The Garden Club
September 2, 2004

 

    

Viburnum dentatum 'Blue Muffin™

Viburnum dentatum 'Blue Muffin'™

Arrowwood Viburnum- A Tough, Durable Shrub with Multi-Season Interest
Viburnum dentatum’s durability and seasonal interest have made this shrub one of our favorite garden staples, especially for tough inhospitable conditions. It is hardy to North Dakota. Once established, Viburnum dentatum is truly a “plant it and forget it” deciduous shrub - great for screening or mass display in areas to which you can’t give much attention. This native species is also known as Arrowhead Viburnum because Indians used to make arrows from its straight stems. Viburnum dentatum produces tidal waves of creamy flowers in late spring and blue berries in autumn. In the fall the lustrous foliage turns a rainbow of colors. Arrowwood Viburnum grows rather large, as much as 12-15 feet tall and wide, precluding gardeners with smaller or already full gardens from enjoying these wonderful shrubs. This week we are featuring a new, compact Arrowwood Viburnum that can find a home in any garden, the ‘Blue Muffin.’

‘Blue Muffin’ – Blooms and Berries on a Scaled-Down Form
‘Blue Muffin’ grows about half the size of other Viburnum dentatum varieties, only five to six feet tall and almost as wide, in a dense, rounded form - making it perfect for a variety of landscapes. Its size is appealing, but what is sure to catch your eye is ‘Blue Muffin's’ delightful color. In the spring, it will be covered with clusters of yellow-stamened white flowers followed by blue berries in autumn. The display of berries is not only impressive, but will attract many species of songbirds. In the fall, ‘Blue Muffin's’ semi-glossy foliage will turn brilliant shades of red, burgundy and gold.

 

‘Blue Muffin's’ size makes it perfect for informal screening, a hedge, or the background of the perennial border. It can be used as a specimen where you can watch the birds devour the blue berries, or in clusters around buildings. ‘Blue Muffin’ is adaptable to almost any conditions, from full sun to part shade and almost any soil type from clay to sand to shale, moderately wet to very dry. 'Blue Muffin' can be pruned in late winter or early fall to the desired shape and/or size. Truly an easy to grow and versatile plant that will be a refreshing addition to any landscape!

 Planting and Care

  • Plant anytime from spring to fall.

  • Grows in full sun, to partial shade.

  • Prefers well-drained soils. Tolerates moderately wet conditions.

  • Plant 5 feet apart in almost any soil.

  • Water regularly until established.

  • Fertilize early in spring and late fall with Plant-Tone and Kelp Meal.

  • Hardy in zones 3-8.

  • From 1 gallon pots.

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 Viburnum dentatum 'Blue Muffin'™

Garden Club Frequently Asked Questions
 

Question: What is the best way to get rid of Poa grass? Iit's in our front yard mixed in with the regular grass. I can actually pull it out by hand. Should I pull it out or spray it with Round-Up? Then, should I fill in with top soil and replant with Black Beauty Grass Seed? Would fall be the ideal time to do this? I've also read that Dimension will kill Poa grass. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer: The best way to control annual bluegrass (Poa annua) is with Dimension Crab Grass Preventer. This product prevents the Poa seeds from germinating. Two applications are needed. One in early September; the second in early spring when the forsythia is blooming. You cannot reseed the seasons you apply Dimension. Thus, if you start this routine now, you will not be able to reseed your lawn before next autumn.

Even if you were to kill or pull out the Poa, the seeds for the next crop have already dropped. I suggest you use the next 12 months for weed control and then reseed next August (2005). A generous fertilizer program with Turf Trust will help your lawn fill in many of the bare spots.

Question: I have two young trees, a flowering crabapple and a rosy beech that the cicadas loved. They look scraggly now, but still have some live wood. Should I wait until next spring to see if they come back or would it be better to replace them this fall?

Answer: I am almost certain your trees will fully recover within 1-2 years if you follow this procedure:

Cut off everything that is obviously dead (with dead dark brown leaves), as well as any branch that is partially broken and hanging down. Those that are wounded, but upright with living leaves, can remain at this stage. Almost all will heal over and be fine. Then prune each tree to shape it and “even it up”. Prune aggressively; don’t be afraid to take off too much - within reason. To aid healing, treat the largest of the cicada wounds, as well as the wounds left by any removed branch over ¼ inch in diameter, with Nubark. Do not use any other tree wound dressing - only Nubark. Feed with Cottonseed Meal and Kelp Meal  now, at the end of November and in early spring. Over the winter, additional wounded branches may partially break, hang down and even die as evidenced by failure to leaf out in the spring. Early next spring, prune away any of these, plus any that leaf out late and weakly.

I have examined hundreds of cicada-damaged trees. I have seen less than a dozen that are so severely damaged that they are not worth saving.

Question:  Last October, we purchased one Sioux and two Miami Crape Myrtles from you. One Miami did not appear to emerge this spring as the other 2 plants. It appeared to have new growth coming only at ground level like suckers from an apple tree. Hearing you speak about this on the Garden Club radio show, we feared that this plant may not develop into a viable plant and not develop to its proper size. We let it grow none the less and monitored its progress with out removing its dead branch's from the prior year.

As the season progressed, some new growth did appear at a point 1 1/2" above the ground on one part of the plant and in another part of the plant 4" above the ground with origins from former parts of last years growth. The new growth that was 1 1/2' above ground produced only one branch but the new growth that was 4" above ground produced 5 new branches. While 7 new branches emerged at ground level as suckers.

The plant is currently 57" tall as compared to its original (purchased) height of 65" tall. It is flowering with 6 nice flower heads and 5 more heads in bud. The flowering and budding come equally from the sucker and 4" above growth.

Alan, our concern is if this plant is indeed viable and will mature to full size. It is my understanding that if only sucker growth occurs then the plant will never be more than low growing bush. We don't want that. But the limited growth above ground, as meager as it is, gives me reason to think it may develop properly. What's your opinion?

Answer: All the growth, suckers and top growth, will mature the same. Your Crape Myrtle is not a grafted tree and it will mature true to type, a full sized 15-20 foot tree--not a low growing bush.

I suggest you surround (but not cover) all this tender growth with a double layered screen of burlap at the end of November. Next spring, when the new leaves emerge, remove the screen. Prune away the top branch, the portion of the trunk that supports it, and all but 3 to 5 of the suckers and/or "4-inches-above-ground growths". Without a picture I cannot be more specific as to which 3-5 to save. I usually prefer to keep the largest true suckers equally spread out around the old trunk, and to cut off the trunk at ground level. This will mature into a handsome multi-stemmed tree.

Question: Two questions about property that has a bulkhead on salt water.

Can you plant shrub roses next to the bulkhead - where they could get salt spray- to hold in the soil?

A very large boxwood--about 5 feet tall single bush- was killed by Isabel. It served as a barrier so no one could walk close to the house. Could I trim it a little and plant a climber rose to grow up on it - using it as a support/trellis? Or just remove it? Thanks - We have enjoyed and learned so much thanks to you!

Answer: Rugosa roses especially do well next to the seashore. They are Japanese beach roses, but they have naturalized along the seashore in parts of the U.S. I love Rugosa roses; so we have an unusually large selection of Rugosa hybrid roses. To hold the soil, plant Rugosas 42 inches apart.

A climbing rose scrambling over a dead boxwood next to the house does not sound to me to be practical or attractive. For neatness, climbing roses need to be tied to something stronger than a dead boxwood.

However, I have seen Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis paniculata), scrambling beautifully over unattractive shrubs. This Clematis is very vigorous, fall blooming, fragrant and usually requires only cursory spring pruning to shape it. If it gets too large, a quick "chop chop" in the spring with hedge cutters will do no harm. One caution: Sweet Autumn Clematis sometimes attracts quite a few bees.

Question: I planted some Clematis in next to my climbing roses, so they would intermingle. At the beginning of the year, they were affected by what I believe was wilt. They have struggled but have come back a little. I think the leaves aren't getting enough sun and would like to move them. When is the best time to move a Clematis and how would I do it? Also, I want to move a Delphinium, when and how would be best to do that?

Answer: I doubt the problem is lack of sun if the roses bloom. Clematis have struggled from various funguses (and wilt) in this moist season. The best time to move Clematis is in the very early spring before the new leaves become half size--as soon as the new growth emerges. Late this winter cut the Clematis to the ground so the new growth emerges from ground level. Be aware that large, old clematis often have a large root mass, often out of proportion to the size of the top, especially as it emerges in the spring. Mix half a bag of Chesapeake Blue and a couple of handfuls of Kelp Meal, Grow-Plex G and Bulb-Tone in with each Clematis you transplant. Cut the bottom out of a 2 gallon pot and bury it halfway deep around the Clematis - as a collar-to keep the mulch away from the stems. Water in with SeaMate. Mulch around the outside of the buried pot with pine mulch or pine needles.

Rather than move your Cematis, I recommend you give it another year in the same location. If you do, drench the soil now with nil 2787 every month, starting early next spring and spray the leaves (and the roses) with the Daconil 2787 at the same time.

The Delphinium is best moved in September. Use the same soil amendments you used for the clematis- Chesapeake Blue Crab Compost, Bulb-Tone, Kelp Meal and Grow-Plex G. Water in with SeaMate. Press the Delphinium firmly into the soil and mulch well for the winter. Feed again with Bulb-Tone, Kelp Meal and Grow-Plex G next spring.

Question: Bees are swarming around my Tulip Magnolia and the leaves have turned black. Is the anything to worry about?

Answer: You have two classic indications that your Magnolia is infested with Magnolia Scale, an insect that is sucking the sap from the stems. Left untreated, Magnolia Scale will kill your Magnolia. The scales excrete some of the sap and it lands on the leaves below as a sticky coating called “honeydew”. The honeydew provides food for a black mold which covers the leaves. The scales are covered with a clam-like shell, usually shiny tan in color, round or oval and about ¼ inch in diameter, clustered along the stems. If you scrape the scales off you’ll see that inside is a fleshy insect.

I have heard that there is a form of Magnolia Scale that is dusty white in appearance, but I have never seen it.

I suggest you spray once with Orthene at the beginning of September and once with liquid Sevin at the end of September. In early spring, on a day that it’s not going to freeze for 24 hours, spray with horticultural oil before the flowers or leaves emerge. Horticultural oil works by smothering, so total coverage to the dripping point is necessary.

Question: My shed is overflowing with half used containers of grass seed, fertilizers and probably every pesticide ever manufactured. How can I tell which of this stuff is any good? What should I save and what should I throw away? I don’t see any expiration dates on anything. Is there any danger from using old garden stuff?

Answer: I can only give some general rules from experience. I am not a chemist and can only tell you what I would do, based on my experience, when confronted with the same situation.

  • A shed is a less than ideal place to store garden products; it’s either too hot in the summer and it freezes in the winter. For maximum shelf life you would be better off to store your products in the garage, if it doesn’t get too cold in there, or in the basement. On the other hand, you may not want to have pesticides in your garage or basement.

  • Grass seed usually is good two to three years with a small degradation in germination each year. The viability of the grass seed depends upon storage conditions as well as the duration of storage. Grass seed is easy to test for germination. Just plant a little in a flower pot, keep it lightly moist and cover it with a plastic bag and see what germinates within a week or two.

  • I have never encountered a fertilizer, no matter what the condition, that had to be thrown away. I have used fertilizers that were well over 50 years old, in some cases so hard they had to be broken up with a hammer and they have never proved harmful and always seemed beneficial. Heavily compacted chemical fertilizers need to be applied very sparingly so as not to burn the roots. I have even used liquid organic fertilizers that didn’t smell good without ill effects, but I was careful not to use them indoors or on very tender plants like ferns or the most prized specimens in my garden.

  • Living organisms like beneficial nematodes, bacteria and other microbes, (Super Bio Soil Life), and microrrhizae (Myke) usually require storage within a more limited temperature range than a shed provides. Read your labels and store accordingly.

  • Insecticides, fungicides and herbicides (weed killers) represent a difficult judgment call. Freezing can destroy the effectiveness of some of these. Sometimes the label will tell you. In general they loose potency after about three years. Dusts and granules have a longer shelf life than liquids. I have run across many pesticides that were so old that they became ineffective and didn’t do the job they were supposed to do. But I have never encountered a pesticide that was so old that it actually harmed the plant if applied according to directions. In general, liquid non-organic insecticides that have been stored in an outdoor shed for two to three years are probably not worth using.

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