New Year Resolutions for Gardeners

The beginning of each new year is a time for looking back on the past, and even more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want or need to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.  As gardeners, there are steps that we can take to improve the ecology and sustainability of our landscapes.  Consider adopting one or more of these resolutions for your garden this year:

Plan your vegetable garden for year round production.  In most coastal counties, you can grow some sort of vegetable.  Careful planning will provide you with produce to harvest year round – reducing your grocery bills and your carbon foot print.

Incorporate fruit and vegetable crops into your landscape.  Fruit trees can function as ornamental trees or shrubs in the landscape while small fruits and even vegetables can be integrated into your sunny flowerbeds to add beauty and providing food too.

Choose plants and varieties that are low maintenance and easy to grow in our area.  Figs, muscadine grapes, rabbiteye blueberries and persimmons grow well in Onslow county.  If you must grow pears, choose a variety that is resistant to fire blight (a common disease in our area) such as Seckel, Moonglow, Kieffer or Magness. Avoid planting crops that will require a lot of pesticide sprays (like apples or many varieties of non-muscadine grapes) to produce a quality crop.

Commit to composting.  Composting is a sustainable way of dealing with garden waste and household food scraps that provides you with a valuable soil amendment and can reduce your fertilizer and pesticide inputs in the garden.  Use your compost to build your soil.  Soils that are high in organic matter store water and nutrients better, improving plant growth and productivity.

Minimize carbon-emitting inputs to the garden.  Gasoline-powered tools like lawn mowers and leaf blowers are obvious sources of carbon dioxide emissions but synthetic fertilizers and pesticides require a lot of energy to manufacture, package and transport.  Weed, prune and rake leaves by hand when possible.  Reduce pesticide and fertilizer use by choosing crops wisely and planting them in locations where they will thrive.  Rotate vegetable crops annually to reduce insect and disease pressures.  Test your soil and only apply nutrients that are needed.

Harvest, store and use your rainwater.  Use cisterns or rainbarrels to collect the water that runs off your roof – use this water first to irrigate your lawn, garden and container gardens. 

Minimize your watering needs.  Improve the water holding capacity of your soil by adding organic matter.  Mulch exposed soil in gardens and flowerbeds to suppress weeds and maintain soil moisture.  When designing new plantings, choose plants that will be drought tolerant after establishment (crape myrtles, Chinese and Japanese hollies, junipers, many bulbs, Mediterranean herbs such as sage, rosemary and thyme, and many ornamental grasses just to name a few).

Consider adding chickens, bees or other small livestock to your yard.  If you are up for the additional responsibility and commitment, chickens, ducks, guinea hens, rabbits or other small livestock help cycle nutrients in your garden.  Carefully managed poultry can help control insect pests and weeds while providing nitrogen and phosphorus to improve soil fertility.  Bees pollinate many of our vegetable crops – the loss of native pollinators makes the efforts of beekeepers even more important.

Whichever resolution you choose, I want to wish you and your garden a Happy New Year and a great growing season!

January/February Newsletter is Available Online Now

The January/February edition of my newsletter, In the Garden Now, is available online now.  Topics include:

*New Year Resolutions for Gardeners
*Add Winter Interest to You Garden
*Planning Your Spring Vegetable Garden
*Great Evergreens for Screens and Hedges

You will also find timely tips and tasks as well as information about our upcoming Master Gardener Volunteer class and our spring HELP Garden class.

You can find the newsletter here:  http://onslow.ces.ncsu.edu/content/In%20The%20Garden%20Now

Controlling Floriday Betony

Now is the time to control Florida betony.  This weed is found throughout the southeast and has the paired leaves and square stem characteristic of the mint family.  Florida betony is also known as wild artichoke or rattlesnake weed.  Both of these names refer to the distinguishing structure of Florida betony – the swollen white tubers that are produced underground.  These tubers resemble the segments of a rattlesnake’s tail or a white grub.  These structures are responsible for the persistent nature of Florida betony.  The tubers are also edible.

Florida betony is a cool season perennial weed.  It goes dormant during the heat of summer but grows enthustiastically in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall.  Control of Florida betony depends on the location – treatment in lawns is easier than landscape beds.  

Controlling Florida betony in lawns requires a multipronged approach.  In lawns, the first step to weed control is to optimize turf growth.  A dense stand of regularly mowed grass will compete better against Florida betony and other weeds.  Follow the correct cultural practices for your lawn to make it as thick and healthy as possible.  This includes mowing at the correct height and frequency, as well as  fertilizing at the right time and rate for your grass type.   Cultural requirements vary depending on the type of grass you have in your lawn.  For more information, request a lawn maintenance calendar for your turf type from your local Cooperative Extension Office.  

There are selective herbicides that can be used for control in lawns but the herbicide option will depend on the type of grass you have.  Herbicides that contain 2,4-D as the active ingredient work well on zoysia and bermuda lawns.  Centipede and St. Augustine are sensitive to 2,4-D.  For this reason, atrazine is frequently used to control Florida betony in these turfs.  That said, combination products that contain 2,4-D, MCPP and dicamba (Weed-B-Gone, Spectracide 33 Plus) can be used on St. Augustine and centipede lawns as long as the lower label rates indicated for the turf type are used.  When using any product, it is important that your sprayer be properly calibrated to apply herbicide at an accurate rate.  As with any chemical, make sure you read and follow all label directions.  Stay out of the border of shrub beds or the drip line of individual trees or shrubs in the landscape when using these products.

Regardless of the herbicide you use, you will need to make more than one application to achieve control.  It often takes two years to completely control Florida betony.  The best time to spray for control is in the fall as the weed is starting to grow for the season (October-November) and again in the spring (February-March). 

Controlling Florida betony in perennial beds is more of a challenge.  Pulling is not very effective since it leaves tubers behind in the soil.  If you are going to remove Florida betony by hand, dig carefully to remove the tubers.  This technique is effective in small areas.  Make sure that tuber-infested soil is disposed of carefully so the Florida betony doesn’t spread to a new area.  Do not compost the tubers.  Applying a thick mulch, 3-4 inches deep, can help slow the spread of Florida betony but will not control it completely. 

Glyphosate (RoundUp and other brands) can be used to control larger infestations in flowerbeds.  Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide so it will damage or kill any plant it comes in contact with.  However, careful targeted spraying can provide control.  Spray only when there is little to no wind and air temperatures are less than 85 degrees.  Some spray nozzles come with a cone that be used to prevent drift.  Certain product formulations marketed to homeowners now come with a “foam” setting that helps reduce drift and allow you to track application better.  Glyphosate application is particularly effective when the Florida betony is in flower – typically in mid to late spring. 

The key to effective Florida betony control is good management, appropriate herbicide selection, accurate timing of application and persistence.

Brand names are included as examples only and are not intended as an endorsement.  Active ingredients may be marketed under many different formulation and brand names.

Trees and Hurricanes

Hurricane Irene was not kind to the trees in Onslow County.  During my post-storm inspection of the county I noticed a lot of trees that were down or damaged to the extent that they needed to be removed.  However, it was interesting to note that the majority of the damage was limited to a very small number of tree species.  Bradford pears and pecan trees definitely bore the brunt of the damage but there were a smattering of water oaks down as well. 

So what do we do now?  Many people are afraid of any tree in a hurricane but it is obvious that some tree species withstand these high wind events much better than others.  The University of Florida (UF) has done extensive research on tree survival in hurricanes.  This study looked at many factors that related to tree survival in hurricanes but today we are going to look at just one factor: species selection.  Some tree species are simply more resistant to wind than others.  It would be wise to take this fact into consideration when choosing trees for your property. 

Good trees for our area that show the highest level wind resistance based on this study include: American holly, yaupon holly, crape myrtle, southern magnolia, live oak, bald cypress, pond cypress, and sabal palm.  Those rated medium-high for wind resistance include: Japanese maple, river birch, ironwood, sweet bay magnolia, shumard oak and hickories.  Consider using these species to reduce future storm damage potential on your property.

Equally important to note is which trees fared most poorly in the UF study.  Common local landscape trees that showed the lowest wind resistance include: pecan, tulip poplar, Bradford pear, southern red, laurel and water oaks, Chinese elm, and Leyland cypress.  These species should be avoided in landscape plantings.  Pecans should be situated well away from structures and power lines.  Likewise, red and silver maples, sycamore, white and willow oaks, weeping willow, and American elm scored medium-low wind resistance so avoid these as well or use them only with caution. 

We will discuss how to assess a storm-damaged tree and other factors relating to hurricane-survival in future posts.  Meanwhile for more information about hurricanes and trees, check out the University of Florida’s site Trees and Hurricanes here http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/treesandhurricanes/. 

Slime Flux or Wet Wood

Several weeks ago, I had a very interesting home visit.  A woman told me that the sap was bubbling out of the base of her tree.  When I arrived, the sap was indeed bubbling out of the base of a mature oak tree.  It was bubbling along so quickly it made me think of a pot simmering on the stove.  There was a strong wine-grape smell in the air as well.  The sap was attracting a lot of green June beetles and an assortment of wasps and bees.  This is what I saw:

When I pried some of the outer bark off, the inner bark was soft and spongy:

After a little research, I found out that this a bacterial disease called "slime flux" or "wet wood".  Slime flux is a bacterial disease common in large, mature landscape oaks, tulip poplars and elms.  Bacteria carry out fermentation under the bark of the tree and produce carbon dioxide gas in the process.  The gas forces sap out of the bark under pressure - hence the bubbling. 

Slime flux isn't a serious problem if the tree is otherwise healthy.  These is no cure or prevention for slime flux other than maintaining trees in good health and minimizing wounds or injuries.If there is lose or dead bark in the affected area, remove the loose bark and allow the area to air dry.  Do not apply any sort of wound dressing.


You can learn more about slime flux here:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/oldnotes/od8.html

Bradford Pears Blooming Out of Season

In my last email, I mentioned that a lot of bradford pears damaged by Hurricane Irene are reblooming now.  Blooming out of season is a normal response of plants that have been stressed.  This storm left behind an interesting phenomena - many of the affected trees are blooming only on the windward side.  This is same side that they lost most of the their leaves on during the hurricane.  The loss of leaves triggers a hormone response that promotes flowering.  The tree shown above is a perfect example - this tree is in front of the public library in Richlands.  

As long as these trees haven't lost large limbs, they will probably recover well over the longterm.  You may see some decrease in bloom next spring if your tree is blooming this fall.  I have also seen some cherry trees and azalea shrubs reblooming.
 

Fairy Ring

Rings of mushrooms may crop up after rain in the fall.  These rings are referred to as “fairy rings”.  The mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of a larger fungus that is growing in the ground.  Generally fairy rings only pose an aesthetic issue in home lawns.  Frequent moving will remove the mushrooms or you can knock them over with your foot as you see them coming up.  Over time, the fungus in the soil may make the soil resistant to water infiltration.  If grass starts to brown around the ring, frequent regular aeration (with a plug aerator or the tines of a pitch fork) will help promote water infiltration, soil rewetting and grass survival.