TIMELY GARDEN TIPS FROM OVER THE GARDEN FENCE

May 15, 2004

Rain, rain, wonderful rain. Lakes are up, streams and rivers are brimming full, all vegetation is green and growing, and our soil is being recharged with much-needed moisture. All of god¹s creation seems to be responding in a song of thanksgiving for the needed moisture. Good growth can now be counted on from many previously dry plants.

For gardeners, the rains have been super. Newly planted trees, shrubs, and perennials are taking off well and the lawns have never been greener. Green-thumbers seldom have had better planting conditions.

Last evening as we approached the garden, there were so many choices of fun projects. This morning¹s garden, lawn, and landscape to-do list should contain the following items.

· Look carefully at your Muhgo, Scotch, Tanyosho, and Red pines. Pine sawfly larvae are now actively consuming last year¹s needles on these trees. If found, kill pine sawfly larvae with one spray of Spinosad or 38-Plus.

· Check deciduous azalea shrubs for canker worms. Just a few canker worms can defoliate one azalea in only a few days. Difficult to see, but easy to eradicate. Only one application of 10% Permethrin does the job.

· The rainy weather of late has been perfect for Diplodia Tip Blight infection on Scotch and Austrian pines. Halt fungicide applied now on Scotch and Austrian pine trees will help control this tree- killing disease.

· Eastern tent caterpillar is now actively eating the leaves off wild cherry and also off some of our landscape plants, such as purple leaf plum and flowering crabapple. Eradicate pesky tent caterpillars with one spray of UltraSafe Spinosad.

· Spring canker worms are very active on many maple trees, crabapples, birch, beech, and linden. These little green worms are often called inchworms, but they consume great quantities of foliage. Inchworms are best controlled with Spinosad.

The damp weather of late has encouraged lawns to grow very rapidly. It is important not to be tempted to cut grass too low. Cutting grass lower than 2 * inches will cause turf to thin and allows sunlight to penetrate and encourage weeds to germinate and thrive. It is equally important that turf be mowed at the proper time. Often, we set a schedule of mowing the lawn once a week or when it is convenient. In the spring, that is usually not often enough, especially in moist weather.

It is important never to cut off more than 1/3 the height of the grass blade. If due to rain or a schedule that does not allow mowing when the lawn requires it, be sure to raise the mower height so that you don¹t scalp the turf. If, for example, a mower height of 3 inches would normally take off 1/3 of the growth, but the grass has grown to 4 or 4 * inches, you should raise the mower or too much of the grass blade will be removed. This will put the lawn under a great deal of stress and make it more susceptible to disease also. The ideal is to mow the correct height when the lawn requires it.

Also, the damp weather has lawn weeds growing very rapidly. Lawn weed controls can be applied successfully now. Broadleaf weeds, such as dandelion, buckhorn, and chickweed are all best controlled now with a spray of Weed-Out Trimec Lawn Weed Control. For large turf areas or spot treating individual weeds, Weed-Out is the least expensive and most effective way of controlling broadleaf weeds in our lawns. Weed-Out can be applied dry with a lawn spreader or applied as a spray.

Have you noticed how much moss has grown in shady lawn and garden areas this past week? Damp, cool weather has moss growing in places we have never seen it in before. In the proper place, moss is attractive, but growing in lawns and gardens or on walks, paths, and decks can be unsightly and a safety hazard. To kill moss and algae growing on decks, concrete, and stone surfaces and walks, use Safer Moss and Algae Spray. To kill moss in the lawn, use Scotts Moss Control. One application usually gives a complete kill.

Have you noticed all the ants this year? Sure seems to be a bumper crop of ants in lawns, gardens, patios, and yes, even worse sometimes in the house. Control these unwanted visitors and their friends, the spiders, centipedes, earwigs, and ticks with Permethrin granules or spray. Permethrin may be used as a band around the outside of the house or as a general application on lawns and gardens.

Cedar-apple rust fungus is now active. Cedar-apple rust forms unsightly galls on evergreen cedar and juniper plants and spots the leaves of the alternate hosts, which are apple and crabapple trees. Long, orange jelly-like projections emerge from the galls on the evergreens. The apple and crab trees can be defoliated. Control cedar-apple rust by pruning out and disposing of the galls. Spray both hosts, crabs and junipers, with Mancozeb fungicide.

Some folks take their gardening more serious than others. My friend Don Rice enjoys gardening to the fullest by researching plant maintenance carefully. Don brought to my attention some information from two books on clematis care that is working well for him. I have always recommended generous amounts of composted cow manure, bone meal, and Rose Tone around clematis vines; the new found information includes more potash. Apparently, clematis respond more favorable when Sulphate of Potash is added to soil around clematis in early spring and again in mid-summer. Use * cup of Sulphate of Potash each time. Thanks, Don Rice!