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Make plans now to join Melinda on her famous Garden Walks at Boerner Botanical Gardens in 2013! Download the schedule here.
Nationally renowned garden expert Melinda Myers helps everyday gardeners find success and ease in the garden through her Melinda’s Garden Moments radio segments. Melinda shares “must have” tips that hold the key to gardening success, learned through her more than 30 years of horticulture experience. Listeners from across the country find her gardener friendly, practical approach to gardening both refreshing and informative! On this page, Melinda shares some more extensive garden tips, which expand on the information provided in her one-minute radio segments.
New tips are added throughout each month, providing timely step-by-step tips on what you need to do next in your garden! Visit Melinda’s website www.melindamyers.com for more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and answers to your questions.
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Fall Clean Up for Pest Control
by Melinda Myers
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posted Sep 14 2012 5:07PM
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A bit of fall cleanup can save time and energy controlling pests next season.
Leave healthy disease- and insect-free perennials stand for the winter. They provide winter beauty, habitat for beneficial insects and food for the birds.
But do remove any diseased or insect-infested plants from the garden. These serve as a source of disease infection and pest infestation in next year’s garden.
Continue to weed the garden. Removing weeds now and especially before they drop their seeds will reduce the number of weeds you will be pulling next spring. And mulch the soil with evergreen needles, shredded leaves or woodchips. Mulch prevents many weed seeds from sprouting.
Destroy and do not compost these materials. Most compost piles do not heat up sufficiently to kill off insects, disease organisms and weed seeds.
A bit more information: Regulations for managing disease and insect-infested yard waste as well as weeds varies from one community to the next. Contact your local municipality or Extension office to find out the best way to dispose of invasive and troublesome weeds, as well as diseased or insect-infested plant material in your community.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Tags : Topics : EnvironmentSocial : Environment
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