Plant Spotlight-Eastern Redbud

Eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis) are one of my favorite signs of spring.  This small tree is native to the eastern United States.  It’s early lavender to pink flowers bloom before the heart-shaped leaves emerge.  This tree is naturally found as an understory tree in mixed forests, and prefers moist, well-drained soil but it is adaptable to a range of soil conditions.  It’s small size, maturing at a height and spread of 15-20 feet, makes it easy to fit in a suburban yard.

Aside from their obvious beauty, redbuds have other benefits in the yard.  The spring flowers provide nectar for bees.  Once pollinated, the flowers produce bean-like pods that provide a food source for birds.  Redbuds are members of the family Fabaceae, the same family that beans and peas belong too, and can fix their own nitrogen from the soil.

Several varieties have been selected for a range of flower and foliage colors.  C. canadensis var. ‘alba’ has white flowers while other cultivars range from pale pink to dark lavender-red.  “Merlot” and “Forest Pansy” were selected for their dark purple-red foliage while “Rising Sun” has pale yellow foliage in early spring.  Foliage color may vary depending on the amount of sun that the plant receives.

If you are looking to add a small tree to your yard or property, consider an eastern redbud.

Precipitation Prediction …

~Dr. Diana Rashash

Yikes! It has been downright soggy outside for much of December, January, and February. The next couple of months are predicted to have a slightly higher chance of being wetter than average, as shown in the map below for March, April, and May. Then, we enter a period of equal chances, followed by below average precipitation for the fall.





Source: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=1

The temperature, however, is another matter. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center website is predicting an increased probability of above normal temperatures from April onward. These predictions are based on the current El Niño gradually decreasing and changing over to a more-neutral situation, and then to La Niña in the fall.

It’s amazing how sea surface temperatures off the California coast can be such a significant driver of conditions here in eastern North Carolina. For now, we just need it to dry out enough to be able to get into our gardens and fields. Will we be wishing for rain later this year? Maybe. If you establish new trees or shrubs this spring, be prepared to provide supplemental water – if needed – later in the summer.

March Tips and Tricks

Spring blooming bulbs should be fertilized just as the new growth emerges. If your bulbs have already flowered, wait until November to fertilize with a complete fertilizer such as 10-10-10. Summer flowering bulbs can be fertilized when the shoots emerge.

Fertilize trees and shrubs before active growth begins (before mid-March). Fertilize based on your soil test for best results. For more information about fertilizing trees and shrubs, stop by the office and pick up a copy of “A Gardener’s Guide to Fertilizing Trees and Shrubs”. Fertilize perennials and annuals in April. Do not fertilize warm season grasses yet. Wait until May or June for best results.

If necessary, continue application of pre-emergent herbicides to centipede and St Augustine lawns through early March. Avoid applications of once turf starts to green up. Bring weed samples to the plant clinic for specific herbicide recommendations. While you are here, request a lawn maintenance calendar for your turf type.

Apply a fresh layer of mulch to ornamental beds to suppress summer annual weed seeds now. Make sure mulch is not deeper than 3-4 inches total.

March is an excellent time to relocate plants or transplant container grown plants. Fall blooming perennials can be divided now. (Divide spring blooming perennials in the fall.) Keep an eye on new plants and replanted divisions through the spring and summer and provide adequate water to make sure they establish well.

Many cool season spring vegetable crops can be planted now. Early March is a good time to transplant broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage plants. Asparagus beds should be established by the end of March. Kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, radish, turnips, and spinach can be started from seed through the beginning of April. Potatoes can be planted until the beginning of May.

Remember to wait until after the last frost to plant warm season crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers. The last frost in Onslow County is usually the second or third week in April. However, this is just an average – in any given year the last frost may be earlier or later. Plan to plant tender crops after April 20 and be prepared to protect these crops from a late frost if necessary. Heat-loving crops like okra, eggplant, sweet potato and watermelons will do better if you wait an extra couple of weeks for the soil and air temperatures to warm.

Mole Pesticide Update

For a long time, moles have been one of those problems with no good answer. But times have changed. During my five years in Onslow County, I have been informing clients that moles were not considered a pest by law and that one species, the star-nosed mole, is actually a species of concern in North Carolina. This meant that your options for control were limited. The primary recommendation was to control the mole’s food source (focusing primarily on white grubs) in the hopes that the moles would move to another location.

In 2014, the North Carolina Pesticide Board declared eastern moles (Scolopus aquaticus) and hairy-tailed moles (Parascalops breweri) as pests, and made it legal to use pesticides to control them. Manufacturers have been submitting their products for registration. Some products have already been approved for use and other products are still awaiting approval.

This means that you can use pesticides registered to control the eastern mole and the hairy-tailed mole in turf in the following areas: residential; commercial; government property, excluding federal and state parks; golf courses, driving ranges, and golf instructional facilities; sod farms; athletic fields; and/or visitor centers and cemeteries. Mole pesticides can not be used in pastures and should not be applied within 100 feet of natural or man-made bodies of water, including but not limited to, streams, rivers, ponds, swamps, lakes, and wetlands or at elevations of 4000 feet or greater.

Some of the products that are registered include Motomco Mole Killer, Talpirid, Tomcat Mole Killer, and Victor Moleworms. Information from the University of Missouri indicates that the efficacy of toxic baits is questionable. One issue is that many toxic baits rely on a grain, seed or nut bases to deliver the chemical. However, since moles do not prefer grains as a meal, instead focusing on prey such as white grubs and earthworms, the effectiveness of these baits may be limited. Products that mimic a grub or worm may be a better choice.

If you choose to use pesticides to control moles in your yard, read and carefully follow all label directions. Be sure to use these products in a way that prevents children and pets from coming in to contact with them.

Even with the use of pesticides, moles are not likely to be a problem with an easy answer. Due to the nature of these creatures, even if you succeed in killing one, another may quickly take up residence in your yard. Consider white grub control as appropriate and walking down tunnels as they appear. When all else fails, appreciate moles for their value as predators feeding on the white grubs and other pests in your turf.

Spring’s First Crops – Peas and Potatoes

Winter isn’t gone yet but I can’t resist the urge to get out in the garden and plant.  Peas and potatoes are two of my favorite spring vegetables – for one reason because they are tasty but I think even more so because they are one of the first vegetables that I can plant as winter starts to fade in to spring.  

Garden peas, and their edible-podded relatives, snow peas and sugar snaps are easy and productive crops to grow.  In coastal areas, peas can be planted outside as early as mid-January.  As you move further inland, delay planting by a week or two but make sure to get in the ground by mid-February at the latest.  These cool season vegetables need to mature before hot weather sets in. 

Peas should be grown from seed in the garden.  Soaking your pea seeds before planting will speed germination.  Place them in a jar of water and soak them for 6-8 hours just before planting.  I often set mine to soak the night before and plant them the next morning.  If you have not grown peas in your garden before, treat them with inoculum (available online or at garden centers).  Inoculum provides the beneficial bacteria that allow the pea plants to fix their own nitrogen. 

Sow seeds an inch deep and one to two inches apart. Water well after sowing and keep moist until seedlings begin to emerge, usually within seven to ten days. Peas are a vining crop and benefit from a low trellis or even just a row of branches to climb on.  I recommend making several small plantings 2-3 weeks apart as some plantings will perform better than others, depending on the season. 

Fresh peas will be ready to harvest 65 to 80 days after planting. Tasty raw or cooked, many of my sugar snap and snow peas never make it as far as the house.

Potatoes are great fun to grow and a neat way to get kids interested in the garden.  Potatoes can be planted in early February.  Purchase seed potatoes from a garden center.  These small potatoes have been grown under special conditions to ensure that they are free of diseases.  Seed potatoes usually give better results than potatoes purchased from the grocery store or those held over from the previous season. 

Kennebec and Red Pontiac are classic varieties that do well in coastal North Carolina but I have great results with Yukon Gold.  I love the moist texture and buttery taste of this gold-fleshed variety. 

Cut seed potatoes into pieces that are each about the size of an egg and container at least one eye.  You can plant your seed pieces right away or sprout them indoors for a few weeks by placing them in a warm, sunny location. 

Plant seed pieces six inches deep and ten inches apart in the row with three feet between rows. Keep in mind twelve pounds of seed potatoes can plant around one hundred feet of row and yield over two hundred pounds of spuds.  Potatoes can also be grown successfully in large containers – I grow mine in 25 gallon pots but people have also been successful with trashcans, large baskets and similar containers. 

As the shoots grow, “hill up” around the base of the plants with soil or mulch.  New tubers are set between the seed potato and the surface of the soil.  Depending on the variety, potatoes will take 85-110 days to grow to maturity.  When the tops of the plants start to die back, it is time to dig the potatoes.  Harvesting potatoes is a bit of a treasure hunt and fun for children of all ages!

Other cool season vegetables that you can plant in February include lettuce, spinach, radish, mustard, turnip greens, beets, turnips, kohlrabi, carrots, cabbage and broccoli. 

The Problem with This Beautiful, Warm Weather

My pear trees are blooming.

These blossoms will not be productive nor will they 

be available to bear fruit in the spring.

The weather this fall has been gorgeous - warm and sunny. As delightful as the weather has been, it may pose some problems in the garden this winter. Normally, at this point in the season, cooler temperatures and several frosts would have pushed many of our plants in to dormancy. Due to unusually warm weather and just two periods of light frost, many of our plants are not hardened off for winter. If temperatures stay warm and then drop precipitously in January or February, we could experience a lot of winter damage on plants. Particularly those that are marginally hardy in our area. Ongoing warm weather could result in bud loss on many of our fruit crops including strawberries, peaches, and pears. 

What can you do? There is not a whole lot that you can do to control Mother Nature but do resist the urge to get out in the garden and prune woody plants. Pruning helps stimulate plant growth and pruning at this point could result in additional winter damage. If possible, wait until late February or March to prune woody plants including grape vines.

Recognizing the Master Gardener Volunteers

I would like to take a moment to recognize the Master Gardener Volunteers who work so hard to help me answer the gardening questions that we receive in Onslow County.  These volunteers support a variety of projects including manning the Plant Clinic and Ask-A-Master Gardener booths at community events, providing educational classes to the public, and working to plant and grow the Discovery Gardens of Onslow. 

In 2015, the Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteers provided over 4,815 hours of service to our community.  This brings the program to a lifetime total of 46,340 hours donated to Onslow County over the last twenty years.  This group contains many wonderful volunteers and each year I struggle to select one outstanding member to recognize as Master Gardener Volunteer of the Year.  This year, I want to recognize Teri Welch. 

Teri has been an active Master Gardener Volunteer since she graduated from the training class in 2013.  Teri has been active in many roles including the Plant Clinic and as a board member.  She has played a stand out role as chair for our Public Events Committee.  She coordinates our public events, ensures that Master Gardener Volunteers are signed up to work their shifts, and makes sure that they have everything they need to be successful.  Her outgoing nature and people-skills make her a real asset at public events, she can talk to anyone, anywhere!  Teri shows up at each meeting with a smile and a tray of her delightful deviled eggs.  Teri has volunteered over 319 hours this year alone and over 759 hours in her three years with the program.  Thank you, Teri!

A major project of the Onslow County Master Gardener Volunteers is the Discovery Garden.  At completion, this 4-acre teaching garden will serve as an education and outreach tool for the Master Gardener Volunteers as well as a beautiful space for the community to come together and enjoy the natural world.  We have a great group of volunteers that show up every week to weed, water, mulch, plant, haul, chop, fix and dig.  We have made a lot of progress this year and expect to see things move along quickly in 2016 but we couldn’t do what we do without our Workday Wednesday Crew!  For this reason, I would also like to recognize Gary Gerard as Discovery Garden Volunteer of the Year. 

Gary has been an active Master Gardener Volunteer since he graduated from the training class in 2012.  Gary is an anchor of the Discovery Garden Workday crew.  He shows up religiously and doesn’t stopping working.  I struggle to stay out ahead of him and other volunteers struggle to keep up with him!  In addition to his efforts during workdays, he keeps all of our small engine equipment maintained, repaired and ready to go.  He can build anything we need out of wood whether it’s a raised bed (he prepared all of the materials for the raised bed garden) or a birdhouse.  In addition to his work in the gardens, Gary takes an active role in the Plant Clinic, answering client questions each Friday afternoon.  This year, he broke in to teaching as well.  He taught a class on Equipment Maintenance and Repair that students still rave about!

If you see Teri and Gary in the Plant Clinic, public events, the Discovery Gardens or at classes this year, please thank them for their hard work and efforts on behalf of Onslow County’s gardeners and the Discovery Gardens.  Thank you, Teri and Gary!