Garden Center Archives - Page 3 of 9 - Stephens Landscaping Professionals

Oct 17, 2022

How to Anticipate the Frost in Moultonborough

Fall has arrived, and with it will soon come frost. We never know when it will come exactly, but it doesn’t have to take us by surprise. Here’s how you can anticipate the first frost, so you can save your plants and prepare for winter effectively!

Step 1: Know Your First Frost Date

The first step to anticipating frost is to be aware of the first frost date. That’s the average date we’ve historically received our first frost each fall. In Moultonborough, October 10 is the first frost date; that doesn’t mean that we receive frost every year on that day, but we should prepare for the possibility of frost in the weeks and days around that time.

Step 2: Check the New Hampshire Weather Forecasts

There once was a time when gardeners had to anticipate frost based on signs in the air and sky around them. Today, we can take advantage of weather reports. Keep an eye open for “frost advisories,” which are issued when nighttime lows are between 33 and 36 degrees, and “freeze warnings,” which occur when there’s an 80% chance of temps below 32 degrees.

Step 3: Intuit the Weather

Let’s face it; weather predictions aren’t always accurate. Plus, some days, you may forget to check the weather forecast altogether. That’s not a problem. Chances are, as a gardener, you’ve already developed an intuitive rapport with the weather around you. If you sense a brisk and unusually chilly feeling in the air at dusk, wake up to the possibility that frost may be coming. When anticipating frost yourself, it also helps to keep the following factors in mind:

How warm was it that day? If temps were above 75 degrees, there’s a slim chance you’ll receive frost that night.
Is it clear or cloudy? Cloud-covered skies prevent radiant heat from escaping the earth and thus reduce the likelihood of frost. Frost is more likely on clear nights.
Is it windy or still? Windy nights prevent cold air from collecting, thus reducing the chance of frost. On the other hand, a still night allows cold air to gather, giving frost the chance to work its magic.

Step 4: Consider Microclimates on Your Property

Microclimates can make frost more likely in some areas than others. Any place at the bottom of a hill, where cold air settles, is more likely to receive frost than on a hill or a south-facing slope. On the other hand, higher elevations may lower nighttime temperatures enough to bring frost to your property, but not your neighbor’s. Be aware of any cold pockets in your landscape and prepare accordingly when you’re reading the weather report or sensing a cold night ahead.

Preparing Your Plants for Frost and Winter in New Hampshire

Just because frost is coming doesn’t mean it has to spell the end of your garden. To protect your plants overnight and extend your harvest, you can cover them with a light, breathable tarp or old bedsheet. Make sure none of the plants are touching the covering, and use rocks to weigh down the edges so no cold drafts can enter.

How to Prevent Winter Burn on Your Plants

Anticipating frost also comes hand in hand with anticipating cold temperatures and preparing for winter. Winter burn, also known as windburn, can be prevented by preparations in the fall. Winter burn occurs on evergreen shrubs and trees that lose too much water over the winter. Sunny or windy exposures suck water from their needles, which the tree roots cannot replace when the ground is frozen. Winter burn appears as dead foliage in the spring.

To prevent it, water any vulnerable evergreens throughout the fall until the ground freezes. Mulch around the plant up to the drip line to retain moisture throughout the winter. Don’t prune evergreens in the fall, as pruning stimulates new growth and may prevent them from properly hardening off.

Watering Your Plants During the Winter

Besides preparations in the fall, winter watering may be helpful for some plants in your landscape. In particular, evergreens and young trees are susceptible to drying out, especially during dry periods with no snow or in windy and sunny locations. Watering them about once per month will help them retain the moisture they need during winter dormancy. Choose a time when temperatures exceed 40 degrees, and the soil is dry to the touch.

Anticipating the first frost and winter plant preparations are two important tasks in the fall garden. For more information, visit Stephens Landscaping Garden Center in Moultonborough, NH, and follow along on Facebook or Instagram!

Oct 10, 2022

Elevated Fall Decorations for Your Front Porch

Garden Center

Autumn is one of the most breathtaking and beautiful seasons in New Hampshire. We can recreate a taste of that beauty right at our doorstep by decorating our front porch with a fall display. Your yard is brimming with colorful plants to use, fall annuals are blooming, and the farmer’s markets are loaded with the harvest of pumpkins and squash. All it takes is a little creativity to set up some decor that will harmonize with the season!

Autumn Door Wreath

If you’re feeling crafty, try your hand at making a fall wreath for your front door. All you’ll need is a wreath frame, wire or hot glue, and beautiful plants from around your yard. Save your evergreen boughs for Christmas, and instead, try weaving together dried grass, corn husks, burlap, grapevines, or any bendable branches from shrubs, like dogwood and willow.

For color, tuck in fall leaves, pine cones, or fall-blooming flowers like coneflowers, asters, sunflowers, and black-eyed Susans. Add a festive ribbon as a finishing touch, and your wreath will be ready for a welcoming fall display on your front porch.

Front Porch Chrysanthemums

You don’t need to have a pumpkin planter to take advantage of fall annuals on the porch. Chrysanthemums are one the most prized bloomers for this time of year. You can find red, yellow, and orange varieties to match the fall foliage or beautiful color contrasts of magenta and pink. To be extra festive, try dressing up your planters with burlap, ribbons, or bows of dried grass.

Pumpkin Planters

Few things say “fall decor,” like pumpkins and squash. You can make these jewels of the harvest into beautiful porch displays by turning them into planters. Simply cut an opening on the top, carve them out, and drill a hole in the bottom for drainage.

Next, place potting soil with flowers right inside the pumpkin, or hide a small pot inside the shell for your display. Living flowers, like mums, work well, as do cut and dried flowers from the foliage around your yard. Either way, you’ll have gorgeous decor that fits with the season.

Fall Farmhouse Porch Display

Evoke the charm of the fall harvest by bringing a taste of the farm to your front door. Set up a straw bale, an antique lantern, and a cornucopia filled with gourds, apples, leaves, and other symbols of seasonal abundance. A pitchfork, milking pail planters, and a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins are other ideas to play with as you create your display.

Painted Pumpkins

Pumpkins and squash alone are already works of art that can turn your porch into a festive decor display. If you want to practice your creative skills, you can also paint them with unique colors, like silver and white. The broad surface of pumpkins is also an ideal canvas for written messages, like “spooky season,” “falling in love,” or “fall greetings,” to welcome your guests to your porch.

Pumpkin Lanterns

Fall is also a time of increased darkness, but we can use the dark hours to create beautiful nighttime displays. We’ve all heard of Jack-o-lanterns, but pumpkins also make gorgeous lanterns throughout the fall. Save the spooky face for Halloween, and instead carve out heart-warming shapes of leaves, birds, animals, or any silhouette that comes to mind. Instead of a candle, use a small light inside to illuminate your pumpkin lanterns.

These ideas for fall front porch decor in New Hampshire can stand alone or be combined to create unique displays of your own. For any supplies you might need, feel free to visit Stephens Landscaping Garden Center in Moultonborough, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook or Instagram for updates and featured products.

Oct 03, 2022

How to Use Compost in Your Garden for Maximum Benefits

Garden Center

Compost has endless benefits, from retaining nutrients in the soil to protecting plants from disease. You can use compost in your yard in many ways; it is an excellent additive for crops, and your flower beds and trees can also benefit from enriched soil.

The Benefits of Adding Compost to Your Garden Beds in New Hampshire

You may not notice a difference once you add compost to your garden since it looks so similar to topsoil, but your flowers definitely will! Compost is an excellent natural fertilizer for planters and flower beds because it improves your soil’s structure, adding nutrients that your plants have absorbed through the growing season. With these added benefits, your plants can grow stronger and healthier, increasing their chances against pests and disease!

Don’t forget these essential tips when adding compost to your soil or sprinkling it along your already-planted flower beds:

Add approximately 1 inch of compost to the soil in the spring.
Apply approximately 3/4 to 1 inch of compost in the fall.
Add compost to your soil at a 25% ratio before planting.

How to Add Compost to Tree Beds

Compost is a stellar organic amendment for any garden plant, and your tree beds are no exception! Tree planting requires high-quality, high-buffer-capacity, moisture-retentive compost made of rich, dark peat. Mix your organic compost from the garden center with your original soil when you plant your trees. You can easily rake your compost into the soil of your existing tree beds; in general, it is a good idea to apply a layer of compost about 1-2 inches deep at the base of your tree beds once per year.

Use Compost on Your Lawn

Your lawn is comprised of literally thousands of individual plants, and they deserve some delicious compost too! Spread compost on your lawn as a topcoat to cover a specific trouble area or the entire lawn for rich growth next year.

The best time to topdress your lawn with compost is right after aerating, but you can topdress anytime when the ground is not frozen. You can apply compost every spring when the lawn is just beginning to green up and in late autumn when the leaves are starting to fall; this will keep your grass looking beautiful all year! You can spread it across small yards with a compost wheel or peat spreader or use your hands to sprinkle it evenly.

Use Compost in a Veggie Garden

Do you want to reap a harvest of delicious-tasting vegetables next season? The best way to achieve that is by adding compost to your vegetable garden soil. Vegetables intake a lot of nutrients from the soil, so replenishing your soil before the next season is essential. We recommend working a decent portion of compost into the soil rather than adding it bit by bit; you want your plants to have access to that goodness regardless of how deep or wide their root systems grow! A 1:4 ratio of compost to soil, so your new soil is about 25% compost.

Add Compost When You Replace Your Mulch

Decomposing mulch will contribute to the soil nutrients in your garden beds, but if you plan on replacing your mulch this year for a refresh, this is a great time to add more compost to the soil; that way, when you plant your bulbs for next spring or more perennials, your soil is ready to go.

There are so many applications for compost in your yard that it’s definitely worth considering buying in bulk! Talk to our gardening experts at Stephens Landscaping Garden Center in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, about how compost can help enrich your garden beds and overall landscape today. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for garden center updates to keep up with our latest news!

Sep 26, 2022

A Guide to Fall Container Gardening in New Hampshire

Garden Center

A container garden is not only functional but also beautiful and adds a touch of aesthetic beauty to your landscape. We’ll teach you how to create your own gorgeous fall container gardens here!

Vegetable Container Garden

Grow delicious organic fall crops in a gourd-geous fall container garden! Showcase your garden yield with a beautiful wooden box filled with fast-growing fall vegetables like ornamental peppers, purple cabbage, green onions, beans, radishes, and beetroot. Throw in some pumpkins and autumn squash, and other rustic accents around the planter to add a touch of fall to your design. Situate your vegetable container garden in an area where it can receive full sunlight for up to six hours a day, and enjoy some delicious organic vegetables pulled straight from your patio at Thanksgiving.

Vegetable Perennial Mix Garden

Your container garden doesn’t have to be limited to just vegetables. You can grow your favorite fall crops right alongside beautiful fall flowers that will actually benefit the livelihood of your crops! Creating companion plant gardens and pairing crops that like each other in the same container will make your gardening routine easier and help you create beautiful planters. Beans and asparagus like growing with marigolds, potatoes like growing alongside pumpkins and sunflowers, and cauliflower likes growing with nasturtiums! Incorporate some fall-colored leaves into your garden plants to add extra beauty and benefit your crops’ soil with organic matter.

Fall Color Basket Container Garden

You can leave this fall container garden on your front porch well beyond the fall season—it never goes out of style. Vintage farmhouse décor will look great on your outdoor patio or front porch, and it’s easy to put together. Fill a straw basket or watering can with seasonal favorites like ornamental peppers and fall-toned pansies like ‘Bowles’ black pansy, and you’ll have a gorgeous container display in no time.

To incorporate a more modern aesthetic in your color basket, try filling a black cane or metal planter with some bold perennials in shades of red, orange, and brown. Concrete planters also make for great fall container gardens, especially when placed alongside mini pumpkins, straw bales, and outdoor lanterns!

Blooming Window Box Container Garden

Fall is the perfect time to fill your window box with mums and spruce up your garden. This blooming window box container garden will make the exterior of your home look picture-perfect. Especially with a flower mix as beautiful as the one we’ve listed for you to try out here:

‘Draga’ chrysanthemum
‘Bolero’ chrysanthemum
‘Osaka purple’ flowering kale
‘Dwarf mondo’ ornamental grass
‘Glacier’ variegated ivy

You don’t have to stick to this combination; these are just a few fall favorites we love. The beauty of fall gardening comes from how many passionate tones and textures you can incorporate into your containers.

Container Garden Accessories That Make A Statement

Fall foliage and twigs add a whimsical touch to this container design. Using red dogwood and other decorative branches, you can DIY your own tall-looking gorgeous garden containers on both sides of your front porch. Make your planters more visually appealing by using tall, narrow containers and tall ornamental grasses like pampas grass and feather reed grass. Elevating your front porch game has never been so easy!

Pumpkin Container Gardens for Moultonborough

Pumpkins are a magical way to incorporate fall into your container garden. With this funky design, you can even use the pumpkin as a container! Simply cut a hole in a pumpkin, clean the guts out (better yet, get your kids to do it for you), and fill your pumpkin with a gorgeous fall plant pulled straight from the pot with its soil and roots.

How To Include Pumpkins In Your Planters

It’s hard not to love mini pumpkins during the fall season. You can add a touch of autumn to even the smallest of places with these ideas:

Place pumpkins on a trellis alongside your planters
Set pumpkins on your porch steps
Stack them on top of each other according to size
Paint them modern colors that complement the colorful plants inside. Add a cute touch by painting your family’s name or house number on the pumpkin!
Create a jack-o-lantern for your front porch

Some people think gardening is over when the fall season arrives, but really it’s just begun. Visit us at SL Garden Center in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, today to learn more about how to elevate your front porch with some beautiful fall container gardening designs. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook or Instagram for updates!

Sep 19, 2022

Fall Care for Peonies in Moultonborough

Garden Center

Peonies are well-known, magnificent perennials with big blooms and lush leaves. They delight our senses every summer or spring with luxurious heads of ruffled petals. When fall comes around, it’s high time to plant new ones, divide mature plants, and prepare them for next spring with a bit of care—here’s how!

How to Cut Back Peonies

Peonies have a majestic but relatively short bloom time, averaging around two to three weeks. Deadhead the flowers after their blooms are spent to save them the energy of producing seeds, but make sure the green leaves remain until the end of the summer—they will feed your plant for the rest of the season.

Once the leaves go brown in the fall, you can cut the stems back to the ground. Be careful not to cut so close as to damage the crown of the plant, as this is where new growth will arise next spring. Letting the leaves and stems stay on the plant over winter invites fungi, which can damage your peonies.

Note: This is only applicable to herbaceous peonies, not tree peonies, which don’t need to be cut back in the fall, and rarely need pruning except to remove dead and diseased branches in the spring.

When to Plant Peonies

Fall is the ideal time for planting new peony tubers; anytime in late September or October is fair game. The tubers should be in the ground for at least six weeks before the ground freezes. It’s possible to plant in the spring, but they generally don’t do as well in the first year as those planted in the previous fall.

Fall is also the best time for dividing and propagating a mature peony. Ideally, wait until the leaves turn brown and are dormant before digging and dividing.

How to Make Your Peonies Comfortable

The Best Location: Choose a sunny, well-draining location away from the wind. Remember to choose your location wisely as they don’t like to be transplanted. Peonies do best in rich organic soil but tolerate many soil types. Anticipate a growth of two to four feet in height.
The Planting Process: Dig a hole about two feet wide and two feet deep, and mix in some compost or aged manure during planting. You’ll see three to five “eyes” or buds on the crown of the plant—make sure you plant these facing upwards and 2 inches below the soil surface; avoid planting them too deep.
Finishing Touches: Mulch your new plantings with evergreen boughs, straw, pine needles, or bark mulch to protect them over their first winter. Mulch should be removed in the spring after the risk of cold weather passes, as peonies don’t like to be smothered by mulch above their crowns. Peonies more than a year old don’t need to be mulched in the fall.

When to Feed Peonies

Mixing in compost or aged manure when you plant in the fall will boost their growth the following year. Generally, the best time to give them fertilizer is after they finish blooming in mid-summer! Compost or aged manure are the best foods for peonies, which you can top dress around the crown but not directly on top.

Tips for Summer Care

Stake Early: The big flower blossoms we love are usually so heavy that the stems keel over. Staking is necessary, but it’s best not to wait until the flowers fall over. You can create a more stable and discreet support system by setting up your stakes early in the spring. Tomato cages, three-legged peony stakes, or crisscrossing wooden stakes are great options.
Plant Different Varieties for Longer Blooms: Peonies only bloom for a short time, but you can enjoy their blooms in your garden for longer by growing more than one variety, each with different bloom times. Flower colors come in pink, purple, red, yellow, and white. Look for early, mid-, and late-season bloomers.

For more info on peony fall care or to pick out your next new flower, feel free to visit Stephens Landscaping Garden Center in Moultonborough, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook or Instagram for updates!