Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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Jill and Rick Van Duyvendyk answer all your gardening questions in Garden Talk on 650 CKOM and 980 CJME every Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Here are some questions and answers from the Aug. 17 show:
These questions and answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Why are my watermelons not fruiting or making very small fruit?
A: The weather has not been warm enough. You can try putting down black plastic to trap any warmth in the soil. Once night temperatures get below 8 C, cover them at night with a frost blanket.
Q: What can I do about powdery mildew on zucchini plants?
A: Watch watering. Make sure the water is going to the base of the plant and not on the leaves. Remove some of those leaves that are really bad and then use a garden fungicide or sulphur spray. It will leave brown spots on them, but it’s going to stop the fungus from spreading. Spray once every 10 to 14 days.
The other thing to remember is powdery mildew is spread by spores, so if you’re using garden gloves to clean them up make sure you wash your gloves afterwards. Wash your hands or any tools as well.
Q: What I can use to stop bugs eating my cabbage leaves?
A: When the bugs are in the flying stage around mid-June, put a net over top, like a row cover, and that prevents the moths from landing on the leaves and eating them. When you see those little white moths flying around, they’re laying the eggs and then it’s the caterpillar that eats the plants. Try using dish soap to wash them off or pick them off.
Q: What can I do about slugs?
A: There is a liquid slug and snail killer, otherwise there’s the granular stuff which you can apply and cover with a strip of plywood. The slugs will be attracted by the slug bait and they’ll die underneath the pieces of wood. Slug bait is all regulated to be safe for pets.
Make sure the soil is aerated and not too moist. Slugs don’t like the smell of garlic, so you can use a garlic spray or mosquito barrier spray to help deter them as well.
Q: Can I use stump grindings and wood chips from aspen trees as mulch for my flower, shrub and tree beds?
A: Absolutely. It’s free mulch.
Q: When is a good time to plant fall garlic?
A: Wait until temperatures are a little bit cooler so that it doesn’t start growing, about the end of September. You can pick it up now and keep it in storage, then plant when night temperatures are around 5 C.
Q: Can I prune a single branch off a virbinum now?
A: Pruning one branch is not a problem. Just remember when you prune it will branch off from that point, so make sure you prune it low enough so that when it does that it doesn’t look funny.
Q: How can I get calla lilies to flower?
A: Try a 15-30-15 fertilizer. Something that helps with calla lilies is to put the bulb in a six to eight-inch pot and sink that into the ground, especially if you start them off in the house, you can get them to some size and then transplant them around the May long weekend outside. Don’t plant them too deep, or they will take longer to come up.
Don’t give up on them. You can take them out of the ground with a big root ball if the weather is getting cool. put them into a pot and enjoy the blooms doors because they still are going to bloom this year.
Q: When can I transplant spruce trees?
A: Soon. Usually you can transplant from the third week of August, right up until freeze.
Q: Is plastic string or rope bad for plants?
A: It depends how you’re tying the tree up or the plant up. If you tie it tight around the stem, then as the plant grows it’s going to grow into it. If you have used it to tie a plant to a stake for support, then that’s when those strings are good.
Check them, especially perennials that get a thick stem because they grows quickly. Soft ties with rubber coating work well, or old pantyhose.
Q: My potatoes had fungus, do I need to treat the soil for it next year?
A: The best way to prevent fungus is to rotate your crop. Don’t put it in the same place every year. You can use baking soda or hydrogen peroxide and spray it on the leaves to help stop it from spreading.
Damaged leaves on a sand cherry shrub. (Submitted)
Q: What is eating my sand cherry bush?
A: It could be a pear slug. They look like a caterpillar and suck the chloroform out of the tree as well out of the leaves. They like prunes and the choke cherry family, even apples sometimes. Use insecticidal soap or Bug-X Out.
Peeling bark on an ash tree. (Submitted)
Q: What is causing the bark to peel off my ash tree?
A: Ash trees naturally peel some bark off as they get older. It’ll be fine, it still has lots of greenery on it. Make sure you keep it moist.
Q: What can I do to prevent evergreen trees dying over winter?
A: Keep them moist right now, and slow down watering around the September long weekend. In the second or third week of October, soak them so that they almost like freeze into the ground. No fertilizer, just water.
Losses happen. You can put up a snow fence to make a bigger snowdrift to protect them and wrap them for protection from the sun. You can also put on a vole guard.
Q: How can I deal with aphids on a Virginia creeper?
A: If you cut the whole thing down to four or five feet off the ground, then it will rejuvenate like crazy. The best thing to do stop bugs is get some praying mantis or ladybugs in spring and put them on the plant to help control aphids.
Garden centres have praying mantis early and they need to be put in the fridge until June. Ladybugs didn’t come into stock until July this year.
Q: Can I fertilize shrubs and perennials once more this season?
A: You can give them another shot right now, but no later than the last week of August. Unless you haven’t done any fertilizing for years, give them a half strength,application of 20-20-20, not 30-10, something something lower nitrogen.
Q: Can I trim back a golden elder now?
A: You can do a light trimming right now, but when the plant turns dormant and the leaves fall off, trim it back quite a bit — a third to a half.
A damaged leaf on a honeysuckle vine. (Submitted)
Q: Why are there no flowers on my honeysuckle vines? What is affecting the leaves?
A: It looks like a nutrient deficiency. Honeysuckles need lots of sunlight. You can try 20-20-20 but be careful. Only do it for a bit, then cut down on the nitrogen part. If they get too much nitrogen, they will have all green leaves and no flowers.
You could try a 15-30-15, as well. If you want to do a 20-20-20, use that first thing in the spring and then every three weeks after that go with a lighter nitrogen mix.
Q: How do I get a lipstick plant to bloom?
A: Keep it well watered and water it consistently. Put in bright, indirect light. Use a 15-30-15 fertilizer and follow the house plant instructions on the on the back of the container.
Q: When can I prune a maple tree covered with seeds?
A: August and September is when you should prune maples and birches.
Q: When can I transplant mature daylilies?
A: Early spring, around April 15. Mark the plants this fall with flags and stakes around the edges. Then in spring you can either cut the plant in half and divide it that way, or dig up the whole thing and then cut the root into pieces.
Q: Can I still use aluminum sulfate on my hydrangeas?
A: Aluminum sulfate is not really like a fertilizer, but it’ll help acidify the soil and actually make them hardier for the winter time. They don’t really want to bloom without it, so apply about once a month.
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