41 June 10, 2009

As I am writing this column, the weatherman is calling for a stretch of 5 days of rain and showers. Keep an eye on your gardens for signs of fungus diseases and treat for any that show up as soon as the rain stops.

 

I have said in the past that it is important to take a walk through your gardens on a regular basis to check for any problems. A few problems have cropped up in area gardens this past week. You should go out and look at your gardens to see if any of these problems have happened in your gardens.

 

Flea beetles have been a problem for many gardeners. These beetles have been seen in many vegetable gardens. They are tiny, black beetles. As they feed, they create tiny holes in the leaves of plants. They usually attack plants when the leaves are young. The good news is that they usually stop feeding on the leaves as the leaves grow and thicken up. In the meantime, they can do major damage to young plants. The damage to the leaves can be severe enough to lead to the death of the plant. If you spray your plants with a spray suitable for vegetable plants, you can knock out this pest with two sprayings, about 4 days apart.

 

The cool weather has also meant an increase in the number of aphids that are feeding on your plants. The flower buds of rose bushes have been particularly hard hit. Aphids can be green, brown, black or clear in color. As is the case with the flea beetles, a spray that lists the infected plant can be applied twice at 4-day intervals, will stop the aphids in their tracks.

 

Ants have also been a problem for many gardeners. I have had people tell me that they have run into many ants as they dig up the garden but the ants also appear after the plants have been placed in the garden. The major problem with ants can be the tunneling that they do around your plants. This can damage the roots of newly planted flower and vegetable plants. Ants have also been known to carry aphids up onto your plants. As the aphids eat, they cannot digest all of the sugar in the plant and they excrete the excess sugar. It is this sugar that the ants are looking for. Diatomaceous Earth can be applied to the soils as an organic control of ants. You can also use Carbaryl as either a dust or in a liquid form to control ants.

 

I received e-mail from a reader who was having problems with their peony plants. The plants were not growing well. This past weekend I had several customers come into the store with a similar problem. In all the cases, it would appear that mulch had been placed around the plants. The problem wasn’t so much that the mulch was applied around the plant; rather that too much mulch has been placed around the plant. Peonies are one of a handful of plants that are very particular about the depth at which they are planted. If you plant them too deep, they will not flower. If you plant them at the correct depth, they will flower as normally. If you start adding too much mulch, it changes the “depth” of the planting. Mulch against the stem of the plant can create conditions that lead to fungus diseases. As I have said in the past, you only need 3 inches of mulch around your plants. You don’t need to add 3 inches each year. Once you have applied the 3 inches of mulch, you only need to apply an inch or less in the following years. In the case of the peonies, you don’t want to add any mulch around the plant. The peonies will grow large enough to shade out any weeds and the mulch is very likely to mess up the flowering ability of the plants. It also makes it likely that fungus diseases will start because the lower leaves and stem are kept constantly wet by the mulch.

 

Well, that’s all for this week. Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads out there. I’ll talk to you again next week.

 

As I am writing this column, the weatherman is calling for a stretch of 5 days of rain and showers. Keep an eye on your gardens for signs of fungus diseases and treat for any that show up as soon as the rain stops.

 

I have said in the past that it is important to take a walk through your gardens on a regular basis to check for any problems. A few problems have cropped up in area gardens this past week. You should go out and look at your gardens to see if any of these problems have happened in your gardens.

 

Flea beetles have been a problem for many gardeners. These beetles have been seen in many vegetable gardens. They are tiny, black beetles. As they feed, they create tiny holes in the leaves of plants. They usually attack plants when the leaves are young. The good news is that they usually stop feeding on the leaves as the leaves grow and thicken up. In the meantime, they can do major damage to young plants. The damage to the leaves can be severe enough to lead to the death of the plant. If you spray your plants with a spray suitable for vegetable plants, you can knock out this pest with two sprayings, about 4 days apart.

 

The cool weather has also meant an increase in the number of aphids that are feeding on your plants. The flower buds of rose bushes have been particularly hard hit. Aphids can be green, brown, black or clear in color. As is the case with the flea beetles, a spray that lists the infected plant can be applied twice at 4-day intervals, will stop the aphids in their tracks.

 

Ants have also been a problem for many gardeners. I have had people tell me that they have run into many ants as they dig up the garden but the ants also appear after the plants have been placed in the garden. The major problem with ants can be the tunneling that they do around your plants. This can damage the roots of newly planted flower and vegetable plants. Ants have also been known to carry aphids up onto your plants. As the aphids eat, they cannot digest all of the sugar in the plant and they excrete the excess sugar. It is this sugar that the ants are looking for. Diatomaceous Earth can be applied to the soils as an organic control of ants. You can also use Carbaryl as either a dust or in a liquid form to control ants.

 

I received e-mail from a reader who was having problems with their peony plants. The plants were not growing well. This past weekend I had several customers come into the store with a similar problem. In all the cases, it would appear that mulch had been placed around the plants. The problem wasn’t so much that the mulch was applied around the plant; rather that too much mulch has been placed around the plant. Peonies are one of a handful of plants that are very particular about the depth at which they are planted. If you plant them too deep, they will not flower. If you plant them at the correct depth, they will flower as normally. If you start adding too much mulch, it changes the “depth” of the planting. Mulch against the stem of the plant can create conditions that lead to fungus diseases. As I have said in the past, you only need 3 inches of mulch around your plants. You don’t need to add 3 inches each year. Once you have applied the 3 inches of mulch, you only need to apply an inch or less in the following years. In the case of the peonies, you don’t want to add any mulch around the plant. The peonies will grow large enough to shade out any weeds and the mulch is very likely to mess up the flowering ability of the plants. It also makes it likely that fungus diseases will start because the lower leaves and stem are kept constantly wet by the mulch.

 

Well, that’s all for this week. Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads out there. I’ll talk to you again next week.