This week's gardening tips from the Savvygardener

 

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May 5, 2005

Mother's Day, Gardener's Day...
Well, the weekend we have been waiting for has finally arrived! Not only is it time to pay tribute to your mom but it is officially time to plant. We can only hope that the colder overnight and morning temperatures are gone until next fall. I know of several Savvygardener's who have been scrambling around every night for the past two weeks covering tender plants and moving pots in and out of the garage. The lengths we gardener's go to to keep our plants alive.

I have a list of things I want to plant this weekend so the family will be spending Mother's Day in the garden. It is fun to get everyone involved. Morgan, Noah and Jake all like to plant so they will each get an opportunity to choose a few plants, plant them, nourish them and watch them grow. I love the fact that we are teaching our children about gardening and how it is healthy for the body, soul and mind. Gardening - a gift to be passed down from one generation to the next. Who could ask for a better gift?

Have a fabulous Mother's Day!

~ Shelly  

A Clip In Time...
The proper time to prune continues to vex many gardeners.  This time of year can get confusing because some shrubs are flowering, some are done, and others are still getting ready.  Here's the deal:

Shrubs that flower in the spring are normally pruned immediately after flowering.  Examples of these types of plants include forsythia, Vanhoutte spirea, flowering quince, lilac and mockorange.  Though pruning during the dormant season does not harm the health of the plant, the flowering display will be reduced.  Shrubs that bloom on current season's growth or that do not produce ornamental flowers are best pruned in late winter to early spring.  Examples include Rose-of-Sharon, Bumald Spirea and Japanese Spirea.

There are three basic methods used in pruning shrubs:

  • Thinning is used to thin out branches from a shrub that is too dense.  It is accomplished by removing most of the inward growing twigs by either cutting them back to a larger branch or cutting them back to just above an outward facing bud.  On multi- stemmed shrubs, the oldest canes may be completely removed. 
  • Heading back is removing the end of a branch by cutting it back to a bud and is used for either reducing height or keeping a shrub compact.  Branches are not cut back to a uniform height as this will result in a "witches-broom" effect.
  • Rejuvenation is the most severe type of pruning and is normally done during the dormant season.  It may be used on multi-stem shrubs that have become too large with too many old branches to justify saving the younger canes.  All stems are cut back to 3- to 5-inch stubs.  This works well for spirea, forsythia, pyracantha, ninebark, Russian almond, little leaf mock orange, shrub roses and flowering quince.

Source

Ants In Your...
Not your pants, but your peonies!  If you have peonies you no doubt have noticed a proliferation of ants scurrying to and fro across the flower buds.   Those ants are the source of many "old gardener's tales" that have been handed down over the ages.  Here's the deal:  The ants are there because of the nectar-like substance secreted by the peony.  Chances are that the ants you see on your peonies are already living in your garden - the peonies just draw them out of the soil and make them more visible.  In other words, peonies are not increasing your local ant population (which creepily number in the hundreds of thousands or more).  Some say that the ants actually help peonies bloom.  Most experts disagree but since they do no harm it's best to just let them enjoy your peonies as much as you do.

Cutworms Collared...
Cutworms can be a real problem for gardeners setting out transplants.  Protect your newly transplanted plants with collars.  Simply cut strips of cardboard 2 inches wide by 8 inches long and staple them into a band.  Place this collar around the plant stem and press it about 1 inch into the soil.  Simple and very effective!

 


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We're Cookin' Now...
If you are a cook as well as a Savvygardener one of the great joys of summer is stepping outside to pick or cut fresh herbs for preparing a fine meal.  In addition to their obvious use in foods herbs are great additions to most gardens because they are generally pest resistant, smell great, and many are a joy to behold.

Conveniently, most herbs have similar growing habits and requirements.  Because their essential oils are much more concentrated under cool growing conditions you will want to locate them in a cool but sunny area which receives at least 4 to 6 hours of full sun each day. Areas exposed to the morning sun are better than those areas with mid-day and afternoon sun.

If you didn't start any herbs from seed buy some healthy looking plants from your favorite plant source.  However anise, coriander, dill and fennel aren't too fond of being transplanted.  Sow their seeds directly in the garden.

For a list of over 30 herbs and specific details about growing them check out "Growing Herbs" in our Feature Article section.

Controlling Cankerworms...
Cankerworms, also knows as inchworms are a common pest at this time of year. There are actually two species of cankerworm: spring cankerworm, Paleacrita vernata, and fall cankerworm, Alsophilia pometeria. Though the common names may suggest otherwise, larvae from both species appear in the spring. "Spring" and "fall" refer to when the females lay their eggs.

Cankerworms feed on a wide variety of deciduous trees including oak, ash, elm, linden and apple. Larvae vary from green to reddish-brown to black and have one or more white, pale green, or black stripes. Cankerworms are general defoliators and may skeletonize leaves. Eventually, only the midribs of leaves remain.

Cankerworms can be detected by rapping on branches. This disturbs cankerworms, which betray their presence by dropping down on silken threads. If necessary, insecticidal treatments may be applied. Labeled insecticides include permethrin (Bug Stop, Bonide Eight, Kill-A-Bug II), carbaryl (Sevin) and cyfluthrin (Bayer Lawn and Garden Multi-Insect Killer).

Source

 


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Battling Blight...
Early blight and Septoria blight are the two most common foliar diseases of tomato.  Early blight produces brown spots (up to ½ inch in diameter) on infected leaves.  Concentric rings of darker brown often appear in the leaf spots.  Septoria blight produces small brown spots (approximately 1/8 inch in diameter) with tan or gray centers and dark edges.  Both diseases cause heavily infected leaves to eventually turn brown, die, and fall off.  Lower leaves are infected first with the diseases progressing upward during the growing season. 

Savvygardeners can reduce blight problems on their tomatoes with good cultural practices.  Here's some tips:

  • Start by selecting stocky, healthy plants at a garden center or greenhouse.
  • Plant your tomatoes in a different location in the garden each year.  Rotate crops so that tomatoes and other solanaceous crops (potatoes, peppers, and eggplants) are not grown in the same area for at least 3 or 4 years.  Obviously this may not be feasible for those with small vegetable gardens - just try to rotate as much as possible.
  • When planting, space tomatoes approximately 3 feet apart.  Adequate spacing allows good air movement and promotes rapid drying of plant foliage. 
  • Grow tomato plants in wire cages.  The foliage of tomatoes grown in cages will dry more rapidly than those sprawled on the ground.
  • Avoid wetting tomato foliage when watering.  Apply water directly to the ground around plants with drip irrigation, a soaker hose or slow running hose.  If a sprinkler must be used, water in the morning so the foliage dries quickly. 
  • If blight occurs, remove and destroy infected leaves as they appear.  Prompt removal of infected leaves may slow the progress of the blights.  At the end of the gardening season, remove and destroy all infected tomato plants.  Clean up and dispose of as much tomato plant debris as possible.

Source

The Turfgrass Two-Step?
Most of us are creatures of habit.  When it comes to mowing your lawn you probably follow the same back and forth pattern every time you cut the grass.  Unfortunately this regular practice will eventually wear ruts in the lawn where the mower wheels repeatedly follow the same path.  To avoid this problem try a four-way rotation of cutting patterns.  Picture your lawn as a sheet of paper and try these patterns.  Next week - tango lessons:

  1. Horizontal - left-to-right, turn, right-to-left across the lawn.
  2. Vertical - top-to-bottom, turn, bottom-to-top across the lawn.
  3. Diagonal 1 - bottom-left to top-right, turn, top-right to bottom-left.  Work toward corners.
  4. Diagonal 2 - bottom-right to top-left, turn, top-left to bottom-right.  Work toward corners.

Finally...
"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."

~ Abraham Lincoln

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