December
2014
  


     
            
       
 

All of us at 
Hoxie Landscape Services would like to wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and a happy, healthy
 New Year!






       

What is tree and shrub renovation?

 

Fact: Late fall is the ideal time for tree and shrub renovation. 

 

Landscape plantings often begin by looking small and out of scale with the house and property they are intended to adorn and beautify.  Owners are often so eager for them to grow, fill out and flower they forget that regular pruning is a very necessary part of the growing process.

 

Very often we are called in to look at landscape plantings that have grown unchecked for many years.  The plantings are now out of scale with the house.  Many times this overgrowth is allowing excess moisture to build up on the home causing rot and mildew problems.  Desirable views are often blocked.  Sometimes the shrubs have grown so big that they are prone to snow and ice damage. 

 

 Our common recommendation is for these plants to be renovated.  Renovation means different things for each species of plant but the bottom line is the plant must be properly reduced in size.  With most plants the renovation may be completed during one pruning session.  With others the full renovation will require two or three seasons to be completed.  

 

Please call or email us if you would like us to take a look and give you a recommendation.

 

Customer Service    Rick Cox    Justin White       
                  



 

What Are All of These Moths??

 

Every year roughly around Thanksgiving we get many questions regarding the large swarms and flights of moths that people are seeing. These are Winter Moths, the adult version of the green looper/inchworm that causes so much defoliation to our valued trees in the late spring and early Summer. The moths tend to swarm and fly on mild evenings generally when the temperature is above freezing.  People are usually seeing the males as they search for the flightless and wingless females to mate with.  The female will then lay their eggs on the trunks and branches of suitable host trees, such as, our native oaks and maples and many species of deciduous ornamentals. The eggs will remain in the tree all winter and then hatch in the early spring. The tiny caterpillars will then climb to a bud and begin feeding on the unemerged foliage. They will continue to feed for roughly 6 weeks as the foliage expands causing serious injury and sometimes complete defoliation. Once they are done feeding the caterpillars will move to the soil and pupate until they emerge as adults in the fall.


 

There is nothing that can be done now to control the flights of the winter moth or protect your trees. We can however, prepare for next Spring if you are noticing a lot of moths. A good rule of thumb is that if you are seeing them now you are going to see them in the spring. Control can be obtained through early spring applications of horticultural oil and foliar sprays beginning around bud break.


 

      Please let us know if you are noticing large numbers of moths flying around and are not currently scheduled for Winter Moth control.

 

 


Tips for Fall pond care

A nip in the air, shorter days, and the shedding of multi-colored leaves from the trees signifies a changing of the seasonal guard. Gardeners across the country take precautions to protect their landscapes from the harsh reality of winter. Water features in the landscape require special consideration when putting your pond to bed for a long winter's nap. Pond maintenance chores in the fall and winter vary depending on where you live, but there are some basic guidelines to help your aquatic plants and finned friends weather the chill of Mother Nature. Following is a handy check list to help ensure a healthy pond come spring time. 

 


This is a handy checklist if you already have a pond.  If you have been thinking about installing a fish pond call Hoxie and we'll design a pond for you .

  1. Decaying leaves and foliage produce toxic gases that can harm your fish so you want to remove this debris before winter rolls into town. You don't need to remove every single last leaf, but try to remove the majority. 
  2.  If you put protective pond netting over your pond before the leaves started to fall, your job is easy. Carefully roll up the net and discard the leaves that were caught.
  3. If you didn't use a net over the surface of your pond, you'll need to remove the build-up of leaves from the bottom of the pond. Use a long handled pond net to scoop them out.
  4. Check your skimmer basket and remove any leaves that are still caught inside.
  5. Add Cold Water Beneficial Bacteria to the pond once the temperature drops below 50 degrees. Use twice weekly for two weeks, and then once per week until the water starts to freeze.
  6. Stop fertilizing your aquatic plants after the first frost.
  7. Trim back hardy marginal aquatic plants to 2" above the water to keep the dead foliage from drooping over into the pond.
  8. Trim back water lily leaves and stems to 2-3" above the base of the plant. This keeps dead foliage from decomposing in the pond.
  9. If you left hardy water lilies in their pot, drop them into the deepest part of the pond to over-winter. Do not bring them indoors as they need a period of dormancy.
  10. Bring tropical water lilies indoors if you want to over-winter them. Keep the pot in 50-degree water or take them out of the pot and store in sand. Be advised, even trained horticulturists lose a lot of tropical water lilies when storing them indoors, so you might simply want to treat them as annuals.
  11. Once temperatures drop to 50 degrees, stop feeding your fish. They need to get ready to hibernate and you'll want to avoid any metabolic complications. You can feed them Cold Water Fish Food until the temperature drops below 50 degrees.


Let's go GREEN together!  The advantages are....
  • We can send your invoice via email.
  • You can pay your bill on our website. hoxielandscape.com
  • We can send you reminders when we'll be at you home in an email.

If you would like to update your phone numbers and email click on the link below and Gail will update your information. Customer Service 

 
 

Please note: Our invoices have changed. You may enter your credit card information and update your information on the remittance.    


Contact
Hoxie Landscape Services, Inc.
25 Jan Sebastian Drive
Sandwich, MA  02563


508-888-6272 or 800-499-4680 F 508-888-4699



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