APRIL 2009 NEWSLETTER

Today's Walk Around The Yard Today's walk around the yard, I can see that I need to give the pond some more care. I also will be weeding and putting down some corn glutten. Lots to do, time to go to work. Our Big Announcement!!! (blink your eyes fast so that it looks like it is flashing) No we aren't bringing back NEW COKE, the big news is that we have updated our website. We have a lot of new things on it that we think you will enjoy. We are also on Twitter and on Facebook. We will be giving updates on the weather and new arrivals, so stay in the loop. Here are a couple of new things that on the website we are really excited about. ASK Viola You can ask us questions, and then we will post it on the website with the answer. Most of the time when one person has a question there is someone else that has the same question.

Your Garden Pictures This section is for the gardeners that would like to share their garden pictures...from the beginning stage to the final. I am really excited about this section, it will give people encouragement and show people's successes. Not to mention we all just like to share the fruits of our labor.

Online Store We will have a lot of our products placed on the website so that you can do your homework and see what will truly work for you. We will even have some of it for sale on the website. This is very exciting because when it is snowing in the winter you will be able to make plans for your yard or just look at the pretty pictures. You could say "Viola's is cruising down the information highway with the windows open, the top down, and the doors locked!" (we watch dateline).

The Neglected Bed Just about all of us have one or even two beds that we neglect. It is that bed that you can't negotiate around easily, or it is a bed that you don't see a lot. Well that is where I am today, this bed is not a focal point so it's always the last one to be prepared, planted, and weeded. It's a little over grown with weeds so I will be weeding. The coneflower that's planted in it are all coming back. That is very cool. When Perennials comeback is like seeing an old friend. I am going to trim down some of the dry stems from last fall that I did not trim down low enough. That reminds me, we have had a lot of people asking what they should do with there russian sage and butterfly bushes. Russian Sage is actually a perennial not a shrub, you need to cut it back to the ground for it to grow and be healthy. The Butterfly bush should be cut back to about 1 foot, they bloom better on new growth. I am cleaning up some grass and and other weeds. I am pulling them by hand because there is not a lot of them. If you don't like getting down to pull them, you can use a hoe, shovel, or a hula hoe. If you do not know about the hula hoe you need to come to the store and ask me, they are really nice. (no relation to the hula hoop, or hula hug at Bunhuggers) I have this section picked clean. I will need to keep an eye on it because it is easier to pull a couple weeds rather than weed the whole bed.

Preventable Again After finishing the weeding, its time to apply corn glutten. It's a finer form than the lawn fertilizer that I suggested last week, and It does the same thing. It is going to prevent new seeds from germinating. If you are going to plant seeds in that bed, DON"T USE CORN GLUTTEN IN THAT BED. Using the same technique as in the past issues, "feeding the chickens", I am going to put it on so it covers all of the ground with a fine coat. If you have a large area to work with you can use a hand spreader. You will need to use one to two lbs. per 100 ft. so it goes on pretty thick. My final step is to water it. I will still have a few weeds popping up from remaining roots, but nothing like it would be without it. If I keep using it in the early spring, summer and the fall I will soon break the weed cycle. Adding a bark will help even more to suppress the growth of weeds. I will do that at a later date after I plant the annuals in the bed. Corn Glutten is organic and it is also a fertilizer, can you say "KA POW".

Pondering The final thing that I did was clean out my pond because with spring comes algae. At this time of year, I usually have a lot of algae because my pond doesn't get a lot of shade because my trees are bare from winter. This time of year, algae usually has a lot of organic material to feed on from fall and winter. Usually when the trees get their leaves back, my pond gets a little relief, as the algae is put in check. This year I am trying a new product, Barley Flakes. They work 2 to 3 times faster than barley bales. The Barley Flakes have an enzyme that takes out the nutrients in the pond, therefore, the algae doesn't have the favorable conditions to live. I am still going to have to clean my pond and I will still have some algae, but from what I hear the Barley Flakes will help. I will keep you posted.

In Closing We have a History Of Viola's on the website and I got to pick out the pictures. It was really neat to look at the old pictures that we had, although we should have taken more pictures. (let that be a lesson) I just could not beleive the difference between the first location and the second location. Not to mention all of the people we have met throughout the years(employees, customers, and vendors). We are thankful, and we hope that you enjoy the website. I am really excited to see what you folks are doing out there so send pictures. I can't wait to see where the garden takes me next week. As Always Life Is Better In The Garden! -Art

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