-
Cut
back your ornamental grasses and perennials. Now is a great time
to do this because the plants are still dormant, so it is
unlikely that the tender crown of the plant will be damaged.
-
Maintain
your equipment. Sharpen your lawn mower blades, change the oil
in your tiller, sharpen your pruning shears and shovels. A
properly sharpened tool can make a world of difference!
-
Start
your seeds indoors. If you are planning on growing some of your
own bedding plants or vegetable plants, now is the time to get
them growing. An Illinois Certified Nursery Professional (ICN-Pro)
at your local garden center can help you with the individual
varieties.
-
Meet
with your local landscape designer to plan your new garden
areas. Whether you want to create a new butterfly garden, a
water garden or landscape your entire home, your landscape
designer will be able to help you lay out your bed lines and
pick the best plant material for your site.
-
If
you have a wildflower garden, February is the month to maintain
it. Generally, the best maintenance for a wildflower or prairie
garden is fire. However, please check your local town, city or
village ordinance on burning. For recommendations on maintaining
your wildflower garden, visit your local garden center.
[to top of second column in this
article]
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-
Make
your lawn maintenance plans now! It’s never too early to get
your name on your garden center’s lawn maintenance list.
Whenever your lawn needs fertilizer, weed spray or seeding, or
whenever you need recommendations, now is the time to start
talking with your lawn care professional.
- Prune your grape vines
and fruit trees now before the buds begin to break. Also be
ready to apply your first application of Fertilome spray (captan/malathion)
for fruit trees. Pick a time when it is going to be above 40
degrees and it’s not going to freeze over the first night. It
is very important to make your first application BEFORE the buds
break.
If
you have questions or need additional information, please feel free
to contact an Illinois Certified Nursery Professional (ICN-Pro) at
your local garden center. The Illinois Nurserymen’s Association
has certified over 275 ICN-Pros covering the state of Illinois.
["Gardening
tips" is provided monthly
by the Illinois Nurserymen’s Association,
1717 S. Fifth St. in Springfield.]
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I
had gone there to get our schipperke Tommy’s county license for
this year. Our beautiful, sweet, intelligent dog, Hana, had gone to
doggie heaven exactly one week previously. Hana was a golden
retriever-German shepherd mix who had been adopted from a shelter
almost 15 years ago, when she was 8 weeks old. My husband, John, and
I had talked about when we might be ready for another dog and what
type it might be. John had gone on the Internet and searched animal
shelters in the area. Yet, we had made no real decision.
As
I entered the shelter on that day, almost all the poor, discarded,
mostly large dogs started up with a terrible cacophony, each trying
to attract attention to himself. There were, unfortunately, a couple
of dogs that seemed to have given up hope and just stood quietly in
their kennels. I spoke to each one as I walked down the aisle. But
my eye had already been drawn to the beautiful, intelligent face of
a medium-sized, shorthaired white female down the aisle. She was
white with light ticking through her coat and had a brindle ear on
the right and a brindle eye on the left. She was standing up in her
kennel, wagging her tail so furiously her whole body wiggled. She
was looking at me as if I were her long-lost friend. She was
ecstatic when I spoke to her. Nevertheless, I continued my rounds.
Yet, on my way out, I inquired about her. The staff of the shelter
told me that her name was Iris. She was 1 year old, of mixed breed
(of course) and housebroken. Her former owners "didn’t have
time for her."
I
went home and called John at his office. I mentioned her as we
talked. He was interested but was distracted by work, so I didn’t
push the issue. Yet, as I tried to do some work myself, I couldn’t
get her out of my mind. She just pulled at me and wouldn’t let go.
Finally, I grabbed a leash…just in case, you understand…and went
back. This time I took her out of the kennel. She was in my lap and
all over me, smothering me with kisses and whining with excitement.
Her size was perfect, just a little larger than Tommy. Her body was
well-muscled, very agile and athletic. Except for a couple of thin
patches worn in her coat from scratching, she appeared to be in
excellent health. I put her back in the kennel — no small feat —
and went up front to tell them I would take her. They drew up the
papers while I left for a couple of hours to do some work. Then I
returned to pick up the newest member of our family.
There
is frequently a problem introducing a new dog to an established one.
Not in this case. Tommy had never been an only dog, as I bred him
myself and had several adult schips as well as his sister and,
later, Hana. Iris had been extremely friendly to the house dogs and
cats running around the shelter office, and so I just brought her
into the yard and let Tom out of the house. It was love at first
sight. Tommy finally had someone to play with, Hana having been too
old for the last several years, and Iris approached him with just
enough submission mixed in with her playfulness.
From
the family room, I could see John pull into the driveway when he got
home from work. Then it was time to introduce her to her new daddy.
I let John get through the gate into the back yard before letting
both dogs out the back door. As she ran toward him, he guessed
immediately who she was. "Is this Iris?" he asked as she
got to him and jumped and wagged her tail furiously. No fear of men
here, fortunately. As soon as he sat down in his chair in the living
room, she was on his lap, kissing him madly. As I saw the delighted
smile on his face, I knew I had done the right thing. Although he
was still grieving for his lost Hana, he immediately fell in love
with this exceptional little lady.
[to top of second column in this
article]
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[Iris]
I
can’t describe what a delight Iris is. She has not set one foot
wrong in the house. She has no propensity for chewing inappropriate
objects, is, indeed, housebroken, and won’t even bark at the
mailman…although I’m sure Tommy will change that by his bad
example. She is completely affectionate, very playful and will
cuddle when tired. She sleeps in the bed with the three of us,
taking the spot at the head between John and me that Tom doesn’t
want (he prefers the foot), curled up in a little ball, unless you
pull the covers over her, at which time she stretches out into the
longest small dog you can imagine. She plays with all the toys that
Tommy never really did like.
The
worst thing she’s done was to take a chew bone I gave her and bury
it in the couch. She stuffed it down between the cushions and then
industriously pushed the slipcover over it. In fact, she was so
industrious about this that I finally realized that was the reason
she had a pink spot on her nose. It was worn there from
"burying" things. I finally had to take the bone away when
her nose started bleeding.
Iris
is one of the smartest dogs I have worked with, and I showed in
obedience trials for 17 years. She learned to sit and lie down in
three tries. Now she comes and sits on her own when we give treats.
She’s learning to come on command, but that will go more slowly as
she is intensely interested in the world around her. No bird or
squirrel goes unnoticed — or unchased, I might add. We took a walk
in one of our rural parks, and she was driven completely wild by all
the smells and animal tracks. I do believe the ticking that is in
her white coat comes from a hunting breed in her background, for she
was enthralled by the fields of tufted grass and would have coursed
them for hours if allowed. Unfortunately for her, she was on a 16-ft
leash. Fortunately for me, the ice had gone from the road, or she
would have killed me as she jerked me from one place to another.
On
the whole, I cannot imagine a more perfect dog for us. She will play
ball, tug-of-war and Frisbee with John…just like Hana enjoyed
doing in her younger days. She will outlast me on hikes through the
woods. She would be great at competitive agility if I wanted to do
that. Her temperament and personality are marvelous.
And
yet, someone else discarded her. Unbelievable! And no one else
adopted her during the time she sat in the shelter. Inconceivable!
My friend, Brenda, didn’t call me about the Westie that needed a
new home (and whom we surely would have taken) a week ago because
Hana wasn’t gone yet. All these coincidences led to her being
brought into our family, and for that we will be eternally grateful.
Thanks a million to all those people who could not see her
potential. Your loss is truly our gain.
[Kitty
Pokrzywinski]
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