A beautiful turf grass is often deemed the most important by golfers, and it is only through meticulous maintenance that permanent grasses obtain a groomed appearance. According to Robert Muir Graves and Geoffrey Cornish's Golf Course Design book, there are five aspects of turf care that will ensure optimal growth: 1) adequate soil depth of topsoil or root zone mix; 2) surface, subsurface, and air drainage; 3) a seedbed with meticulously graded surfaces; 4) nutrients and soil conditioners sufficient to provide productive soil; and 5) ideal varieties of grass.

Late fall is the season for diligent lawn care in order to prepare for the dormant winter months. Fertilize lawns with a nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and iron rich fertilizer to establish a deep root system.

Winter is the best season for tree transplantation because it is in a dormant state and has a greater chance of survival. Experts suggest hardening off a tree and flooding it with water to moisten the roots before transplantation.

Top photo: A desert palate of flowers encircle a pool deck; Fuchsia Petunias grow low to the ground with broad leaves that are slightly sticky to the touch; Ligustrum japonicum is excellent for hedges or screens. The roundish oval leaves are dark to medium green on top and whitish beneath.

Tree Care

Though nature will naturally slow down during the winter months, the Landscape Contractor is kept busy with preparations for the upcoming spring. The months of November and December are some of the best months out of the year for pruning back trees in order to promote new growth in the spring and summer.

Dormant trees in the winter do not produce new leaves and they utilize minimum levels of food sources. Tree dormancy is like winter hibernation for a bear - everything slows down temporarily to conserve energy during the cold months. But, just because a tree is dormant, watering during the winter cannot be neglected because the tree's root system needs to be kept moist.

Pruning

The benefits of winter pruning include: the removal of decayed and diseased woods, fuller growth, and the minimized liability threat of structural or personal injury resulting from cracked wood or breaking limbs. A large variety of tree pruning techniques exist, but as a general rule of thumb, don't alter the natural architecture or structure of the tree.

When pruning a tree, it is best not to remove more than a third of the total bud and leaf bearing branches. Also, for the heavier branches, a tri-cut method should be employed to prevent the bark from stripping away and leaving a large, unprotected area that is susceptible to disease and infection.

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In the long run, pruning saves the Contractor's time because there is less debris that needs to be picked-up.

Transplantation

Winter is also one of the best times for tree transplantation. Due to its dormant state, a transplanted tree has a greater chance of suvival. For example, in the summer, a tree needs all of its resources to photosynthesize and transport water from the roots throughout the tree.

Transplantation during the summer will cause a tree to go into shock and may ultimately kill it.

To increase a trees chance of survival during transplantation, one of the recommended methods is to harden off the tree by digging a trench around the base of the tree and flooding it with a vast amount of water. This process ensures that the tree has an accumulation of moisture before it is moved, therefore allowing it to withstand the shock of transplantation and root loss.

Fertilization

Winter is also the time to begin a vigorous, sub-surface fertilization campaign for trees. According to Peter Sortwell, vice president of Arbor Care, the tree maintenance division of Environmental Care based in San Mateo, California, granular turf fertilization is not ideal because it washes out before it gets to the tree root system or it is absorbed by the turf. Though trees are in a dormant state during the winter, Sortwell explained that it is important to still water a tree so that the roots are kept moist.

Frost Damage

Freezing temperatures can cause havoc for citrus crops. If preventive measures are not taken to protect a tree from freezing, flower buds will be killed, hindering fruit production. Sortwell prescribed a variety of preventive measures that can minimize the threat of frost damage to trees.

Mulch or manure spread around the base of the tree will help keep the tree warm through insulation. Another tried and true method of minimizing the loss of fruit blossoms is through dormant spray that will slow down the photosynthetic process and keep the leaves from transpiring. Covering the crown of a fruit tree is also a good application, but it is important that the cover doesn't touch the leaves.

For just the right amount of additional warmth, Sortwell said that a string of Christmas lights underneath the covering will work perfectly.

Turf Grass

Fall is the time of year to fertilize your lawn, prepare for winter and get a head start on spring. Fertilizers provide nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and certain key elements like iron. The roots absorb these nutrients along with air and water. Sunlight helps turn these nutrients into sugars, which are used to fuel plant processes such as maintenance and growth. Excess sugars are stored in the root system to stimulate root development during the dormant period and fuel re-growth in the spring. It's also important to regularly remove leaves from your lawn during the fall to keep the plants exposed to the sun's rays.

Maintaining a Green Lawn

Tom Delay, executive vice president of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) offered some advice to maintain a green lawn during the winter months. As a general rule, feed a lawn about a month before it goes dormant," he advised. "Fertilize at the right time and in the right amounts. If you want a healthy turf in the spring, you need to feed your lawn's root system in the fall."

Delaney also recommended aerating the soil of cool season turfgrasses in the fall.

Warm season turfgrasses should be aerated during the summer when they are in their most vigorous growth period, especially if the soil seems hard and compacted.

"Healthy roots require not only water and nutrients, but oxygen as well. Aerating the soil helps break up the thatch layer and allows the roots to breathe."

Although the outward color and appearance of a lawn during the winter can take precedence with a client, Bob Andrews, past-president of the PLCAA, stressed that turf fertilization should focus primarily on root growth. "If you create a strong viable root base, then color will naturally follow," he explained. Andrews suggested a well balanced fertilizer that contains pot ash and potassium. Nitrogen fertilizers help grass to grow, but don't necessarily increase the root depth of the turf.

To avoid continuous mowing, Andrews suggested that Contractors introduce iron into the turf fertilization. Iron will make the grass green, but it won't force growth.

Chuck Dixon, President, of Turf Diagnostics and Design, warned Contractors to be aware that over fertilization of lawns can set you up for winter diseases and winter kill. A slow release fertilizer is ideal because it minimizes the affect that freezing temperatures can have on turf grass. On a closing note, Dixon also suggested that Contractors cut the grass at a longer length in order to provide turf insulation.

Keep in Touch

For Contractors who primarily work on residential accounts, Andrews offered a helpful suggestion. He expressed the need for Contractors to communicate with the home owners about lawn and garden maintenance during the winter months. Because work usually tapers off during the winter for residential accounts, contact with the client is especially invaluable because it helps carry clients over to the spring and summer months.

Plant Materials

Winter can be a dreary time of year because it is punctuated by less than desirable weather and cloudy, grey days. Commercial and residential sites need to diversify when the colder weather comes so that clients have something colorful and green to enjoy. Knowing what plants do well in colder temperatures can save a Contractor time and money, and the beautiful plants are sure to keep the client smiling even through cold, winter weather.

Mild-Winter Climate

California is known as the Golden State, but areas in Northern and Central California get their share of cold weather and snow. Steve Macleod, Inside Sales representative for Village Nursery, offered some suggestions for selecting trees, shrubs and flowers that prosper during the winter months.

Trees

Incense Cedar - Calocedrus decurrens

A narrow-crowned, columnar tree that grows best in hardiness zones 5-8.

Catalina Ironwood-Lyonothamnus floribudus

A conical, evergreen tree with peeling red-brown bark and oblong to lance-shaped, glossy, deep green leaves. The leaves, which attract blue birds, are simple, or sometimes partially or fully pinnated on the same tree. Hardiness zones 9-10. Taxodium Montezuma Cyprus is a very attractive tree in the winter because it loses part of its needles and shoots out new, green needles in the spring.

Cedrus deodora - Deodar Cedar

Conical, coniferous tree with spreading branches, pendent shoot tips, and dark brown or black bark. A hardy tree that grows well cold temperatures.

White Birch - Betula Pendula

An average mature tree can reach heights of 30-40 feet with delicate branches that extend out and weep down slightly. During the fall and early winter, the tree's leaves look gorgeous when they fall onto the ground.

Flowers

Nearly all species of Viola grow well in partial or full shade and are invaluable for winter and spring color in mild-winter areas. Pansies and violas provide mass color in borders and edging, as ground covers for spring-flowering bulbs and in containers.

Another indispensable winter flower is the Penstemon, a common tubular shaped flower that grows well from seeds propagated in late winter and early spring. Of the two species that grow best in the winter, Macleod suggested Apple Blossom and Midnight. Apple blossom is a narrow-leafed perennial bearing small, tubular-bell-shaped pale pink flowers, with white throats. The Midnight species is a large leafed perennial producing large, dark, indigo-blue flowers.

Shrubs

California Lilac - Ceanothus

Cultivated for its beautiful, purple-blue flowers, the California Lilac grows well as a shrub or against a sunny wall. Sow seed in the autumn in a full sun location that is sheltered from strong, cold winds.

Mallow - Lavatera Bi Color

Upright, shrubby, evergreen perennial that produces saucer-shaped pink, lilac-pink, or white flowers from late summer to mid-autumn.

Desert Climate

In desert regions, the warmer temperatures during the day and cold temperatures overnight can make plant selection a daunting task. Michael Lopez, inside sales representative for Village Nursery, shared some popular plant choices for the desert palate of Arizona and parts of Nevada.

Trees

Japanese Privet - Ligustrum Japomicum

Evergreen shrub that is an excellent plant for hedges, or screens, or for shaping into globes, pyramids or small standard trees. Roundish oval leaves 2-4 inch. long, dark to medium green and glossy above, distinctly paler to almost whitish beneath.

Green Palo Verde - Cercidium

Tough, trouble-free trees native to the deserts of California and Arizona. Valued for floral display, shade, and colorful bark. Clusters of small flowers nearly hide the branches in spring. Lightly filtered shade is cast by intricate canopy of twigs rather than by tiny leaves which are shed early. Attracts birds.

Arizona yellow bells - Tecoma Stans

Prospers in mild-winter areas and can be trained as either a tree or a large shrub in areas where frost is common. During the winter, it is not common for much of the wood to die back, but recovery is quick in early spring.

Shrubs

Sagebrush - Artemesia

This evergreen and deciduous shrub is suitable for a roch garden or border. The silver-foliaged forms are excellent foils for many bright and pastel colors. some have culinary uses and are grown in herb gardens.

Asparagus sprengeri - The hardier of the two species, Sprenger Asparagus sports shiny, bright green needlelike leave that grow in bundles. Used as billowy ground cover where temperatures stay above 24 degrees Fahrenheit.

Flowers

Once again, the all-purpose pansy or viola fare well in the desert climate because of its forgiving nature. But, Lopez went on to suggest two more species of flowers that fare well in the unpredictable desert climate.

Alyssum - Mounding plants or shrublets that brighten spring borders and rock gardens with their cheerful bloom. They thrive in poor, rocky, well-drained soil.

Petunias - Plants are low growing, bushy to spreading, with thick, broad leaves that are slightly sticky to the touch. Flower form varies from single and funnel shaped to very double and heavily ruffled. Three commonly used classes of petunias are Hybrid Grandiflora, Multiflora, and Milliflora. lcm