TIMELY GARDEN TIPS FROM OVER THE GARDEN FENCE

June 19, 2004

What a great week to enjoy our gardens! Perennial flower gardens are really hitting their stride with many plants in full bloom including Perennial Blue Salvia, Asiatic lilies in red, pink, and yellow and Astilbes showing their colorful plumes of pink, white, red, and lavender. Hostas are beginning to brighten up shady corners with their bright white flowers. Foxgloves, Canterbells, Tritoma "red-hot-pokers ", daylilies, and delphiniums are all providing excellent color for our June gardens.

For even more summer landscape color, we use Alabama crimson honeysuckle vines on trellises as a garden backdrop. Alabama crimson honeysuckle blooms all summer. Other interesting vines that bloom in June include Michigan¹s favorite, the clematis, in a wide range of shades of blue, pink, white, purple, red, and two-tones. Many clematis bloom all summer. Climbing hydrangea¹s large white flowers and glossy foliage also affords an effective background for many garden designs.

What pleasure we have received this month from the blooming Japanese tree lilac, Mountain Laurel, Dart¹s Red Spirea, and Korean Dogwood. Just when we need a burst of color, these beauties performed perfectly. Our Korean Dogwood is still in bloom, now fading to a beautiful soft pink. The Dart¹s Red Spirea is now in full bloom and a true beauty.

Newly discovered as great summer blooming shrubs are the many hydrangea family members including Blue Bird Lace Cap, Blue Endless Summer, Red Glowing Embers, Blue Goliath, Nikko Blue, White Oakleaf, Pink Elf, White Tardiva, Teller Red, and White Dome. There are hydrangeas for both shady and full sun areas. I haven¹t seen a landscape yet that couldn¹t benefit from the beautiful, useful hydrangea.

If your garden and landscape could use more summer color, plant now. Moist soil conditions make this an excellent time to plant. The plant selection at Wedel¹s is huge for successful landscape and garden projects.

As we enter our gardens this morning, be on the lookout for these horticultural challenges. Green two-lined plant bugs are feeding on a host of garden plants, causing circular brown spots on leaves. Geraniums, Shasta Daisy, chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, Blue Mist Spirea and viburnum shrubs are the first choice of plant bugs. Control two-lined plant bugs with a 10% Permethrin or Take Down spray.

Beware of the slug invasion. They are out in great numbers now and increasing daily. Bug-Geta pellets provide the best slug control.

Spruce needle cast disease is showing up on many older spruce trees. Spruce needlecast is a serious disease of Colorado Blue Spruce, as well as some other spruce. The fungus tends to attack the older needles on lower branches first. Needles then become brown or purple and eventually drop from the tree. Prolonged periods of moisture from rain or irrigation promote the disease. To control spruce needlecast, spray every three weeks with Daconil 2787. Observe your spruce tree plantings carefully. If, by chance, your trees are touching, or if they are planted in large groups that prevent good air movement and drying conditions, I would recommend thinning out your stand of spruce trees so that the trees get adequate sunshine and will dry quickly each morning. To promote the health of your spruce trees, it is extremely important to keep them mulched well and eliminate all grass and weed competition. Be sure to feed all spruce trees once a year with Tree Tone.

Arborvitae leaf miners are active in many landscapes. Check your arborvitae plants for this little leaf miner that tunnels in stems and creates a lot of brown foliage. Arborvitae leaf miner is best controlled with a spray of Spinosad or Systemic Insect Killer.

Woolly spruce gall aphids are now active on Douglas Firs. If fir trees are infested with this aphid, the needles will discolor and begin to curl. Control woolly spruce gall aphid on fir trees now with a spray of Take Down.

Reports of cutworm damage in vegetable gardens have been widespread. Cutworms feed on most any vegetation or fruit. They are seldom seen because they feed at night. The most often seen sign of cutworm activity is seedlings cut off and laying limp on the ground. Control cutworms in vegetable and flower gardens with Bug-Geta granules.

Ticks are turning up in places where most folks had never seen them before. Apparently, more roving raccoons, opossums, deer, fox, and coyotes, and a mild, wet spring has triggered a great abundance of ticks. Hikers, campers, baseball and soccer players, golfers, and gardeners are all vulnerable to tick bites. For the best protection, wear pants, not shorts, tuck pants into socks, and spray ankle area with insect repellent. Protect pets with veterinarian approved flea and tick products. For tick-free lawn and garden areas, apply a spray of Permethrin or spread Kill-A-Bug granules.

As oriental poppies and other early blooming perennial plants fade out, prune them back and fill in these areas with marigolds, geraniums, begonias, petunias or your other favorite blooming annuals.

Last week, one of our Over the Garden Fence friends asked about deer-resistant plants. Deer and other pesky critters are found in increasing numbers in urban areas, primarily because of hunting restrictions. These four-legged robbers can be extremely damaging to our gardens and landscapes. If your vegetable plants disappear, hostas are eaten like salad, and shrubs are being pruned daily, quick action is needed. At Wedel¹s, we carry many animal repellents, traps, and baits which should be employed as soon as any damage is noted.

Additionally, when planting, consider planting landscape and garden plants that are deer-resistant. The following plants are rarely damaged: Barberry, Colorado Spruce, American Holly, Pieris Japonica, Boxwood, and Birch. Plants that are seldom damaged by deer include Dogwood, Beech, Juniper, Norway Spruce, Cherry, Forsythia, Mountain Laurel, Red Pine, Lilac, and Locust.

For a list of suitable landscape plants that are deer-resistant, stop into Wedel¹s Garden Center.