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Peter Salmeron
Peter X. Salmeron was born in Peru and came to the US in 1971. He attended WSU and KU, earning a BS in Biology. He started Complete Landscaping Systems in 1983, on a part-time basis, and became a full-time entrepreneur in 1987. Today, Complete Landscaping Systems is one of the leading grounds maintenance and landscaping companies in Kansas and recipient of the Department of Commerce Service Company of the Year Award for Kansas in 2001. Mr. Salmeron is former President of the Wichita Garden Show Association and its Board and current Board member, is an executive member of the Board of Directors for Wichita Chamber of Commerce, President of Amigoes de Ser, was named SBA Small Business Person of the Year for 2000, and new Board member of the Wichita Conventions Bureau. You can contact Mr. Salmeron by phone at (316) 832-0061 or by email at petersalmeron@lycos.com
Lawn, Garden & Landscaping
2005-10-01 14:59:00
Fall garden care tips
ANSWER: Summer may be the season to stop and smell the roses, but fall is the time to stop and listen to your garden. Your spent flower garden can tell you a lot at the end of the growing season. Assess the results of all your spring and summer work, and prepare the garden for next spring NOW!Maintaining your garden in the fall consists mainly of weeding, deadheading faded blooms, dividing overgrown plants, digging up non-hardy bulbs for winter storage, removing spent annuals, amending soil and adding needed mulch. • Track successes and failures of individual plants in their locations.• Identify which plants have outgrown their space and need to be divided.• Determine which bare areas could use soil amendment and new plants.• Look for any remaining weeds.• In mulched areas, determine whether more mulch is needed.• Check the overall health of plants; look for common diseases and damage.• Plan to remove summer annuals from window boxes and garden beds and replace them with cool weather flowers.• Look for any bulb plants that are not  hardy-dig and store for winter. Replanting window boxes in early fall allows you to extend color into the remainder of the growing season. Simply remove summer annuals, add more potting mix and plant cool weather bloomers like ornamental kale and pansies. Remove all annuals from the garden. You can save seeds from most annuals and plant them next year. Zinnias are an easy plant to collect seeds from and to grow from seed. Basic guidelines for common flowers: Roses• Fall is not the ideal time to prune roses. This could stimulate new growth that may not be able to survive the winter  in colder zones.• Do cut off any dead wood.• Replace ties with jute twine. Natural fibers make the best ties because they are more flexible. They will break down over time. At that point,  it will be time to retie the plants anyway.Yarrow• Remove faded blooms and dried stems and foliage. This sends energy back into the foliage and roots and encourages new growth.• Yarrow flowers can be used fresh or dried in flower arrangements.Phlox• Cut faded blossoms. • If powdery mildew is present, remove most of the stem that has the worst of the problem. Discard any affected debris-do not compost.Gladiolus• It's important to get these out of the ground before the first killing frost; it doesn't harm the plants to do this while their foliage is still green.• Dig out the bulbs and gently shake excess dirt from their roots.• Cut off the stalks.• Allow  to "cure" (dry) for a couple of days.• Shake any remaining soil from bulbs.• Put bulbs in a cardboard box with some peat moss and store in a cool, dry place for the winter. Siberian Iris• You can tell when Siberian iris is ready to divide. The clumps form a circle that's hollowed out in the middle, like a donut.  • To divide, dig out the entire clump and then cut it into sections. Replace one section into the original hole and save the remaining sections for other bare areas in the garden.Clematis• Cut the vine back to the ground. New shoots will form from the base next spring.Coral Bells• To divide overgrown plants, dig out the entire clump. Try to keep as much of the root ball intact with as much soil around the root as possible. Cut the clump into sections with a spade.Liatrus• Completely remove the top growth. Once the foliage has died, cut it back to the ground to reduce the risk of plant diseases that are harbored there during winter.More fall maintenance tips to help keep your garden healthy and happy:• Disinfect pruners before using them on other plants as you remove spent blooms and foliage throughout the garden.• Do not put any diseased plants into your compost pile.• Amend soil where there are bare spots or where you've removed annuals. Add compost and peat moss to replace nutrients lost during summer growth and to better prepare the soils for spring planting. Turn the amendments into the soil with a garden fork to distribute it.• Brush off any mulch that is sitting on branches of shrubs because it can cause leaves and needles to yellow. Dividing perennials reinvigorates plants and gives you new plants to add to other areas of your garden or to share with neighbors
 
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