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August
11, 2005
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1. The Japanese beetle grubs are maturing a little faster than usual. If you purchased Mach 2, you need to put it down immediately and water it in. The next opportunity to treat Japanese beetle grubs is towards the end of August or thereafter. Dylox is the appropriate pesticide to apply at that time.2. Confront granular weed killer for broad-leaf weeds in the lawn is available again. Confront has been re-formulated for residential use and it is almost as good a weed killer as the original. The original formulation, which was the best lawn weed killer I have ever seen because of its systemic properties, is still available but it now carries a label, "Not for residential use." Unfortunately, these same systemic properties that made Confront so effective also made it unsuitable for these yards in which the grass clippings were composted or used for mulch. We will be stocking both the residential and non-residential formulations. You will be informed when it is delivered to Carroll Gardens. 3. Over the last weekend, customers brought in literally dozens of bags of dead grass from patches in their lawns. Most of these dead patches were perennial rye grass that died from Grey-leaf spot fungus. Perennial rye grass is blended into inferior seed mixes for sunny areas. Rye grass grows prolifically while it is cool in the spring and fall, when it crowds out better grass. It then perishes or goes dormant in the summer, leaving brown patches. In the mid-Atlantic areas, I recommend seeding only with a mixture of tall turf type fescues such as Black Beauty mix. In sunny areas, do not use mixtures that contain perennial rye grass. 4. This year the harvest of tall turf type fescue is less than normal and the demand is great. When this happens there is a great temptation on the part of unscrupulous seed suppliers to mislabel. This year, especially, buy only reputable brands of seed from a retailer whom you trust. |
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Garden Club Frequently Asked
Questions Question: I have a poplar tree in the front yard about 30 years old. The roots are pushing up the side walk. If the tree is cut down, will the roots continue to grow? What is the best time to trim the tree? Answer: The best time to trim your tree is from mid-January to mid-February. If you just cut down a healthy old poplar, it will re-sprout from the base and often from the roots. Once the tree stops sending up sprouts, it has died and the roots will no longer enlarge. To kill the cut down tree totally, drill holes into the stump and pour concentrated Quick Kill or Remuda into the holes. As soon as any sprouts appear, spray them with diluted Quick Kill, Remuda or Tiger Brand Brush Killer. (To avoid lawn damage, if any of the sprouts appear in the lawn, spray them with lawn weed killer, rather than the aforementioned herbicides). Sprouts often appear for several years after the tree has been cut down. As soon as they are discovered, promptly spray them. First Question: I have a Hibiscus bush that is six feet tall and two smaller ones. I would like to know if I should prune the taller one and what to feed them. First Answer: Is your Hibiscus the winter-hardy perennial with dinner-plate sized flowers, or the tropical hibiscus that comes indoors over the winter? Second Question: Alan, thank you for your quick response about my Hibiscus. They are winter hardy, they lose their green leaves in the winter and the flowers are about as big around as a coffee cup. The flowers are white on the tallest and purple on the short ones. They are about four years old and have not been pruned or really fed any type of plant food! I received my 'Forever & Ever' Hydrangeas today and they were in perfect condition. Second Answer: Based of the flower size these sound like a small tree/large shrub commonly called Rose of Sharon --- not hardy hibiscus perennials. You can easily tell. On Rose of Sharon the new leaves in spring emerge from the old stems. On perennial hibiscus the plant dies to the ground in winter and new shoots emerge from below the earth each May. Technically, Rose of Sharon is part of the large hibiscus tribe, but almost never referred to as hibiscus. For the health of the plant, Rose of Sharon does not require any pruning. But your site may demand it. If a Rose of Sharon is too tall, it can be cut back (not more than halfway) in April before the leaves emerge. Or, you can clean out the growth from the lower portion (every year or two), reduce the number of stems to no more than five, and grow the Rose of Sharon as a tree. I prefer this latter method. If you must cut back the top of the Rose of Sharon, it takes skillful pruning so that the plant doesn't look butchered. Rose of Sharon is fed lightly with Plant-Tone early every spring. Incidentally, if you like Rose of Sharon, you may want to try some of the new USDA hybrids. They have darker green leaves. They bloom longer and they don't generate unwanted seedlings all over the yard unlike the old-time varieties. I like Diana (pure white) and Helene (white with a dark red center) the best. Question: Alan, I bought a hydrangea PG 'Webb' from Carroll Gardens a couple of seasons ago. I have been trying to grow it as a tree as opposed to a bush and now as it is getting larger and more mature (the first year blooming) I would like to know the procedure for training it to grow as a tree. Answer: P.G. hydrangea can be trained as a tree on a 4-6 foot standard. 1. Drive a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch pipe well into the ground next to the hydrangea. The length of the above ground pipe should be the height you want the stem (trunk) of the tree to be. 2. At ground level remove all but the one strongest stem. (If, by doing so you are removing more than 50% of the leaf surface, shorten the branches you would have removed, but allow them to remain temporarily until early next spring, before the new leaves emerge --- at which time they can be removed). 3. Tie the stem, all the way to the top, to the pipe. Prune off the flower head. 4. This year, allow the lateral branches on the main stem to remain. 5. If any new shoots emerge from the base, prune them out. 6. As the main stem elongates, every year tie it to the pipe. 7. Every spring, before the new leaves emerge, prune away all the lateral branches from the lowest half of the stem. 8. Once the stem has reached the top of the pipe, allow the lateral branches to develop fully. Gradually shorten and/or remove the laterals below the top of the pipe. 9. When the stem is strong enough to support the top, remove the pipe --- probably 2-3 years after it has reached the top of the pipe. It will take about 5 years to develop a really nice tree hydrangea. Development will probably be hastened if you pinch the sole top flower bud off of the central stem until it reaches the top of the pipe. Question: Alan, I messed up big time and I'd like to share my experience with your readers so they don't make the same mistake that I did. About 5 years ago I got recycled mulch from our local county landfill. Almost immediately my entire landscape was invaded with nut sedge, Canada thistle, Chinese lanterns and wild morning glory. They are the most persistent and obnoxious weeds that anyone could imagine. Pulling and digging didn't work and weed killers were only partially effective. I try to be careful, but I can't tell you how many plants I have killed. My wife and I have spent untold days (and much money!) in the hot sun trying to rid the gardens of these weeds and we are still fighting them. Can you warn your readers about the dangers of landfill mulch? Answer: Thank you for the e-mail! I couldn't have said it better myself. Landfill mulch might contain just about anything including the weeds that your neighbors just pulled out of their gardens. The landfill operation runs it through the grinder, which actually proliferates certain weeds, and then you unknowingly cart them home in the back of your pick-up truck. But the warning applies not only to landfill mulch. Any mulching operation, including commercial ones, that uses recycled yard waste can include significant weed content in their products. Be particularly wary of dyed mulch. This is often the end product made from recycled yard waste (it is dyed to hide the inconsistency of product input). Actually your situation could have been worse, you could have gotten poison ivy from handling the mulch and you could have had walnut wood which would have poisoned your plants. The reasons why I like tree bark mulch in bags is because pure tree bark is not contaminated with weed roots. And, in the bag especially in the summer in the sun, the mulch heats and sterilizes. Question: I bought one of your Kopper King Hibiscus, but I would really like a second Hibiscus with dark foliage in a different color. Is there such a plant? Answer: You are in luck! The Fleming brothers also bred a dark foliaged hibiscus, 'Plum Crazy', with flowers in an unusual shade of lavender plum with purple veining. The plant grows about six inches taller and it has deeper colored leaves than Kopper King. The foliage is closer to maroon or plum colored.Question: One of your competitors is offering a variegated Japanese roof iris. Do you have such a plant? Answer: We have seen our competitor's website and the plant that is pictured as Iris tectorum Variegata is actually Iris Japoncia variegata. It is absolutely not winter hardy, except in the deep south. This plant has been mislabeled in the trade for decades. Variegated Iris tectorum (roof iris) does not have a dramatic variegation --- nothing like shown in the picture. We don't like variegated Iris tectorum and don't grow them, and we don't sell them. The regular green-leafed roof iris is much superior.
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