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National Lawn Care Month – Tip of the Day: Dense, healthy grass slows water runoff, removing contaminants and trapping soil. Fresh, filtered water returns to the underground water supply.

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Often  a topic of discussion is when do I fertilize? For western Washington I recommend 4-5 times per year. Keep it simple and follow the major holidays;

• President's Day
• Easter/Mother's Day
• Fourth of July
• Labor Day
• Halloween/Thanksgiving or Christmas (depending on weather and how your lawn looks)

If you only had to pick one or two times- the Labor Day and late fall/early winter applications are best.  At this time turf grass will store up the nutrients in the roots and save them for the growing season.  Like carb loading for a marathon.

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Color in the landscape is often referred to as the planting of annuals, bulbs, etc. Here are some tips to go about this.

1. Commit to a plan for at least two seasons
2. Start small- lots of color in a small area right by a entry has more impact than small plants scattered about.
3. Find a reputable nursery with good healthy stock. It's worth the extra money than to buy what's on sale at the end of the season at the big box store.
4. Understand that there will be some maintenance i.e watering, dead-heading and maybe  a little fertilizer
5. Use a couple different types of plants- maybe some contrasting colors, different heights. Don't be afraid to experiment a little bit.
6. When the season turns and those plants start to look poor, by all means, get 'em out and start fresh again.

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With the ice storm that hit Thurston county last week, most every landscape suffered some damage or loss. In my own landscape, we lost a beautiful pine, so I know the feeling.  Where do you go from here?

1. Make sure your yard is safe. This means looking above for loosely attached limbs or "hangers," and remove them, or call in a professional. Also make sure uprooted trees haven't caused the ground to shift and you have an unstable area to work in.
2. Start with the big stuff. Cleaning this up will give you a better understanding of the overall damage and clean-up needed.  Sometimes its just a few big ones.
3. Make piles that are easy to get to. Sometimes you are not going to get it all in one pass, so pick an area, clean it up and put in a pile and come back to it
4. After it's safe, you have the big stuff handled, and a majority of the clean up done, come back through, look for the small broken branches, or shrubs that need more pruning, or removal.

Unfortunately, part of living in the Pacific Northwest is also living with sometimes turbulent and unpredictable weather.  But this gives us gardeners a chance to clean our palettes and plant that tree we've been wanting too.

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Moss, unfortunately, is a regular part of our Northwest winter. What causes it, and what can be done about it?

Moss is the result of other factors.

• First- low sunlight- this is why it thrives in shady areas, and more so during the winter. Prune up those trees or consider other plants than grass for that area.
• Second, moisture. You can't beat the rain, but you can improve drainage by aerating, building better soil for the grass to grow in, or putting in some drainage. Even something simple like  a surface drain will help.
• Third, poor soil.Build that soil up so the turf grass can have good roots to compete, and apply some lime to lower the pH.
• Fourth, thin grass. When it warms up, overseed with a more shade tolerant grass.
• Fifth, cooler temperatures. Sorry, can't help you here unless you want to put a sunlamp on the lawn- but the neighbors might think you are weird.
• You can apply moss killer, and it works well. Make sure you read the label. However you will need to correct the other problems too. 

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