TIMELY GARDEN TIPS FROM OVER THE GARDEN FENCE May 1, 2004

Happy May to all of our Green Thumb Friends! Tremendous excitement runs through the veins of gardeners during this peak garden month. Ask any gardener and they will reel off a list of exciting garden projects as long as their tallest allium bloom. What, oh what, shall we do first? Here are my suggestions for busy gardeners today.

We still need a soaking rainfall and until we do, keep the water flowing. Irrigate 24 hours before and after most garden chores. If soil is moist before planting, seeding, weeding, and applying any fertilizers or weed controls, your work becomes easier and garden products will perform better.

The plant selection at Wedel's Garden Center has hit full stride. Tree, shrub, and evergreen choices are tops this week. Perennial plant variety numbers have reached 750 now. Bedding plants in pots, flats, and hanging baskets have filled the greenhouses. The water garden department has hundreds of beautiful fish and dozens of water plant varieties to select from. Potted rose bushes were put on display this week; there are 55 hybrid tea and grandiflora varieties, 23 floribunda, 33 old fashioned and shrub roses, 18 climbing varieties, 10 miniatures, and 15 tree roses for a total of 154 named rose bush varieties, both patented and non-patented. For most gardeners, a visit to Wedel's at this time of year is more exciting than a youngster's visit to a candy shop.

At this time, we should give Austrian and Scotch pine trees some attention. In this part of Michigan, the number one pest of long-needled pines is Diplodia Tip Blight. Austrian and Scotch pine varieties are the most susceptible. Infected trees begin to show browning of branch tips in late June. The more moisture we have during the infection period, which is mid-April through mid-June, the more severe the damage. If left untreated, entire branches, and eventually the tree, will die. To prolong a useful life for Scotch and Austrian pine trees in the landscape, a tip blight program must be implemented. Most important, we must begin a control program before tip die-back is noticed. This means the first spray should be applied now. Spray Halt Systemic Fungicide on the entire plant. Repeat applications every ten days through mid-June.

Often pines are planted too close together to allow for healthy plants. If branches overlap, remove enough trees so sunlight reaches all parts of the remaining trees. This will improve air movement and drying conditions.

Fertilize all pines once a year with Tree Tone and irrigate now and during summer dry spells. Preventing stress and encouraging growth is important to insure your pine's continued value in the landscape.

Folks with pine tree plantings in their landscapes should be on the lookout for the annual pine saw-fly larvae hatch. These are the little fellas that strip the needles of Scotch, Austrian, and Red pine. A spray of Spinosad, Sevin, or 38 Plus will control the destructive pine saw-fly larvae.

Eastern tent caterpillars are now active on cherry, flowering crab, plum, cotoneaster, and other susceptible plants. Control tent caterpillars with a spray of Ultra-Safe Spinosad.

If flowering crab and mountain ash trees haven't been protected from leaf scab, spray now! This is the time to spray with Halt Fungicide to prevent summer leaf drop.

Birch trees have broken bud in most landscapes, which means birch leaf miners will become active soon. When birch leaves are one-inch long, spray with Spinosad or 38 Plus and again on July 1st to prevent birch leaf miner damage.

Remember to protect your spruce trees this week from spruce galls. Spray 38 Plus now and again in two weeks.

The most asked question this week was, ìIs it too late to apply crabgrass preventer?î the answer is no, there is still time for Scotts Lawn Pro Crabgrass Preventer to be applied and have 100% success. I would suggest irrigating the lawn after application to activate the crabgrass preventer.

The second most asked question this week was, ìIs it too late to sow grass seed?î The answer is no, if you haven't already applied a crabgrass preventer to the area to be seeded. Grass seed can be planted any time in spring, summer, or early fall if irrigation can be provided. Don't plant seed of any kind without providing moisture. If irrigation isn't possible, then sow grass seed on September 15th or November 15th. Remember, when watering grass seed, it is frequency, not quantity, that is important. Keep the top half inch of soil, where the seed is, continuously moist with several light sprays of water daily. Spreading EnCap Seed Mulch with your grass seed will reduce the need to water as often.

Many homeowners are now convinced that Bambi is only cute in the wild and not in their backyard. Deer feeding on choice landscape and garden plants is a real problem where deer numbers are high; this is especially true in urban no-hunting areas. At Wedel's we recommend Repellex Deer and rodent repellents that give very good protection for valuable plants. When planning for new plants for your landscape, consider these plants that Wedel's sells that are rarely damaged by deer: barberry, birch, boxwood, holly, Leucothoe, hemlock, Colorado spruce, and Pieris Japonica. Plants that are seldom eaten by deer include bittersweet, dogwood, hawthorn, beech, forsythia, locust, juniper, mountain laurel, Kolkwitzia, Norway spruce, Black Hills Spruce, Mugo, red, and Scotch pine, lilac, and Kwanzan cherry. Additionally, there is a long list of plants that are only occasionally visited by deer. There is also a list of the deer's favorite fare that should, of course, be avoided. A complete copy of plants to consider and those to avoid may be obtained on your next visit to Wedel's.

Every out-of-door enthusiast, whether passive, sports-minded, hunters, or gardeners, should take note of an insidious invader of Southwest Michigan's roadsides, woods, parklands, and even gardens. The culprit is the garlic mustard plant. Currently, garlic mustard plants are eighteen inches to twenty-four inches tall and are now beginning to bloom. Unfortunately, they are not hard to find, being very numerous in our area.

Garlic mustard poses a severe threat to native plants and animals in forest communities in much of Michigan. Many native wildflowers we all enjoy in the springtime such as spring beauty, wild ginger, bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, hepatica, toothworts, and trilliums, can't compete and are crowded out by garlic mustard.

Garlic mustard is a cool season biennial with heart-shaped, toothed leaves that give off an odor of garlic when crushed. First year plants appear as a rosette of green leaves close to the ground and remain green through the winter to develop into mature flowering plants in the spring.

After spending the first half of its two-year life cycle as a rosette of leaves, garlic mustard plants develop rapidly the following spring into mature plants that flower, produce seed, and die by late June. A single plant can produce thousands of seeds, which scatter as much as several feet from the parent plant.

The goal is to prevent seed production until seed in the soil is exhausted. Hand removal of plants is possible for light infestations and when desirable native species coexist. Care must be taken to remove first year plants with its entire root system because new plants can sprout from root fragments. Second year plants that have grown a flower stalk can be eradicated with a power weed whip or brush cutter. Cut flower stalk flush with the soil. Cutting before flower stalk growth will result in resprouting. Cutting in early May has resulted in 99% mortality and eliminates seed production.

For heavy infestations, application of the systemic herbicide Kill-Zall is also effective. Kill-Zall may be applied at any time of year as long as the temperature is above 50 degrees. Care must be taken not to get Kill-Zall on desirable plants as the product is non-selective.

It is very important for everyone to become familiar with garlic mustard and destroy all visible plants. We all need to work together to help protect our Michigan landscape from this pest.

Before tilling vegetable gardens, I suggest starting the season weed-free with a spray of Kill-Zall. Kill-Zall will eliminate all grass and weeds and planting can begin five days after application. A clean start will make garden maintenance much easier this summer. When planting vegetable gardens, be sure to incorporate Plant Tone in the soil. Working Plant Tone into the root zone of flower and vegetable plantings will add to plant vigor, encourage more blossoms, and promote better fruit production.

The green-thumber's frost-free date for this part of Southwest Michigan is May 15. Experienced gardeners are weather-wise; they will plant their above ground planters and pots now and cool-tolerant plants and seeds in the garden. Snapdragons, petunias, and alyssum are examples of annual flowers that can be safely set in the ground now. Peas, potatoes, lettuce, radishes, cabbage, broccoli and onions are vegetables that can be set out now. Don't succumb to the desire to enjoy the early blooms and fruits of summer by setting out plants that require warm soil. Wait until at least May 15th to plant sweet corn, beans, squash, melons, tomatoes, begonias, impatiens, zinnias, cockscomb, and other warm season plants.