Around the Yard

Things to do this week:

* Green-up gardenias. Before they bloom--as they are making buds--gardenia plants often yellow, but foliar feeding with liquid fertilizer helps. So do applications of iron chelates. And the season’s warmer weather will help.

* Deep water lawns. Bermuda grass, St. Augustine and other warm-season lawns should be green and growing strong by now. If not, there’s a good chance that the soil has become compacted or has been allowed to get too dry, so water will no longer soak in. To fix, water the lawn for short periods of time--turning the water on and off, on and off--until it has a chance to penetrate.

Or use something like Pentrex, Perc-O-Late Plus or Water-In, which are soil penetrants that make water wetter so it can sink in.

If these tactics don’t work, the lawn may simply be too old (it does happen) and may need rejuvenating or even replacing. This is a good time of year to do either of these big jobs.

* Replant azaleas. If azaleas are yellow or not doing well, you may have a soil or drainage problem. This month, you can carefully dig up azaleas, improve the soil by adding coarse peat moss or other amendments, and then replant them so they end up a little higher out of the ground than they were. This gives them a fresh start and many nursery workers say this radical treatment really works. Just be sure to dig up a big enough root ball.