“They must be starving! Maybe if I feed them, they’ll stay away from my plantings.” Sound familiar? As tempting as it may be, do not feed foraging deer. Feeding the deer trains them to think of your yard as a reliable source of food and they won’t stop at handouts, your landscape plantings will become their tasty treat!

Deer-X protective fencing is a more direct method of cultural protection against browsing. Whether used to erect vertical fences (to prevent access) or simply draped over shrubs (to interfere with chewing), this simple, rugged mesh can provide seasons of control!

An application of a deer repellent, such as Liquid Fence or Deer Scram, on and around landscaped areas will also help stop deer from making a winter meal of your trees and shrubs. Because they work by scent, repellents stop damage before any feeding occurs:

Liquid Fence is available as a liquid concentrate and in a ready-to-use spray bottle. Simply apply to plants and their perimeter to discourage foraging by scent. The active ingredients dry odorless to humans and do not need to be rotated with other brands!

Deer Scram is available as a granular formula with no mixing necessary. Simply apply in a 16 inch strip around plants to discourage browsing for up to 100 days!

Always remember that it’s much easier to prevent feeding damage than it is to stop a foraging cycle that has already begun. Call or stop by the Nursery to discuss your cruelty-free options with our knowledgeable staff!

-By Andy Archer Thayer Nursery

Are you never sure of which blue or purple is you? Well now is the time to try them all! At 50% Off, you can’t go wrong (until 7/15/11).

Artists and gardeners use blue to show perspective. Blue gives a feeling of distance.  It allows us to look beyond and increase our perspective outward. Plants that have blue, violet or lilac flowers are said to be soothing on the eye and hence the soul.

Blue Energy: Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism thus producing tranquility and calmness. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, confidence & wisdom.

Put some blue in your life when you want:

• calm and relaxation to counteract chaos

• to open the flow of communication

• to broaden your perspective in learning

• solitude and peace

Come visit for the cure of the summertime blues!

planting for the future.

-By Maggie Oldfield Thayer Nursery

The roller coaster weather pattern we experienced this spring switched back to prolonged wet and chilly weather last week. While the moisture was needed as soils were quite dry, the constant wetness creates ideal conditions for disease causing organisms. Disease causing organisms are natural inhabitants of the soil and infect grass plants when the environmental conditions are favorable or the plants become weakened by poor growing conditions.  The pathogen is favored by warm, humid weather, wet or compacted soil, drought stress, and low mowing heights.

The spores of these parasitic forms of plant life are spread by wind, air, water, animals, people, insects and mowing.

Important steps to manage plant diseases include proper soil preparation, proper selection of grass seed including ones with a natural genetic resistance to diseases, and application of proper cultural practices.

If you have a fungus, spraying now with Dr. Earth Natural & Organic Fungicide effectively combats a broad spectrum of fungal diseases found in your lawn, on your vegetables, flowers & shrubs. Dr. Earth can be used both as a foliar spray for your plants or a soil drench for your lawn & trees.

Once you have sprayed the fungicide, you should then fertilize your lawn & your plants with Fire Belly Bio-Blast to reintroduce beneficial mycorrhizal fungi.

Healthy soils that have the ability to fight off disease causing pathogens increase the chances of plant survival and thus control the pathogens so they will not multiply in great numbers.  Beneficial microbes fill up the available spaces in the soil so that pathogens cannot become established and destroy healthy plants.

Most lawns recover with changes in environmental conditions and proper cultural practices. For severe cases due to poor soil, poor grass selection, or excessive thatch, the best solution may be renovation. Please give us a call with any questions or to schedule a courtesy consultation for a lawn renovation.

planting for the future.

-By Maggie Oldfield Thayer Nursery

1. Test the pH of your soil

Before you begin, it is always a good idea to test your soil pH to make sure it is between 6.0 and 7.5. If your soil reads below 6.0 you will need to add lime to make it more alkaline, and if it reads above 7.5 you can add Espoma® Organic Soil Acidifyer to make it more acidic.

2. Remove any large rocks and roots

This includes any that may be protruding or are just beneath the surface of your soil.

3. Top-dress your soil with compost

Come in and ask us about our AllGrow Compost. For best results the compost should be tilled into the existing soil.

4. Amend the soil

This is the stage where you would add any lime (if needed), peat moss, and starter fertilizer (do not try to spread by hand or mix together in spreader since different rates are needed for each). We recommend using Jonathan Green New Seeding Lawn Fertilizer or Jonathan Green Winter Survival. If you’d like to go organic, we also sell Jonathan Green Organic Lawn Fertilizer! Once you’ve spread your soil amendments with a spreader, use a steal rake to rake them into the top inch of soil.

5. Spread the grass seed

It is important to set your spreader to the correct opening and to spread the seed as evenly as possible. As far as type and amount of seed, we carry an extensive line of Jonathan Green Grass Seed Mixtures that come in many different size bags. Be sure to consult with one of our knowledgeable staff members about which seed is best for your lawn prior to purchasing your seed.

6. Rake in the grass seed

Using a plastic leaf rake, flip it upside down and make short light strokes to make sure that the seed gets turned in slightly but is not redistributed over the soil.

7. Water

This is by far one of the most important factors in the germination of grass seed. Water the entire newly seeded area evenly with a sprinkler once you are done seeding. For the first 10-14 days after, it is best to water two to three times daily for five to ten minutes each time. This ensures that the seed stays moist but is not drenched or washed out.

For seeding over existing lawns, you can follow the same basic steps except where it involves tilling or turning your soil. In its place, it is a good idea to thatch and/or aerate your lawn first before spreading amendments and seed. Following these steps ensures your lawn has the best chances possible to look its best. And of course, if there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask us by posting a response, calling our store (617)698-2005, or stopping by!

Absolutely not.  In fact, even all kiln-dried firewood is not the same and here’s why.

Firewood must be seasoned before you can use it. When wood is first harvested it’s green, with very high moisture content.  It doesn’t burn well and it may smoke, or sputter.  It also can produce creosote, a black oily accretion that builds up inside chimney flues as a result of wood that doesn’t burn completely.  Creosote can clog up your chimney. Seasoning dries the wood.

Kiln-dried firewood has been seasoned by drying in a kiln. With this method, as opposed to leaving the wood out to season in the elements, the firewood is placed in kilns and essentially baked at 200 degrees for three days, which forces the moisture out. The wood is then completely dry.  Complete dry wood will burn more cleanly and efficiently.

So, why use Thayer Nursery kiln-dried dried firewood?

• It is guaranteed insect and insect -larvae free
• It is guaranteed disease free
• Thayer firewood is all hardwoods
• The wood is oven dried at 200 degrees for three days so moisture content is less than 25%
• It has been kept completely under cover in a wood barn on a concrete floor for its entire life – all season long

Safe and dry in the Wood Barn

You can trust that Thayer kiln-dried firewood is bug and bug-larvae-free, so it is safe to store it in your garage or basement.  You can be sure that each piece will burn clean and longer, cutting down your trips to the wood pile, and you can trust that since it burns completely with very little ash and less creosote build-up, you will have less chimney cleaning to do.

Come up to the Nursery and we’ll take you on a tour of the wood barn.  See for yourself how we take care of the wood that will take care of you this winter.

Starting September 24th and going through October 1st, ‘Boston Fashion Week has served as a fertile proving ground for fashion talents and now is the ideal time of year for locals to explore new ideas and express themselves.’

This season, the Thayer Nursery Fall 2010 collections include:

Conservative Glamour: ‘return to quality and classic style- that have real staying power. streamlined simplicity in a muted color palette.’

Echinacea ‘summer skies’, Pennisetum ‘karly rose’ &
Heuchera ‘marmalade’

Eccentric Ladylike: ‘not afraid of color — lots of bold ones paired together in seemingly off combos that as a whole work wonderfully. quirky combinations with mixed prints. mixing of patterns …and pulling together disparate motifs. A perennial muse who, even in the most minimal of moments, pops up somewhere unexpectedly.

Rudbekia ‘indian summer’, Aster ‘henry 1’ & Dryopteris ‘autumn’

Bohemian Rhapsody: ‘like a posh Stevie Nicks minus the frayed edges.  flowy, flowery frocks. an artier take on boho with tons of froth, frills, layers and anything that will flutter in a light breeze.’

Buddleia ‘pink delight’, Hibiscus ‘brandy punch’, Lavender ‘munstead’ &  the fairy  Rose

Urban Warrior: ‘prefers minimal to more, and who definitely loves a little luxe.’

Pennisetum ‘maudry’,  Heuchera ‘Beaujolais’  & Echinacea ‘fatal attraction’

stop by and check out our Newest Arrivals and

make your garden one of this falls Best Dressed.

Chrysanthemums
The ringleaders of the fall colors, these “mums”, come in many shades of purple, pink, red, yellow and white and grace every doorstep, doorway, and garden in NE right about now.

Sedum
Sedum looks good all year, requires minimal attention and attracts few problems. Then it throws us this wonderful encore in the fall with a brilliant display of color.

Asters
Asters start popping open in late August and continue doing so until frost. You can see them in shades of pink, purple, blue and white and these airy daisy-like blossoms are truly charming.

Our fall collection has arrived, so if you want to see these beauties, and other fall show offs, stop by the nursery and say hello.

Share/Save]]> http://www.thayernursery.com/blog/2010/09/three-stars-of-the-colorful-fall-garden/feed/ 0 http://www.thayernursery.com/blog/2010/08/53600000-results-for-organic-gardening/ http://www.thayernursery.com/blog/2010/08/53600000-results-for-organic-gardening/#comments Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:50:20 +0000 admin http://www.thayernursery.com/blog/?p=475 Just now, when we googled “organic gardening”, there were 53, 600,000 results!

We think there is an easier way: Dr. Earth. Go straight to Dr. Earth. Do not pass go, do not take any detours.

This company, founded 17 years ago by plant biology expert, Milo Shammas, is the best source, we feel, for knowledge, products, and  inspiration.  You will discover the root of organic integrity and along the way, the best garden of your life.

The Dr. Earth products are the very first to combine beneficial living soil organisms, (microbes), with organic fertilizers, to create a bio-technical breakthrough that is revolutionizing the gardening and landscape industries.

At Thayer Nursery Landscaping and Garden Center, we’re proud to offer the Dr. Earth line of products.

Wanted For: defoliating apple leaves & for just being gross!!

Description: bright yellow-orange-red spots on apple leaves and orange galls with ‘horns’

Hangout: juniper (eastern red cedar) & apple trees including crabapples

Kryptonite: Lime –Sulfur Spray, Home Orchard Spray

The fungus that causes this disease moves back-and-forth between Eastern red cedars (actually junipers) and both fruiting & ornamental apple trees.  In order to complete its life cycle this fungus must spend part of its life on both. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the disease by eliminating the cedars within the given area of the apple tree. However, the spores can be wind borne up to 2-3 miles, so eradication of the disease is often impossible or impractical. Nonetheless, if cedars are not too numerous on your property, the removal of junipers around the immediate apple tree can certainly reduce the spores reaching the apple foliage & fruit.

The spores drift through the air mostly at night and early morning. If it lands on the apple’s leaves & fruit and remains wet for 4-6 hours, the spores infect the leaves of the apple tree. After several weeks, yellow spots develop on the infected apple leaves and fruit. By mid-summer the spots appear slightly raised and light-colored & are visible on the underside of the leaf. Spores are released and the wind carries them to nearby junipers. Infected juniper needles and twigs show no symptoms of infection initially. Inspect them closely the next spring for small, green swellings (immature galls). The galls reach full size by the end of the next growing season but do not mature and develop the orange gelatinous tendrils until the following spring (about 20 months after infection.) This bizarre-looking structure is actually the fruiting stage of the fungus. The “horns” release the spores that infect the apple trees.

Many sulfur fungicides are effective against rust. Begin spraying in spring and repeat throughout the summer as needed. Spraying the juniper is not recommended because cedar-apple rust rarely causes significant damage to this host. Prune dormant galls from juniper during the fall, winter and early spring before the orange tendrils begin to erupt from galls.

planting for the future.

-By Maggie Oldfield Thayer Nursery

Wanted For: an invasive species that dines on & destroys ornamental lilies, also exhibits an interesting habit of personal hygiene – covering themselves with their own excrement

Description: beetle has bright scarlet body & black legs, head, & antennae and the Larvae resemble slugs with swollen orange, brown, yellowish or even greenish bodies and black heads

Hangout: asiatic lilies

Kryptonite: Neem, Spinosad, Pyrethrins

The adult beetles stay alive throughout the winter and emerge early in the spring, when they begin looking for food and a mate. The adult females lay their eggs on the underside of lily leaves and the females produce between 250 and 450 eggs. The eggs appear in April or May and hatch within eight days.

The young larvae feed on the underside and the upper surface of lily leaves and sometimes on lily buds. This feeding period, which lasts 16 to 24 days, is the most destructive. From there, the beetles drop to the soil and pupate, emerging as adults about 16 to 22 days later & feed throughout the rest of the growing season.

And their personal hygiene leaves something to be desired: they secrete and carry their excrement on their backs. While they feed, the lily leaf beetles cover their bodies with their own excrement, giving them a grotesque appearance. It is some sort of defensive mechanism – it makes them look like a bird dropping, warding off predators and parasites.

If you only have a few plants in your garden, hand-picking adults and eggs can be effective (we prefer not to handle larvae, although there is no danger in doing so). Neem is most effective – it will repel beetles and kill young larvae, but must be applied every 5 to 7 days after the eggs hatch. Spinosad will kill the larvae.

planting for the future.

-By Maggie Oldfield Thayer Nursery