816-Lancast»r Finning, Saturday, March 16, 1996
All Gardens
Great &Sn
by
York Co.
Horticultural Ai
Tom Becker
Selecting Seed For
Spring Lawn Seeding
YORK (York Co.) Spring is
just around the comer and with it
an abundance of advertisements
for lawn, landscaping, and garden
products hitting the newspapers
and Sunday magazines. Some
homeowners will be wanting to
plant some grass seed this spring.
Although grass seedings usually
turn out better when done in the
fall there are occasions when
spring seedings are necessary such
as with new construction or repair
of areas damaged the previous
year that were not taken care of in
the fall.
The key to successful spring
grass seeding is to get it done as
early as the weather and soil con
ditions permit so that the grass can
get up and growing before the
negative effects of hot and dry
weather and weed competition
take place. Proper soil prepara
tion, soil amendments, seeding
Thanks fir Congratulations To
HAKNISH BROS. Washington Boro, PA
KING CONSTRUCTION CO.
■
601 Overly Grove Rd., New Holland, PA 17557 Custom Design And Construction 0f...
. nr fsrzA Dairy Barns, Heifer Facilities,
717-004-4740 Horse Barns, Equipment Sheds, Etc.
Phil Van Lieu Home: 717-259-9077 Authorized Dealer For Keystone Waffle Slats
[d) f®) E (F* H @ f=J Waffle Slats by
Lr ITU LS J '2) LEa ■jriYSTONE ? ’gA J ,_ B “?!?
CONCRETE WALLS, INC. Iwpsoouctc' .mmexh.
601 Overly Grove Road |
N©W Holland, PA 17557 477 East Farmersvllle Rd. , x
717-355-0726 7857 <W>
and mulching should be done in
order to increase the odds of
success.
Assuming all the preparation is
done properly and a good stand of
grass is establsihed, the key to
long term success goes back to the
selection of a good high quality
seed product. While there are
many good seed products to
choose from them are also many
poor one that can be found on
store shelves that arc very appeal
ing because of the low price. In
addition there can be products that
are quite inferior that ate adver
tised in such a way that one would
think of it as a miracle product To
further try to convince the con
sumer that the product is some
thing special they price it extreme
ly high. The key is to find out what
the actual contents of the seed
mixture consists of. In a store this
would be found on a tag on the
box or on a bulk bin. For mail
order products you will probably
have to call the company to get
this information ahead of time.
When checking on the contents
of the seed product, remember to
check that the germination dale is
current Check the percentage of
viable seed, the amount of inert
material, other crop seed and
whether or not it contains any nox
ious weed seeds. Read on the tag
what type of grass (species) are
contained. Be sure it contains the
type of grass that is adapted to the
conditions you will be growing it
under. Check what the names of
the varieties are. Chances are if
the variety name is not stated, the
performance of the grass will be
inferior to other improved, named
varieties.
It has been said that there will
always be a market for poor qual
ity grass seed. If you are looking
for something that will keep the
dust down there are grass seed
products available to meet that
need. If you are more interested in
a long lasting, better looking grass
with fewer problems there are pro
ducts available for that also. Be an
informed consumer before you
buy. Ask questions. Read seed
tags. Don’t take brand name repu
tation for a guarantee of quality.
Information on selecting grass
seed is available from the
Cooperative Extension office.
Call (717) 840-7408 and ask for
the Extension circular numbers
391 Turf grass Seed and Seed
Mixtures and 395 Turfgrass
Species For Pennsylvania.
Ida’s
Notebook
Ida Risser
Our youngest daughter and her
family have lived in Texas almost
three yean. We’ve finally decided
to fly down and visit them. Two of
our other children offered to take
us to the Philadelphia Airport and
then pick us up six days later. We
really appreciate their volunteer
ing.
Now I must decide whether we
should take winter or spring
clothes. And, we must make ar
rangements for someone to get our
mail and feed the cats and gold
fish. I’m hoping my plants won’t
get too thinty as the sun shines
brightly in at the two big bay win
dows.
It is so easy to get into a routine
of daily living and not particularly
look forward to an upheaval. But,
I know that a pleasant visit will be
planned for us. Even seeing the
one-year-old grandson again
should be an incentive to travel.
This winter I’ve enjoyed read
i
;; #
* \. %.
' ■*v
ing some short stories by well
known authors. Now I have start
ed a book written by Peari Buck in
1936.1 think it should be as inter
esting now as when it was written.
It tells about her mother’s life in
China.
When I look through the new
garden catalogs. I find too many
things that I’d like to try. Maybe
I’ll try round zucchinis as I had
none last year. Some years I have
a big crop of leeks and other years
I do not even plant any.
However, flowers are my weak
ness as I could order a dozen kinds
without even trying. So far my
hollyhocks have not done very
well for me as I only have a few.
This year I want to try straw flow
ers and statice again as it has been
years since I raised them. I’m also
planning to plant more dwarf
varieties of zinnias, snap dragons
and cosmos. In our soil they grow
too taU and they have to be staked.
New 76'x72' 4'
Row Slated Tree
Stall Barn with
Deep Manure Pit,
Concrete "H"
Bunks.
Also Renovated
Existing Barn to
Concrete Slats
with Gravity
Gutters
V 'H'i