OVER THE GARDEN FENCE

APRIL 19, 2003

In recent years, most of us have begun to show more and more concern for the environment we all share. Many have expressed concern that our health can be threatened by breathing noxious air, listening to earsplitting noise, drinking foul water and viewing graceless landscapes.

In the midst of the environmental uproar, the tree survives, providing life-enriching services for mankind. In our country, wise men have planted trees in landscapes, woodlands, and along city streets since colonial days. Their investment is now returning an untold number of benefits and services to us today.

Over the garden fence, I have often shared the benefits and services that our trees render to us. Many bear repeating today as we approach Arbor Week.

Trees help supply the oxygen we breathe, help keep our air supply fresh, provide food and shelter for birds and wild animals, slow down forceful winds, cut noise pollution, provide cooling shade, camouflage harsh scenery, hold soil and keep silt from washing into streams and lakes, increase the value of property, and beautify our surroundings with pleasing shapes and seasonal splashes of color. Trees beautify our gardens and break the monotony of endless miles of sidewalks and highways.

To honor the importance of trees to all of us, the great state of Michigan sets aside the week of April 21 through 26 as Arbor Week. God has blessed us Michiganders with a beautiful wooded landscape. Travel almost anywhere else and you'll not find a landscape graced with as many beautiful trees as Michigan. We enjoy more tree species in Michigan than any other state. Let's all join together to keep Michigan green and the leader with the most beautiful tree-graced landscape in North America. We all can help by planting additional trees at home and in your favorite park, church, or school grounds.

Start your Arbor Week tree planting project by first visiting Wedel's Nursery where thirteen Michigan Certified Nursery specialists can help you select an ash, dogwood, beech, crab, dawn redwood, ginkgo, locust, spruce, linden, sweet gum, maple, pine, sycamore, oak, redbud, cypress, shadblow, or tulip tree. Our tree selection includes over 115 types of evergreen, flowering, and deciduous shade trees.

Arbor Week 2003 is a time to participate and celebrate the value of trees. Considering the value trees add to our lives, they certainly deserve to be cared for. All trees, young as well as older specimens, need yearly care if they are to reach their full potential for enhancing your landscape.

In their first few years of life, trees should be fertilized once every year and watered once a week during the growing season. Established and mature trees should also be fertilized once a year and given adequate moisture during dry spells. Fertilizing trees with Espoma Tree Tone that contains trace elements is the best feeding program you can provide.

A host of tree problems can be avoided or overcome with a good fertilizing and watering schedule. A growing tree is usually a healthy tree, so it is so important to continually encourage our trees into active growth with proper care.

Speaking of feeding plants reminds me that any perennial flower plants and gardens that have not been fed yet this spring should be fed now. For perennials such as peony, delphinium, bleeding heart, daisy, daylily, hosta, astilbe, and a host of other flowering plants to perform their best, they must be fertilized. I would suggest feeding each plant one-half cup of Espoma Plant or Flower Tone and lightly cultivate in.

This past Tuesday, I was fortunate to get our vegetable garden rototilled. So many springs the soil in our garden is still too wet in April to till. I almost ran out of daylight, but I was very pleased to get in one row of potato sets. Before planting my potatoes, I always condition the soil. Our vegetable garden pH is generally in the range of 7, so I added some soil sulfur. For larger potato tubers that keep longer after digging, I place gypsum in the soil. For plant health and vigor, I put Plant Tone in the planting trench and mix it in well with the other ingredients. Then the seed potato sets are placed in the trench 12 to 15 inches apart and covered with 3 to 4 inches of soil. When plants are 18 to 24 inches tall, usually in early June, I will side dress the potato plants with the same mix of sulfur, Plant Tone, and gypsum and then hill them up with loose soil. Gardeners, if you haven't enjoyed the great taste of fresh-dug potatoes, I would suggest planting some this spring.

One of the interesting things about enjoying a few hours working in the garden is that we can see a dozen other projects all vying for our attention. There seems to be no end to the wonderful possibilities. Take note of these garden chores this week:

* Roll lumpy lawn

* Kill lawn grubs with Permethrin granules

* Chase moles from your yard with with Mole Med

* Kill moles with Mole Patrol bait or choker traps

* Sow grass seed in bare or thin lawn areas

* Check soil pH in lawn and garden areas

* Condition garden soil before planting with composted cow manure, sphagnum peat moss, and Plant Tone

* Kill tough-to-kill creeping lawn weeds, such as veronica, ground ivy, and clover with Triclopyr

* Remove any shrubs, trees, or perennial flowers that are not performing up to your expectations. They will be easier to remove now than in the summer. Then replace them with a variety that will give you more enjoyment.

* Weed berry plantings now before plants bloom. Spray Grass-Getter herbicide on pesky weed grasses to help keep berry patches clean.

* Summer blooming shrubs, such as Rose of Sharon, potentilla, and hypericum should be pruned now.

* Gold leaf privet should be pruned back now to remove old foliage and dead stems.

* Clumps of tall-growing, coarse, wide-bladed grasses are showing up in many lawns. These weed grasses are usually tall fescue, nutsedge, orchard grass, or quackgrass. All four of these pesky grasses are perennial varieties and should be removed from fine turf areas. The best eradication method is spraying with Killz-All. After spraying, wait seven days, scatter a peat soil mix on treated areas, apply Scotts Seed Starter fertilizer, then a good quality grass seed. Rake into the soil and water well.

* Anthracnose will now become active on sycamore, white oak, and some maple trees. First symptoms appear on very young leaves as they unfold. Damaged leaves are apt to be mistaken for frost injury. Leaves grow to full size, then discolor and fall to the ground. Twig ends often die and cankers will appear on the larger branches, which eventually die. Valuable specimens should be fertilized with Tree Tone to increase their vigor. Removal of infected branches and disposal of all leaves in the autumn will also help correct the problem. Spray sycamore and white oak with Halt Systemic Fungicide when leaves unfurl and again when leaves reach full size and again three weeks later.

With the problems that the imported anthracnose disease and borers cause on dogwoods in our landscapes, it is advised to have a dogwood care program. Dogwood trees in landscape plantings are likely to succumb to anthracnose disease or trunk borers if they are not given special care. Following are the suggested care practices that will keep your valuable dogwood trees healthy.

Spray dogwood tree foliage with Immunox Fungicide after rainy periods from May to June. From August to the end of September, spray with Halt Systemic Fungicide every two weeks.

Remove competitive grass at root zone, then mulch with two inches of cedar wood chips. Water during dry spells. Provide a wind-protected environment. Prune nearby trees to allow for at least one-half day of sun. Prune out dead branches and remove water sprouts from the trunk.

Apply Bayer Tree & Shrub Insect Control in early spring. If borer entries are found, apply 10% Permethrin with a paint brush on the trunk.

Fertilize with Espoma Holly Tone each spring and fall.

George Wedel