What Grows There :: Hugh Conlon, Horticulturalist, Garden Advisor, and Photographer

Fall Is Great Time To Renovate Your Lawn

Posted by Hugh on September 5th, 2013

Core aerator for lawn renovation

Is your lawn nothing but bare spots, thatch, and weeds? Late summer and fall is an ideal period to reduce thatch build-up and repair dead lawn areas. Thatch is composed of old grass clippings, e.g. leaf and stem debris not decomposed. By aerating the soil and removing thatch, you will improve soil water absorption and fertilizer uptake by the grass roots.

Equipment rental outlets in your area have “core aerators” and “spikers” to loosen the compacted soil and remove the unwanted thatch from the surface. Make two passes, criss-crossing the lawn area north to south and east to west. Next, rake up all loosened thatch and compost this organic debris to improve your garden soil in the future.

Since you have shallow-tilled the soil, use this opportunity to disperse grass seed. Most equipment companies rent a slit seeder for this task. Professional lawn companies also provide this service. The equipment tines slice through the soil and drop the grass seed in place. Fertilize and irrigate after seeding as needed.

The invasion of most annual weed grasses, such as crabgrass, goose grass, and foxtail, is over for the year. The cool autumn weather will destroy weedy roots and shoots. Unfortunately, all the seeds that the weed grasses dispersed will germinate next spring and summer. Thickening and improving the health of the home lawn this fall should choked out most weed seeds next spring.

Tending to problem broadleaf weeds such as dandelions, clover, ground ivy, thistles, plantains, and wild garlic is your final step. Broadleaf weeds can be managed by using contact herbicides containing triclopyr, dicamba, and MCPA. Products that contain all three ingredients are recommended.
Caveat: do not use any herbicides until the new grass seeding (or over-seeding) have been mowed at least twice.

Recommended Tall Fescue Cultivars

Posted by Hugh on August 15th, 2013

Beautiful Lawn In Front of Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

Tall fescue is considered one of the best cool season lawn grasses around homes and on public and commercial lands in the eastern and midwestern U.S. (USDA hardiness zones 5 thru 7). The cultivar K-31 is still an old standby, but so many better performing cultivars have now within reach. They feature improved color, plant density, and finer leaf texture. New cultivars also offer better disease resistance.

Between 2007 – 2011 over 100 varieties have been evaluated (AR, KS, KY, MD, MO, NC, TN, and VA). The recommended varieties include: LS 1200, BULLSEYE, RHAMBLER SRP, SHENANDOAH III, TURBO, FAITH, CATALYST, FALCON V, FIRECRACKER LS, SHENANDOAH ELITE, BRAVEHEART, COCHISE IV, WOLFPACK II, SPYDER LS, SIDEWINDER, RK 5, TRAVERSE SRP, TALLADEGA, 3RD MILLENNIUM SRP, MONET, SPEEDWAY, and MUSTANG 4.

Tall fescue should be mowed at a cutting height of 3 to 3.5 inches, fertilized with 1-2 lbs of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. in early spring and again in late summer. An established lawn of tall fescue is moderately drought tolerance and does not require summer irrigation and feeding. During exceptionally hot dry summers, tall fescue may naturally turn brown, but greens up when adequate natural rainfall returns.

When purchasing seed containing several tall fescue varieties, the grass mix does not need to contain only the varieties mentioned above. It’s more important to utilize the strengths that two or more varieties contribute jointly.

Fungus In A Lawn A Natural Phenomena

Posted by Hugh on August 11th, 2013

Unidentified Lawn Fungus

White or brown colored mushrooms are the visible reproductive (fruiting) structures of some types of fungi. An umbrella-shaped fruiting body is the most common form, but mushrooms come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Most people call them mushrooms, toadstools, or puffballs. Mushrooms are the reproductive stage of fungi and their spores are “seed”, the next generation. Their key objective is to produce and release spores.

Most fungi in lawns are beneficial. Fungi serve as nature’s decomposers, feeding off the soil’s organic matter and releasing nutrients that become available to plant roots. Many fungi, including those that cause lawn diseases, produce small fruiting bodies that are scarcely noticeable. They’re not the typical mushrooms that panic most homeowners.

Microscopic fungal spores are carried by wind and water to new areas. When spores reach a favorable place, they germinate (like seeds), sending out long thin filaments called “hyphae”. These hyphae form a network of mycelium that decomposes wood, fallen leaves, mulch, dead insect and worms, etc. The organic matter serves as food for the fungi.

Mushrooms are produced when weather and soil conditions are optimal. Fungal mycelium generally survive in the soil many years. Picking and/or raking up mushrooms doesn’t kill the underground mycelium from which they are growing. Rapid removal may prevent their spores from spreading to new sites. Likewise, the spores from neighboring properties may come to your lawn. Removing mushrooms from lawns principally serve to keep them away from children and pets and to improve a lawn’s appearance.

Finally, unless an accurate lawn disease diagnosis has been made, blind applications of fungicides to “kill mushrooms” is often a wasteful and costly practice. Observing mushrooms growing on the ground is a natural phenomena.

Pest Alert: Inspect All Garden Roses For Rose Rosette

Posted by Hugh on August 9th, 2013

Abnormal Growth on Knockout Rose in Bristol, TN

Rose rosette is a serious virus disease of roses (Rosa spp.). Over the past 3 years ago gardeners have experienced losses of popular shrub roses. The disease continues to gain ground across the U.S. Rose nurseries are working feverishly to find a solution.

Landscapers and gardeners should inspect all garden roses, including hybrid tea, grandiflora, floribunda, polyantha, and the popular shrub roses such as Knockout™, Home Run™, Carefree™, Drift™, etal. The virus disease is spread by an eriophyid mite while feeding from infected to healthy roses. This tiny mite is a very common plant pest over a large geographic area and is often missed by landscapers and gardeners.

Inspecting your roses weekly and removing all suspicious growth are the best measures for managing rose rosette. Pruning includes complete removal of infected rose canes (shoots) to the main trunk or close to the ground. Deposit all prunings in the household trash. Do not throw diseased canes in a rubbish or compost pile.

Apparently, the disease has no soil borne activity. If you have lost roses to the disease, dig out and properly dispose of the shrub. You can replant another rose in the same planting hole.

Managing eriophyid mite populations requires biweekly spraying with any of the following insecticides and miticides: Cygon 2-E™ (dimethoate), bifenthrin, carbaryl (Sevin), and Avid™ (abamectin).

Continue to review updates about rose rosette disease.

Pest Alert: Spotted Wing Drosophila Attack Blueberry and Cane Fruits

Posted by Hugh on July 5th, 2013

Spotted wing drosophila (SWD) male

Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, is an invasive and destructive pest originating from eastern Asia. It is a pest that can not be managed with pesticides alone. Caneberries such as raspberry and blackberry appear to be most affected followed by strawberries and blueberries. Among the tree fruits, cherries seem to suffer heavy damage.

If SWD is found, home gardeners should wash fruits thoroughly. For clean fruits commercial growers should harvest and destroy all ripe and ripening fruits when SWD is found. Follow-up with weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) spraying with organo-phosphate and pyrethroid classes of pesticides. Wet weather conditions and poor sanitation practices after fruit harvest worsen SWD attacks. Hot and dry weather lessens fruit injury.

Good sanitation is as important as pesticide spraying to prevent future infestations. Eliminate all fruits that have fallen to the ground and all infested fruits remaining on the plants to reduce SWD populations that might infest later ripening fruits or next year’s crop.

SWD can develop large populations, 10-12 generations per growing season in the mid-Atlantic and Southern Appalachian regions (USDA hardiness zones 5-8). It overwinters as adults and is active in early spring. They are most active when highs are between 62° to 83ºF, humid conditions, and fruits are present. The SWD can complete one generation in a short 12 to 14 days.

The adult SWD looks like many other Drosophila species, including the common vinegar flies that infest rotting fruit. SWD attacks the fruits in all stages- undamaged, ripe or unripe. SWD adults are small flies (size: 1/10 inch) with red eyes and a pale brown body with black stripes on their abdomen. Adult males have a distinctive black spot near the tip of each wing. Females do not have these spots. The immatures of the SWD are very small white maggots.

Special Thanks to: Dr. Frank Hale, Extension Entomologist, University of Tennessee, Nashville, TN

Pest Alert: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Posted by Hugh on July 2nd, 2013

BMSB on okra (photo from Dr. Frank Hale, Extension Entomologist, University of Tennessee, Nashville)

In recent years Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys), aka BMSB, has become serious pests of fruits, vegetables, and farm crops in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern Appalachian regions. BMSB are likely to spread to other areas in the U.S. They feed on all parts of plants (fruit, stems, leaves). They may also become a major nuisance invader in our homes, particularly in the fall.

BMSB are classified as a “true bug” (order-Hemiptera), native to China, Japan, and Korea. Adults are approximately 2/3-inch long and in shades of grayish brown. Their backs display the typical “shield” shape of other stink bugs. Masses of 20 to 30 eggs elliptical shaped eggs are light yellow to yellow-red, attached side-by-side to the underside of leaves.

BMSB have one generation per year in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern Appalachian regions. In a mild year, warm spring and summer conditions, count on the development of two generations. Adults will emerge in the spring, mate, and deposit eggs from May through August. The eggs hatch into small black and red nymphs that go through five molts (instars). Adults search for overwintering sites, including house walls and insulation, in late September through October.

Fruit crops include apples, peaches, plums, figs, blackberries, mulberries, citrus, and persimmons. Infested vegetables include sweet and field corn, tomatoes, lima beans, green peppers and soybeans. Some landscape plants are also damaged. BMSB scar the skin surface of apples and peaches, referred to as “cat facing,” and renders fresh fruits unmarketable.

BSMB cause no harm to humans, but the bugs enter homes as “accidental invaders” and can become an odorous nuisance. They get inside and don’t leave. They will not reproduce or cause structural indoor damage. They are best swept up in a vacuum cleaner, sometimes multiple times a week. Smashing several bugs will explain their name, as their foul smell may become quite apparent.

To keep stink bugs from entering homes and buildings, seal cracks around windows, doors, siding, et al. with silicone or latex caulk. Screens on doors and windows should be properly maintained. People may carry them indoors on the clothes.

Exterior applications of any synthetic pyrethroid insecticide in the fall may reduce insect numbers, but these products have only a short residual life. Two or three applications per week may be warranted. Insecticides should not be sprayed indoors. Read and closely follow the pesticide label.

Newly-hatched Nymphs (two instars) of BMSB on underside of dogwood leaf (photo by R. Murphy)

Pest Alert- Protect Young Trees and Shrubs From Cicadas

Posted by Hugh on May 20th, 2013

Adult cicada (photo courtesy of Dr. Frank Hale, Univ. of Tennessee Entomologist, Nashville, TN)

No insect creates more newspaper headlines than the periodical cicada (Magicicada spp.). Their sudden emergence, every 13 or 17 years reads like a chapter from a science fiction novel. Their high-pitched noise or “mating call” fills the late spring air.

Both the 13-year and 17-year cicadas are uniquely common in the eastern U.S., found no other place on Earth. The two populations, called “broods”, emerge at different times, that is, 13- or 17-year intervals depending on the locale.

Early American colonists thought they were a “locust plague”. People often confuse cicadas and locusts. A locust is actually a species of grasshoppers and feeds on foliage. An adult cicada does not feed on foliage, but feeds on twig sap. The female cicada makes injurious slits in twigs and limbs of trees to deposit eggs.

The adult periodical cicada is 1 to 1½ inches long (photo). The body is black, while the legs, eyes and wing veins which are reddish-orange. Large numbers of adults emerge in May or June when the soil temperature 4 inches deep reaches 67° F. Four or five days after emergence, the males start their high-pitched mating call to attract females. Mating occurs and females begin laying eggs.

The female cicada has a knife-like ovipositor that she uses to slit twigs of woody plants. Apple, pear, dogwood, oak and hickory are among their favorite host plants. In each slit, the female lays 24 to 28 eggs. Each female can lay a total of 400 to 600 eggs. Pencil thickness wood is the main target. Young trees are very susceptible to severe injury.

Preventative measures should be in place to protect young trees and shrubs. Pruning should be delayed until after cicada emergence so damaged branches can be removed. Cover small woody landscape and fruit trees with cheesecloth or spun row cover for protection while cicadas are present. Insecticide spraying are not an effective option.

* Special thank you to Dr. Frank Hale, Univ. of Tennessee Entomologist for providing information on cicada life cycle.

‘Bikini-tini’ Colocasia Creates Movement in The Garden

Posted by Hugh on May 15th, 2013

Cupped Leaves of Bikini-Tini Colocasia

Colocasia (Colocasia esculenta), aka taro, ape plant, and elephant ear, among other names, is marginally hardy in the Southern Appalachian region (USDA hardiness zones 6 and 7). The 2011 colocasia introduction ‘Bikini-tini’ has garnered high praise from neighbors and friends visiting my garden in the summer.

Bikini-tini is a strong stemmed thick-leaved plant that grows 4 to 5 feet in height. Its bluish-gray leaves cup upward, supported by dark purple petioles and prominent veins beneath. Its cupped leaves capture and pour out rainwater, creating motion in the garden.

Elephant ears are easy to grow. Your garden or container soil should be well drained and compost rich. Soil pH should range between 5.6 and 7.0. Site in direct sunlight, and keep the soil moderately moist. Elephant ears are heavy feeders and thrive on a steady diet of water plus fertilizer. Use a water soluble product such as Miracle-Gro®, Jack’s Classic®, or Daniels® every 2-3 weeks from mid-May (planting time) to late August at the one-half strength rate. An alternative is to feed once with an organic slow release fertilizer in early spring.

Disease and pest problems are rare when plant(s) are properly sited and cared for. Potential crown or stem rot problems are best avoided by growing in a well drained soil (media) and by not overwatering.

Bikini-tini is rated winter hardy to USDA zone 6 with some protection. Protect the crown over the winter with 2-3 inches of a loose leafy mulch such as straw or oak leaves.

‘Thailand Giant’ Elephant Ears A Tropical Wonder

Posted by Hugh on May 7th, 2013

Enormous Leaves of Thailand Giant (photo courtesy of Plant Delights Nursery)

In many areas of the U.S.’Thailand Giant’ elephant ears (Colocasia gigantea) is classified as an annual (USDA hardiness zone 8-10). It grows best in full to partial sunlight (6-hours minimum) and planted in a compost-rich well-drained garden soil or good container potting media. A young plant should be moved outdoors and brought back indoors when night temps fall below 40°F. Thailand Giant may be permanently moved outdoors when night temps are above 45°F.

Thailand Giant grows into a massive 8 to 9 foot tall plant with shiny grayish green foliage. In the garden individual leaves grow in excess of 4 to 5 feet in length and 3 to 4 feet wide if luxuriantly watered and fertilized. Feed with a water-soluble fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro™ or Daniels™ Plant Food, applied bi-monthly from spring planting time until September 1.

Clusters of large fragrant white flowers form at an early age, but are mostly hidden among the enormous sized leaves. The gigantic,tropical looking leaves is the major reason for growing Thailand Giant. Keep the garden soil moist, but not sopping wet. During hot dry summer periods, it should be watered frequently, as much as 2 inches per week.

A few days before first autumn frost, cut back the foliage, dig up the plant, and transplant into a large wide-based container. Store in a cool place (40-45 °F) over the winter and keep soil (potting media) relatively dry. The crown should remain dormant until watering starts up growth in early spring.

‘King Tut’ Papyrus Adds Texture To The Summer Garden

Posted by Hugh on April 27th, 2013

: Standard sized Papyrus in Flower Bed at Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio

Over thousands of years papyrus (Cyperus papyrus), aka Egyptian paper plant, was essential for food, medicine, fiber and shelter in ancient Egypt. Today, we utilize papyrus, as many other aquatic and bog-like plants, to add texture to the garden. Papyrus is classified as a non-hardy sedge (winter hardiness to USDA zone 9).

Invite this lovely exotic from the African continent into the summer garden or into a container on your patio or deck. It’s perfectly happy growing with its feet in water, and will prosper in garden soil under frequent drip irrigation. Papyrus grows at the edge of a water garden or ponds, in boggy soils, or in standing water in containers. Optimum growth is in full sun, but it tolerates partial shade. This incredibly fast grower will add 5 to 8 feet in a single season.

‘King Tut’ is a dwarf 4-5 feet tall cultivar. Its leafless green triangular stems stand tall and rigid at 2 to 3 feet high. Inadequate sunlight may compromise stem sturdiness. Roots are woody rhizomes which anchor the plant in a garden soil or container gravel medium. Papyrus does not suffer from serious insect or disease problems.

In the Southern Appalachian region (USDA zones 6 and 7), plants must be potted up and brought indoors before frost for winter care. Maintain at 40° F minimum temperatures and high humidity in a mostly sunny window, a sunroom, or a greenhouse.

Invite this beautiful Egyptian water plant into your garden. Garden centers often sell papyrus in their aquatic supply department or purchase from an e-commerce nursery on-line.