TIMELY GARDEN TIPS FROM OVER THE GARDEN FENCE

July 31, 2004

Gardeners in Southwestern Michigan will long remember July 2004. Most green thumbers have enjoyed unexcelled growing conditions, blooms, and fruits from their flower and edible gardens.

In our garden, perennial flowers continue to grow taller with more and larger blooms than previous years. Currently, we are enjoying huge flowers on large stems of hybrid lilies, hollyhocks, Shasta daisies, gaillardia, golden rudbeckia, heliopsis, blue scabiosa, red monarda, lavender liatris, daylilies of all stripes, and a rainbow of garden phlox. As the drumstick alliums and pink filipendula begin to fade, rosy Joe-pye, sedum, and Japanese anemones are beginning to step up with their blooms.

Adding even more color excitement to our summer gardens are many shrubs now in full bloom. Pink, white, and blue Althea Rose of Sharon as well as hydrangeas in both shrub and tree forms are outstanding with blue, pink, red, and white jumbo size blooms. Blue Mist Caryopteris, pink flowering clethra, and Abelia will brighten up any summer garden or landscape.

Tree form and shrub Buddleia are often called butterfly plants, and do they ever attract butterflies! Buddleia will bloom all summer in white, pink, blue, and lavender always with a multitude of butterflies in attendance.

At the top of the garden color chart are the honeysuckle and silver lace vines showing off their colors in the background.

If your summer landscape and gardens are color deprived, don¹t delay adding some today. At Wedel¹s Garden Center, all of the previously mentioned summer bloomers are now flowering, growing in pots, and ready to move to your landscape. Also, for your enjoyment, visit the display gardens at Wedel¹s Garden Center to see these plants in their full glory. Need help planning so your gardens and landscape have color and excitement every month of the year? Stop in any time and visit with one of our ten Michigan certified Nursery Specialists or Master Gardeners. I guarantee their knowledge, ideas, and excitement about landscaping will be contagious. Whatever your dream project may be - a shade garden, garden pond, Japanese garden, wildflower garden, waterfall, butterfly garden, vegetable garden, rose garden, ornamental tree plantings, or perennial garden - they are all possible just a few feet away in your outdoor living area. Wedel¹s own local grown, hardy plants and expert advice will make your next project a success.

Now let¹s return to the garden for a closer look at some timely Saturday projects.

A daily visit to some garden and landscape plants that are attractive to Japanese Beetles will protect their flowers and foliage until the scourge lets up in a couple of weeks. I take a ready-to-use sprayer of Take Down Pyrethrin spray. A few puffs and Take Down kills all Japanese Beetles on my canna lilies, weeping larch, and globe willow. I don¹t see as many Japanese Beetles this year. I presume the Grubex I applied to my lawn last August really helped reduce their numbers.

By the way, now is the perfect time to apply Grubex on lawns. Beetle grubs of all kinds that hatch out in September and live over the winter by eating the roots of your lawn grass will be killed with a once-a-year application of Grubex now.

It¹s time for the last rose bush feeding of the year. Apply one-half cup of Rose Tone around each rose bush this week. Feeding now will promote more blooms this autumn. Continue to spray rose bushes once every ten days with Orthenex. Insect and disease-free rose plants will produce more blooms.

Spruce spider mites have become quite numerous in many landscapes. Homeowners should check spruce, fir, marigolds, arborvitae, viburnum, locusts, and juniper for discolored leaves and needles. If spider mites are discovered, spray with Ortho Systemic Insect Spray or a Pyrethin /Canola Oil mixture.

Dogwood borer moths continue to be active. Protect dogwoods from borer damage with 10% Permethrin spray. If after inspection you find borers I your dogwood trees, be sure to give them extra attention with an autumn feeding of Espoma Holly Tone, additional sprays of 38% Permethrin, and extra moisture for the balance of the season. This autumn, also be sure to apply Bayer Insect Control to the soil around dogwoods for twelve-month borer control.

Earwigs, earwigs, and more earwigs ­ they seem to be around in greater numbers than ever before. Earwigs hide in damp, dark places during the day and feed during the night. Earwigs are dark brown to black insects with pincher-like appendages at the tail end of their bodies. They will grow to three-quarters of an inch long. When summer weather is warm and humid with adequate rainfall, earwigs multiply like rabbits. Earwigs are scavengers, feeding primarily on dead plant and animal material, but also on flowers, ripening fruit such as strawberries and raspberries, and garden plants. They are active at night and are often found around doorways, decks, and under plantings in mulched areas. The more moisture, the greater number of earwigs we will have to contend with.

If earwigs have been a problem in your garden or house, the following measures will help reduce their numbers. In the garden, use Bug-Geta Plus bait pellets. Bug-Geta pellets attract and kill the earwigs. Spray around building foundations with 38% Permethrin. Indoors, eliminate any damp storage areas; earwigs especially like damp basements. Spray basement areas with Home Defense Pest Control.

Continue to fertilize annual bedding plants in the garden, hanging baskets, and outdoor containers. A weekly feeding of Nursery Select Water Soluble Plant Food will promote blooms until frost. Oh, and don¹t forget to deadhead all annuals to promote steady blooming. If petunias haven¹t been sheared back at least 40%, they no doubt are becoming leggy. Shear back petunias now for better looking plants and more August and September flowers.

Sod webworms are very active now in irrigated lawns. Moths can be seen flying low over turf, laying their eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are now feeding at the base of the grass plants, creating circular dead spots in the turf. Control sod webworms with 10% Permethrin granules.

Crabgrass plants are growing rapidly in many lawns; kill crabgrass plants now before they become any larger and crowd out good turf. Spray Fertilome Crabgrass Killer mixed with Spreader Sticker on plants when temperatures are above eighty degrees, applying two times, one week apart. Be sure there is adequate moisture in the soil before spraying.

Well-irrigated lawns and gardens will attract ground moles. Repel moles with sprays of Repellex Mole Repellent or spread Mole Med granules every three months. These mole repellents really work and are much easier to apply and more effective than setting traps.

Most patches of fescue grass growing in the sun are brown by now. Fine fescue will stay green when growing in the shade, but during the summer it will brown out in the sun. Take note of these areas and over-seed them in August with Wedel¹s Tru-Blue bluegrass blend.

We¹re seeing more and more diseased tomato leaves. Control diseases with Daconil sprays. First, pick off all yellow or spotted tomato leaves, then spray the Daconil. Mulch plants to prevent disease spores from being splashed up onto the lower leaves of tomato plants.