Garden Questions of the Week

“My Mother’s Day gift last year was an ‘Easy Does It’ rose.  My husband later informed me that you had said it was a wonderful rose – and I couldn’t agree more.  The blooms are fantastic and is the envy of the block one year later.  Thank you – and my husband thanks you, too.”    -Cool!  It has definitely proven why it was the only 2010 AARS winner!  What a wonderful disease resistant colorful rose!

“How long do I wait after spring bulbs bloom to cut off the foliage?”  -6-8 weeks or it turns yellow.  Whichever comes first.

“My roses are developing spots and holes in the leaves.  Any idea what this is?  I don’t see any bugs.”    -Right now, we’re getting samples and questions about rose leaves having either window panes type holes or complete holes in the leaves, but no bugs to be seen.  Well, chances are that’s the results of the rose slug.  Rose slugs are 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 slugs, to skeletonization as well as the large holes as the larva mature.  Control for the rose slugs includes 1.) Hand picking the infected leaves (with saw fly larvae on them) and destroying the leaves, 2. Repeated foliar sprays as needed, using Insecticidal Soaps or Horticultural Oils, and be sure to spray the undersides of the leaves, or 3.) By applying a systemic such as Bayer’s or Bonide’s  3 in 1 Rose Care.  The foliar sprays are usually the most effective immediate control, but a combo of the above works quite nicely!  (By the way, being they are saw flies, Bt is not an effective means of control.)  Of course, these methods of control also work quite nicely with the aphids as well.

“I have a layer of thatch in my lawn.  Should I rent a thatch machine and thatch it?”   -Now’s not a good time to be doing that, as you’ll be dealing with weed seeds for the rest of the summer.  And, we really have gotten away from those dethatchers, and are now core aerating on a more regular basis.  Core aerating opens up the thatch, and actually promotes a quicker breakdown of the layer, without dealing with tearing up the turf and exposing all those weed seeds.  Still time to core aerate now if needed.

“When can I divide my daylilies?”  -Tough cookies those daylilies!  They can be divided in the spring, in the fall, or after they’re finished flowering.  By the way, if you want to keep those rebloomers reblooming this summer, be sure to deadhead spent flowers and eventually the entire flower stalk, and feed after each flush of flowers. 

“Can wild bush honeysuckle be transplanted?”    -Can it?  Sure.  BUT DON’T!  That wild bush honeysuckle has become one of the top 10 most invasive non-native plants in the state of Ohio, as well as all through the N.E. United States.  We want to get rid of it, not propagate it.  It is not wanted, and we need to become more aware of its invasiveness and ways to get rid of it.  Physical removal of the smaller plant and roots, removal of the root crown for medium to larger honeysuckle (use a ‘Honeysuckle Popper’), or for the really large ones, cutting them off at the ground and immediately painting the stump with concentrated Roundup works.   DO NOT LET WILD BUSH HONEYSUCKLE EXIST ON YOUR PROPERTY. 

“Is it true that when my late blooming Spirea finish flowering, I can prune them and they’ll flower again?”      -Yes, surprisingly enough.  Simply take the hedge shears (one time that hedge shears can be used!) and shear off just below the spent flowers.  Reshapes the spirea, and the new growth typically flowers again.

Garden Questions of the Week

 “My peach tree has developed wrinkly contorted puckered leaves that are turning yellow and red in those areas.  What is that and what can I do?”   That is peach leaf curl, and at this stage, nothing you can do.  It will cause defoliation of those leaves and some fruit drop, but doesn’t kill the tree (collect and pitch fallen leaves and fruit).  Use normal care tactics to keep the tree healthy.  Spray with a fungicide in the fall (after most leaves have dropped) and or in the spring just as the buds begin to swell. 

“When do I trim my azaleas?”  -After they finish blooming, and feel free to cut them back as needed, especially if the have gotten leggy over the years.  It’s also a great time to feed them, using Espoma’s Hollytone.

“I have an area that only gets sun about 4 hours of the day.  Anything edibles I can grow there?”   -If you can find a spot with 6 hours plus, you’re good with many of the edibles.  But for less than 5, maybe some dappled shade, look at the greens like lettuce, chard, spinach, arugula, etc, many of the herbs, maybe even radishes.  If you have only a couple sunny spots, don’t forget container gardening for those veggies that need full sun.

“Did I hear you say you didn’t recommend weed and feeds for the lawn?”   -Well, its not one of my favorites, reason being in most cases, there are not weeds throughout the entire lawn, so you’re using a weed killer in the whole yard, when you could have spot treated as needed, and in most cases, gotten better results.  Feed the lawn as needed, and yes, a mid to late spring feeding is good (especially with all the rain we’ve had this spring).  Feeding the lawn along with other cultural practices keeps it thicker and that means fewer weeds.  Then, spot treat the weeds in the lawn as needed with a broadleaf weed killer, and make sure what you’re trying to kill is on the label.  Feed the lawn and spot treat the weeds as needed. 

“What was the rose you really enjoyed last year?  Believe it was a “winning rose”? – It’s the 2010 AARS winner called ‘Easy Does It’, and everyone including me absolutely loved it!  Stayed clean (from disease), bloomed all summer, and those flowers are absolutely wonderful!  It really is a winner (in ground or in containers)!

“Last summer you told me about a spray to use on our tall Blue Spruce for the bagworms in the top (we picked off the others as you had suggested), but I can’t remember what it was.  I want to get this done as soon as I can.”  – It was Bonide’s ‘Captain Jacks Deadbug Brew’ (Spinosad), and it comes with a hose end attachment to help spray the top of the spruce.  By the way, do not spray until they have hatched!  Just keep watching.  And give them time for all of them to have hatched before you spray.  Damages will be very minimal, and you can get them with one spraying. (Bt is also a great spray for bagworms / both are environmentally friendlier sprays, yet very effective.  Capt Jacks is certified for organic gardening.)

“I have patched of clover in my yard.  How do I get rid of it?”  – At one time clover seed was added to grass seed mixes especially in newer lawns.  Clover takes nitrogen out of the air and makes it available in the soil, feeding the lawn for free!  Clover is usually greener than the lawn, earthworms love the soil when clover is present, its disease and drought tolerant, and avoided by most turf pests.  The flowers are an important source of nectar for honeybees and can be picked and tossed in with your salads.   So why get rid of it?  Flowering plants in the lawns are just not accepted anymore.  Like with most ‘weeds’, when clover shows up, it’s usually telling you that the lawn has thinned out, and allowed the clover room to grow.  Make corrections for the lawn to re-grow thicker (keep the lawn healthier – feed regularly (keep nutrient levels up) – mow at a higher level – core aerate – raise sunken spots and improve drainage, etc).  A thicker lawn means less clover (as well as the other weeds).  – To get rid of clover patches ‘naturally’, hand pull out of the grass in smaller yards.  Apply corn gluten meal on a ‘multi-year program’ to stop clover seeds (pre emergent herbicide), as well as adding nitrogen to your soil (multi-year program as the seeds can lie dormant for several years).  Combine these with good lawn care practices and you should be able to take care of the clover, over a couple years, ‘naturally’.  – If you need to get rid of it now, spray the areas with a weed killer that will kill clover but not the lawn.  Make sure that it clover listed on the label for weeds controlled.  It’s a tough perennial weed and not all weed killers will do it.  Add ‘Spreader Sticker’ for a better kill.  Do not spray the entire lawn – simply spot treat the clover patches. And the best time to spray for clover control?  Mid to late spring works, and may take multiple spot treatments, but the absolute best time for clover control is in the fall!

Question of the Week

My asparagus came up nicely, but bends in one direction.  Spears look good and taste okay, but why the bending?”  -There are many reasons this can happen to asparagus spears including hard soil surface, growing off the crown’s side and using the stem shoulder rather than the tip to push through, and damages to spears from asparagus beetles / wounds / windblown objects / early spring frost / mechanical injury from garden tools, etc which cause that area to grow slowly while the unaffected side grows faster (curve to the damaged side of the spear).  Still taste good and grow fine, just bent!

“What’s the yellow daisy like flower I’m seeing in farm fields that haven’t been plowed?”  -That’s cressleaf groundsel, and we’re seeing it in landscape beds as well!  It’s a winter annual, and for some reason, we’re seeing more and more of it every year.

“Now that we’re into mid May, and the gloomy cold wet weather has kept us from planting, is it getting too late to do anything with annuals and vegetables?”  -No doubt about it; the past month or so weather has been gloomy, cold and wet.  Not exactly perfect planting weather for flowers and veggies.  So the big question now is whether or not it’s getting too late to plant.  Well, as far as I’m concerned, you’re right on time!  25 years ago, Memorial Weekend was truly the weekend for planting flowers and finishing up the veggies!  Sure, some gardeners would squeak in a few early veggies and annuals, but for the most part, it was this weekend that was the “all clear” weekend, and time to get everything planted.  But many of today’s gardeners are gamblers, taking a chance and planting early, hoping to dodge the frosts, cold and wet weather; which we’ve certainly had over the past few weeks!  Bottom line – now’s the perfect time to plant, and we have plenty of planting time ahead of us.  As a matter of fact, flowers and veggies planted later actually get off to a quicker start with warmer soil and air temperatures, than those that have struggled through the colder periods – especially those tomatoes, peppers, and basil who absolutely hate cold and wet feet! 

“My rhubarb is bolting and flowering!  What should I do?”  -Some selections are more prone to bolting than others.  Victoria and MacDonald are heavy seed stalk producers.  Canada Red and Valentine are less likely to bolt.  Buy only named, vegetatively propagated varieties, or get divisions from another gardener who has a high quality planting.  -Plant maturity.  Mature plants are more likely to bolt than younger ones.  Dividing the crown every 4-5 years helps to rejuvenate the planting (reduce to 4-5 crowns).  -Excessive crowding.  (Crowding from nearby plants or the Rhubarb plant has gotten too thick itself.)  Dig and divide every 4-5 years to reduce crowding.  And allow plenty of room for the rhubarb to grow.  -Low nutrients.  Feed every spring with a balanced fertilizer or composted manure.  -Weather.  Rhubarb prefers cooler temperatures, so plant stress (temps above 90 degrees, prolonged drought and hot temps, poor nutrition, etc) may promote bolting.  Hot dry summers will also produce thin leaf stalks and lack color.  -What to do?  Rhubarb may bolt for one or a variety of reasons (as listed above).  If it happens, simply remove the flower stalks as soon as you see them appear.  If another comes up, clip it off as well.  Keep it up, and eventually the plant will stop flowering and start growing as it should.  By the way, flowering does not make the stalks poisonous.  They are edible with or without flower stalks.  But, the leafy portion of the plant is always poisonous.  (If you grow the Rhubarb for ornamental reasons and like the flower, let it flower, just remove the flower before it sets seed.)

“My azaleas and rhododendrons are finished blooming.  What do I do for them at this stage?”  -If you need to prune, now’s the time.  Deadheading the rhodos by pinching out the old flower heads is a great way to prune.  See those small buds?  They’ll start growing after you deadhead.  For the azaleas, if pruning is needed, feel free to hand prune back into the plant.  They respond quite nicely to a heavy pruning, again if needed.  This is also a great time to feed your azaleas and rhodos with Espoma’s Hollytone.  Feed them now, again in a month, and again late fall at ½ the rate.

“Is it okay to cut the foliage off my daffodils?”  -Remember, they need to stay green for 6 weeks after they finished flowering.  If it’s been 6 weeks, cut them off.  If not, you still have some time to wait!  And if needed, that’s a good time to dig and transplant them!