Throughout North America and the world, summers continue to get hotter, with more unpredictable weather conditions. Gardens, trees, lawns, and landscapes experience elevated levels of stress, with browning turf, wilting shrubs, and leaf drop common sights throughout the country.

As fall approaches and increasing moisture levels and cooler temperatures encourage us to begin planning for winter survival to assure that plants will be healthy and thriving next spring. We offer specialized fall recovery programs to help you in that effort.

Improve Soil and Rooting Conditions

Improving root health, increasing soil moisture retention, and restoring soil microbial activity go a long way towards preparing plants for overwintering. Whether you are in a climate with mild or harsh winters, ensuring better root and soil health will ensure your plants and turf are ready to go.

For trees and shrubs, we recommend soil injections in September and October to help strengthen roots. Products such as NutriRoot and Bio MP will provide carbon and other nutrition to the soil, bolstering microbial activity and long term soil health. Hydretain will help with water retention in soil, which is especially important after droughts and dry months. It will also help prepare for colder and uncertain winter weather when the air is frequently less humid and the ground may freeze, limiting moisture for broad-leafed evergreens. NutriRoot also contains Hydretain, but using both products will give plants an extra boost in water preservation, not just in restoring root health, but also reducing water use and associated costs.

Using NutriRoot provides greater vigor and health to plants and roots, increasing nutrient uptake.

Improve Turf Health

For turf recovery, Bio MP should serve as the basis of any program for most conditions. This molasses-based product provides excellent carbon support for microbes, especially in soils with low organic matter, or where drought or compaction have compromised soil health. CytoGro should be used to stimulate root activity and root regrowth. CytoGro is derived from seaweed extracts, and it promotes denser root systems, minimizes freezing desiccation in winter, and increases stress tolerance.

Regardless of the program you chose, you should make a second application of treatments after 6 weeks. A treatment in September and October in northern climes is ideal, while southern areas might want to wait until October and November.

Using CytoGro on turf will yield bigger and stronger roots that are more efficient at absorbing nutrients

The work you do now can reduce the repair and replacement work you face during next year’s busy spring, reduce customer dissatisfaction, and better prepare turf and plants for whatever comes next summer! Keep our recovery programs and products in mind as you begin winding down for the season and think ahead towards next growing season.

For more in-depth information on our suggested programs, see our most recent document. Visit https://www.ecologel.com/ to learn more about the products.