August 2022

TOPEKA — Democrat Laura Kelly and Republican Derek Schmidt emerged victorious from Tuesday’s primary brandishing the organizational framework and burnished messaging of gubernatorial campaigns ready for a three-month sprint to November.

Temperature extremes drought and storms take a toll on our landscapes. Sometimes a bit of pruning, proper care and patience is all that is needed to help plants recover. Other times, plants need replacing. It is always sad to lose a favorite plant. The memories, time and money invested are lost, but it presents an opportunity to grow something new.

We are often faced with lawn problems that fertilizer cannot fix. Soil compaction is caused by traffic and or clay soils. There are a few things that are very important to help reduce this problem. September is the optimum time to power rake or core-aerate tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass lawns. These grasses should be coming out of their summer doldrums and beginning to grow more vigorously. This is a good time to consider what we are trying to accomplish with these practices.