Uncategorized Archives - Ken's Gardens

What are Rose Slugs (Sawflies) and do I have them?

Chances are you have not heard of Rose slugs (also known as Rose worms) and chances are that you would not be interested to find out what they are unless you are having trouble with your roses. However, it is good to know what they are even if you do not. You do not know when you will need this information.

Rose slugs are a pesky problem. They are only something that became a problem for us in the last few years. At first, we did not know what was going on. All that we knew was that something was eating the roses and leaving them bare. After a little research, we found out that it was these pesky critters.

Rose slugs look more like caterpillars than slugs. They are actually sawfly larvae, a bug in the same family as wasps, bees, and ants. The adult sawflies look like a cross between a fly and a wasp.

One of the biggest issues with rose slugs is that they tend to eat at night. For that reason, you generally see the damage and not the rose slugs.

These larvae are destructive. They leave the leaves as skeletons or eat them entirely. The good thing, however, is although the Rose slugs do damage, they do not harm the overall health of the plant (See here.) The trouble is that they make the plant look quite bad.

Fortunately, they are easy to control. In fact, they are controlled easier than Japanese Beetles if the pesticides are applied correctly.There are a wide range of products that can be used. When applying the insecticide, try to target the underside of the leaves, as this is where the larvae tends to eat.

Most insecticides will control sawflies, but stop in and we can give you a hand if you need help picking out one!

Have you had trouble with rose slugs? Comment below!

Tags: garden, garden center, garden nursery, lancaster garden center, nursery, planting, Rose slugs, Roses|

CLOSED July 4th

IST-IS162RM-00000177-001 The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, and no longer under British rule. Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America.

Memorial Day Hours

flags Memorial Day Hours 8AM-2PM.

All About Field Pansies!

The History and Tradition Behind Field Pansies

What are field pansies? They are the same pansy seed that we use for our pansies in packs, just grown out in the field compared to being grown in a greenhouse. The growing cycle for a field pansy begins quite a long time before they are ready to be sold!

Timeline

We seed field pansies in the summer, where they get their start in the greenhouses. Following the first frost and right before transplant, the field pansy beds are steamed. This is a tried and true method that has been done for well over a hundred years. Steaming the field pansy beds allows a chemical free method to kill weed seeds and fungus in the beds. The steam is at a certain temperature that kills undesirable soil pests but does not kill the beneficial microbes.

Around mid-October the pansies’ bare root plugs are ready to be transplanted into the field hotbeds. Once in the field, they will grow all winter under glass sashes. The sashes protect the pansies as well as trapping heat and moisture, ideal growing conditions for pansies! This field method of growing gives the pansies a better formed root system, as well as making them hardier against the cold. The field pansies have bloomed by mid-winter and are ready to be dug out once the ground has thawed enough.

Tradition

So why does Ken’s Gardens invest so much time and labor into field pansies? Tradition! Pansies were always traditionally grown in fields. Our Smoketown location has been growing field pansies for over 100 years, as both Glick’s Plant Farms and as Ken’s Gardens (all in the same family). We really love that our customers can remember coming to dig up field pansies at our garden center as children, and can now bring their own grandchildren to dig them up too!

2016 Promotion Dates

Looking forward to 2016!

Here at Ken’s Gardens we are looking ahead to 2016! We have a lot to look forward to this new year: workshops, sustainability and being able to do more for our customers. A lot of you have voted on a new logo, which will be coming out in 2016, as well as a new tagline. This year we would like to refocus on what Ken’s Gardens is: a family owned full service garden center that grows plants and knows plants. While there are plenty of plant farms and garden centers, there are seldom together. Ken’s Gardens grows most of their own plants and we know everything else we get in well. This allows our customer to get the best plant care prior to purchase and we know exactly how to help you at home with these plants. We also carry reliable and unique plants, supplies, and décor!

We are also working on becoming even MORE sustainable! Ken’s is also moving towards biocontrol for growing our plants to be more environmentally friendly, as well as doing more community outreach programs. Be on the lookout for events to attend and ways you can help us!

You may be wondering what a garden center would be doing with plants in the winter… Well, we are busy doing what we do best: growing plants! We have been very busy seeding and propagating. Ken’s has also been getting together a fresh inventory of décor and supplies for 2016 and we love what we are getting in!

Ken’s has been anxious to give our loyal customers more, and we have been listening to your questions. So in 2016 we will be bringing you workshops and activities! We will be having workshops for fairy gardens, terrariums, urban and contain er gardening, landscape basics and more. Field Pansy day is also coming as soon as the weather is good and the pansies are ready! Come out and experience a tradition our Smoketown store has been doing for years: dig your own pansies from the field!