Garden Questions of the Week
“We’ve had some pretty good frosts. Can I go ahead and cut back my roses and mulch them for the winter?” -NO! It’s way too early. Knock Out roses (and many others) are still blooming. We need to air and soil temperatures to get down into the low 40’s upper 30’s consistently before we put away the roses. And in most cases, we won’t be cutting them back – by much, anyway. Let’s give it a couple more weeks and see what the weather is like by then. We’ll post a tip sheet on winterizing roses, containers, etc in a couple more weeks. Same goes for winter mulching – way too early!
“I need to cut back my boxwood and yews to reduce their size. They’ve just gotten too big for me. Can I do that now?” – I would recommend waiting until spring, before the new growth begins to appear, especially if it’s going to be a drastic or hard pruning.
“My neighbor says that I’ll have quicker germination if I freeze my grass seed before I plant it. Is that true?” – I think you’ll find that bit of advice may fall into the “old wives tale” category, along with things like using juicy fruit gum for mole control. More and more of these recommendations are being tested thru research, to see if there is any scientific truth to them, and this is one that hasn’t been proven as an effective way to speed up grass seed germination. As a matter of fact, I had Buggy Joe Boggs (OSU Extension) who is also a turf expert weigh in on this matter. Joe said, “Since grass seed has no germination mechanism associated with cool temps, freezing will not improve the germination process. It is ready to germinate as soon as it matures in the seed head. Remember that if the conditions are right, grass seed can even germinate in the seed heads while still attached to the plant! So freezing will make no difference. In fact, I am sometimes concerned that freezing over an extended period of time could in fact reduce germination by damaging the seed embryo. This is why we recommend that seed be stored under cool, dry conditions.” That’s Joe’s story and he’s sticking to it! (By the way, pre-germinating the seed by soaking it in water will speed up the germination time, but that’s a whole ‘nuther story!) And yes, fall seeding time has come and gone. It’s dormant seeding from here until spring seeding.
“All of a sudden I have noticed my lawn has turned orange – it comes off on my shoes! What is this?” -Sounds like rust (get a sample to the garden stores for someone to see). If it is, make sure you feed the lawn this month, collect your clippings when you mow from here on to the end of the season, and if really bad, you may want to treat it with a lawn fungicide (listed for rust) at least two times on 10-14 day intervals.
“If I buy a poinsettia right now, will it last thru the Christmas season?” -It certainly will! As a matter of fact, the newer selections being sold today usually last all winter long with those great colored bracts, assuming of course you treat them nice and take care of them while indoors! J
[If your feet smell and your nose runs, does that mean you're built upside down?]
I have heard the “freeze your seed” theory before. I looked for that question on turf.com. I heard my dad say this years ago, but glad to know this isn’t true. Seemed kinda silly to me. Thanks for clearing that up!