Dear Valued Lanoha Customer,

The last few days of August have reminded us again of the roller coaster weather the state seems to be experiencing. While I am certain that September will bring us more comfortable weather, the past weeks of heat have delayed some fall gardening projects.  The lawns are indeed ready for renovation, aeration, over-seeding, and hungry for a good fall application of turf food. Our experienced staff is ready to help you solve any of your lawn questions and concerns. We carry a complete line of top-quality turf seeds---bluegrass, fescue, and fine leaf rye that are all "Blue Tagged" superior quality seed varieties that have excellent germination rates. This seed is completely different from what hardware stores, box stores, and grocery stores offer. We have added two new turf grass mixes to our already large inventory. We now have available Super Turf 1 (a mix of fine leaf turf fescues and thin bladed perennial rye) and Super Turf 11 (a mix of fine leaf turf fescues, thin bladed perennial ryegrass, and a disease resistant bluegrass). Be sure to pick up our Step-By-Step FREE guide on seeding with success in the fall. Fall seeding of fescue grass seed should ideally be completed by September 20th.  Bluegrass and ryegrass can be seeded until early October.

  We just want to take a quick moment to thank all of you who voted us as Best of Omaha for Landscaping last year. We truly appreciate you taking the time to do that! Nothing makes us happier than helping our customers find the perfect landscape solution and bringing their dreams to life!

Voting for 2014 ends this month on September 30th. We would greatly appreciate your votes again this year! Click the image above to go directly to our category to vote! 

Lanoha Nurseries has prided itself for decades as a leader in the "greening" of the metro area. Our home-grown specimen tress produced on over a thousand acres of land in Douglas, Washington, and Saunders County have been cleaning the air for residents of the Omaha area while absorbing tons of harmful gases. Our "state of the art" production facilities have produced top quality shrubs, roses, and perennials under close environmental guidelines acceptable to the environmentally sensitive Zorinsky Lake area. Lanoha Nurseries realizes just how fragile the balance of nature is here in Nebraska.

We ARE NOT stopping with past accomplishments!!! We invite all area homeowners and lawn service companies to join us in the newest "Greening Project"----a unique cooperative adventure not available anywhere else in the area. FREE DROP-OFF of yard waste materials will be accepted at NO CHARGE here at the garden center from area homeowners and lawn service companies. We will grind, wind-row and turn repeatedly, over months, the organic materials you drop off. The resulting product will be a rich organic compost that will enrich the clay soils of landscape planting sites or vegetable gardens. Lanoha Nurseries considers this to be much more environmentally acceptable than to have this material end up in the bottom of a landfill where capacities have already reached maximum levels.

As the summer days shorten, and fall weather arrives here in the metro, many yard clean up tasks begin. Vegetable gardens and flower beds need to be cleaned of spent foliage, leaves begin to fall from trees and shrubs, planting beds may need to be enlarged resulting in excess sod and dirt that needs to be removed, limbs need to be pruned from shrubs and trees, or excess wood mulch may need to be removed. With fall fertilization of the turf, grass clippings will increase significantly. These clippings are rich in nitrogen that will increase heat needed to produce superior compost. Later in the season the straw, corn shocks, and pumpkins from fall decorations can be brought to the collection site here at the garden center. Don't forget this would be a perfect drop-off spot for your live Christmas trees after the holidays. These are some of the organic yard waste materials that will be accepted here at the garden center.

We ask that the branches be between 4-6' long----no logs, please. The grass, leaves and garden waste can be dropped off in paper bags---PLEASE, NO RUBBER OR  PLASTIC BAGS OR PLASTIC CONTAINERS. If you bring your yard waste in plastic bags, we ask that you empty them into the container and take the plastic bags back home. We want this to be as environmentally safe as possible---so please, no railroad ties or treated lumber. This could be a regular family activity each week to drop off yard waste at the garden center.  P.S.  If you live in an SID, you are paying to have your yard waste picked up---with the hope that it will not be sent with your regular trash to a landfill-you hope! DROPPING OFF YOUR YARD WASTE HERE AT LANOHA NURSERIES WILL ASSURE YOU THAT IT WILL BE COMPOSTED.

Just to recap: The following yard waste items will be accepted  AT NO CHARGE here at the garden center during regular store hours:  SHRUBS ,SAWDUST, STRAW AND HAY, GRASS CLIPPINGS, WOOD CHIPS, GARDEN WASTE, LEAVES, BRUSH, SOD, DIRT and CHRISTMAS TREES. Thank you for helping make the metro area greener!

Few perennials have more nostalgia that surrounds them than the herbaceous peony that has graced gardens for generations. Many have some great memories of huge plantings of peonies around farmsteads and city landscapes alike. It was brought with pioneers on their trip west, and today can be often found blooming with reliability on abandoned farmsteads and other untended sites as well as in the most manicured landscapes of any Midwest-city. Peonies like the weather of the Midwest, and people who live in areas of the U.S. that do not have our cold winters admire our peonies, with a great deal of envy.

 The herbaceous peonies from our homegrown inventory are double flowering. They are growing in large containers that should ensure blooms in the spring.  Peonies prefer a deep, fertile, well-drained soil with plenty of organic compost added. We suggest you dig and amend the soil to the depth of 18-24" deep.  Your peony will be at home in this site for years.  The plants should be spaced about 3' apart to allow for the mature plant to have ample growing room. 

The single most important thing to remember about planting peonies is the depth of the "pink" flower bud at the top of the root system. You can easily identify this by gently removing the soil from the top of the plant to reveal the eye.  This eye should ideally be 1.5" inches below the soil line.  Planting too shallow could result in winter kill, and planting too deep will result in plants that lack vigor, have abnormal growth, and have very limited or no blooms.

Peonies should be fed each spring with a granulated garden fertilizer such as Ferti.lome's Gardener's Special. Keep the granules at least 4-6" back from the stems and gently work it into the top several inches of the soil. Ants are often attracted by the sweet sap that exudes from the buds. They are not needed to assure that the bud will open (a good old wives tale), and can be controlled with most garden insect sprays. Few diseases affect peonies growing in full sun and in soils that have been properly conditioned.  Failure to bloom or sparse flowering may result from one or more of the following causes: heavy shade, especially in conjunction with root competition, crowded plantings that require division, plant disease, flower buds killed by late frost; poorly drained soils, and roots planted too deep.

Stop in today to select from our huge inventory of red, white, and pink double flowering peony plants ready to plant now. This is a much better method than trying to plant dry roots of peonies offered by mail order companies and box stores.

The granulated product is placed directly under the root mass of the plant in the bottom of the planting hole. The mycorrhizae will immediately bond to the plant's roots and begin a colonization process that will increase the plant's fine feeder roots to dramatically increase the utilization of water and nutrition. It also establishes a protective defense against disease and insects. Myke gives off a substance that is a natural antibiotic, which helps keep disease organisms at bay. A stressed plant develops high levels of amino acids, which stimulate insects to feed on it.  A healthy plant with the fungus on its roots will lack these amino acids, and insects will leave after only a taste.  Available in three formulations: trees and shrub, annual and perennial, and vegetable, this amazing product will make any green thumb gardener stand in amazement at the results. Once you have seen the results, you will join me in simply not planting without it!!

At this time, the Eastern Mole, also known as Common or Gray Mole, is very active in the turf.  It is fairly easy to identify their presence by their raised meandering runs that make walking or mowing in the area of their activity difficult. Sometimes people get voles and moles confused. The vole is a meadow mouse with a fairly short tail, long pointed nose, and a fur that is dark brown. You will see them scurrying through the landscape and often voles are mistaken for a house mouse. They may make shallow (melon scoop) deep runs in turf, but do not make the large raised runs associated with moles. Voles feed on roots of grass, small shrubs, and roots of perennials. They can be controlled with poison baits and caught in mouse traps baited with peanut butter and oatmeal flakes.

Moles seldom surface from their underground runs. They feed on earthworms, crickets, night-crawlers, and the white grub larvae that are now beginning to feed on turf roots not treated earlier in the season. A mole is a grayish-brown mammal with a pointed nose, a short tail, and large 'spade-shaped' feet for digging. A mole will not feed on granulated baits until every insect has been consumed from the soil where they are active. A very effective bait that is made to smell and feel like an earthworm has made many homeowners delighted with its results. It is available at the Garden Center under the name of "Tomcat." This worm-like looking bait is consumed by the moles underground in their runs with excellent kill rates.

Some interesting facts about moles: They can dig surface tunnels at approximately 18 feet per hour.  A typical mole weighing only 3 ounces can consume fifty pounds of worms and insects each year. A mole contains twice as much blood and hemoglobin as other mammals of similar size that allows them to burrow long periods of time underground before surfacing for air. No wonder they can destroy so much turf in such a short time!

It is always exciting to share with our customers items that are not available anywhere else in the entire area! One of these very special offerings is our 54" root-ball trees dug with a tree spade that our own staff of mechanics custom modified.

Homeowners in an established neighborhood who desire a tree larger than the 

B& B inventory, but lack the access necessary for a semi tractor planted spade tree now have another option!  Lanoha Nurseries offers to the community our Lanoha "54" program.  These large 4.5"-5" CALIPEER TRUNK SIZED TREES WILL BE INSTALLED BY OUR EXPERIENCED CREWS WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF A SKIDDER TO GET THE TREE INTO PLACE. The sheer size and weight of these magnificent trees requires a machine to get the tree from the truck to the planting site. Our experienced crew will hand dig the planting hole and use the skidder to set the tree into the planting site.  Lanoha "54" trees have an extremely high survivability rate. Rarely does a tree not establish properly and promptly with the massive 54' root mass. It's the perfect match for most homeowner's needs.

For immediate installation, you may choose from Legacy Sugar Maple, Greenspire Linden, Swamp White Oak, Ornamental Pear, Sienna Glen Maple, Red Oak, and Autumn Blaze Maple. We will be fall digging a good inventory of various flowering crabs and 9-10' conifers.  If you have recently had to remove large pines that have died from Pine Wilt, these conifers and deciduous trees will give you a specimen tree that makes the loss of the pines not so painful!

   

Eupatorium purpureum, one of the easiest and long flowering perennial in the late summer/early fall garden has a common name that has always "puzzled" me. This top performing, low maintenance perennial that will grow almost anywhere, attracts all butterflies, performs in sun or part shade, tolerates wet or dry soil, and is deer and rabbit resistant is commonly called "Joe Pye Weed or White Snakeroot." 

Dark green serrated lance-shaped leaves are topped with whorls of tiny, vanilla-scented, pinkish-purple flowers in large terminals that can easily reach 12-18" across. Give this perennial room so it can develop its full 4' height and 2-4' spread. The flowers give way to attractive bronze colored seed heads which persist well into winter. This easy care perennial is a great screen as its tall stems are very strong and rarely "flop." This architectural giant thrives in moist soil conditions.

As is happening with so many large sized plants, technology has been able to hybridize a perfect sized Eupatorium for the smaller garden. 'Baby Joe' offers the same look as the commonly grown variety 'Purpurea' but at a much smaller scale. It's easy to fit into the middle of the flower border. With sturdy dark purple-red stems, dark green foliage, and large panicles of mauve-purple flowers, it is eye-catching to all butterflies and visitors to your garden. If left standing, the seed heads offer visual interest through the winter. The mature size is 2-3' tall.  Each plant can spread 1-2 ft. wide.

Throughout the United States garden mums are known and appreciated as one of the best plants for fall blooming. Our homegrown compact habit mums have excellent stem flexibility making them very wind and rain tolerant. The flower count is amazing and if planted correctly-mums should be winter hardy. Husky one gallon pots join the instant impact large 14" pots that are overflowing with hundreds of buds. A wide range of designer colors will brighten your fall landscape and perk up annual planters for the autumn season. Pick up a FREE Mum Planting Guide at the Information Desk.

Many misconceptions and myths exist about tree roots - the unseen and often under appreciated portion of a tree. A number of the more common myths are:  

1. Tree roots are very tough and woody.  The reality is that structural roots located near the trunk are responsible for helping to support the tree and are typically very strong. The majority of the root biomass is made up of very small diameter and fleshy roots. These fine roots, often referred to as 'feeder' roots, provide structural support for the tree and are responsible for the majority of water and nutrient uptake. This fine root system typically lasts for one season with most tree species. Annual turnover of these roots is largely due to poor soil growing conditions such as drought or freezing temperatures. These roots are also very sensitive to soil compaction, over watering, construction damage, soil or water pollution, and over-fertilization with either turf fertilizer or tree and shrub food. 
2. Tree roots exist only under the tree canopy. Healthy trees have very extensive root systems sometimes as much as two or three times the distance beyond the tree canopy. This is very important when watering drought stressed larger trees.
3. Tree roots grow deep into the soil. The facts are that over 50% of a tree's roots are in the top 6 inches of the soil, and the majority of tree roots are found in the top 18" of soil. Tree roots require oxygen for survival. Compacted soil that is over-watered leaves little pore space in the soil for oxygen and roots slowly suffocate and die.

One of the most "homeowner friendly" effective broad spectrum insecticide on the market today is Ferti.lome's Tree & Shrub Systemic Insect Drench. It is effective on a wide range of insects that can attack shrubs and trees. The active ingredient is Imidacloprid 1.47% (liquid Merit insecticide).   

Becoming familiar with this outstanding liquid drench could well be your first line of defense in the war with some of the most damaging insects that are probably already affecting or soon will be affecting trees and shrubs in many Omaha landscapes!

This information is necessary for any homeowner wanting to treat a larger tree-a tree that has a circumference of 38" at a point on the trunk that is 4 ft. from the ground.  That really isn't a huge tree. A 38" circumference is about 12-13 inches in diameter. These larger trees are not protected with a single application of this soil drench insecticide.  Research recommends homeowners either apply one application in early fall followed by a second application in early to mid-April, or one application in early to mid- April followed by a second application 4-6 weeks later. Homeowners cannot legally treat a tree with dilution stronger than directions indicate, but it is legal to make the second application. This information applies only to trees with larger than 38" circumferences.

Several tree situations come to mind in reference to the above information. White ash (Autumn Purple) and green ash (Patmore, Summit, Marshall Seedless), little leaf linden (Greenspire or Glenleven), maples (all varieties that grow in the area), flowering crabapple (all cultivars), and oaks (red, white swamp, pin, and burr) are all trees that could be candidates for treatment. Ash  has been destroyed by the red-headed ash borer, linden are favorite candidates for the Japanese beetle, maples are being hit hard by several scale insects, crabapples, too, are riddled by Japanese beetles, and oaks throughout the metro are under attack by a number of insects including lace bugs and scale. Emerald Ash Borer is not yet in the Omaha area, but getting started now and becoming comfortable with this product to control the existing borers that are afflicting the ash in the city is an excellent plan. These specimen anchors to our landscapes are under such severe stress from the extreme dry conditions as well as the normal stresses of city soils, etc.  Before applying the soil drench the tree needs to be deeply watered (probe at least 12-18") into the root zone of the tree and be sure you have adequately hydrated the tree so it can actually move the insecticide throughout the tree's canopy. On large trees, it may take several days of watering to properly hydrate a tree to make it receptive to the drench.

This is not a difficult product to apply.  It requires measuring the tree's trunk, following the recommended amount of drench to apply, and pouring it very slowly immediately next to the tree's trunk. There are FREE guides located throughout the Garden Center on how to use the product. DON'T PUT IT OFF!  It needs to be done NOW during early fall. Smaller trees may be treated with a single application either in early spring or this fall.

Experts agree-deep watering is the best way to reduce the effects of transplant and drought shock in new plantings. The problem is that watering by hand with a hose or sprinkler-even on a frequent basis -is insufficient.  That's because most of the water applied is lost due to run-off or evaporation, thus not allowing for the water to penetrate deep enough into the soil to properly saturate the root zone. 

A Tree Gator is made of a green UV-protected plastic that holds up to 20 gallons of water that is released via two small holes at the bottom of the bag.  This allows trees to be slowly and continuously watered for up to 9 hours with no run off.  Tree Gators are not suitable for trees or evergreens with branches less than 30" from the ground because that is the height of the bag when filled.

Tree Gators are a drip irrigation system in a bag.  It is quick and easy to use. Installation is as easy as zipping up a jacket and you can fill the Tree Gator in as little as 5 minutes.  Arborists suggest that the best way to efficiently ensure deep water penetration is to apply a high volume of water in a single application. This means that light watering application (i.e. via sprinkler, hose, etc.) will not provide adequate water saturation.

A single bag setup is recommended for a tree with a diameter of 1-3".  A 1-2" diameter tree should have the bag filled once per week. A 2-3" diameter tree should have 2 fills per week. A good rule of thumb is to skip one watering only if it rains more than 1" in a 24- hour period. Note that during especially hot, dry, and windy summer weather, these suggested schedules may need to be increased. Conversely, during period of heavy rainfall and cool temperatures, a Tree Gator Bag should be filled less frequently.

A double bag setup is recommended for trees between 4-8" trunk diameter. A 4-5" diameter tree should have both bags filled once a week. A large 5-8" diameter tree should have both bags filled twice each week.

If you have a tree that is difficult to water, or if your work takes you away from your home for several days at a time, this system of watering a new tree can make the difference between success and failure. Lanoha Nurseries has used these Tree Gator Bags for commercial installations for several years with outstanding plant success!

If you are planning on planting a tree this fall, please, take the time to check out our display of Tree Gators in the Garden Center.

Blue Muffin is an exciting compact selection of Arrowwood Viburnum. This beauty is covered with 3-4" clusters of beautiful white spring flowers that attract butterflies to dine on its sweet nectar. The blossoms are followed by an equally impressive display of pea sized rich blue fruit that is outstanding in the late summer and fall landscape. In fall the foliage is really spectacular with shades of orange, yellow, purple and red that really accent these bright blue berries. When the leaves drop, the remaining berries dot the bleak winter landscape with cheery azure. Expect plenty of songbirds to visit the garden in fall and winter as birds find these berries irresistible. It reaches its mature size in about 5 years. This specimen matures to 4-5' tall and 4-5' wide. 

It is adaptable to a wide range of site conditions from full sun to partial shade. It can handle clay soils with minimal stress. It is resistant to heat, humidity, drought, and cold.  This is truly a "go-anywhere" shrub deserving of a fine place in your landscape. It is ideal for a low hedge, foundation planting, or in a mixed border.