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Thanks and Welcome!
Be sure to check out our newsletter for details!
Thanks for paying us a Web visit; we are delighted! Pickering Valley Feed & Farm is much more than a complete pet store—you can get supplies and expert advice for your lawn, garden, aquarium, and pond. Pay us a local visit and bring your pet. We'd love to show you some old fashioned Pickering hospitality. There are free doggie treats at the checkout counter and we load your order in your car with a smile.
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Why a Noah's ark logo? Noah's ark has real significance for Pickering Valley Feed & Farm because, practically speaking, our store is "the only place Noah could shop." With over 14,000 items to choose from, you can shop for crickets to elephants. We'll even work hard to accommodate specific requests. |
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Trust experience. Get Answers.
Family proprietors, Bill, Janna, and Jim Cracas have been helping pet owners make informed decisions since 1976. Add with our friendly and knowledgeable Pickering staff, you have access to an extensive bank of knowledge to help you make healthy decisions for your pet, horse, lawn, garden, pond, and aquarium.
Get pampered at Pickering.
Serving Chester County, Pennsylvania for nearly 30 years, the Pickering team is dedicated to building relationships with our customers. They reside in Exton, Lionville, Chester Springs, Eagle, Glenmoore, Charlestown, Radnor Hunt area, and Downingtown. Our customers rave about the benefits and convenience of our Frequent Purchaser Plan and fun annual events, like our Pet Photo Day with Santa, complete with home-baked cookies, brownies, warm popcorn, and a free Santa photo.
Booting Up for a Beautiful Lawn
Beautiful Lawn Basics
It's not as hard as you might think! By following some basic quidelines you can easily maintain a healthy, vigorous, attractive lawn.
Your soil works as a dynamic plant-growing system. Good soil is rich in organic matter and microbes that, together with the atmosphere, precipitation and sunshine, provide all the needed elements and conditions for a healthy, thriving lawn.
What is the condition of your soil? You can find out what your soil needs by doing a soil test. Pickering has a convenient and throrough soil test kit you can mail off to The AG Analytical Services Lab at Penn State. The kit is $10. There is also a test just for measuring ph by Farnam for $5.99.
Please note that Chester County soil is typically low in phosphorous and has a low ph. To correct soil ph to 7.0, nothing is as inexpensive as using pulverized limestone/lime. Once the ph is corrected to 7.0, apply lime every other year.
Critical Care
Mowing is an essential practice for proper lawn care. Mowing discourages weeds and makes the lawn more resistant to pests. The frequency of mowing depends on how fast the grass grows. Ideall, grass should be cut often enough so that no more than 1/3 of the total grass height is removed at one time. Keep mower blades sharp to avoid ripping the grass and to reduce the cahnce of disease. In general, you should leave the clippings where they fall because they return nutrients to the soil. This can reduce nitrogen and potassium requirements by up to 30 percent. Properly moved lawns should not have increased thatch or clumps of clippings. Having the correct ph and the use of organic fertilizers helps to prevent the build-up of thatch.
Feed
Lawns almost always need fertilizer because of the artificial conditions under which grass is forced to grow. Crowded and close together, the plants starve unless fed. The three major nutrients most likely to be lacking in grass are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The trace nutrient iron is also essential for optimum growth. Available at Pickering, both Bradfield Organics and The Espoma Company offer premium lawn fertilizers designed for safe, easy lawn feeding: They are rich in natural organics. Since salts in some fertilizers can burn your lawn, lawn foods like Bradfield Organics and Espoma with a low salt index provide a safer treatment, even in hot weather.
Pet food and supplies are our specialty.