Tanner Tracking Landscaping is your four season service specialist!

Gardening Basics Links:

   Pruning   |   Plant Health   |   Soil Conditions   |   Watering   |   Labels and Zones   |   Plants 'n Animals   

Back to Gardening Basics

Gardening Basics: PLANT HEALTH CARE AND NUTRITION

FUNGUS
Most plant diseases are fungi that thrive under certain weather conditions. They often attack roses but other trees and shrubs can be afflicted as well. It may be a temporary weather related condition or due to plants receiving to much shade. An example of a fungus is red thread fungus, it is found in lawns that are getting to much water, It looks like someone smeared cotton candy in your lawn easy fix for red thread is to adjust your watering times to a different part of the day.

MILDEW
Mildew is actually a group of white or gray powdery fungi that attack plants where moisture lingers on the leaves until late in the day It can limit new growth on leaves. Mildew is more prevalent in damp climates, but can occur anywhere.

BLACK SPOT
This is the rose grower's biggest nightmare. It appears as black patches on the leaves that can live through the winter to re-infect the plant the following year. Black spot is difficult to control and afflicts some rose varieties far more than it does others.
Removing affected areas and raking up fallen leaves is essential to control. a variety of fungicides are used to control mildew and black spot. See your local garden center for your best options to treat this.


PLANT FOOD
Some people will tell you there are 17 different types of food that plants need to survive, but to keep things simple for you lets just work with the main ones.

There are three main food groups that plants need for vigorous growth, expressed as N-P-K.  All are essential in varying amounts and each nutrient is responsible for different types of growth and aspects of a plant's health.

N - Nitrogen promotes leaf and stem growth. It's important for evergreens, foliage plants and ornamental grasses.

P - Phosphorous relates to flower and fruit production, which is crucial to fruit trees, roses and ornamental berry-producing shrubs.

K - Potassium helps a plant's immune system fight disease, and also helps fruit to ripen more quickly.

Each fertilizer is labeled with three numbers that indicate the strength by percentage of each nutrient. For example, 25-10-6 means that the product contains 25% nitrogen, 10% phosphorous, and 6% potassium. To know what mixture is best for your yard or plants, have Tanner Tracking do a soil test for you so you are not over feeding your lawn or plants with the wrong food. An unbalanced diet can harm your yard and plants, much the same way humans need the right balance of vitamins in our diet.


ORGANIC AND SYNTHETIC FERTILIZERS
Organic fertilizers are produced naturally and include compost or manure.

Synthetic fertilizers are produced chemically, and include most granular fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers contain exactly what's on their label expressed N-P-K. They are fast acting but here today and gone tomorrow, so you must apply them often.

Organic fertilizers also contain N-P-K percentages on the label, but these are usually lower numbers. Organics are slower to take effect because they must interact with soil micro-organisms, but are long lasting.

Natural fertilizers contain many of the lesser nutrients too, which improve soil and overall plant health. So the question lies with what you want to do -- a fast acting program that will be a little cheaper up front or a slower acting process that will cost more
but better for the environment in the long run.