John's Retail Tips: The Fall "Honey Do" List

As the end of summer is near, the proverbial task list for home improvement grows. Maintaining the outside of the home often takes a back seat while parents scurry to gear-up with the supplies and clothing their children need in preparation for back-to-school.

Rest assured, though, that many homeowners have plans for more chores on the horizon! In anticipation for the immediate month(s) ahead, let’s get ready:

Repellents

Right now, the food source for any critter is available in quantity and variety. They may or may not have visited your customers’ gardens or home plantings, but soon these sources will be on the decline. Be sure you’re well stocked with repellents to help homeowners protect their investments.

The cooler temperatures signal to rodents in particular to seek warmer climates and make their move to interiors. Traps and some repellents head off this onslaught and make it easier to contain and control.

Deer controls are especially important as they’re also on the move and will explore neighborhoods to eat the available foods. With the removal of many flowers and vegetables from the garden, attention quickly turns to vegetative plant materials. Deer have no off-season, so you’ll want to recommend long-lasting products in granular or spray formulations to keep these hungry animals in check.

Insect Controls

The time spent outdoors is still a priority for many families, and it comes when hornet and wasps are very active during the daylight hours. Advise your customers to keep insect controls nearby, and begin observing where these nests are around the home. Eliminating these winter homes now helps to negate future problems around the home next year. Even in the fall months, it’s still a good practice to install wasp traps, so be sure to have these on-hand in an easy-to-spot location in your store.

Now is also an ideal time for homeowners to tend to plants that have endured major insect damage over the course of the spring and summer. Spider mites and scale are two of the most noticeable issues that can be detected. If a plant is unhealthy leading into the winter, it likely won’t survive or, worse yet, it’ll provide more issues when the pests spread.

You can encourage preventative maintenance like horticultural spray oil, which works on many different types of plant materials to control both the spider mites and scale insect problems. If severely damaged plants need to be “shovel pruned,” remove them and the mulching below. If replanting a new shrub, make sure your customers know to use fresh planting media and new mulch, and to view adjacent plants as suspects in harboring these nuisance insects. Adjacent plants should also be part of a homeowner’s maintenance plan.

Lawn Care and Repair

Consumers see in-the-know gardeners repairing worn-out lawns by thatching or using the core aeration method to improve lawn conditions. Reseeding is a favorite activity in the fall, but many new homeowners don’t understand what they truly need to be successful.

Evaluate your specific region as to what you would recommend to customers with regard to grass seed varieties. These may either be a "blend", which is the same type of grass seed using different varieties or a "mixture" using different types of grass seed. Emphasize good seed-to-soil contact for best results. The favorable conditions of fall weather makes it the BEST time to establish a great lawn.