controlling the pest or weeds. I will usually ask if they left the product in an unheated garage or shed. The answer is usually yes. You pay a lot of money for some of these pest control products. Don’t allow that money to go to waste. Bring those products inside and store them in the basement or some other area where they won’t freeze over the winter.
Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll talk to you again next week.