“We planted a couple shrubs over the weekend but didn’t water due to frost possibilities. Should I hold off until we get past the frosts?” -Nope! Your watering schedule for newly planted trees and shrubs stays the same no matter what the frost predictions. As a matter of fact, well watered plants handle frosts better than those under drought stress. So water when finished planting, and as you normally would for newly planted plants.

“I would love to grow mint, but understand they can be very invasive. How invasive, and do you have suggestions where to grow them?” -Very invasive; just ask herbal expert Rita Heikenfeld! For growing mint, I suggest either planting them in their own separate garden, in a garden area that has a deep in ground barrier (watch for them to grow over the barrier), or my favorite way, which would be in containers. Keeps them contained, easy to grow, and will overwinter in the pots right outside. Don’t forget to grow Mojito Mint for those Mojitos or Kentucky Colonel Mint for those mint juleps on race day!

“Heard you talking with your guest about gardening and being fit but didn’t catch her website.” - Our guest was Stacy Walters (Fit to Garden) and her website is www.stacywalters.com. Great information for you!

“Our rhubarb leaves were frosted a bit. I have heard you cannot eat rhubarb stems after the plant was hit with frost. True?” -If the leaves and stems are wilted and limp (severe damage), do not eat it. It would have poor flavor, texture, and a good chance they may be toxic. As you know, the leaves are toxic and should not be eaten (can be composted, though!). When the leaves get severely frosted, the oxalic acids may move from the leaves into the stems. But typically with a light frost and the stems stay firm, they’re okay to eat. Stems that emerge after the frost damages are also okay to eat.

“The frost that Cincinnati experienced the second week of April has caused some of the foliage on my macrophylla hydrangeas to turn brown or black. I see similar foliage damage to some new trees that I planted last year, as well as a mature sweet bay magnolia tree. Is this damage only temporary or should I be concerned?” – Not a good answer, but only time will tell. Don’t do anything at this stage – good chance we’ll have more frosts. In 2-3 weeks, then we can evaluate and determine what needs to be done. Probably temporary foliar damages – most trees and shrubs have the ability to re-leaf. Some may need a little tip pruning, especially the hydrangeas. But just wait and see, then react with pruning if needed in a couple weeks.

“What are the beautiful trees and shrubs I’m seeing everywhere right now, with white flowers? Both are very fragrant and I’d love to plant some!” -No, no you don’t. The sweet smelling white flowering trees you’re seeing right now are Robinia pseudoacacia, or commonly known as Black Locust; a tree that will grow just about anywhere, which is why you see them along roadways, ditches, strip mined areas. But it’s also prone to bunch of diseases and insects, does have the thorny branches, so not used as a desirable landscape tree. But definitely a tough tree for non-maintained tough to grow areas, used for fence posts, beautiful in flower, and makes a wonderful tasting honey! The white flowering shrub growing everywhere is Amur honeysuckle, one of the three invasive honeysuckles that are quickly taking over non maintained areas in Ohio and surrounding states, and definitely not wanted! Hard to understand why, this top 10 most invasive group of plants grows great in just about any location and has these beautiful flowers, but once these wild honeysuckles get a foothold, they literally take over, crowding out any and every plant growing in the area with exception to the larger trees. Nothing else will grow where the wild honeysuckles grow. And with their heavy seeding, these invasive plants are popping up everywhere, including gardens and landscapes. If you have them, you need to destroy them, digging them out, spraying with an herbicide, or cutting them off at the ground and treating the fresh cut stump with a vegetation killer. By the way, recent studies have shown that where invasive honeysuckle has been allowed to grow, tick populations have increased dramatically. That alone should be reason enough to get rid of these awful invasive plants!
www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/invasivetutorial/bush_honeysuckles.htm

“I have patches of annual bluegrass in the lawn. Any herbicides to kill it without killing my lawn?” -Yes! Just experimented with Ortho’s Nutsedge Killer spot treating poa annua, and it did a great job on it.

Garden Questions of the Week

“I heard you say something about pruning azaleas after they flower. Yes?” -Yes! Once they finish flowering, that is an excellent time to prune them back if needed – and azaleas can take a pretty heavy cut back if needed. This is also a good time to feed using Espoma’s ‘HollyTone’. And while we’re at it, if you have had problems with azalea lacebug (make the new leaves lose their color during the season), this is also a good time for systemic insecticides applied as a soil drench, and sprayings of insecticidal soap or horticultural oil to the undersides of the leaves.

“My spring flowering bulbs have finished blooming. Anything I should do for them at this stage?” – As the spring flowering bulbs flowers begin to fade, if you have time, feel free to deadhead those spent flowers, but leave that foliage alone! For daffodils, just leave them be. If you haven’t fed your bulbs this spring (best to feed before they flower or in the fall) feel free to feed now as well (Espoma’s Bulb Tone), but leave their foliage alone. If a few weeks are popping up where they’re growing, hand weed, spot treat with Roundup if you can, even apply Preen to help stop weed seeds from growing, but leave the bulb’s foliage alone. By the way, did I mention leaving the bulb’s foliage alone?  It’s best to let them stay green and grow as long as you can (grow until they begin to turn yellow), for new flowers to appear next year. They need a minimum of 6 weeks or more of just good green foliage after they flower, before you can consider cutting them back. And by all means, do not braid their foliage or bend them over and rubber band them together. Over time, these non-recommended practices will take their toll on the bulbs flowering abilities. By the way, once the foliage has yellowed, that’s the perfect time to dig, divide and transplant those spring bulbs if needed.

“Those maple seeds are falling everywhere! Will my pre emergent herbicides stop them from growing?” -Nope, sorry. Those maple samaras are cocked and ready to grow as soon as they land and get some moisture. And that means in gutters, landscape beds, lawns, driveways, cracks and crevices – wherever they can hangout and get some moisture! Spot treat with Roundup / Kleenup / Killzall in open areas, hand pull, collect seeds before they grow, and in the lawn, they cannot exist under normal mowing heights and should die out after 2-3 mowings. Otherwise, spot treat with a lawn broadleaf weed killer.

“I just wanted you to know that I was able to over winter my Rosemary this past winter! It’s on the south side of the house, was mulched, and although there’s not much new growth yet, it is still alive!” -Good for you! As a matter of fact, I have now gotten several reports locally about Rosemary over wintering outside this past winter. We can all thank the mild winter weather for that one!

“My rhubarb flowered last year. Why is that happening?” -Some varieties flower more than others (Victoria), as well as more mature clumps will begin to flower, and weather conditions can cause them to flower. Cut the flower stalks off as soon as you see them begin to appear, unless you’re only growing it for looks, then you can let it flower.
“Is it too late to limb up a couple trees with low branches?” Nope. You can do whole branch removal 365 days of the year. Be sure to leave the branch collar to assure proper sealing over of the cut, and do not use tree wound dressing!

“My hollies look yellow and washed out after the winter. Should I be doing something for them?” -This is a natural process for hollies, coming out of the winter, and some will do it more than others, including shedding of internal leaves. Good time to feed them with Espoma’s Hollytone!

Garden Questions of the Week

“I’m seeing a very flat growing plant with extremely brightly colored flowers. I see it on hillsides and in gardens, too. What is it?” -It’s creeping phlox. Planted on hillsides, rock gardens, perennial gardens, creeping phlox forms a matting type clumping ground cover that is covered with bright slightly fragrant flowers in early spring. And so many great colors to choose from when planting creeping phlox!

“My Endless Summer hydrangeas are now leafing out, but I see some dead branches and tips. How do I prune them?” -Fortunately, the Endless Summer series of hydrangeas flower on old and new growth, but we want to save as much of the old growth as we can. So remove old flower heads, dead branches or dead and weakened branch tips, clipping them off just above a bud. Feel free to feed them with a general garden food or Holly Tone, and let them grow and flower.

“I just bought a house and it has holly shrubs. How do I know if I’ll get berries on them?” -Remember, most hollies have male and female plants, and it’s the females that produce the berries. But you need a male to pollinate with the female. The only way to know which is which is to look at the flowers. The male flowers have 4 yellow stamens sticking up. The female holly flowers actually have the immature berry at the base of the flower and very visible. If the female flower gets pollinated by the male, the berry begins to grow. If not, they simply fall off. And yes, it’s up to the bees to take care of that for you!

“Pruning lilacs – when is the best time?” -The best time for lilac pruning is right after they finish flowering. It’s one of the only spring flowering plants that if pruning is needed, it must be done right after flowering is finished. Otherwise you may be removing flower buds already set for next years flowers.

“I’m seeing a blue green fungus growing on the bark of my trees. What is it and how do I get rid of it?” -It’s called Lichens, and is an unusual combination of algae and fungus growing together on top of the tree bark. Very natural and not a health threat to the tree – just leave it be.

“The warm weather caught us off guard and I didn’t get my boxwood and Japanese yew hedge pruned before they started growing. Can I still prune them?” -Good question, as these evergreens need to be pruned before the new growth appears. At this stage, you need to wait until the new growth is fully out, and the lime green colors have changed to the darker green mature color. Then go ahead and do light pruning as needed.

“I’m already seeing nutgrass coming up in my landscape beds. What is the best spray to get this under control?” -In open landscape beds, spray with Roundup, Killzall or Kleenup, along with a surfactant (Spreader Sticker), and it will take multiple applications. In the lawn, look at Fertilome’s Nutsedge Control or Ortho’s Nutsedge Killer. Again, use a surfactant with these products to make sure they can penetrate the waxy coating on the outside of the nutsedge or nutgrass foliage. By the way, Ortho’s Nutsedge Killer also lists Annual Bluegrass which is becoming a serious weed in the lawn. I experimented 10 days ago – it knocked it out with one application! Now that’s good news