Bruce Kreitler: Winter weather worries turn to spring weeding
My prediction last year that by the end of the summer I was going to know a lot more about tree damage from cold weather than I ever wanted to learn came true.
That learning process is ongoing.
Some of the things that I thought would happen did, some didn't. The process still isn't over, so the learning continues.
One of the things that I'm anxious to see this spring - and that's not as far off as people think it is - is what the ash trees will do. While I think I have a good idea about what some of them are going to do, I'm really hoping the trees that have been topped will re-sprout.
Because of the enormous amount of damage, we still are topping ash trees, and so far, the end is nowhere in sight.
In a few months, we're going to have a much better idea of the amount of the total damage from last year, and will of course have to deal with it. The live oaks that looked so bad immediately after the freeze mostly have recovered, but not all of them, and spring will give us a better idea of the path forward, as far as the live oaks go.
One thing that I've been heavily recommending on the live oaks is to wait until spring to give them every chance to recover, as they were slowly recovering all spring, summer and even in the fall. Very unusual to say the least.
Getting back to that spring thing, I do want to remind everybody that if you are doing your own weed control, it's soon going to be time to put out pre-emergent weed prevention. My personal opinion is that if you are going to try to control weeds, but not put down pre-emergent as part of the program, don't bother.
Pre-emergent should be put down at least two times a year, and the first application period is coming up soon.
Another thing that I would like to point out is that if you are going to need a yard service to do maintenance this coming this year, you should be arranging that now. Dependable yard services are not that plentiful, and they usually keep full schedules. However, for various reasons, sometimes dependable services are looking for new clients.
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Since I'm not in the yard maintenance business and do have a yard of my own, I know something about this from the consumer side. Believe me, if you need yard work done, it's really nice to have a service you can depend on.
By the way, I don't do my own weed control.
I have a professional service that takes care of that, and since I know a lot of people in that business, I hired the one that I consider to be the best in the business, and have not regretted it.
Another thing to consider is spring fertilizations. Not only do early fertilizations generally help plants, there is a lot of residual damage from last year's cold. If you have some of those damaged plants, proper doses of fertilizer (meaning the amount needed, not a huge dose in the thinking that more is better), and possibly a little extra irrigation probably would be helpful.
In fact, it's been a little dry this year, so that extra irrigation thing would be good idea even if you don't have damaged plants.
Ready or not (and I'm ready), spring is coming, and it's a good time to get ready for it.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Bruce Kreitler: Winter weather worries turn to spring weeding
