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December 2010 Newslettervolume one, issue three
In This Issue
Holiday Gift Ideas
Winterizing Your Garden Tools
Winter Garden Care
Reducing Our Carbon Footprint
Holiday Gift Ideas
Holiday wreath
Do you struggle like I do with what to buy those special relatives who seem to already have everything they want? 

Here are some ideas to surprise and delight them!

1. An afternoon walking around "your person's"
garden with one of our horticulturists, identifying plants or sharing ideas of what to move or add to enhance their space even more.

2. A garage or shed cleanup and reorganization! This could include cleaning and oiling all of the garden tools (see other article!), or recommending tools we find efficient or less strenuous to use.

3. A gardening gift basket of seeds, an ergonomic trowel, gloves, and a book about heirloom vegetables.

4. An indoor mini herb garden complete with grow light and lamp.

5. A pastel drawing of your garden or just a diagram with all the plants identified. Like our installation packets, we can include either a CD or a decorative binder of the corresponding plant information sheets.

6. Of course, a gift certificate for a design, planting, or other gardening chore to be redeemed anytime in 2011.

7. A sustainability review. This could include which
organic products can replace existing toxic chemicals, how to incorporate rain barrels, how to use less water in the garden, and how to bring in more wildlife (birds and butterflies, not rabbits or squirrels please).

8. Decorative garden elements to look at now and install in the spring like a trellis, arbor,  or water bubbler. 
South City water feature
9. A holiday wreath or even a post-holiday wreath to bring in some cheer during the often dreary "uary" months!

10. If you can dream it, we can most likely do it! 
Join Our Mailing List 
Greetings!  

Happy December and Happy Holidays! Our dedicated gardeners are still out there preparing your gardens for winter, planting shrubs and trees, and solving drainage issues. And I'm still busy with designs and holiday gifts, such as those in the sidebar article. 

We are available all year round as your "go to" source of gardening information. So please don't hesitate to call or email us this winter with your thoughts or questions.

We envision this as a quick little publication that adds to your life. So please send us any and all comments in order to maximize it's value. Enjoy!
Winterizing Your Garden Tools
Tools and sharpening and cleaning materials
Tools with sharpening and cleaning materials.

We want our tools to last so every December we prepare them for their long winter nap. Here's what you can do too:

1. Drain and unkink hoses and store them inside.

2. Clean, sharpen, and oil all hand tools. Water, a wire brush, and steel wool are great for removing stubborn dirt and rust spots.

Thoroughly dry the tools before using a file or whetstone at a 45-degree angle to file inward in one direction and on only one side of each blade. In addition to oiling the clean, sharp metal, don't forget to wax or apply linseed oil to all wooden handles.

3. Store hand tools in buckets of oily sand to prevent condensation in the air from rusting them.

4. On tools with engines, clean them, change the oil, lubricate all moving parts, and then drain the fuel.

5. Bring all liquid fertilizers and pest controls inside because they will freeze in most sheds.
 
That's it. Then enjoy winter's beauty and wait to reawaken your garden in the spring!
Winter Garden Care

Many people aren't sure how to care for their gardens in the winter. By watching the weather and doing just a few tasks from now through March, your garden will be healthier and more bountiful next spring.
1. Removing dead foliage, debris, and uncomposted leaves from the garden beds now removes the ideal, wet nesting ground of many insects and diseases.

2. Pre-emergent applied now keeps winter weed seeds from germinating on warmer winter days.

3. Milky spore applied now kills grubs and Japanese beetle larvae that will emerge next summer to devour your roses!

4. Protective mulch over the winter is essential in our climate to keep the soil from freezing and thawing and thereby heaving roots out of the ground. It also prevents moisture loss from your well-watered soils.

5. Horticultural oil applied now keeps winter winds from drying out and browning broadleaf evergreen foliage on azaleas, rhododendrons, boxwood, hollies, and on more tender evergreens like camellias.

6. On those warm winter days, if the soil is dry and unfrozen, water your evergreen trees and shrubs, especially any planted this year.

7. To avoid injury and compaction to soil when it is wet or frozen, stay out of the garden beds and off the lawn. Plants and turf grass don't grow well in compacted soil.

8. If snow or ice appear, brush snow off tree and shrub branches weighed down by it. However, don't try to remove the ice; doing so may do more damage.

9. Any limbs broken by ice or snow should be pruned immediately to prevent disease from setting in.

10. Consider using sand or birdseed for traction on icy paths; using chemicals or salt injures nearby plants.

By following these simple tips, your garden will look even more glorious next spring!

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

 

Our staff have been busy this year continuing to implement ways to lessen our carbon footprint. 

  

Newest among our efforts are sending proposals and invoices by email only. If you prefer correspondence

by paper instead, just let us know.

 

And check out our complete list of sustainability measures on our website! If you have ideas for others, let us know that too! 
Thank you for reading this. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If you didn't, please let us know!
 
As we end our tenth year, we want to continue to be your trusted source for garden aesthetics and advice. We value your trust and will continue to do the very best for you.

Rhonda SchaperSincerely, 

Rhonda Schaper
Owner
Glorious Gardens, Inc.