The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Home, Ilawun & Carde A littie time and energy now wiII save Iawi Many Milton homeowners are looking with dismay at the condition of their lawns after this year's heavy and damaging winter snow and ice. With the right care now, most lawns and gardens can recover. "This has been a tough winter for nearly everyone in southern Ontario," ad- mits Phil Lawton, co-owner of Taylor Nursery which has been serving Milton garden-' ers for 39 years. "The first step is to rake up the Iawn to remnove leaves and debris once the Iawn is dry enough that your rake is not pulling out grass moots. If your lawn has 'snow mould' and looks fuzzy, raking wiII help dis- perse that too." Apply fertilizer now Lawton recommends an application of quality, name- brand fertilizer that is high in nitrogen, to feed the grass now and get healthy growth started. If overseeding is needed to thicken your Iawn or f111 in bare spots, April is a good time to apply it. "We also recommend us- ing Corn Gluten on your Gardens lawn, as a natural, chemical- free way to help inhibit the growth of weeds and crab- grass," commented Lawton, "but don't use this product at the same time as putting down lawn seed because it will stop grass seed growth too. We can rec- ommend a schedule for fertilizing, seed- ing and use of weed inhibitors when you visit our garden centre." ~trees and shrubs also took a beating this winter. April is a good time to rake up debris in the loosen If you see Uines of earth breaking through the sod or areas of excavation in your lawn, that could be the work of voles, a small burrowing mammal. Wlnter nuisance "Voles are usually a winter nuisance, explained Lawton. "Rake up their path- ways, seed and lightly top dress the dam- aged areas of your lawn." Gardens, trees and shrubs also took a beating in harsh winter conditions this year. Lawton suggests raking up debris in the gardens now and assessing the condition of trees and shrubs. "Now is the time to prune broken branches off shrubs and trees and clean nand garden up any limbs that were- ripped away during the ice and wind storms," Lawton advised. "Trim away deadZ wood and thin out exces-?n sive growth at the same>z time so new growth wiII 2 be focussed on healthy z branches and stalks." CultIvate in April If your gardens are bare: soul, you can cultivate in o April to loosen the earth - and make it ready for plant- ing but watch out for bulbs and. perennials that mayCL be poking their héads out ID tentatively looking for the Sun. "You can really heip your garden beds by put-3 ting down a.good layer of mulch (or topping up exist- ing mulch) in the spring," explains Lawton. "Mblch helps keep moisture in-and reduces the need to water-and in- hibits weed growth in gar- dens ... and it looks great too. There are lots of dif- ferent types of mulch avail- able and each will provide a different look to comple- gardens and ment your yard and home. up the earth. For the healthiest garden, cultivate the soil, add soul where needed, fertilize with a granular fertilizer, then finish with mulch. Your annuals, perennials and shrubs will flourish and make you look like a real professional gardener." Taylor Nursery is located ait the east end of Main Street on 5th Line and is now open seven days a week.