Archive for May, 2009
Saturday, May 30th, 2009
“When is the best time to apply a grub preventer to my lawn?” -Actually, it can be applied anytime late May thru July (and sometimes into August) but I usually look to do it sometime in June. If you have a bluegrass lawn, applying the grub preventers now (May) will also help control billbug, which can be very damaging to bluegrass lawns, especially if it is a dryer late May and June. Remember to buy the grub preventer for summer coverage, not the grub killer, which is used later for a one time shot / kill.
“Last year you mentioned some drought tolerant annuals that you actually planted in your containers on the southwest exposure. What were they again?” -Just finished planting those again! Ornamental sweet potato vine, creeping Jenny, Angelonia, Magilla Perilla, and Diamond Frost Euphorbia. They all do a great job baking in the sun!
“My 25′ blue spruce has lost all the needles at the top of the tree. I can see the brown cones hanging down, but no needles and no new growth. What can I do?” -Sounds like you have bagworms (brown cone like things hanging from the branches) that stripped the needles last year. If those were closer to the ground, I’d say pick them off now and destroy them, as the egg will be hatching out of those bags within the next 2-4 weeks. And, each bag (if a female is inside) can have 500 eggs or more inside! Picking off now and destroying them physically eliminates them before they hatch. But in this case, where you can’t get up there to pick them off, just keep watching. They’ll be hatching out in the next 2-4 weeks, and when they do, and you see those little bags moving around the spruce, spray with ‘Bt’. May take two shots, but that should take care of them. Keep monitoring to be sure. As for the dead top, if nothing regrows, you may need to have the dead top removed.
“After your class with Rita Heikenfeld, I purchased about 10 herbs which have all been planted. When will it be OK to harvest them? Do the plants need to reach a certain size first? I am afraid to pull some leaves off now, and have almost nothing left of the plant. Always love your classes!” -Thanks! Okay, why not let Riat answer your question today? -”You’ll be glad you purchased those herbs. For harvesting, it depends on how big they are. Here are some tips: Start when the herb has enough foliage to maintain growth. Perennial herbs, like oregano and thyme can be harvested now now, cut back up to 75% and will give you a second flush of growth during the season. Basil: let it get several sets of healthy leaves. By the end of June/early July the plant will be very large and you can harvest a good amount and pick off any flower heads that form (use those too). Leaf production of annual herbs is most abundant before flowering. Annual herbs have the best volatile oil flavor when harvested after flower buds appear but before they open. Dill doesn’t take to pruning as well as basil, and neither does Cilantro. I toss a few seeds of each in the ground on a bi-weekly basis to keep a nice patch going. The bees love all flowers of herbs, especially thyme. Harvest early in the morning after the dew dries but before the heat of the day drives the oils either back down to the roots or out the top. (Lavender is notorious for being immensely fragrant right before noon) Herbs like lavender and tarragon love to be pruned – you can go about halfway down for each when they are large and you’ll get a second flush of growth. Prune/harvest perennial herbs until one month before frost date. Too late pruning makes tender growth come out and sometimes that new growth can’t harden off before winter. Hope this helps.” -Rita
Tags: drought tolerant annuals, grub preventer, herbs
Posted in Questions of the Week | 2 Comments »
Friday, May 29th, 2009
The recent rain showers have been very much a welcoming sight! Its amazing how quickly the soil begins to dry out. And having the evening showers makes it perfect – plant during the day, showers water things in at night. Nice if that would happen all the time, eh? And I wasn’t kidding about things drying out quickly. I have some hostas in a very protected area that were definitely showing signs of lack of moisture! Hey, did I just tell on myself that I haven’t been watering? Really nice, Ron.
Good looking weekend coming up. Take advantage of it!
Tags: rain, Watering Plants
Posted in Weather | No Comments »
Friday, May 29th, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky., (May 22, 2009) – Officials with
the Office of the State Entomologist in the University of Kentucky Entomology Department today announced two confirmed occurrences in Kentucky of emerald ash borer, an invasive insect pest of ash trees. These are the first findings of this destructive insect in the state. The discoveries resulted from Kentucky Division of Forestry and University of Kentucky officials investigating reports of dying ash trees in a private woodlot in Shelby County and a residential landscape in Jessamine County. The adult stage of the EAB is a half-inch elongate, metallic-green beetle. The beetles may be seen resting on ash leaves or chewing small feeding notches in the edges of ash leaves. The larval stage, a flat, white segmented worm, chews long winding tunnels beneath the bark. Extensive tunneling reduces water and food transport in the tree, resulting in tree death. This insect only attacks ash trees. Officials urge Kentuckians to take several steps to help keep EAB from spreading:
·Don’t transport firewood, even within Kentucky. Don’t bring firewood along on a camping trip. Buy the wood you need locally. Don’t bring extra wood home with you.
·Don’t buy or move firewood from outside Kentucky.If someone comes to your door selling firewood, ask them about the source of the wood. If it came from outside Kentucky, don’t buy it.
Kentuckians are urged to identify ash trees on their property and to examine them for signs of EAB activity. Symptoms of infestation include dieback of the upper tree canopy, sprouts growing from roots and trunk, loose bark, signs of woodpecker activity, and D-shaped exit holes in the trunk. If you suspect that your trees may be infested, contact the Emerald Ash Borer Hotline (866) 322-4512 or the Office of the State Entomologist. (859) 257-5838. More information is available at http://www.emeraldashborer.info/ . The Kentucky EAB page is located at http://pest.ca.uky.edu/EXT/EAB/welcome.html.
A new comprehensive multi-state EAB fact sheet titled “Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees From Emerald Ash Borer” - now available on the OSU Ashalert website ashalert.osu.edu .
BRISTLY ROSE SLUGS (SAWFLY) DEVOURING ROSES! -�
“What is eating all the holes in the leaves of my roses?” Great question when you see rose leaves having either window pane type holes or complete holes in the leaves, but no bugs to be seen. Well, the reason the bugs aren’t being seen, is 1.) They’re very small and the same color of the leaf, and 2.) They’re feeding on the undersides of the leaves! The critter is called a rose slug, yet rose slugs are not slugs at all. They’re actually in the sawfly family, and there have been different types seen, ranging from 1 to multiple generations each year. They look like very small caterpillars (at the early stages are very hard to see), and typically feed on the underside of the leaves, causing the window pane effect from the younger rose slug (sawfly) larvae, to large leaf holes to total leaf skeletonization as the larva mature.
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Control for the Rose Slugs - 1.) Hand smashing the rose slugs as you can find them on the undersides of the leaves (look early morning), or blowing them off with a strong stream of water. 2.) Repeated foliar sprays as needed, using Insecticidal Soaps or Horticultural Oils, but making sure to spray the undersides of the leaves where the rose slugs are feeding, not the tops of the leaves. 3.) Apply a systemic insecticide such as Bayer’s / Bonide’s 3 in 1 Rose Care, etc, where the insecticide is taken up inside the plant and the sawfly larvae are killed as they feed on the leaves. Note:) The foliar sprays are usually the most effective / immediate control, but a combination of systemic and foliar sprays work quite nicely together. Remember, there may be several generations of the rose slug, so be persistent with the methods of control as you see the damages occur. And although the damages certainly make the rose plant’s leaves look bad, it rarely affects the overall health of the plant.
Catch The Buggy Joe Boggs Report every Saturday morning at 8:42AM on 55KRC Thee Talk Station.
[A seminar on 'Time Travel' will be held two weeks ago.]
Tags: emerald ash borer, rose slugs
Posted in Bugs, Diseases | No Comments »
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
May 29, 2009
This week, let’s talk lawns. If you use a “Step” program, now is the time for Step Two (fertilizer and weed killer). If not, now would be a good time to feed the lawn before we get into the summer, as well as spot treating those weeds (as needed) with a water soluble broadleaf weed killer. When it comes to mowing, please remember:
- Mow higher rather than lower heights (2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches).
- Never remove more than 1/3 of the grass blade each time you mow.
- Change directions each time you mow.
- Throw those grass clippings back into the turf when you mow.
- Have you mower blade sharpened on a regular basis.
- And when we get more into the watering periods, it is best to water the lawn early morning (5-9AM), and water all at one time (deep soaking) rather than frequent light watering.
Tags: fertilizing lawn, mowing lawn
Posted in Success Tip | No Comments »
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
This week, I received a sample of an insect (live bugs in a ziplock bag), from a customer who wanted to know what the bugs were that they are seeing on their hibiscus, before they sprayed to get rid of them. Good thing they brought in the sample first, as the “bugs” were actually the good guys – they were the larvae of Lady Beetles! Interesting looking critter, that I think resembles an insect form of an alligator, about 1/4 inch long, with six front legs. Point is – had those folks not asked what it was before they sprayed, they would have been eliminating good insects rather than the bad ones. Make sure you know what it is you’re spraying, and whether or not it even needs to be controlled (minimal damages). And if it does need control, what is the most Eco-friendly spray that can be used? Thanks for taking the extra steps before you spray.
This week, Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) is reporting lots of calls wanting to know what the yellow flower many folks ar seeing growing in fiedls that have not been plowed – it’s called cressleaf groundsel which is a winter annual (seeds stay viable for several years) that seems to showing up more and more in unplowed fields and even in home landscapes, honeybee swarm reports are up (which is a good thing!), 4 lined plant bugs showing up on mmnay perennials and few herbs, boxwood showing winter damages (leaf and stem blight, leaf spot), boxwood leaf miner damages, boxwood psyllids causing new leaves to “cup”, root rot on rhododendrons, sawflies on ash and oaks, tent caterpillars now on walk abouts, elder shoot borers in elders, thistle tortoise beetles feeding on Canada Thistle (yes!), biting ants in landscape beds (possibly acrobat or Allegheny ants, peach leaf curl on, yes, you guessed it, peach trees, anthracnose on oaks, leaf blotch on horsechestnuts, vole damages on the rise, bluegrass producing seed heads, and EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) damages starting to show as the ash are leafing out (or not). www.emeraldashborer.info
-Catch The Buggy Joe Boggs Report every Saturday at 8:42AM on 55KRC The Talk Station.
Tags: lady beatles, larvae lady beatles
Posted in Bugs | No Comments »
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