Archive for the ‘Weeds’ Category
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
“Are there any regular shrubs that we can add to our landscape that will flower in the summer?” -Absolutely! Take a look at shrub and ground cover roses, especially the great Knock Out rose series, Hydrangeas, with many selections flowering right now, Potentilla with its summer white or yellow flowers, Sorbaria (False Spirea) with great fluffy plumes of creamy white flowers, Clethra (Summersweet) with its sweet smelling summer flowers, Northern Bush Honeysuckle with its yellow flowers, and Rose of Sharon (single and double flowers of many colors) that blooms late June thru mid September. By the way, Rose of Sharon flowers are highly edible and a great addition to just about any salad. My two daughters and I used to eat the Rose of Sharon flowers that were in front of our local McDonald’s order board. I tried to fill them up on the flowers before they ordered. It never worked, but it was kind of fun eating the flowers.
“Is it too late to apply a grub preventer to my lawn?” -Nope, but get on it right away. If not, then you’ll be using a grub killer such as Dylox later in the summer (one time kill).
“My butterfly bush has been flowering like crazy, but now all I have are a few flowers and lots of dead ones. Is that it for the year?” -Nope, but you need to do a little deadheading. Go through and clip out those dead flowers. That will encourage new growth and more flowers. Some folks forego the deadheading and just shear back the entire plant. That’s up to you.
“Tell me more about killing weeds with vinegar. Does it matter what type of vinegar? Will it also kill the grass?” -No and yes. Doesn’t matter what type of vinegar is used, but the higher the percentage of acidic acid the better it works. And it is a non selective vegetation killer, meaning it kills what you spray it on, weeds, grass, and all. Vinegar is strictly a foliar kill, and does not kill the roots.
“We have ants galore in our yard and landscape beds this year. How do we get rid of them?” -Granted high populations of ants can be a nuisance, and depending on the type, can cause some destruction. They can also be great soil aerators, cleaning machines, etc. And do remember there is no way you could get of all of them, nor would you want to. OSU Extension has a great fact sheet on identifying ants in your yard or home (ohioline.osu.edu – yard and garden fact sheets). Try to identify which ones you have. Controls include commercially developed insecticides and ant baits, as well as many ‘natural’ home remedies. We have a tip sheet that includes many of the ‘natural’ ways to repel or reduce ant populations that have been collected over the years. Go to our web site and find ‘The Ants Go Marching Naturally’ tip sheet. Good luck!
“My Red maple has developed multiple cracks on the trunk, and it looks like some of the leaves are getting a tinge of red. What should I do?”-First of all, you’re not the only one experiencing this right now (not that it makes you feel any better!). Secondly, cracks in tree trunks can be the results of many factors – drought, frost crack, sun crack, tree stress, root decline, top decline, herbicides, poor graft, too wet, too dry, planted wrong, compacted nasty soils, tree growing too fast, and on and on. But this year we are seeing more than usual, in several different types of trees, and in some cases, multiple cracks rather than just one. For the past month, I personally have been going back and forth with Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) looking at examples and the sudden increase in cracked trunks, and in many cases, we are not seeing any one thing that stands out as thee factor for the cracking! But one factor that has not been mentioned is the 70 mph plus winds from Hurricane Ike. There is a good chance these cracks may be the results of twisting and bending from the high winds! Unfortunately we can’t be totally sure, but it does stand to reason. Nevertheless, if trees are splitting / cracking, make sure the tree is as healthy as possible (proper cultural practices), make sure loose bark is removed to encourage sealing over and keeping insects out, and wait to see what happens. Some will recover – we’re already seeing some that looks like they may not recover. Note: I do want to say that several trees that I have visited (turning early colors) were simply drought stressed. Yep, lack of moisture in the root ball area.
“I may have missed it, but did you announce the dates for yourNursery Outlet Sale?” -We haven’t officially announced it, but I did let it slip a few times. The sale is open to the public Sept 18, 19, and 20,25,26,27 (added a Friday this year!). We will have a special website for all the information, so keep reading our newsletter. We’ll let you know when that is ready – probably in a couple weeks. But don’t tell anyone that I told you!
[Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?]
Tags: butterfly bush, clethra, flowering summer shrubs, grub preventer, red maple, rose of sharon, shrubs, Weeds
Posted in Problems in the Garden This Week, Weeds | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Problems in the Garden This Week
Some humidity in the air, but again, we can’t complain about this mid July weather! Spotty showers have again done general watering for many, but I do stress spotty. Check that rain gauge weekly to make sure you know how much rainfall your lawn has received and then supplement if needed. And don’t let these showers fool you on watering newly planted plants, or plants in mass plantings (especially evergreens) that may umbrella the water away from their root systems. Ross Root Feeders are an excellent way to water established plants right into their root systems! And Tree Gator Bags will help reduce your watering time spent watering newly planted trees. Check out our unbelievable special at the garden stores!
This week, Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting first calls concerning yellow jackets and bald faced hornet nests, squash vine borer damages showing up in squash, pumpkins and gourds, continued reports of heavy slug damages, confirmed reports of late blight on a tomato plant (treat with fungicide – Chlorothalanil [Bonide’s Fungonil] or Mancozeb – copper also recommended – before it shows) in Ohio and Kentucky, downy mildew of cucurbits, Japanese beetle activity heavy in many areas (reminder still time to apply a grub preventer to the lawns), ambrosia beetles causing damages to newly planted trees, and cicada killer wasps showing up now that the dog-day cicadas are out and about. Joe also noted a caller asking about sucker removal in sweet corn plants and whether it is helpful, and based on past notes / research, its more work than it is beneficial to remove the suckers. It does decrease competition, but does not show any significant increase in sweet corn yield or ear quality.
BJB (OSU Extension) also wanted to take a moment to make a mention about the many attributes and environmental benefits of having turfgrass (lawns). (Seems in today’s garden chat, many homeowners look at reducing the turf area, rather than maintaining it!) Turf attributes include its deep green carpet like growth that enhances other landscape features, imparts a feeling of spaciousness and gives width and depth to landscapes, no other living groundcover is as durable as turfgrass, and the growing point of turfgrass rests at ground level, allowing it to thicken and recover from foliar damage. Turfgrass also has many significant environmental benefits including a healthy 10,000 sq. ft. lawn absorbs 6,000 gallons of rainwater, a 150 acre golf course can absorb 12 million gallons of water during a 3 inch rainfall, earthworm populations of 200-300 worms per sq. yd. is not uncommon (they increase macropore space within the soil which means increased water infiltration and water retention capacity), every 2.5 acres of golf course turf sequester about one ton of carbon from the air each year, U.S. lawns remove 5% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, grass traps more than 12 million tons of dust and dirt annually (including allergens and plant pollen), 250 ss. Ft. of lawn produces enough oxygen for a family of four, and eight average sized lawns have the cooling effect of 70 tons of air conditioning! Now those are some pretty convincing facts and figures! Thanks BJB!
www.emeraldashborer.info
ashalert.osu.edu
Tags: squash vine borer, turfgrass, yellow jackets
Posted in Bugs, Diseases, Problems in the Garden This Week, Weeds | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 13th, 2009
Problems in the Garden this Week
Timely rain showers (and cooler temps) have really reduced the amount of watering needed so far this year, even with containers. But get a few days of warm weather, some sun and wind, and we’re back to desert conditions. Well, maybe not desert, but amazing how quickly things will dry out. Make sure you’re keeping those newly planted plants watered as needed, and watch that rain gauge to see how much rainfall your yard is getting. Remember the golden rule: most established plants would like about 1 inch of rainfall every 10 days or so, and if Mother Nature doesn’t come thru, then its up to you. Less frequent but deep thorough waterings, and not frequent light waterings. Don’t be a water tease! Have newly planted trees? Try cutting your watering time in half and use a Tree Gator Bag! Check out our garden stores for our “gator bag special” - you won’t believe it is for real! So far in the yardboy’s garden, we’ve had little to no insect problems, including the lack of Japanese beetles. But, we did find out that Captain Jack’s Deadbug Brew does kill them, but its not a quick knock down like using Sevin or Eight. Certainly did a number on those bagworms, though, and still experimenting with it on other “listed” insects controlled. This week, Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting pockets of Japanese beetles doing their thing on all of their favorite landscape plants, fruits, veggies and flowers, mimosa webworm on honeylocust, fall webworm (first generation) is being seen, Emerald Ash Borer damage continuing to be found all around Ohio (www.emeraldashborer.info), dogday cicadas now emerging (which means be on the lookout for the B-52 Bomber Cicada Killer Wasps, brown patch as well as yellowed lawns due to DULL MOWER BLADES being reported, tops of conifers now showing white pine weevil damages, apple scab continuing to defoliate crabapples, fireblight still being reported, lacebugs on azalea leaves as well as hawthorn lacebug, basswood lacebug, oak lacebug, and mum lacebug, rose slugs still feeding on rose leaves, two spotted spider mites out and about (watch your burning bush leaves), pine needle scale crawlers crawling, powdery mildew on a host of woody and herbaceous plants, herbicide damages showing up on tomato leaves, locust leafminer working on black locust leaves, red milk weed beetles feeding on milkweed, earwigs galore inside and out, planthopper nymphs now on perennials and some woody plants, assassin bug nymphs nymphing around looking for bugs to eat, cedar rusts showing up big time now, anthracnose on many leaves, black spot on elm leaves, and euonymus scale crawlers still crawling (good time to spray). LATE BLIGHT IN OHIO? Last but not least, it looks like the ole late blight on tomatoes and potatoes may have rearded its ugly head, and doing it quickly, and doing earlier than it would normally do this (wind blown spores) – seeing it mostly in NE U.S. (reported in all six New England states, all other East coast states except Georgia, as well as Alabama, W.VA, and OHIO), so keep your eyes open for it (brown spots on stems, then turning olive green to brown lesions on stems and leaves, with white fungal growth underneath -tomato will show firm brown spots). Looks like it may have started from infected plants sold by a major supplier thru big-box retail stores, and the rainy weather hastened the spores airborne spread. Spraying with a fungicide before it appears is the only way to control it. Once you get it, immediately pull and pitch the plants. You can even put them in plastic bags and let it cook for a couple days, then pitch them out. Pretty serious issue -don’t take this mention lightly. Look at the following link to learn more about it, so you can watch for it in your or neighbor gardens! For more info visit: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3102.html
Tags: late blight, watering, watering lawn, watering newly planted trees, Watering Plants
Posted in Weather, Weeds | No Comments »
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