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Patio pots and containers
Daily attention will give the best results, picking off all dead flowers, pinching back unwanted growth and watching out for invasions of greenfly, whitefly or caterpillars. If pests are noticed get rid of them early with BugClear Gun! or Natures Answer Natural Pest Control so they stop their sap-sucking damage before it distorts growth.
Regular watering is vital to continuous flowering and growth of plants in containers. To avoid the need to carry water in a watering can invest in a watering device that can be snapped on to the end of a hose. The new Miracle-Gro Feeder (œ6.99) is a complete watering and feeding tool. It delivers plain water through a variable rotating head that gives three different spray patterns; a soft and easy sprinkler for delicate flowers; a high volume jet for established shrubs, plants and lawns and a flat wide spray pattern for beds and borders.
Best of all this feeder comes complete with Miracle-Gro General Purpose Water Soluble Plant Food, so you can turn the control switch from plain watering to enriched feeding in just a second. Plants can them be fed over the leaves and at the roots to ensure they make healthy vigorous growth that will see the plant flowering throughout the summer.
You can change the feed in your Miracle-Gro Feeder to Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food, to feed rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and pieris with the right plant food that is rich in vital nutrients and contains the essential chelated iron that keeps the plant dark green and growing healthily. For an instant lawn tonic that greens up the grass in just 4 days fill the Feeder with Miracle-Gro Lawn Food and spray away. You can feed the average garden in just 15 minutes - so you will have plenty of time to admire the results.
Timely tip
Plants growing very close together that receive regular watering are vulnerable to disease attack. If you notice mildew spots on the leaves of your decorative patio plants spray them with a systemic fungicide such as FungusClear or FungusClear Gun!.
Lawn
If you are going to water your grass during any subsequent dry spells then now is the time to build up the moisture reserves. Fork the turf surface so that any artificial watering or rain can penetrate deeply. Also remember to water either early in the morning or late at night to reduce evaporation. The early birds will find that mains water pressure is better at 6 am rather than 6 pm - especially during a warm spell of weather.
Forget applying dry granule lawn treatments if the weather is hot and dry. Many people unfortunately ignore the instructions on most packs that tell you only to apply when the soil is moist and the weeds and grass are actively growing. Under dry soil conditions applying a liquid treatment is best. First water the lawn so the soil is moist and the following day apply a treatment such as EverGreen Lawn Food Liquid or Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Lawn Food. For really quick results in just a few days spray with the new EverGreen Spray & Feed. The great new hand-held dispenser is ready to use - just attach to a hose and turn on the tap to feed and water your lawn at the same time. Dilution is automatic according to water pressure and, in 10 minutes you can treat a 100m2 lawn. Feeding and greening just couldn't be easier or quicker. You are not sprinkling 'fairy dust' over the lawn, but dissolving fast-acting plant food ingredients that will green up the lawn in a day or two.
Because the liquid plant food in EverGreen Spray & Feed is fully dissolved in water before application, scorch damage to the lawn in normal growing conditions is nigh on impossible, although it should not be applied if the lawn is under stress from severe drought or in frosty weather.
A week or so after the lawn tonic is applied check the lawn for weeds. The small-leaved weeds, such as black meddick, common mouse-ear and lesser trefoil are notoriously difficult to control. Ordinary selective weedkillers advise several treatments to get the spread under control. However the new lawn weedkiller Verdone Extra is even better. It kills many weeds in lawns with one treatment and the list of weeds controlled includes these small-leaved weeds as well as white clover, daisy, dandelion and plantains. Do not mow the grass for three days before or after treatment - for best results leave it even longer for the weeds to grow. This interval means there is good leaf coverage to absorb the weedkillers and enough time for them to be absorbed before the next cut. As the lawn weedkiller could be harmful to surrounding plants only spray on a calm day when there is no likelihood of drift on the wind.Timely tips
Cut the grass at least once a week and trim the edges to maintain a beautiful look. |
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ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
Ant Stop! Bait Station contains fipronil. BugClear™ and BugClear Gun!™ contain bifenthrin. Murphy Traditional Copper Fungicide contains copper oxychloride. Nature's Answer® Natural Pest Control contains pyrethrins. Pathclear 3 contains amitrole, 2,4-D and diuron. Pathclear Gun! contains glyphosate-trimesium and diuron. Pathclear contains diquat, paraquat and simazine. Roseclear® 3 contains bifenthrin and myclobutanil. Roseclear Gun!™ contains bifenthrin and flutriafol. SlugClear® and SlugClear® Advanced Pellets contain metaldehyde. Verdone® Extra Ready to Use contains fluroxypyr, clopyralid and MCPA. Weedol contains paraquat and diquat. Weedol® 2 and Weedol Gun!™ contain diquat.
® ™ Miracle-Gro, Osmocote and Levington are Trade Marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates. |
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