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Because of the cool, moist spring we recommend a supplemental lawn feeding
at half strength now. If you used Turf Trust®
this spring, you should use Espoma 100% Organic®
now. If you used Turf Tone®, you can
choose Turf Trust or Espoma 100% Organic. You may also want to use
SuperBio® if you have a new lawn or
live near the water.
In the mid-Atlantic region, this spring has
been unseasonably cool and cloudy. Last year’s drought and hard winter
also stressed many plants. For all these reasons, plants are breaking
dormancy late. People are pulling out and abandoning for dead, perennials
that are alive, but still dormant. Existing shrubs are being cut to the
ground as dead because they are late in leafing out. Newly planted roses
and shrubs are being pulled up because they haven’t leafed out yet.
I encourage patience and caution.
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HINT: For newly planted bare-root roses that are reluctant to leaf out you can
encourage them if the following procedure is followed: Lay a piece of cotton
cloth over the rose canes with one end of the cloth in a bucket of water which
sits next to the rose. An old T-shirt, a piece of bed sheet (double thickness)
or burlap will work fine. The cloth should not touch the ground all the way
around the rose: a small air space is needed for ventilation. The bucket should
be kept full at all times. The purpose of this procedure is to make a greenhouse
(steam chamber) effect: this will keep the canes from drying out before the
roots begin to grow. A similar process commonly referred to as “sweating” is
often used in nurseries. Once very small leaves appear on the rose canes, the
cloth and the soil mound can be removed, preferably in the evening before a
cloudy day.
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Espoma 100% Organic®
and
Turf Trust® |
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Question:
Last week’s winds split my Bradford pear tree right down the middle. I hear that
this a common problem and I would like to replace my pear with something
similar, but which is less problematic.
Answer:
Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. Even the improved Bradford-type pears, such
as Red Spire and Cleveland Select, can split although less frequently. In
addition, Bradford pears are seeding around so much they have started to be
invasive pests. They are invading our woodlands and crowding out our native
dogwoods and red buds. Just as with multiflora roses and Kudzu vines, the
Bradford pear represents your Federal tax dollars at work. Believe it or not,
the Bradford Pear is a USDA plant introduction.
One tree that I have found to be very satisfactory is the Japanese Tree Lilac (Syringa
reticulata), which also grows around 30 feet tall and has handsome fragrant
white flowers in very late spring. I have seen the Japanese tree lilac growing
in the most inhospitable city conditions where you would not think any tree
could survive. It is one of my favorites.
Japanese Tree Lilac:
reticulata Ivory Silk &
reticulata Summer Snow
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Question:
My new home faces southwest. I would like
some flowering evergreens in my foundation planting. At my old home, which
faced east, I had beautiful Azaleas and Rhododendrons. But I understand I
can not grow these in the full sun. What do you suggest?
Answer:
Landscaping in a hot sunny place requires a different plant selection than
landscaping in afternoon shade. Through the years, I have learned a couple
of tricks:
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Rhododendron Roseum Elegans will not
establish easily in full sun, but will eventually establish and, once
established, will thrive. Azaleas will not, but the small leaved
Rhododendron PJM will tolerate full sun, but requires perfect drainage to
avoid root rot problems.
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Plants with golden, blue or reddish
foliage will provide almost as much color, for a much longer period of
time, as flowering shrubs. Consider dwarf blue spruce, gold thread
cypress, dwarf Japanese red leaved maples, as well as Berberis Royal
Burgundy. The last two are not evergreen.
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Hollies, such as Blue Maid, provide
red berries in the fall and winter.
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Evergreen flowering Viburnums will
grow in full sun but they tend to be tall and require careful placement.
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Flowering deciduous shrubs and
perennials can add the floral interest you desire. A landscape that is
only 50% evergreen will carry its own weight through the winter as long as
the deciduous shrubs have a relatively ornamental twig structure. Consider
dwarf Korean lilac, shrub roses and dwarf spiraeas. Instead of using a
double row of shrubs, consider a single row dressed down with an edging of
long blooming perennials such as Stella de Oro and Rosy Returns daylilies.
gold thread cypress |
Berberis Royal Burgundy |
dwarf Korean lilac |
Stella de Oro |
Rosy Returns
Question:
I want to grow a tree peony. Is it really a tree and what conditions does
it require?
Answer:
The tallest tree peony I have ever seen was 8 feet tall and took 30 years
to achieve that height. Tree peonies should be considered to be shrubs. A
large tree peony loaded with blooms that look like they are made of crepe
paper is spectacular.
Almost all tree peonies are grafted
on the root stock of a common herbaceous peony so they like the same soil
conditions. They prefer a rich, well-drained, alkaline soil supplemented
with lots of compost. Chesapeake Blue Crab Compost is the soil amendment
of choice. Careful site selection and soil preparation are necessary, as
tree peonies are not easily transplanted. However, unlike herbaceous
peonies, tree peonies do best with some protection from the afternoon sun
and need some protection from the winter’s worst winds.
Chesapeake Blue
Question:
Can I use the same soil in my containers and
window boxes this year that I used last year?
Answer:
If you used a good quality professional soil and had good luck with it you
can use it for a 2nd year. You will need to break it apart and mix in some
slow release fertilizer, such as Flower-Tone®
and water holding Polymers, such as Soil Moist. You’ll probably have to
top off the soil to fill the containers fully. I do not recommend using
the same soil for more than 2 years. The structure decomposes and the soil
compacts into a heavy mass. But you can use the old container mix in your
garden, mixed into the existing top soil.
Flower-Tone®
Question:
Last year my tomatoes grew like trees and I got very few tomatoes. Those
that I did get came late in the season. I worked very hard on my garden
last year, in spite of the drought I watered and fertilized with 10-10-10
and I used a liquid fertilizer every week. Also, just as the zucchini
plants got ready to bear; the whole plant just shriveled up and died.
Answer:
You were too kind to your tomatoes. They don’t need all that
fertilization. All it does is encourage lots of leaves at the expense of
fruit. I have the best luck with 1 bag of Chesapeake Blue Crab compost,
and no additional fertilizer, for each 6 plants of tomatoes, peppers,
zucchini, melons, cucumbers and egg plants. The Chesapeake Blue also
improves the flavor of the vegetables. Incidentally, I encourage you to
plant as many different varieties of tomatoes as you can. The weather
conditions are different each season and different types of tomatoes
prefer different types of weather conditions. For example: instead of 6
plants of Better Boy, I suggest: 1 Better Boy, 1 Beef Master, 1 Celebrity
and so forth. Incidentally, be sure include an antique Brandywine tomato
in your assortment. Brandywine usually uses wins top place whenever there
is tomato taste test. Gamblers call it hedging their bets. Stock brokers
call it portfolio diversification.
Your zucchini squash was probably destroyed by squash vine borer. One way
to avoid this pest is by planting squash seeds or plants on the fourth of
July. In spite of late planting, the crop will only be a week or two later
and you will still get more zucchini then you know what to do with.
Another method is to plant your zucchini around Memorial Day and keep it
covered securely with floating row cover or even some sheer curtains until
the fourth of July. That way the moth that lays the eggs that become the
squash borer can’t get to the zucchini plant.
Chesapeake Blue
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