Safety First!

Like many of you, Peterson Lawn is looking forward to many outdoor projects in the Twin Cities this year.  As we're picking plants and making plans, we're also keeping safety in mind - especially in excavation projects - and we wanted to encourage you to do the same.

It's very simple (and free) to have your utility lines marked, just go to http://www.gopherstateonecall.org to submit an E-Ticket or call (800) 252-1166 or (651) 454-0002.  It can take them a couple days to get to your property so make sure to plan enough time before D-day (Digging Day, ha ha).

We can't stress enough how important it is to know where your utilities are buried - it's not worth the risk to start digging blind.

They marked their utilities -see how happy they are?

Basically, what we're trying to say is that we care about you.  

So be safe and until next time, happy growing!

Annika is the horticulturalist at Peterson Lawn Services. Call (952) 929-0422 to schedule a free garden consultation today!

Happy First Day of Spring!

Technically, anyway.

Annika is the horticulturalist at Peterson Lawn Services. Call (952) 929-0422 to schedule a free garden consultation today!

More Houseplants, More Problems

 

While the temperatures outside are currently sub-zero in Minneapolis and the weather is dark and gloomy, many gardeners turn their attention indoors. But growing plants inside presents a whole new set of challenges and many of us end up throwing out a soggy, stinking mess well before spring.

The first thing to consider is providing a healthy environment for your plants.  Today we will go over a houseplant’s basic needs: light & temperature.

Light & Temperature:

If you bought a houseplant from the store you should take a look at the tag – most of them will have helpful care instructions on how much light your plant will need. Unless the tag says the plant needs only indirect light you will want to have your plants near a South or West-facing window with plenty of sun. A North-facing window will hardly have any direct light in the winter and will likely be fairly cold.

Which brings me to my next point: when placing plants in windows always keep temperature in mind. Most houseplants prefer warmer temperatures between 70-80F during the day and 60-70F at night. Many tropical plants will begin to show cold damage when temperatures fall below 50F. If you notice ice or frost forming on the inside of your window, your plants are getting too cold. The easiest prevention is closing your blinds at night. This will put a barrier between your plants and the cold window. If blinds are not an option you can move the plants - a few feet away should be safe.

Houseplant damaged by cold

If you don’t have much natural light from your windows you may need to supplement with artificial light. There are a lot of special plant growth lights out there but they tend to be pretty pricey. Cool-white or warm-white fluorescent light bulbs can provide similar light to the special growth bulbs and are much less expensive. Don’t bother with incandescent bulbs – they put out the wrong light wavelengths, get too hot, and aren’t as energy efficient as fluorescent bulbs.

No matter what kind of bulb you use, the most important thing to know about artificial light is that the strength of the light dissipates rapidly. You need to have your plants as close to the bulbs as possible without burning them (see the ideal temperature ranges above) – try setting it up between 4-8 inches from the top of the plant and remember to move the light up as the plants grow.

It’s easiest to plug your lights up to a timer so you don’t need to remember to turn them on and off. A 3-prong 24-hour timer works great and can be purchased at most hardware stores. Most houseplants will do well with 12-14 hours of light.

If you have any questions about light and temperature please comment below!

Until next time, happy growing!

Annika is the horticulturalist at Peterson Lawn Services. Call (952) 929-0422 to schedule a free garden consultation today!

Now Offering Summer Landscaping at Peterson Lawn Services

That's right, Peterson Lawn Services is now offering summer landscaping for the Twin Cities Metro!

We are very excited to introduce Annika, our new, full-time horticulturalist.  

Annika has her Bachelor of Science from the University of Minnesota in Horticulture with an emphasis in Floriculture and Nursery Production.  During her time as a U of M Gopher, Annika learned the science of plant growth, development, and breeding.  Some of her educational highlights include: 

• Identification of a few hundred of the most important cultivated plants for Minnesota's climate along with their distinguishing features, common uses, specific growth needs, and notable varieties.
• Training in the principles and techniques of plant propagation and production
• Practical experience in identification and treatment of common plant diseases and pests

She continued her education at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska where she assisted the Plant Health Specialist in completing a research grant on the invasive species of Japanese beetles.  Under the tutelage of the Arboretum's expert staff, Annika also learned many of the skills necessary to manage more than 1,000 acres of gardens, model landscapes, and natural areas.

A native to the Twin Cities, Annika is familiar with the local growing conditions for annuals, perennials, and woody plants.  She looks forward to making your yard and garden look their very best!

A few of the cities our gardening services are available to include:
Hopkins
Eden Prairie
Chanhassen
Deephaven
Wayzata
Apple Valley
Maple Grove
Plymouth
Minnetonka
Deephaven

Call or email Annika today to schedule a free consultation: 

(952) 252-3301
Annika@PetersonLawn.com

2012 Mowing Routes

Want to know your mow day for this year?  Check out the breakdown of our weekly schedule to see when our crews are in your city:

Mondays:
Minnetonka (55345)
Deephaven (55331)
Excelsior (55331)
Chanhassen (55317)
Bloomington (55425)
Edina (55439, 55436, 55424)

Richfield

Tuesdays:
Hopkins (55343, 55305)
Minnetonka (55305, 55345)
Minneapolis -- near Lake of the Isles

Wednesdays:
St. Louis Park (55416, 55426)
Wayzata (55391)
Plymouth (55441, 55471)
Crystal
Golden Valley
New Hope
Robbinsdale

Thursdays: 
Minnetonka
Deephaven
Greenwood
Eden Prairie
St. Louis Park
Wayzata

Friday:
Hopkins
Minnetonka
St. Louis Park
Edina

Saturday:
Make-up day for rain delay or holidays

Sunday:
Closed/no service

2011 Mowing Routes

Want to know your mow day for this year? Check out the breakdown of our weekly schedule to see when our crews are in your city:

Mondays: Richfield, Minneapolis, Edina, Bloomington

Tuesdays: Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Minneapolis, Minnetonka

Wednesdays: Golden Valley, Crystal, Robbinsdale, Plymouth, St. Louis Park

Thursdays: Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Deephaven, Wayzata, Excelsior, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley

Fridays: Minnetonka, Edina

Saturdays: Make-up day for rain

Sundays: closed/no service

Mowing starts on Monday

Well folks, it finally happened, Spring has finally arrived. Talk about being fashionably late, right? Now that the ground has thawed out a bit, grass is growing like a soft, green carpet that has spread all over the Twin Cities. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the good weather continues.

We're excited for those beautiful sunny days so that our crews can get out and work! Spring Cleaning will be wrapping up this weekend so that our regular mowing schedule can begin next week Monday, May 9th.

If you haven't sent in your contract yet, make sure to give us a phone call soon so that we can add your home to one of our mowing routes. You can reach us at: 952-252-3301

Have a great weekend!

Spring Clean Ups Continue...

The great news is that we have finished more than 80 clean ups so far! The not-so-great-news is that we are running behind schedule due to a string of rain days and some unusually late snowfalls.

Thankfully, the forecast for this week (so far) promises enough "good days" so that we can finish our Spring Clean Ups by Saturday and start mowing next week.

Today (5/3) we have crews working in Minnetonka, Minneapolis and St. Louis Park.

Tomorrow (5/4) we will have crews in Plymouth and St. Louis Park.

Thank you for your continued patience as we grapple with this cold, wet spring weather. If you have any questions about what day you are scheduled for service, please feel free to call our office: 952-252-3301

No clean ups today, due to weather

It is past the middle of April and today we wake up to giant flakes of snow falling from the sky, coating our trees and rooftops. Only in Minnesota does the snow come three weeks after the first day of Spring.

Due to the wet weather conditions we will not be sending the crews out for Spring Clean Ups today.

Tomorrow's forecast is cloudy, but promising because the chance of precipitation is low. For Friday, however, the current prediction is a 70% chance of rain. At this point, to make up for lost time, it is likely that we will have lawn crews working on Saturday.

Spring Clean-Ups Underway!

Spring clean-ups have officially begun. Now if we could just get the weather to cooperate! Weather reports are predicting more snow and rain for the Minneapolis area this week, but we're still hopeful that we will have all of our clean-ups done before the regular mowing season begins on May 1st. Weather permitting, we plan to have crews out every day for the next two weeks, working hard to clean up all of the yucky dead debris that winter left behind. Our goal is to have all of our customers' yards dethatched and looking great by the end of April. If you haven't mailed in your contract for the 2011-12 season, there is still time!