MENULive Christmas trees are traditional. Going out and picking out a tree, regardless of whether it is already cut or you cut your own, is an important family activity for many. Once you get the tree home, the fragrance tells you that the Christmas season has arrived at your house.There are some Grinches out there who would like us to believe that we are upsetting the balance of nature if we have a real Christmas tree. Others would like us to believe that we are wasting more precious resources if we buy an artificial tree. The right answer is to buy whatever you want.Those who believe that cutting a real tree is wasting resources are wrong. Christmas trees are grown by tree farmers as a crop to be harvested, just as wheat, corn and other crops are planted to be harvested. Christmas tree farmers, however, have to wait longer than other farmers to harvest their crop.As you drive through the countryside, look at forests and woodlots for green and white signs identifying them as tree farms. Most tree farms in New York State grow trees for Christmas, rather than for lumber or wood pulp.Christmas tree farmers have to tend to their crops just as other farmers do. They have to control insects and diseases. They also have to prune them to maintain their desired shape. They may have to fertilize them as well. Then when it is time to harvest the trees, they have to cut them, package them in nets and ship them to tree dealers. If they don’t cut them at just the right time, they will continue to grow and interfere with trees around them. When you see big bare spots in a Christmas tree, that indicates that two trees grew too big and began invading the other’s space. Most importantly, Christmas tree farmers replace the trees they cut, usually planting three or more seedlings for each tree cut.When you get your fresh cut Christmas tree home, cut about an inch off the base diagonally. Then place it in a bucket of water and leave it in the garage at least over night. This will reduce the shock of going from the cold outdoors to the warm indoors.When you set up the tree indoors, be sure that it is kept watered throughout its stay. Keep candles and other open flames away from it. But most of all, enjoy it without feeling any guilt about the environmental impact. Christmas tree growers are farmers who use sustainable techniques to assure that we have plenty of trees each Christmas.Finally, recycle your tree after Christmas. Take it to one of the many recycling stations around the area to have it ground into mulch.
Some say tomoto and some say tomato. Some say poinsetta and some say poinsettia. In both cases, either pronunciation is acceptable.This traditional holiday houseplant, a native of Mexico, is named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Ambassador to Mexico (circa 1820). Poinsett was interested in botany, so he searched for new plant species from which he could take cuttings and bring them back to his greenhouse in South Carolina. You can guess his most important find.Poinsettia is the plant’s common name. Its scientific name is Euphorbia pulcherrima, meaning “very beautiful.” John Bartram of Pennsylvania, the father of the American nursery industry, was the first to sell poinsettias under their botanical name. The Ecke family of southern California began growing and selling poinsettias in the early 1900s and is today the leading producer in the U.S.Caring for poinsettias is easy. Getting them to rebloom is not. Keep your poinsettia warm (60º-70º) and sunny. Water only when the soil is dry. They like moist soil but not wet feet. Reducing the nighttime temperature to 55º-60º will extend their bloom time. Don’t fertilize when they are in bloom.If you want your poinsettias to rebloom, they require 14 to 15 hours of total darkness from about October 1 until the bracts begin to turn color shortly after Thanksgiving. You have to keep them in total darkness from 5:00 PM until 8:00 AM. Any little exposure to light can prevent flowering. It has been suggested that you place a paper grocery bag (if you can find one) over the plant each night or that you put it in a light-tight closet. I’ve tried both methods to no avail. So, good luck.Many gardeners ask if the poinsettia will grow outdoors. In our climate, you can put them outdoors only when there is no danger of frost.As for the name, botanical purists may insist on calling them poinsettias, but most botanists won’t fault you if you say poinsetta. It is perfectly acceptable.
Mother Nature thinks of everything, doesn’t she? She even gives us a spectacular show of color as she prepares deciduous trees to withstand the winter wind, snow and ice.As you rake your leaves, do you ever wonder why leaves turn color and drop? Many people do because they ask me why green leaves turn yellow, red, and orange. The answer is quite simple, yet quite complex. Leaf pigments, the physics of light, weather conditions, plant species, and geography all play a part in creating autumn colors.Yellow, a pigment in the carotenoid family, is a leaf’s natural color, and therefore it is always present. Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color, and masks the yellow. Chlorophyll is present as leaves manufacture food during photosynthesis.When the amount of daylight dwindles and temperatures fall, photosynthesis slows down and finally ceases. As it does, less and less chlorophyll is produced until the leaves’ natural yellow color can be seen.But what about red leaves? This is due to anthocyanins, a pigment produced only during the autumn months. These complex, water soluble compounds in leaf cells react with excess stored plant sugars and exposure to sun light, resulting in brilliant pink, red and purple leaves. A mixture of red anthocyanin pigment and yellow carotenoids often results in the bright orange color of some leaves.Weather conditions that occur before and during the decline of chlorophyll production can affect the color that leaves may display. Carotenoids are always present so the yellow and gold colors are the least affected by weather. The red tones, created by anthocyanin, are most affected by weather.On warm and sunny days, lots of sugar is produced in leaves. Trees exposed to brighter sunlight generate the reaction between the anthocyanins and the excess sugar, creating the bright red hue. Sharp changes in climate can paint the most spectacular display of color. Cooler temperatures cause the veins in the leaves to gradually close, preventing the sugars from moving out, which preserves the red tones. Warm sunny days followed by crisp, cool nights can be responsible for the lush tones of fall we see all around us.Soil moisture can also affect autumn color. A particularly dry summer, like the one we just experienced, can delay the onset of color change by weeks. A warm, wet spring, favorable summer weather, and sunny fall days with cooler temperatures at night are the ideal conditions for producing the most radiant colors.Tree genetics help determine what color leaves will turn. Color depends on the levels of iron, magnesium, phosphorus and sodium in the tree and the acidity of the chemicals in the leaves. Some tree species displaying yellow foliage are ash, birch, beech, elm, hickory, poplar, and aspen. Red leaves are most often seen on dogwood, sweetgum, sumac, and black tupelo trees. Some oaks and maples present orange leaves, while others range in color from red to yellow, depending on the specific species.So, what causes leaves to drop? As photosynthesis ceases, the base of the leaf, known as the petiole, closes up since no food is leaving. Consequently, no water and nutrients flow in, either. Meanwhile, below the petiole, next year’s leaf bud has formed and is growing and growing, until it pushes the leaf, disconnecting the tissue that holds it to the branch, and the old leaf falls. There you have the story of autumn.
Agriculture, including horticulture and arboriculture, used to be done, to a great extent, by the calendar. The calendar approach has largely given way to a scientific research based approach. Research has shown, for example, that pruning should be done to meet certain objectives rather than according to time of year.The old school approach had been that there was a certain time of the year when each tree or shrub species needed to be pruned. Research has now found that this isn’t true. Pruning should be done to meet specific objectives. Not just because the calendar says it is time.Some pruning objectives include…• Removing dead, dying, diseased, crossing or rubbing, diseased and hanging branches;• Thinning the crown to help your trees better withstand wind;• Raising the crown if branches are interfering with traffic;• Opening a vista;• Repairing storm damaged trees.If any of these objectives exist, this would be a good time of year to have your trees, especially your deciduous shade and ornamental trees, pruned. The weather is cooler. There is more precipitation. The trees are preparing to stop photosynthesis for the season, drop their leaves and go dormant for the winter. In fact, winter itself is also a good time to prune, but only to meet your pruning objectives.Regardless of your pruning objective, pruning is not a do-it-yourself job, especially if you have to leave the ground. There is a reason why we employ only highly trained people, and continue their safety training on a regular basis. And, why the cost of insurance is so high. Tree pruning is a dangerous profession.
They say that there’s an exception to every rule. That includes plant hardiness zones. All plants have their hardiness zones listed o
n the tags in the pot or hanging from the plant. This is supposed to tell you whether the plants will grow in our climate.In 2012, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the American Horticultural Society published a new hardiness zone map expanding the country to 26 zones from the previous 14. The zones are based on the lowest average annual temperature. The lowest numbered zones are the coldest. You can check out the map at http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb.The further south you get, the higher the zone number and the warmer the temperature. Most of our area is now in zone 6a (-10º to -5ºF). The area along the shore of Lake Ontario, however, is zone 6b (-5º to 0ºF).With few exceptions, I recommend only zone 5 plants for our area. In most cases, these plants will flourish quite well here. Planting zone 6 or higher plants here can get a little “iffy.” Zone 6 plants may be too tender for our winds. You may need to cover them or spray them with an antidesiccant like Wilt-Pruf for them to survive a typical winter.Hardy plants that may not be hardy here are those labeled for our zone but grown in a warmer climate. These plants may have been grown in the south, or even in a greenhouse, and never experienced winter. Once they get a taste of our cold weather, they give up the ghost.I like to buy plants at a local garden center; your chances of getting truly hardy plants is excellent. Garden store owners know their sources, and can buy with the confidence that the plants can acclimate to our weather conditions. Those bought at big box stores may have come from anywhere, so they may have never seen snow, even though the tag says they are hardy here.In most cases, buying zone-sensitive annuals is not as big a risk as buying perennials, shrubs or trees. You have less to lose if you buy inexpensive plants that are not acclimated. Besides, a six pack of annuals has probably spent its whole life in a greenhouse. Trees, shrubs, and even perennials, are major investments, increasing the risk. So, be sure to buy those plants at a reputable garden center.
Have you ever wondered how forests can sustain themselves without human interference? You must have because many people ask me that question all the time. The answer is quite simple. Or is it?The forest is a natural ecosystem. All the plants are what gardeners call “volunteers.” People didn't plant them. The seeds may have dropped from a nearby plant and germinated. Or birds could have dropped them. They could have been carried in an animal’s fur. Such is not the case in our yards. Yards are designed ecosystems, usually with vast areas of turfgrass.Leaf drop in the forest is part of nature’s sustainability plan. The leaves decompose and release their nutrients and organic matter into the soil. In our yards, leaves drop on our cultivated and manicured lawns. Besides being unsightly, a build up of leaves can block sunlight, water and air from reaching the grass plants. Yet, the nutrients and organic matter from leaves are good for the lawn. What’s a homeowner to do?Compost!Many municipalities use a giant vacuum to remove leaves that residents pile by the side of the road. They take them to a central location and compost them. Some return the compost to the residents, other use it only for parks and public land. If available, you have to go and pick up the compost you need.Keeping your leaves at home and making your own compost probably doesn’t take any more effort than going to a central location and loading compost into your vehicle.It is important to chop up leaves to hasten decomposition. Many people have their own pet methods for chopping leaves, but the most efficient method I have seen is to put the leaves into a strong garbage can, don safety glasses and plunge your string trimmer into the leaves until they are chopped fine enough. It is like using a stick blender (boat motor) in the kitchen, but on a bigger scale. Although I would certainly like to take credit for this idea, I actually saw Paul James the Gardener Guy do it on HGTV.Throw the chopped leaves into your compost bin or on to your compost pile. Turn them a few times during the winter and your compost should be ready next spring or fall, depending on weather conditions. Best of all, you will save having to buy compost or haul it from your community compost pile.
When making winter plans for your landscape, don’t forget snow removal – from your drive and walkways, not from your trees and shrubs. The latter will be covered in another blog.How do you remove snow from your drive? Plow? Snow blower? Shovel? The shovel is safest for your plants, but that is the method of choice for only a few of us. The rest prefer the more mechanized approach.Have you ever watched a plowing contractor plow a driveway? They have to push the snow wherever there is space, and they are usually under tight time constraints. This is not a good combination for your plants. They usually push it into the front yard. If you have a plow contractor, you expect to pull divots from the middle of your front lawn and put them back on the edges.If a tree or shrub is in the way of this snow push, it will have snow piled up the trunk or stem. This is not good for the plant. For one thing, it is exerting pressure on one side, which can weaken the root system and/or the trunk and, eventually, your plant could uproot and fall over. Snow piled against the trunk or stem makes an ideal hiding place for mice and other small rodents that like to chew on the bark and even the wood. But they don’t like to do it out in the open. They prefer the cover of snow.Snow blowing can also have an impact on trees and shrubs if they are close enough to the driveway. Blown snow can break branches, pile up against the trunk/stem, and/or pile up at the base and compact the soil. Unlike plowing, however, you can control the snow blower’s chute so that the snow doesn't hit trees or shrubs.Constantly adjusting the chute may take a few more minutes than just straight snow blowing, but the results will be much better for your plants and for your home’s curb appeal. As you approach plants, simply move the chute back toward you. When you get perpendicular to the tree, stop and adjust the chute so it blows the snow forward of the tree. The plants will then be in the clear, as will your driveway.I have been called after the fact too many times. Then, the plants have to be creatively pruned in order to bring them back to shape. Or worse yet, they may have to be removed because they succumbed to the ongoing bombardment of snow against them.
Fall is for planting, but it is for much more as you prepare your gardens for winter. I have already covered fall planting, but there are a number of other tasks that should be done at this time. They include:
Of course, watering is still necessary if we don’t get sufficient rainfall. Plants need an inch of water a week right up until the ground freezes
This fall, do something really nice for your gardening friends at no cost to you. Give them plants. No, don’t go out and buy plants. Take them from your garden.Fall is for planting. It’s also for splitting perennials. If you are a seasoned gardener, I’m sure you already split your perennials every year. If, however, you are a new gardener, you may not.Many individual perennial plants grow and grow until they get too big and unwieldy. Something has to be done. You don’t want to just dig them out and start over. So, you trim and split them.If they have grown too tall, they should be cut back to a manageable height. They should also be split into four smaller plants. Here’s how it is done:Dig up the whole perennial. Lay it on the ground and split the root in half. Then cut each half in half. In other words, quarter the plant. The tool of choice for this task is whatever it takes. A plant with thin, tender roots may be cut with a trowel or pruning shears. Bigger, thicker roots may need a shovel, while the really obstinate roots may need loppers to cut them apart.Return one of the quarters to the hole in your garden from which you dug the plant. Replant it just as you would a new plant – hole at least twice the diameter of the root, but no deeper. Hold the plant upright in the hole as you backfill up to the previous soil line. Tamp lightly to remove any air pockets and give it a good drink of water.Place the other three new plants in pots and give them to your gardening friends. Hopefully, they will do the same for you. This is a good way to expand and diversify your perennial beds without spending a cent. Get a group of friends together over a cup of coffee or iced tea and make the plant exchange a social event. It’s great fun.
Plants are living things, just like us. Consequently, they may be adversely affected by the heat or cold, especially the cold. These plants need extra care to help them survive typical Rochester area winters.Although conifers look strong and hardy, and many come from the northern areas of the world, I still apply antidesiccant to every one of my evergreens – conifers and broadleaf. Antidesiccant, sold in garden stores under such brand names as Wilt-Pruf, is inexpensive insurance for your evergreens. If you have a number of evergreens, it may be less expensive to hire a landscape or tree care company to apply antidesiccant.Antidesiccant is a wax-like material that coats evergreen leaves or needles and reduces the amount of water that the wind blows off them during the winter. Preventing water from blowing away allows the plant to reabsorb it and use it over again. The alternative can be dieback.Some trees and shrubs are so tender that precautions have to be taken in addition to antidesiccant. These precautions include wrapping the plants in burlap or putting wooden tents over them to protect them from the prevailing wind.The need to wrap can be reduced if you follow the “right plant, right place” rule. Read the nursery tags. If the plant you select is winter-tender, either plant it in a protected area of your property or select a plant that is hardier.Snow isn’t nearly as damaging to most plants as wind, except for the freak early season storm that piles snow on branches before deciduous trees and shrubs lose their leaves. Wind, on the other hand, causes desiccation and breakage, even during a relatively open winter like we had last year.Don’t wait until the first snowfall to make plans for protecting your trees and shrubs this winter. Start now so you can be prepared when the weather does turn bad.
Do you have tree leaves turning color and dropping already? It might seem as though autumn has arrived early. The calendar hasn’t jumped forward a couple of months, though. The early defoliation is due to the drought.In most cases, there is no remedy. Many trees will leaf out and come back to life in the spring. So, just clean up the leaves and compost them. Other trees, however, may need a bit more care to return to good health. For that, we recommend calling a plant health care professional.If you notice the early defoliation before all the leaves lose their chlorophyll and drop, plant health care professionals may be able to prescribe a treatment regimen that will help the tree hang on to its remaining leaves for a while more. They are needed to make food to sustain the tree through the winter.Don’t just apply fertilizer. Off-the-shelf fertilizer formulations have too much nitrogen (the first number on the label). Nitrogen improves leaf production, and new leaves are the last things you want at this time. The tree will use more energy on a new flush of leaves than those leaves will make before autumn actually arrives. Professionals use a fertilizer formulated just for our current situation. They will include more of the nutrients needed for overall vitality and to build strong roots.It would be a good idea to have a plant health care professional inspect the tree to be sure there is no insect or disease activity. Premature defoliation is a sign of stress, and stressed trees are favorite targets for insects and diseases.Summing up, if your trees are experiencing premature defoliation, here are some actions you can take and some that should be avoided:
The short answer is, “it depends.” If you have had to fertilize each spring, the answer is, “yes.”It is important to first understand the role of fertilizer in gardening. At the risk of being redundant, I’ll explain once again that fertilizer does not feed plants. Plants make their own food through photosynthesis. However, the process requires certain naturally occurring elements to complete the reaction. While these nutrients are found in good topsoil, most of our topsoil has been scraped away, leaving only the subsoil. That means we have to replace those nutrients. That is done with fertilizer. We include beneficial fungi and bacteria, called myccorhyzae, to extend the roots’ ability to find water and oxygen.Fertilization can be compared to you and me taking vitamin supplements. They replenish the nutrients deficient in our diet.If you fertilize every spring because your soil needs it, you should fertilize in the fall because your plants will have used up the nutrients that you replenished in spring. In other words, soil does not make more nutrients. Deficient nutrients need to be replaced on a regular basis.Even after deciduous plants have lost their leaves, the roots continue to function until the ground freezes. Fall fertilization provides plants with the nutrients they need to continue making food as long as possible. This means having plenty of energy stored to sustain them through the winter and the beginning of spring.At the beginning of spring, plants use a lot of energy to flower and leaf out. It isn’t until they leaf out that they begin making food again.The early summer drought put a lot of stress on all plants from the biggest tree to the smallest blade of grass. Lack of water reduced their ability to manufacture food (photosynthesize) and distribute it through the plant. They are having to play catch-up now, so any help you can give them will bring them back to health sooner.Fertilizer should not be applied just because you have always done it. It should be applied to meet specific objectives. A soil test is your best investment for confirming whether your soil needs fertilization or not.
As summer begins its transition into fall, a persistent pest is again taking up residence in many area lawns. Grubs. Just the mere mention of the name strikes an emotional cord. The emotion may be anger, frustration, disgust, but these white crescent-shaped insects have been a pain in our lawn for decades.Grubs go by several names, including European chafer, white grubs, or just plain grubs. Entomologists call them Rhizotrogus majalis. Most homeowners call them a royal pain.A new generation of grubs is just starting life. Remember those June bugs you heard and saw? They are the last generation of adult grubs, and they live in that stage just long enough to mate. The females then lay eggs a few inches into the soil. In two or three weeks, the eggs hatch and the tiny grubs begin feasting on the roots of your lawn. As they grow, and the soil turns cooler, they burrow deeper. After overwintering deep in the soil, the large grubs come back up in spring and feed until May when they pupate in the soil.We recommend checking for grubs in your lawn in August. Cut one foot square sections of sod at several places in the lawn. Roll it back to reveal whether you have any grubs. If you have up to six or seven in per square foot section, they do not present a treatable threat. Treatment is recommended for eight or more per square foot. If you have a lawn service, they will check for grubs, and treat if necessary, as part of their service.Imidacloprid (Merit) and trichlorfon (Dylox) are labeled for treatment of grubs in New York State. Beneficial nematodes are also available if you do not want to treat with a chemical. Treat early while the grubs are still small, and you will need less chemical to achieve control. As the grubs grow, more aggressive treatment will be required to manage them.Control measures should be applied only in the fall, unless you have a very high grub population. In spring, the grubs are large and strong, and only feed for a short time before pupating. We may treat for those with a high population in the spring.A note about June bugs. They are pesky but not harmful. They won’t bite or sting. In fact, they eat nothing in this stage of their lifecycle. Their size makes them intimidating to some people, and they fly in swarms. That, too, makes some people fear them. Then there is that noise as they collide with your closed windows and splat on your car windshield. But, rest assured that they will not harm you.
Have you noticed a change in the weather over the past couple of weeks? It hasn’t been a drastic change, only a subtle change. The temperatures are moderating, it is raining more often and the days are getting shorter. This is a sure sign that fall is coming.As fall descends deeper upon us, we again remind you that fall is for planting. Why? For the reasons cited above – days continue to be warm, nights are cooler, rain has returned and the soil is cooler. All of these factors combine to help plants adapt to their new homes better.This year, spring planted trees and shrubs were at a distinct disadvantage. They did not have time to adapt to their new environments before Mother Nature turned off the faucet. That meant that either you irrigated or the new plants got very stressed. I saw many new plants that didn't make it. They succumbed to the drought. Those planted last fall had a better chance because their roots had time to become established and acclimated to the new soil conditions.Many nurseries and garden centers order new plants for fall planting. You will be able to tell which are new and which survived the summer drought. If you are looking for a bargain, you may be able to negotiate deep discounts on the survivors. Personally, I don’t like to do that. I would rather pay list price and get new stock.Planting in fall is no different from planting in spring. Select a planting site whose conditions are right for the plant you select. Remember – right plant, right place. Dig the planting hole two to three times bigger than the rootball, but only as deep. If potted, remove the plant from its pot. If balled and burlapped, remove the wire basket or rope but leave the burlap around the ball.Set the plant in the hole and backfill, stopping occasionally to press the backfill to fill in any air pockets. Do not pile soil up against the trunk. Finally, water well.It is good to mulch any new planting, but it is especially important in fall. The mulch will help moderate the temperature shifts during the winter. Spread 2 to 3 inches, but do not pile it up against the trunk in a mulch volcano. Before winter, add another inch of mulch, but be prepared to remove that in spring.We went through a long hot summer with few gardening chores other than weeding. Now, everything is right for planting. That’s why fall is for planting.
Now that rain has returned, your lawn should be greening up. It may not be perfectly healthy yet, but there is probably more green than brown. So, give it as much time as you can to recover before you absolutely have to mow.If your lawn is long and green, go ahead and mow. I prefer using a walk behind mower to a riding mower right now. Granted, it will be a bit more tiring, but it will be better for your recovering turf.Taking some time to rake out any brown, dead grass is also a good idea. It will give new plants space to grow. However, keep an eye on the brown or bare spots. If they remain small, the surrounding grass should fill them on its own. If they are large, however, you will have to overseed.Don’t overseed now while we still have temperatures in the 80s and above. It is possible to have another dormant period this summer if the rain doesn’t continue, in which case, you will have to prepare the soil and overseed again. While you wait for temperatures to come down and rainfall to become more predictable, watch those bare spots to be sure no weeds take over. Keep these spots clear of weeds by digging them up.When weather conditions become more conducive to growing turfgrass, rough up the soil with a metal rake, plant grass seed, and then scratch it into the ground with your metal rake, followed by a good watering. Be sure these reseeded spots receive at least an inch of water a week either from Mother Nature or from a sprinkler. The new plants should be well established when you apply your fall fertilizer, or have your lawn service apply it.If you have area in which the grass is green but thin, these areas should also be overseeded. By early autumn, you should have a nice, thick carpet for your whole lawn.
The answer to this is, “it depends.” Time period within summer, weather conditions, amount of foliage and many other factors determine which bugs are foraging in your plants during the summer.Aphids and scale never take a break from eating. That’s because they reproduce so fast that their progeny take over when the adults die off. Even if you can’t see them, you’ll know when you have aphids in your trees. Their waste material is a sweet, sticky honey dew that drops anywhere under an infested tree. I suggest that you clean driveways, sidewalks, patios and pool decks right away; the stuff can be messy. If your vehicle gets hit, it’s off to the car wash.Although I haven’t seen it personally, arborists from other parts of the country have told me about ants farming aphids. When the population puts too much pressure on a tree, ants climb up, pick up some of the aphids and take them to another tree to establish a new colony. They do this because honey dew is a delicacy.Although gypsy moths are pretty well under control in our area, they do pop up occasionally. Gypsy moths are finishing feasting on the leaves of any tree they have infested. Soon the caterpillars will travel down the tree to pupate. Fall cankerworm larvae, commonly called inch worms, are also finishing their feeding.Some trees will soon begin hosting the fall webworm. Many property owners confuse this pest with the eastern tent caterpillar. You can tell the difference by placement of their tents, or webs. The fall webworm spins its webs on branch ends in late summer or early fall while the tent caterpillar spins its in the forks, or crotches, in the spring. This generation of tent caterpillar has completed its feeding cycle and is preparing to morph into egg laying adults.While the emerald ash borer is in the news, the fact of the matter is that their larvae may be feasting inside your valuable ash tree(s). They won’t emerge until next spring.When you look down instead of up, you may see small, moth-like bugs hovering over your lawn. These are sod webworm adults. When you see them, they are searching for places to lay their eggs. It is their larvae that feed on the succulent base of grass plants.In August, grubs may again come to dinner in your lawn. If you have seen June bugs flying around, slamming into your windows, you had better check for grubs toward the end of summer. Just cut one-foot square pieces of sod at different places in your yard. Peel the sod back and count the number of grubs, if any. If there are more than eight or more in each area, you should treat for them.An IPM (integrated pest management) program takes the burden of identifying and deciding on treatment options from your shoulders and puts it on an entomologist or IPM professional’s shoulder. Each pest must be treated differently. They have to be monitored so that the most effective treatment, or preventive, is applied at the optimum time in the pest’s life cycle and the results are monitored to be sure we have control. I certainly am happy that agriculture researchers developed this process, and that we have been able to adapt it.
Jeremy Passinault is the best tree climber in New York State, and Brian Krawczyk is the runner-up. That’s not just in Dave Dailey’s opinion. It is the opinion of some of the top arborists in New York State.You see, Jeremy won the New York State Arborists’ annual Tree Climbing Championship last Saturday (June 23) from among 29 contestants, and Brian was runner up. The competition was sponsored by the New York State Arborists, ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) Chapter.To win, the climbers journeyed to Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay on Long Island. There, they had to compete in five challenge events to qualify for the Masters Challenge. The Masters Challenge consisted of a single climb, during which the climbers have to perform simulated work tasks.For his win, Jeremy won a package of climbing equipment, plus a new chain saw. He will use the equipment when he competes in the international Tree Climbing Championship, August 11, in Portland, Oregon.This was Jeremy’s first NYS tree climbing championship win, but winning this event is nothing new to Birchcrest climbers. Brian won in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Jorge Obando, another champion climber from Birchcrest, won in 2010 and 2011. Brian took second in those championships, too. Jorge was not able to compete this year due to other commitments.Congratulations, Jeremy.This was your year to win. Good luck in Portland!
That is about the only advice that I can give during this drought. Lawns are dormant, but trees and shrubs aren’t. As a result, I am seeing a significant amount of stress, wilt and even death even among mature trees.While watering mature trees will not help your next water bill, it is certainly less expensive than replacing trees. That’s why I spend almost every evening in my yard watering the more than 500 trees on my property. I don’t water each one every night. Nor should you. Each one needs at least an inch of water a week, and it is better for the plants if you apply it all at once.Any tree that was planted within the last 18 to 24 months needs to be watered. Evergreens of every age should be watered, especially concolor firs (also known as white firs). Unlike deciduous trees, evergreens’ signs of stress are not wilting leaves and drooping branches. They just up and die. This is especially true for concolor firs. Consequently, you need to water even mature evergreens.Deciduous trees are not immune. Many mature shade trees are very stressed right now, especially maples. This means they, too, need water.Please refer to my post of July 3, entitled “Don’t let your Plants Be Drought Victims,” for the best trees and shrub watering methods and times.It rained on Thursday, but don’t let a day of rain lull you into thinking that the drought is over. A day of rain can provide a little relief temporarily, but stressed trees and shrubs are going to need a lot more water to bring them back to specimen condition. And, do not fertilize during this drought. Wait until fall to fertilize.
Did you think only you could get sunburn? Your trees can, too. It’s not a common problem in our area, but it does occur. It’s caused by the same conditions that sunburn us – sudden exposure to high heat and intense sun rays. Drought stress can also contribute to sunburned trees.The big difference between our sunburn and that of trees is the amount of time it takes for symptoms to show up. We turn red immediately, but it takes awhile for trees to exhibit any symptoms.Sunburn usually occurs on young trees and thin bark trees, especially those with dark bark. Sunburn damages the tissue just beneath the bark. The bark discolors and dries out, cracks and starts peeling off. These symptoms are quite similar to those for sunscald. However, sunscald occurs in the winter and is caused by freezing. Thus the more common name – frost cracking.In addition to drought stress, sunburn can be caused by sudden exposure to the sun. This can be caused by removing nearby shade, such as other trees or structures. If you are planting new trees, try not to plant them in the heat of summer. Otherwise, take special care to protect them until they become established.Protection measures start with watering. Be sure the tree receives one or two inches of water a week. Also, mulch and compost around the base of the tree. Organic mulch and compost will help the soil retain moisture and lower the soil temperature.Wrapping the trunk is another protective measure that I use very cautiously. Wraps include paper, cloth and even painting the trunk. The method most arborists, including me, prefer is to loosely wrap the trunk with light colored window screening This type of trunk guard reflects light, while allowing air and water to reach the bark.Tree roots are intended to keep the “plant” in its place. Thus, trees do not react well to environmental changes. Sunburn is one environmental change that we often don’t think of, but the results can be very devastating. However, sunburn can be prevented or treated. But prevention is much more effective than treatment. So, consider the effect on a specimen tree before removing the shade that has contributed to its good health for all these years.
At the height of the summer heat, your lawn suddenly turns brown, despite all the work that you put into maintaining it. Fear not; it isn’t dead. It is just dormant, riding out the hot spell.Nature has equipped turfgrass with the ability to go dormant when there is too much heat and too little water. If your neighbors’ grass is still green, it means that they have kept it watered. You can start watering now, and yours will come back, or you can wait for nature to take its course. Then, it will green up when temperatures cool and we get sufficient rain.It takes a lot of water to maintain a lawn during a hot, dry summer. Some people don’t have the time to water. Others are bound by municipal water restrictions. Still others do not want to spend the money to water their lawns. You will definitely see a spike in your water bill that quarter.Lawns need at least an inch of water a week, and it is best to apply it all in one watering. Just sprinkling will encourage shallow, unhealthy roots. Extended applications encourage deep, healthy roots.You have a wide choice of sprinklers. I prefer the oscillating sprinkler head. It provides the most consistent stream of water. How do you know when you have applied an inch of water? There is an easy, time-honored measurement method.Save a tuna (or cat food) can. They used to recommend coffee cans, but most coffee is now sold in either bags or plastic cans. Measure an inch on the can and place in the water stream and note the time it takes to fill the can to an inch. Then each time you reposition the sprinkler, water for the same amount of time. A tuna can is shallow enough that you can let it fill all the way to the top. If you don’t want to bother timing, you can place the can in the water stream and move the sprinkler each time the can fills up.If you choose not to water, here are a few recommendations for protecting the dormant grass:
The bottom line is that you have two choices. You can provide your lawn with an inch or more of water a week and enjoy it just as you do during the spring and fall, or you can let nature take its course and find recreational pursuits that do not require walking on the grass.It should take several good rains before a dormant lawn comes back to life. If patches fail to re-green, they need renovation. We (or you) rake out the dead grass, rough up the soil, scatter seed, rake the new seed into the soil, and water. Or, you can just lay sod.
Drought conditions are almost upon us. Statistically, our rainfall is ahead of average for June by about an inch, but all of that came in the early part of the month. We have had less than a half-inch of rain in the last part of the month.As I look at customers’ and potential customers’ plants, I am seeing the start of stress that is caused by drought. Lawns are even starting to brown up.In the absence of rain, your landscape plants will be looking to you for water. Making sure that your landscape plants have at least an inch of water per week should be your number one gardening task this summer.I don’t know about you, but watering is not my favorite gardening task. However, it is critical to good plant health. Consequently, we just have to do it.Apply the inch of water in a single watering, or two applications if one is not possible. Do not just sprinkle a little bit every day. Sprinkled water never sinks deep into the soil. As a result, roots remain shallow and weak. Extended watering encourages deeper, stronger roots.Trees, shrubs and bedding plants should be watered differently from lawns. While lawns need to be sprayed due to their large area, other plants should be drip irrigated.The easiest, and most expensive, drip irrigation is an automatic irrigation system with drip heads. These are buried at the base of the plants and set to drip water over a long period of time. If you don’t want to invest in such a system, you can buy soaker hoses at any garden center. These do the same thing as a drip irrigator.Soaker hoses are porous rubber hoses, manufactured from recycled tires. They connect to any outside faucet, and the water is turned on only a quarter turn. Water then seeps out of the porous rubber. The third option is to just lay a hose, without a nozzle, at the base of a plant and open the faucet only until the water trickles out.Garden centers have a number of lawn sprayers to choose from. Some rotate back and forth like the windshield wipers on your car. Others spray like a fountain, but the model I like best is an oscillator because hey thoroughly water a wide swath. Commercial versions of these can be seen on golf courses and commercial properties.Early morning is the best time of day to water plants. Then they will be well hydrated during the heat of the day. If you can’t do it at that time, early evening, just before dusk, is the next best time. Don’t wait until it is dark, or the dampness you create can encourage mildew.If drought conditions get any worse, you may need to prioritize your watering regimen. You can prioritize by each plant’s sentimental or intrinsic value, its importance in the landscape, or its replacement value.We usually prioritize by replacement value. Trees are the most expensive to replace, but only young trees just getting established need supplemental watering. Large, well established trees have roots that extend deep enough to find water. Shrubs have the next highest replacement value, followed by perennials. Annuals can be replaced quite inexpensively. Often we change out annuals part way through the season anyway.Turfgrass has the ability to protect itself by going dormant during a drought. From a strictly economic standpoint, your lawn should be at the bottom of your watering priority. I will cover turfgrass survival during summer heat in another blog soon.
Your evergreens, especially conifers (pines, spruce, etc.) have been taking full advantage of our early spring weather conditions. You can tell this by the amount of new growth they are sporting. New growth is the lighter colored, softer needles that appear on the branch tips in spring.Soon that tender foliage will darken to the tree or shrub’s normal color. The branches will harden and the needles will stiffen. That usually happens in June, although it has been known to extend into July. When it happens, it’s time to prune.r needles that appear on the branch tips in spring.As with all pruning, evergreen pruning should be done with a specific purpose in mind. That may be to shape or thin the tree or shrub, or to reduce its size or raise its “crown.”Shrub pruning may be a relatively safe do-it-yourself job, but we don’t recommend it for major tree pruning. Pruning a large pine or spruce tree can be dangerous in a number of ways. First, you will, most likely, have to leave the ground to reach the upper branches. Not a good idea. Second, those needles are sharp, especially if they fall on you, or whip around and hit you. Third, each cut lets more messy sap ooze out and get all over you.Please wear eye protection, no matter what size evergreen you are pruning. If you are pruning over head, wear a hard hat. And, if you are using power tools, wear ear protection, too.If you have a taxus (yew) border or foundation planting, pruning and shaping is probably an annual task. I hope this is just maintenance pruning – removing the new growth. If that is the case, don’t wait until the new growth matures. It is much easier to prune when the new growth has finished growing but before it matures (turns color). The soft wood cuts easily and cleanly, and the color differentiation is a good guide for shaping. This year, the time to prune has arrived.Broadleaf evergreens like rhododendrons and boxwoods should also be pruned in June. They, too, put on new growth in early spring and are ready for pruning right now. Pruning evergreens should follow the same procedures as pruning deciduous trees.Prune only at a fork. In the case of tight plants like boxwood, cuts can be made just above a leaf’s attachment to the branch. Cuts on looser plants like rhododendrons should be made at a branch crotch or at the base of the offending branch.
This is the one time of year when the emerald ash borer (EAB) can be seen, if you have good eyes. The tiny, metallic green adults have emerged from inside infested ash trees, and have taken flight in search of a mate.Your eyes have to be good to see EAB adults because they are tiny – a mere half inch long – and their goal is to lay eggs way up in the tree tops. This is the time of year to take action to protect your non-infested ash trees and treat any ash tree that may already be infested.Everyone in the green industry is looking for a way to help you do this and, of course, make a buck. Recently, a story appeared in a local newspaper in which a garden store recommended do-it-yourself treatment using a product containing Imidacloprid for soil drench and a product containing carbaryl to spray in the tree crowns. I am writing this to warn you that you will be wasting your money if you invest in this or any do-it-yourself remedy for this persistent pest. It is a job for tree health care professionals.Imidacloprid is the only material labeled for consumer use. However, the maximum legal strength for consumer use is so weak that it can only be effective on trees two to three inches in diameter. And, the more is better theory won’t work. Even using commercial strength Imidicloprid as a preventive measure requires annual applications, twice a year to treat an already infested tree.As for spraying carbaryl, you’ll likely only kill any bees near the spray. EAB adults are looking for love, not food.The only product I recommend is called TREEage, and is only sold to state licensed applicators who have been trained by the manufacturer in the use of its product and application equipment. The active ingredient in TREEage is Emanmectin Benzoate, and it only has to be applied every two years as a preventative, annually as a treatment.My conclusions were echoed by a research scientist with the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources and other scientists.Trying to treat this deadly pest yourself is really false economy. You can hire a tree health professional to apply TREEage every two years for a good many years for what it will cost to have a large, dead ash tree removed and replaced after the emerald ash borer kills it.
When tree or other plant damage is imminent, I will be the first to tell you about it. But, I won’t use scare tactics or try to sell you treatment for insects and diseases that might come some day. A disease called thousand cankers falls into that category.I have begun to hear rumors of its arrival here in upstate New York, but I haven’t really seen anything to support that.Thousand cankers is a disease that affects members of the walnut family. It was first discovered in the west, and Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, a professor at Colorado State University is one of the authorities on the subject. I first heard of his research back in 2009.Dr. Cranshaw explained that the fungal disease is carried by a little insect called the walnut twig beetle. When an insect carries a disease, it is called a vector. Thousand cankers was killing black walnut trees in the west. Dr. Cranshaw blamed that on the fact that black walnuts are eastern trees that were introduced to the west. He predicted that the disease would eventually come east, but that our black walnuts would be able to resist it. He was right so far. Like so many other landscape pest problems, the infected walnut twig beetle hitchhiked east aboard black walnut logs purchased by eastern craftsmen. Black walnut is a valuable, sought-after species of hardwood for such products as furniture.Thousand cankers has been identified in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia but not here. Here in the Rochester area, we have seen a similar disease in less valuable butternut trees. At first, we thought this disease was thousand cankers, but Dr. Gary Moorman, professor of plant pathology at Penn State, says, “Butternuts are being eliminated from the east by another fungus, one that is probably (also) insect vectored.” In his trade magazine article and trade show seminar in Connecticut last November, Dr. Moorman said that English walnuts are susceptible to Thousand Cankers.In the west, it takes eight to 10 years of continuous feeding by the beetle to kill a black walnut tree. We don’t know the impact in the east. The U.S. Forest Service has set up quarantines in all western states, and the three eastern states in which the disease has been found have set up quarantines. Several north central states in which black walnut trees grow have prohibited the importation of walnut, including black walnut, trees. New York is not one of them.Thousand cankers disease is high on my list of insects and diseases to keep my eye on, but there is no evidence that it is anywhere near our area, unless someone recently transported black walnut logs here from the west. I certainly hope that is not the case.
Gardeners and farmers used to depend on the calendar, almanacs and journals to schedule their planting. That’s not necessary today, thanks to research by dedicated horticulturists.One tradition that has lived on, however, is to keep a journal. Journals used to be important to gardeners and farmers. Important data were kept in them from previous seasons. The data included the dates on which the writer was able to begin working in the garden and when specific crops were planted and the weather conditions. Journals can help you plan your garden for the following year(s).The only difference between the journals of old and today is that today’s will probably be kept on your laptop or tablet.When I was growing up, planting flowers (annuals) on Memorial Day was a tradition. This was due partly to weather and partly to tradition. Today, however, you probably plant much earlier than Memorial Day. If you consult your journals, you will see that spring conditions are arriving earlier each year.By jotting down weather conditions in your journal for each day, you can track the date and the weather for your first foray into the garden each year. This will unshackle you from the calendar’s grip. This is as it should be. If spring warmth arrives early, there is no reason not to greet it with beautiful flowers. This way, you can extend the enjoyment you derive from your garden.The two biggest contributors to “G” Day (the day you launch the gardening season) are temperature and sunlight. Be sure that the chance of a spring frost is gone and be sure you have sufficient hours of sunlight.If you follow these simple ideas, you won’t have to sit inside with one eye on the calendar and one eye enjoying your neighbor’s flowers before Memorial Day. Your gardening season will be in full swing long before the parade.
