Archive for the ‘The Impatient Gardener’ Category

Getting ready for spring I am in management mode. I lost quite a few trees to pine beetles last year and three Junipers that I was unable to diagnose correctly.  So in my research for Spring pest management I found myself reminded that not all bugs are bad for the landscape. I pulled out my list of good bugs to remind me who not to eliminate as culprits. In fact, here a list of a few of the “good bugs” that I do not want to get rid of.

Praying Mantis: They have a voracious appetite and are best known for chowing down on mosquitoes, nocturnal moths, bees, beetles, small lizards and even small frogs. I am very happy if they want to munch on my mosquitoes, moths and lizards. I have been overridden with all three.

Praying Mantis

Ground Beetle: Not to be confused with the nasty Japanese beetle that took down my pines. As nocturnal eaters they munch on slugs, snails, cutworms, and root maggots. I have no problem letting these little guys help me out.

Ground Beetle

Green Lacewing: What a gentle looking fellow with such a big job! Known to control aphids, thrips, red mites, small caterpillars and mealybugs that like to munch away on foliage in the landscape! And as with any meal they like to finish off with a drink. They have a nice drink of nectar collected from flowers like Angelica and Sweet Alyssum.

Green Lacewing

Spined Soldier Bug: Ah, that infamous stink bug known for the foul odor it emits when disturbed. But alas, this little guy too, is a friend of the neighborhood garden. It will destroy for you Mexican bean beetles, Colorado potato beetles, hornworms, cabbage loopers and cabbage worms. Easily one of the vegetable gardener’s favorite workers.

Spidered Soldier Bug

Ladybug: I have always loved Ladybugs ever since my childhood. But it wasn’t until I got older that I realized what a friend to the garden they are. They control aphids, mites, and mealybugs. Known as aphid wolves because they feed on small orange-spotted black grubs. What would I do without them!

Ladybug

Braconid Wasp: Sounds like something right out of the dinosaur age but they too, are helpful to the home gardener. They have a stinger that is intimidating to humans. No worries, they are more interested in munching on caterpillars and sawfly larvae thangoing after people. And if you are growing tomatoes thank these guys for keeping horn worms at bay.

Braconid Wasp

Bumblebee: Who hasn’t seen the bumblebee lighting on a dandelion or an azalea blossom. They flit here and there in the flower heads pollinating away. They would rather be busy at their job than stinging humans. So if you get stung it is because they feel threatened in their territory not because they were are you. I love bumblebees because they are reminder that someone is helping me with pollination.

Bumblebee

Beneficial Nematodes: I must confess that I have heard of these little guys forever and yet never took the time to really learn their job. They live in our soil. And they go after those destructive grubs in the lawn as well as the fleas that want to torture your dog. But what I like most about them is that Japanese beetles are susceptible to being destroyed by beneficial nematodes. Lucky for me, they are turned off to the taste of earthworms and ladybug larvae.

Beneficial Nematodes

Tachinid Fly: Another insect that has a name that sounds like it came out of the dinosaur age. They get after caterpillars, gypsy moth larvae and cutworms.

Tachinid Fly

Earthworm: Last but certainly not least is the earthworm. When I see earthworms I know those little mini composters are fast at work. They create the kind of well aerated soil that I like to call black gold.

Earthworm

There are other landscape friends like butterflies, bats and some birds but for now I am going to be on the watch for these insects and encourage them all to come on into the yard and stay awhile.

Note: All pictures have been chosen from outside sources.

During the late fall and winter months it is time to use dormant spray on fruit trees. I can tell you from experience there is nothing worse than seeing my tree full of fruit only to look closer to find infestation or disease.

So what is dormant spray and why use it? First I would like to mentioned I am not writing about commercially grown fruit trees. I am focusing on the fruit trees that we have in our landscape. Dormant spray is basically a spray that is is applied while the trees are dormant. If applied correctly it will kill fungus and diseases along with killing off any bad pests that are lying dormant during the cold season.

A note here, not all insects are bad. Bees for example are our friends. If we spray too late in the season, say, when the leaves are beginning to bud, we may create a problem for the bees. There will be no pollination therefore leaving us with another problem.

There are several chemicals you can use. Dormant spray can be purchased at your local garden center.

As always, read the labels carefully, more is not good for the trees. There is a organic spray you can use as well for those who like to garden organically. The recipe is:

For one gallon of water:

5 Tablespoons of Hydrogen peroxide

2 Tablespoons of Baking Soda

2 Tablespoons of a Castile soap

Okay, we know why we spray and what we can spray on our trees but, now we need to know when to spray the trees. As I said before when the leaves have fallen off in late fall the first spraying can be done. This can be done late fall around Thanksgiving. If you live in the South, as I do, then closer to Christmas might be better. Always spray on a clear, windless day when there is no threat of rain or snow within the next couple of days.

Do a second spraying midwinter, this is less critical and for those of us who live in harsher climates skipping it altogether may be a real need. Then do a third spraying around Valentine’s Day unless your leaves are budding, as can happen in the southern States. Budding is too late as it will not allow for the bees to visit and pollinate!

If you have found that it is too late to spray not to fret you can do it again next year. For more information on sources see below.

Sources:

http://www.jlgardencenter.com/uploads/handouts/DormantSpray.pdf

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/emon/dormspray/dormant_fact.pdf

http://www.mcshanesnursery.com/uploads/upload/help_Fruit_Trees.pdf

I am a tree hugging, dirt worshipper. I admit it! If there is a group for tree huggers for example, “tree hugger anonymous”, then I guess I need to belong. Every tree in my yard is special and when I have to make the judicial decision to have one felled it is like losing a family member.

This past summer my husband and I had to decide to take two down and top another. But the real blow came this month we noticed six of the beautiful pines were either sick, overcrowded or diseased. But alas, as I sat forty feet away on my patio in the quiet of the day I heard those nasty little pine beetles munching away with no disgrace of their shameful habit. I knew we had to do the right thing. And so one fine day my husband and I decided to tour the yard to see what exactly was happening.

What we saw was overcrowding that was causing the pines to weaken as they fought for water and nutrients to supply themselves. We saw two or three that had cracked trunks that were a time bomb waiting for a day to fall doing damage to our yard as well as our neighbor’s yard. And we saw two dead pines munched to death by pine beetles. And so we knew it was time to call our “tree guy”, Glen.

Glen came out and looked at that the trees we had marked. “Yep, and oh yeah”, with a nod. And “right I see why you want that overcrowded one out”. I can tell you this not a case of a worker wanting to make a lot off money of us because he gave us a wonderful deal.

And Glen gave us a lesson in pine trees. We asked him if he would tour our yard to look at all the pines to see if any others were in need in the near future of being taken down. Glen knows his business. I think in his prior life he was a tree whisperer because he knew “everything there is to know about pines but were afraid to ask”. For example, we were concerned about the holes we saw in the side of some trees. He pointed out the difference between a damaged tree and one that really is quite fine. Looks are not everything! Then in a soft and easy southern drawl he began to share stories of trees. Showing us what to look for when a tree has gone bad. How to work on overcrowding and how to keep the tree healthy to keep those darn pine beetles at bay. I felt like we had been visited by a specialist and indeed we had!

Glen built his own house. Had been raised in the tree business all his life and is now raising his son who is lead worker on the jobs. I feel like my trees are in safe hands now.

Trees are fundamentally living creatures hence, why I hug, cry and cavort with them. I had to say good bye to those six trees. But the crew were kind about not hurting surrounding trees. And as a tree hugger I was relieved to hear we had no immediate need to take out anymore of my friends! We know any other weaken trees will be taken care of, finally no stress. We looked out over the yard secure in the knowledge we did the right thing for trees. Okay, gotta go hug a tree now! 

“A stricken tree, a living thing, so beautiful, so dignified, so admirable in its potential longevity, is, next to man, perhaps the most touching of wounded objects.”
Edna Ferber

As the story goes he was one of those young men who fell under one of three conscription acts beginning in 1862. The majority of draftees were facing conscription during “July 1863 and in Mar., July, and Dec 1864”. And most were from the ages “18 to 35”. However, later they were as young as 17 or as old as 50. He had just turned 18, a mere boy, barely in his manhood. Because the government was plagued with a shortage of manpower the draft was instituted so he went. He became a legend, as the story goes.

The story of the Confederate Rose that was at one time pure white. He was fatally wounded when he fell upon the rose laying there for two days. He bled for those two days until the beautiful flower was turned pink, really almost red. This is the story of how the flower turned from white to a deep pink.

So goes the legend of the Confederate Rose or Cotton Rose. The Confederate Rose is not a rose at all but in point of fact, a hibiscus. Like many flowers and plants that are found in the southern United States this one is a Chinese export, gaining popularity around the colonial period. It is from the “Mallow family of plants….the confederate rose is kin to cotton, okra, hollyhock and rose of Sharon”. You can almost see the resemblance to a cotton boll when it blooms.

The Confederate Rose gained wider popularity after the Civil War because it is hardy and easy to to grow. I got my mine from a friend. Propagated from just a couple of sticks I put it in the ground and now it is over 10 feet tall.It blooms in the fall and two days ago it began to show off its flowers.

Once it is done for the season it is easy to manage a winter pruning by cutting back the long cane-like branches to about 4-6 inches from the ground. No worries they will easily come back again next year with little to no care from you. Also, knowing that this plant absolutely loves high humidity it is easy to see how it found a perfect home in my growing zone!

Now that I have read the legend of the Confederate Rose I will be reminded of the Civil War story each year as it blooms. Stories that connect a planting to its history are wonderful to add to my gardening journal so that generations from now my family can enjoy where I planted and why.

Cited:

http://www.civilwarhome.com/conscription.htm

http://www.gardenstew.com/blog/e8170-2-the-legend-of-the-confederate-rose.html

http://www.suite101.com/content/the-confederate-rose-a71294

I was on Facebook today and saw a post that someone was getting a bounty of blueberries. Then I looked at another post and there was okra, peppers, cantaloupe, eggplant, squashes with a few other goodies. So it got me to thinking about where the people posting are doing their gardening because, frankly my gardening is different.

So I researched about gardening zones in United States and Canada. We are divided into eleven zones on a 10 degree Fahrenheit difference. The United States, where I live, takes in zones 2 through 10. So how does it work? Well, for example, the lowest average temp in Zone 2 is -50 to -40 degree Fahrenheit. But zip down south to zone 10 and the average is +3- to +40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Okay now I see why some of my social media friends are growing wonderful produce that I am not.

Another factor that needs to be taken into consideration is the moisture, soil, winds, and well, the hottest summer since the dust bowl era isn’t helping much either, is it? Other catastrophic issues can cause problems. Earthquakes uproot trees and other plantings that can take several seasons to overcome. Or tornadoes that have been at record high this year ripping vegetation up can also take years to overcome.

For me, a few years back I experienced drought that caused pine beetles to come in and eat and destroy my pine trees. That was a hard season. Or the year that hurricane Ivan ripped through pulling on the trees and vegetation, the effects being felt as high as middle of the state. That was another planting problem that I needed to adapt to.

But generally this time of year most gardeners are reaping from their vegetable gardens. Knowing the growing season in our own personal zone helps us to know what to plant and where it is best suited in the landscape.

Along with growing for the right season I always recommend that a soil sample be done.You can get a kit at your Cooperative County Extension, you can find them in the phone book or on the internet. I love doing the soil sample. It takes the guess work out of what to use on my garden and landscape for fertilizers, tells me what grows best and what my watering needs are.

So the next time I see wonderful bounty on social media I am going to have the chart above handy so I can see where everyone is growing their gardens.

Sources for Soil Sample:

http://al-labs-eastern.com/taking_soil_sample.html

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=How+to+do+a+soil+test&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The show offs! Crepe Myrtles find the heat of the South the perfect place to show off their glory. It is known that many of the beautiful plantings in my area found their way first through Charleston. Like many plantings found in America they first came here through China and Korea with a detour to England. But these fickle girls hate the cold clime of the British Isles. Truly they enjoy a good bask in the hot, humid south. So when Crepe Myrtles found a home in Charleston they reacted as if freed from prison. No more struggling under the cold, dampness. And reward us they did! It did not take long to get those beauties to show off.

The blossoms are beautiful. Most of the trees in my yard are a true pink, but I do see some that are white, light pink and a soft lavender. And unlike other southern belles like azaleas or camillas they do not need acidic pine soil but can grow just about where ever we want to plant them. 

The bark has a beautiful satin finish. When I run my hand over it I think of good carpentry work that has been sanded and modified so the wood surface glistens and smoothly catches our eye. Not so with Crepe Myrtle they already have beautiful bark while the tree is growing.

But as Sherlock Holmes has said, “something is afoot”. A crime against these belles that shocks anyone. Some gardeners like to call it pruning. I call it Crepe Murder. For some reason unknown to me the trend has been to lop off their tops, destroying their natural form. Left in the place where spring growth will be is amputated knuckle that looks almost like a bad case of arthritis.

Don’t get me wrong, oh yes, Crepe Myrtles do need proper pruning. And like all pruning if done correctly goes virtually unnoticed. Crossed limbs, leggy limbs and new shoots off the trunk can make for a scraggly look. Which is one excuse that Crepe murderers use to cut them back. It is true the suckers are unsightly but it only takes a few minutes to clip them off and too many trunks shooting up gives an appearance of an unkempt tree. These southern belles deserved a good trim. 

Another reason that they have been cut back incorrectly is that they are too tall or too close together. Pruning can control some of this but here a few tips on growing a Crepe Myrtle that will make you happy. If your’s is too overwhelming replace it with a semi dwarf that reaches about 8-14 feet in a ten year period. Some choices could be: Acoma, Catawba, Cherokee, Comanche, Hopi and Sioux. If you are looking for a shrub here are some possibilities: Centennial, Victor, Prairie Lace or Hope. These can get to 3-4 feet tall. The species that are usually victims of Crepe murder are those that grow pretty tall, at least 20 feet. If you do want a tall beautiful belle like this in your landscape, which I do, you can choose from: Natchez, Muskogee, Fantasy, Dallas Red, Byers Wonderful White, Watermelon Red and Biloxi.

If you have a Crepe Myrtle that has been improperly pruned all is not lost. You can with patience fix pruning mistakes.

Here are a few tips for fixing pruning mistakes from Southern Living:

1. A stub left by an improper cut last year allowed two shoots to grow in place of the one that was removed.
2. To restore the proper form, remove one of the two shoots.
3. Then remove the stub.
4. The result should be a cut that will heal into a single branch.

Nothing says southern living like showy plantings and Crepe Myrtle are wonderful show offs!

References:

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1083/ANR-1083.pdf

http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/crepe-murder-00400000005718/

http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/southern-gardening-crepe-myrtle-history-00400000064970/