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Question
The foliage on
my azaleas is whitish on the top, with dark brown specks under the
leaves. You suggested I spray with Orthene. Is there something that is
safer and more organic that I can use instead?
Answer
I recommended
Orthene because it is a systemic. That
is, you can spray on the top of the leaf and it will kill the insects,
over a long period, that are sucking from the undersides. Both
insecticidal soap as well as horticultural oil at the 2% rate (summer
rate) will kill lace bugs. But it will only kill the lace bugs that the
spray hits at the moment. And spraying thoroughly on the undersides of
the leaves on an azalea is not an easy task. But, it can be done.
Question
I have really neglected
my roses all summer long. The low-maintenance varieties like
Carefree Sunshine (PPAF),
Carefree Beauty (Pat. 4225) and
Earth Song still have lots of leaves, but
my Hybrid Teas had almost no leaves a few weeks ago and now they have
started to shoot new leaves. Should I start my spray program now or wait
until spring?
Answer
With little or no
foliage this summer, your roses will go into the winter in a weakened
state. It is important that your roses retain this new foliage to
manufacture food to strengthen the plants before the cold winter. To
protect this foliage, start your spray program now and continue at least
through the end of October. I suggest spraying every 7-10 days and
alternating two sprays. One could be either Orthonex or Immunox year and
because of the high incidence of downy mildew this year, I suggest either
Mancozeb or Cleary’s 3336 for the other.
Question
Every year I plant winter blooming pansies. Some years they do well, but
last year I had really poor luck. Should I do something to the soil?
Answer
Winter blooming
pansies perform best in mild winters. If you can tell me what the winter
will be like, than I can tell you how your pansies will perform. In
general, I find that for some reason many people tend to prepare their
soil less well when they plant in the fall than when they are planting in
the spring. I have no idea why. Both pansies and mums, but especially
pansies, perform best if a 2 inch top dressing of
Chesapeake Blue Crab Compost and
some
Kelp Meal is tilled into the soil.
Question
I need to move my dwarf
Japanese Thread-leaf maple. Can I do it now?
Answer
The best time to move
this maple is in the spring before the leaves come on. There is
significant risk to moving it in the fall after the leaves drop and even
greater risk to doing it now. Whenever you move your maple, to prevent
splitting of the trunk, mark north on the tree in the existing location
and place the tree in the new location so that the tree is positioned the
same way. Wrapping the trunk with burlap (preferred) or painting it with
a white latex paint will further reduce the probability of stem split.
This procedure applies to all thin-barked trees such as styrax, crape
myrtles and tall growing Japanese maples. If you elect to move the
Japanese maple this fall, be sure to erect a wind screen of a double layer
of burlap around, but not over, the maple. The supports need to be firmly
planted and the burlap needs to be securely fastened.
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Question
I am going to
overseed my lawn this weekend and I am a little confused about where to
use Shady Nooks and where to use Black Beauty. How much shade will Black
Beauty tolerate and how much sun will Shady Nooks tolerate? In the
transitional areas can I mix the 2 seeds and let Mother Nature decide
which will be the survivor?
Answer
Even
Shady Nooks™
will not survive without at least a couple hours of sun and
Black Beauty,
which is a sun grass, requires a minimum of 4-6 hours of sun. Shady Nooks
usually will not thrive with more than 4-5 hours of sun, even less on a
south or west-facing hillside with strong afternoon sun. You can usually
tell by the existing grass whether you should be using Shady Nooks or
Black Beauty. The shade grasses tend to be finer bladed and where the tall
fescue is in too much shade it tends to be less dense. You are correct
there is nothing wrong with blending the two seeds when in doubt. There
are semi-shaded places where both will thrive.
Reminder: In the shady areas the lawn requires less
fertilizer because it grows less vigorously. I suggest applying your fall
fertilizer at half strength in the shade.
Question
My mother-in-law
recently heard you talk about mulch causing mildew on siding and wood. We
have experienced this problem on our white 2 story farmhouse. Our porch
was just painted last year, and is already covered with black spots. We
have always mulched with regular hardwood mulch. Could we be creating
this problem? What is your remedy for the mildew and recommendation for
another type of mulch? Thanks for your help!
Answer
Mulch is definitely
causing your artillery fungus (not mildew). The little black specks can
be removed with a scrubbee pad and sudsy ammonia. Tan bark (oak bark)
mulch and cedar mulch tend to be resistant to artillery fungus. I have
other issues with cedar mulch, so I suggest you cover your hardwood mulch
with an inch of true tan bark mulch. Oak bark has been in short supply
for the past few years; so much of what is sold as tan bark is mixed with
other wood and is not 100% oak bark. Thus it is not entirely artillery
fungus resistant. By special arrangement, Carroll Gardens carries the
true 100% oak bark. I can’t speak for other garden centers.
Question
Could you please tell me what I could mix within my iris bed so I would
have something blooming for the whole flowering season. I have mixed some
early bulbs like daffodils and that has worked well but then after the
iris blooms I do not like having no flowers. Something perennial I
would prefer.
Answer
I suggest
California poppies -- annuals that self sow to renew themselves every
year. They like the same hot, dry conditions as irises and the roots are
so small, they won’t compete with the irises. The poppies are just tall
enough as to peak their blooms over the iris foliage and they bloom for a
long time. This is a time-tested combo that has worked well since the
turn of the century.
We continue to receive questions similar to the following. Because
this problem is so prevalent this year, we believe it is worth another
look.
Question
I have very large brown
spots in my lawn. Can you help me out?
Answer
There are several possibilities.
If you see small white moths when you walk the lawn in the evening and
when you cut it, you have sod webworm. These are white or light grey
night-flying moths that keep their wings folded along their backs, rather
than spreading them out. The grass blades will be chewed off at the base.
Apply Mach II or Dylox now.
Another possibility is grubs. They eat the roots and you can usually roll
the dead portion of the lawn back like a carpet and if you dig around you
will see the grubs. Apply Dylox now.
A third and most probable possibility is a group of related funguses
called Brown Patch. With this disease, some green will often remain mixed
in with the brown, especially in the center. The grass will remain firmly
rooted. Brown patch is worse in moist, humid seasons. This year, the
standard fungicides do not seem to be having much effect and in some cases
are actually making the conditions worse. I suggest spraying with
liquid seaweed to strengthen the cell
walls, raking out the dead, re-seeding if necessary and feeding with
Turf Trust®. Often, re-seeding will not
be necessary as the grass will re-sprout from the root.
My experience has been that seaweed and Turf Trust in combination do a
good job of suppressing most lawn funguses.
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If you live in or will be
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Happy Gardening,
Alan Summers
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