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Care Instructions
LANDSCAPE CARE INSTRUCTIONS
WATERING:
All landscapes will require different watering schedules
depending on different factors such as but not limited
to, climate, sun exposure, soil conditions, sprinkler
head type, and topography.
In the first two weeks it is nearly impossible to over-water
your landscape if done correctly. The aim in this establishment
period will be to keep the root mass that is wholly
contained within the soil media that it was delivered
in, wet. The nursery soil was created to be very porous
to reduce the risk of the fresh nursery stock contracting
root rot. This soil type however works against us when
we plant these plants out in the sun and exposures that
your yard presents. What we will find is that often
the prepared soil appears to be very wet, yet the root
ball made of that nursery soil will be bone dry. This
is true with all types of plants including sod.
Therefore the initial watering schedule should be frequent
and in short durations. However, before we outline the
initial scheduling in detail, I must first point out
that, after this initial healing in period, it is equally
important that we change our watering habits away from
this philosophy, because the well drained soil media
that the plants were delivered in to protect the new
plants from root rot will be of no consequence in a
landscape with water logged soil. You see all soils
are infested with root rot, however if a plant is healthy
it will withstand infection from these diseases. The
pathogen infects roots most effectively if it can just
swim around in free water and welcome itself into the
root at its own leisure. In the well-drained nursery
soil, free water does not persist long enough to allow
this to happen. This effect works well enough for us
in the first few weeks to protect our newly planted
landscape from infection. But almost immediately after
planting, the new plants will begin to set new roots
into the prepared soil of your yard. For this reason
we must insure that these new roots do not encounter
waterlogged, rot facilitated soil.
WATER SCHEDULE
First week- two to three watering
cycles daily, (9:30am 12:30pm 3:30pm), for two to three
minutes each valve station. Shady areas might only require
one to two minutes. Valves with Hunter type rotor heads
will require ten to twenty minutes per cycle. Never
water so long that the water runs off. You’ll
know that you are watering too much if there persists
standing water for long periods of time (more than twenty
minutes), or the soil never appears to dry down slightly.
If your yard allows you to water less frequently do
so. Never however allow your landscape plants to dry
out to the point of wilt. Some plants act as indicator
plants to the effects of under-watering, such as; Azaleas
(if Azaleas wilt they abort their flowers), Sod (will
turn a blackish color and become dull in appearance
as it begins to wilt), Annual color (will begin to drop
their flowers or the flowers will burn if they wilt).
Second week- one to two watering cycles
daily, (10:00am 3:00pm), for three to four minutes each
valve station. Shady areas will probably still require
only one to two minutes per valve station. Valves with
Hunter rotor heads will require fifteen to twenty minutes
per valve station. During this week if the plants wilt
between watering cycles, before you add back the ‘start
time’ we took off, try giving a few more minutes
of ‘watering time’ to the watering cycle.
We want the plants to start the weaning process from
the presence of constant moisture. New plants require
three things to sustain life, water, a growing media,
and air. In super saturated soil there is an absence
of air in the growing media. Without air in the new
soil, the plants will never send roots into the new
soil, and the plants will never allow you to wean them
from over-watering and root rot will eventually take
over.
Third week: By now the plants should
be starting to set roots into the new soil in earnest.
Reduce the ‘start times’ to once daily (1:00pm).
Lawn areas with spray heads will require seven to eight
minutes per valve station. Planter areas will require
four to six minutes per valve station. Shady areas will
require two to four minutes per valve station. Lawn
and planter areas with Hunter rotor heads will require
twenty to twenty five minutes per valve station. Slope
areas will require the same durations as other areas
with like conditions and heads, but the watering cycle
may need to be broken in half and administered in two
cycles rather than one. The determination for this application
will be the result of whether or not the slope can absorb
the duration in one watering cycle without running water
off. In this week regular mowing of lawns will be needed
so keep the clock off on the day mowing is scheduled.
If the yard needs it, initiate a semi-automatic watering
cycle when you are done mowing and cleaning up.
Fourth week: this is the week that
wholesale changes in the watering program need to be
instituted. As you can tell, the schedule thus far has
been a little vague and open to a lot of interpretation.
Well now it gets worse! The reason for the vagueness
is because every house has different conditions and
plants. Plus here in California the weather is very
unpredictable. One week it’s winter and the next
is summer regardless of the calendar seasons. Therefore
you must look at your Irrigation Controller as a tool
and not as a failsafe. We must attempt to come up with
a program that is general enough to sustain our landscape
with minor tweaking yet specific enough to take into
consideration our landscape’s specific needs.
No problemo!
Lets begin by discussing the philosophy of watering.
When you water what you are doing is attempting to replenish
the reservoir of water within the soil profile that
is available to the plant for uptake. The reservoir
is depleted by evaporation off the soil surface by the
sun, and by what the plants uptake by absorption, to
use to sustain life. This combined process is called
Evapotranspiration (ET). Any water applied in excess
of the amount needed to replenish what ET used; either
becomes run-off or flows beyond the root zone in the
soil profile, carrying your soluble fertilizer (read
money) with it. If we were to take a look at what a
cross section of the entire soil profile your plants
are living in looks like, and observe the available
water in the soil, it would appear like a column of
water saturating the soil. The finer the grains of the
actual soil particles (clay content) are, the longer
the column would be. When you apply water by irrigating,
you are actually filling up this column. As the Irrigation
water percolates into the soil profile and past the
root-zone a certain amount of water remains in the soil
profile as a column of saturated soil. Saturated soil
has no air. The thickness of this saturated soil area,
depends on the percentage of clay your soil has. The
clayer the soil the thicker the saturated soil column
dominates the soil profile. As the soil dries down through
ET the column of saturated soil shrinks. As the profile
dries down it actually sucks air down into the soil
profile by a vacuum type action. The roots will only
live in the soil area that has both air and water. Also
remember that roots don’t seek water they follow
water. If you water too frequently the saturated
soil column extends too high in the soil profile and
the roots won’t penetrate beyond the top of the
saturated water column, so you must sustain the plants
in a very shallow root zone. If you don’t water
enough the shallow rooted plants (annual color and ground
covers) can’t extend deep enough to follow the
water and will dry out. So what we want to accomplish
in this fourth week is to begin to train the roots of
all the plants, to survive in a root zone that has periods
of saturation followed by periods of air penetration.
That is not easy, and if done accurately will require
some keen observations and much tinkering with your
Irrigation controller. However if done properly will
result in a very healthy landscape that will be able
to sustain periods of drought without drying out, and
require less money spent on water, fungicides and fertilizers.
Because the deeper we can train the roots to grow, the
greater the root mass the plants will produce, in a
larger soil volume, giving the plants a greater soil
volume from which to grab available nutrients and water
from.
Specifically we want to water long enough to fill up
the water column (reservoir) each time we water and
not water again until the plants begin to show the initial
signs of ‘lack of water’ stress. How long
are we to run each valve station to accomplish this?
If I knew the exact answer to that question I wouldn’t
have to write this to you, but because each yard is
different, it’s gong to be your job to come up
with the specifics with the help of some good coaching
from me. First a few do’s and don’ts. Never
water your landscape to the point of run-off. This practice
causes slope erosion, excess standing water which gives
rise to root rot, and is a good waste of money. Observe
each area by manually turning on each valve area and
timing how long you can run that valve until runoff
begins. Manually run the valves in the same sequence
that they appear on the controller cycle because some
valves may water the same area but from a different
direction and this will effect the time before runoff
occurs. This gives you the ‘maximum run time’
for each valve. On your controller chart note the maximum
run time for each valve. If any existing run times programmed
into the controller exceed these times make the adjustments.
When adjusting the controller never exceed this run
time for each valve. Note, these ‘maximum run
times’ will change from time to time as your landscape
matures and the seasons change. Now lets try to get
your landscape to survive on watering every other day.
Begin by setting the watering start times to begin and
finish before you get up in the morning.
If we start on Monday set the program to not water on
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and each valve station
to its respective ‘maximum run time’ we
noted on the controller chart. Watering will occur on
Monday morning. If when you get home on Monday or Tuesday
evening and you observe water stress, note in what areas
it is occurring. If the stress is severe water those
plants immediately by hand if isolated, or by the controller
if wide spread. Then reprogram those water stressed
valve stations areas an additional start time to water
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday morning on program
‘B’, the new run time shall be a percentage
of the ‘maximum run time’ in proportion
to the degree of water stress not exceeding the maximum,
the new start time should be coordinated to finish one
hour before the program ‘A’ start time begins.
This is giving those areas more water without over watering
the entire landscape. When you get home on Wednesday
observe for water stress again. Increase the station
run times in program ‘B’ using the same
principals as before. Repeat this process as often as
necessary, but never exceed the ‘maximum run times’.
If the landscape need water in excess of the ‘maximum
run time’ in the program ‘B’ use program
‘C’. When you get the every other day watering
cycle dialed in without having to make any further adjustments
pat yourself on the back. Don’t forget that the
opposite principals are true for areas that don’t
seem to dry down. Remember that we are trying to get
to the point of applying the least amount of water as
possible, so don’t be afraid to reduce the run
times until you can’t reduce them further without
causing water stress. Most normal people stop at this
stage, but if you are a real thrill seeker or just plain
concerned about your ballooning water bill, use the
same principals to get your landscape to go two days
between watering. This may require using program ‘C’.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. If you can use
these principals to go three days without watering (it
really is possible) call me immediately and I’ll
get your name in the Hernandez Book of World Records.
FERTILIZING
Once you get your watering down to where you are watering
every other day, usually this takes about four to five
weeks after planting, you are ready to begin a comprehensive
fertilization program. Fertilization of your landscape
is like feeding your children, if you don’t feed
your kids correctly they won’t grow and will succumb
to disease readily. The same is true with plants. First
a few do’s and don’ts.
Never fertilize dry plants. Fertilizer is a salt, and
when you add salt to a dry plant, the salt will accelerate
the drying process. If you are scheduled to fertilize
on a day that the landscape is relatively dry, water
that day instead, and fertilize the next day, or at
least four hours later. Never over-fertilize your landscape.
Applying too much fertilizer will only cause plants
to burn or grow so rapidly that they will be susceptible
to disease and insects. If you miss a fertilizing just
resume your schedule as soon as possible where you last
left it. When using granular fertilizer, never pile
the granules around the base or trunk of the plant.
The best technique is to throw a measured amount of
granules at the plants, with enough force, that the
granules are dispersed around the base of the plant.
Always use a mechanical type, fertilizer spreader, to
fertilize turf. If you fertilize turf by throwing the
granules by hand, you run the risk of creating real
neat patterns of very green turf and yellow unfertilized
turf.
Always water in fertilizer after application of any
type of fertilization. With granule fertilizers the
key is to wash the granules off of the surface of the
leaves, and out of any crotches that leaves form that
can trap the granules. Being a very concentrated salt,
granule fertilizers will burn holes or yellow spots
into the leaves. New leaves are especially susceptible.
Soluble fertilizers are equally dangerous to leaves
if not washed off of the leaf surface immediately after
application. It is recommended that one should wash
down all the plants you intend to fertilize with soluble
fertilizer, prior to fertilizing. Then follow-up with
a through washing after fertilizing is completed.
Always follow the directions written on the label. Never
assume that if the label says a certain amount of fertilizer
is recommended, that double that amount, or any amount
above the recommendation is better. In fact it will
always be detrimental to your landscape. As a mater
of fact, if for instance, the recommendation reads,
one pound of fertilizer per 100 square feet once a month,
it would be better to apply one half a pound per 100
square feet every two weeks.
All fertilizers and insecticides that will be recommended
here are available at Orange County Farm Supply 714-978-6500.
FERTILIZER RECOMMENDATIONS
TURF: Summer
- fertilize with Best Turf Supreme
Winter
- fertilize with Best NitraKing
PLANTER AREAS: Alternate applications
of Gro-power regular, and 15–15-15 on a monthly
basis. Apply one half of the recommended dosage if applied
monthly. Note, on Gro-power, even though it is an organic
fertilizer will burn just as easily as any other fertilizer.
ANNUAL COLOR: Soluble fertilizer
on a two week interval. Almost any type of soluble is
ok, the key being consistent usage. The most common
types being; Peters 20-20-20, Super Bloom, Terro-vite,
Rogers Flower Food, Miracle Grow.
TOP DRESSING: Top dressing is a vital
operation that will maintain your landscape in a vigorous
growing condition. During the initial installation,
your yard was prepared with a combination of organic
materials and fertilizers. This effort was a futile
attempt to simulate the natural decomposition processes
that takes place back east, when the trees loose their
leaves year after year, in one application. Therefore
subsequent applications of organic materials will simulate
this life giving process, by supplementing the life
of your soil.
Planter areas can be top dressed with redwood compost
on a yearly basis, usually in the spring after the rainy
season. Nitrohumus is an excellent top dress material
for top dressing roses, annual color beds, and fruit
trees.
PEST CONTROL
Pesticides are very specific in their applications.
For specific recommendations it is recommended that
you consult a licensed pest control advisor or the Agriculture
Department.
SNAILS: ‘That’s it’ is absolutely
the best snail bait there is. Although it is not pet
safe, ‘That’s it’ uses wheat flower
as an attractant instead of cornmeal, so it is less
sweet and therefore tasteless to dogs and cats, plus
it is rolled onto a grain of sand which makes it very
small. Small granules cover a larger area per pound.
Application of snail bait is best done in the early
evening. Hose every thing down, including walkways and
walls, shake That’s-it over the entire landscape,
concentrating where snails like to live (agapanthus,
day lilies, Clivia, cold wet walls) and eat (annual
color, vegetables, roses). The moisture brings out the
snails and the bait does the rest.
POWDERY MILDEW: Attacks roses, begonias,
crepe myrtles, and Nandina. The fungus presents itself
as a powdery type of mold on the surface of the leaf.
The only way to stop the spread of the fungus is to
spray the infected plants with ‘funginex’
(active chemical is Triflorine). It is perfectly acceptable
to spray a preventative application of this chemical
before the fungus presents itself in the early spring.
In most instances the infected leaves will die or burn
up after the chemical is applied because the fungus
is actually inside the leaf and the powdery stuff you
see is the spore producing bodies of the pathogen poking
though the surface of the leaf. So when the fungus living
inside the leaf dies the leaf goes with it.
SUCKING INSECTS: a good systemic insecticide
such as Orthene can eradicate Aphids, Thrips, scales,
and mealy bugs.
Aphids are watery little bugs that can be green, black
or red in color. They appear on the new growth of many
types of plants. They have a symbiotic relationship
with Ants. The Ants harvest the honeydew that the Aphids
produce. Ants will actually move the Aphids from plant
to plant and protect them from the Aphid’s natural
predators like Lady Bugs and Parasitic wasps. Check
the Aphids by squishing them before you spray to see
if they are in fact still alive or all dried up. If
they are dry the natural predators have done their job,
or the previous spraying has worked, don’t spray
again because you will only succeed in killing the beneficial
insects.
Thrips are small black sucking insects that turn the
leaves of the plants such as Azaleas a silvery gray
color with black spots.
Scales are sucking insects that encapsulate them-selves
in a hard shell, usually on the soft stems of plants.
They can also be identified as dead or alive, by squishing.
If they are dry inside they are dead.
Mealy Bugs are sucking insects that are very white and
almost cottony in appearance. They look like small,
soft, ‘roley poley bugs’
CATERPILLARS: Caterpillars can be eradicated
by the application of actual living bacteria (Bacillus
Thuringenensis) sold by different trade names. The caterpillars
must ingest the bacteria while eating a leaf, so spray
the infested plants at the first sign of damage (rounded
holes on the leaves usually emanating from the edges).
The bacteria, then kills the caterpillar from the inside
by giving it a real bad stomach ache. Death is usually
realized in about 4-7 days.
TRIMMING
The next most important aspect of horticultural practices,
necessary to maintain the overall appearance of your
yard, is the proper trimming of the plants and trees.
Most people are afraid to trim their plants for fear
that they might permanently damage or destroy their
plants. When in fact some plants need trimming to stay
alive and bloom correctly, such as Azalea, Hydrangia,
and all annual color.
Azaleas will bloom next year on the new wood produced
this year, so the greater number of branches they produce
this year the more flowers they will have next year.
Regular tipping of the new growth will promote branching.
As the new branches start growing after the flowers
fall in the spring, let the shoots grow out to six inches
in length. Then cut the new growth back half way. From
each cut branch the plant will produce six to ten new
branches. Repeat this procedure through out the year
until August, at which point the plant will start forming
the flower buds for the spring. Pruning after August
will remove the flower buds that stay dormant until
spring.
Hydrangeas must be trimmed down to the trunk (6”
high) after the growth/bloom stage is complete. Usually
at that time the plant starts looking real bad anyways
so this type of severe treatment will be welcomed. After
pruning give a good shot of 15-15-15 fertilizer and
the plant will grow back to its original splendor within
weeks. This treatment is also good for dwarf Alstromeria
(cut back to the ground), and Hibiscus (cut back to
6-12” in the spring after all possibility of frost
has past).
Annual color must be ‘dead headed’ (cutting
off the old flowers) weekly. If regular dead heading
of annual color is not done, the plants will produce
seeds and their internal biological clock will turn
the plant off and it will die. Flowering perennial plants
will need to be deadheaded only when the accumulation
of dead flowers is detrimental to the appearance to
the plant. NOTE- annual color plants are those plants
that, bloom vigorously for one season then die, perennial
plants are all the rest.
Large trees should all be trimmed yearly, in the early
fall before the Santana winds start. Fruit trees can
be pruned on the spring or fall.
Roses should be trimmed in the late winter before the
spring buds emerge. All the leaves should be removed
when you cut back the roses so that no fungal diseases
can over-winter in the old leaves or flowers. Remove
and replace all remaining mulch and clear the area of
all leaf and flower litter and dispose. Mulch the roses
with Nitrohumus, fertilize and spray with a good dormant
spray.
CONCLUSION
The most important thing to remember about this care
sheet is this, 'if something does not look quite right
it is always better to call me ASAP'. That way we can
nip a potential catastrophic problem in the bud before
it develops, rather than trying to fix a situation after
the damage is done.
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