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Show SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS Community Early spring lawn and yard care tips By Jerry Goodspeed, Utah State University Extension Horticulturist In early spring, you can reduce the tangle of weeds that appear in your yard, prune your trees, reduce garden pests and help your lawn become healthy and green. Proper care of your lawn in the spring will help promote a healthy landscape throughout the year. Consider these tips: Core aeration, where small plugs are removed from the soil, has proven to be more beneficial to turf than power raking, which was a common yard care technique several years ago. Aerating allows better air, water and fertilizer penetration into the soil, it also helps reduce the thatch layer and minimizes compaction that produces u nhealthy roots. It can be done any time the ground is free from snow. Heavily used areas and clay soils may need to be aerated twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall. Normal soil types and use areas are usually fine with one aeration in the spring, and sandy soils only need it every two years. If a fall fertilizer was applied last year, the grass may not need it again until mid or If there was no fall application, a fertilizer high in nitrogen can be applied now. Consider using a slow release fertilizer, such as sulfur-coate- d urea. These fertilizers are more expensive, but only need to be applied every two to three months to keep the lawn looking green and lush. You can begin mowing your grass as soon as it starts to grow, leaving it between 212 to 3 inches tall. You should begin watering when the lawn looks dry or begins to show early symptoms of water stress. s Weeds, such as spurge, and foxtail, are common in late-Ma- y. crab-gras- (Icmmmi GcsJp presents Nightly Dinner Specials for the Month of April Monday - Meatloaf- - $7.95 Tuesday - Salisbury Steak - .$7.95 Wednesday - Breaded Veal wJalapeno Cream Sauce - $7.95 Thursday - Pork Chops - $8.95 Friday - Beer Battered Deep Fried Cod - $8.95 (All you can eat) Saturday - BBQ Broasted Chicken - $7.95 Sunday - Chicken & Dumplings - $7.95 All dinners include potato, vegetable, soup & salad bar and homemade herb roll! Health Food Sandwich of the Month Portabello Mushroom Sandwich on homemade herb bread - $5.95 6 WEDNESDAY MARCH 28, 2001 July and August and should be controlled in the spring since they are nearly impossible to remove midsummer. Weeds germinate and are small in the spring so they go unnoticed. Nip them in the bud such by applying a as Galleria, halt or Dacthal to the lawn now and then again in early June. These products must be applied before the weeds begin to germinate since they kill the young germinating annuals, not the established weeds. Cleaning up debris around the yard and garden will help keep pests under control. They love to hide under old dead plant material and organic matter. Controlling the first generation of most insects greatly reduces pre-emerge- Were your Best Friends nt Martin Pawses in Kanab to fashion a new life sanctuarys mobile adoption By Carolyn Mitchell Melanie Martin breezes program in Las Vegas. She through the doors at the Vermil- - even bought the van for trans-io- n Cafe sporting a radiant smile, porting the barking adoptive a daring cropped coif and a dreamy linen ensemble. The former fashion designer has a very different look when shes volunteering at the sanctu- their number throughout the ary. She swaps her chic togs for summer. A clean garden elimi- frayed jeans and a faded nates a breeding area or a place sweatshirt. A baseball cap cov- for insects to gather. the smart do. But the smile Control broadleaf weeds in remains relentlessly sunny. early' May with broadleaf weed After all, at Best Friends killer. These weeds include dan- Melanie is engaged in one of her delions, clover, black medicnd favorite pastimes- - walking her chickweed. They need to be dogs. Ofcourse,thel2to20dogs treated before the weather she escorts on weekly outings warms to above 85 degrees. dont belong to her as pets. But When trimming ornamen- Melanie can justifiably refer to tal and shade trees, remember the troop of mostly long-terthat the tree limbs and branches Dogtowners as hers. She not only will stay at the same height for leads them on romps along the the entire life of the tree. The sandy paths and up and down growing point for the tree is lo- the craggy hills at Dogtown, she cated in the top terminal bud, also brings them bedding, buys and the rest of the tree will only them special food, and pays for grow in circumference. If the improvements to their housing, branch is four feet off the ground of all, she is crazy about four feet off the be will it today, dogs - Vincent, Benson, ground in 20 years. Scruffy, and all the others who You can safely prune most repay her affection with a loyalty trees through the end of May. that allows Melanie to exercise Most pruning is done before the her canine charges unleashed. tree leafs out because it is easier Ive never lost a dog, she says, to see where to prune and easier They run off the path for a while to get into the tree. I recom- and then they, come back and mend pruning in March and checkin withme and then theyre early April. off again. It makes my heart Do very little pruning on happy to see them so joyful. Its ornamental trees. Prune wood such a gift. that is dead, diseased or injured The effervescent California and branches that cross (rub), native is also distinguished by grow back into the center of the her length of service. Shes been tree or are out of place. Be sure Dogtown stalwart for seven to keep the natural shape of the years - longer than any other tree intact. volunteer and most of the Dogs members. m F or almost three years, Melanie headed up the BREAKFAST AND LUNCH SPECIALS ALSO SERVED DAILY , hopefuls to and from Vegas road trips that found homes -- for hundreds of dogs. The petite animal lover has done the pooches laundry - bedclothes, towels, and such - and once received a citation for exceptional service in the poop-er- s scooping department, Melanie ran a successful fash- ion house for 15 years and sold her wool jersey and linen blend designs coast to coast at upscale stores, such as Bonwit Teller, Henri Bendel and Macs Union Square. After her mark was made in the fashion industry under the Melanie label, she organized a for the homeless and took a masters degree in family counseling. After visiting Best Friends, she decided to move to Kanab where she could devote herself to mal welfare and utilize her inte-th- e rior design skills by buying and remodeling houses, Melanie is totally dedicated to the animals, says animal care director Faith Maloney. She has a particular fondness for older or disabled animals and ha helped many ofthem find wonderful new homes. v One of those doggies found the perfect home . non-prof- it ani-Mo- st down-and-o- with Melanie ut herself. A longhaired white mutt, Lily is sees poorly, has a deformed leg, and suffers seri-- a ous hip dysplasia, Melanie, of course, adores Lily and relies on her rousing wooooo-stawooooo as her alarm clock. And when I get up, Lily is so happy, Melanie says with a laugh. Its hard-of-hearin- g, ff like shes thinking, Oh, (KifillQiniEl great, shes still here. Thats the iPmnrej&i e won-- d r fu 1 thing about RcUttwuu Cede 198 South 100 East Kanab animals. Youre a hit. with them.if iiiaMS&wbtf) Melanie Martin on an outing with some other Best Friends dogs, you - Pttotatydan3mddPeyer- just show upl |