Yellow Nutsedge Control

This yellow-green plant is soon to be making its presence know it lawns throughout the area. It's called Yellow Nutsedge and it's a problem.

As the weather warms up it will be easier to spot. This time of the year, it will shoot up rapidly after mowing, more rapidly than your lawn, leaving the lawn looking unattractive. It is yellow-green color makes it easy to identify, and if you inspect closely, you will see that it has stems that are triangular in cross section...lawn grasses will always by round to flattened in shape.

Nutsedge gets its name from the small "nut-like" tubers it sets underground. These are produced at the ends of underground stems, or rhizomes. These tubers or "nutlets" can sprout immediately, forming a new plant capable of producing more rhizomes and more tubers, or lay dormant for years. Over the course of one growing season, one plant can develop into hundreds of new plants, that combined have the potential to produce nutlets numbering in the thousands. That's why quick control is recommended.

 

Now is the time to start treating. Use Hi-Yield Nutsedge Control and make sure to follow label directions, using Spreader Sticker in with your spray mix. That part is critical. Wait several days after mowing before you treat to make it easier to see the problem areas. That also allows time for more foliage to emerge, increasing the effectiveness of your spray application. You should also wait several days after applying before you mow to give things a chance to move through the plant.

If you've had nutsedge growing in your yard for a while, you will also have a lot of dormant tubers. These dormant tubers provide this persistent weed a chance to redevelop in treated areas. If this happens, reapplication will be necessary. Keep in mind that tubers can lie dormant for several years before sprouting, so eliminating this troublesome weed after it has established itself can take several years of regular treatment. The good news is that if you stick with it, you can get the problem cleaned up.

Too Much Moisture!

Recent weeks have given us more rain than usual, and unfortunately, just about any time we see excessive periods of rain, we see an increase in disease problems. Some problems are already showing up, others are likely to follow. Quick action is the key to minimizing problems that diseases bring with them. Here are a few tips to help you.

 

Tomatoes - One of the more common complaints about tomato plants is related to leaf diseases. Early Blight and Septoria Leaf Spot are common in our vegetable gardens and often end the tomato season prematurely.

Excessive moisture increases the occurrence of these diseases, so be prepared for some problems. Good disease control practices can help minimize disease problems. Start by making sure you mulch around your tomato plants. Mulching helps control the splashing of soil and the disease spores it contains onto the lower leaves. We like to use wheat straw, pine straw or alfalfa mulch. Preventive fungicides like Fertilome Broad Spectrum Fungicide can also be used.

 

Fruit Trees - If you have done a good job keeping your fruit trees sprayed for leaf and fruit diseases already, don’t stop now! If you haven’t been applying anything, you may need to get started. We have several good disease control products for fruit trees. Keep in mind that not all products work on all fruit tree diseases, so it is important to make sure you are applying the right products to target the disease you’re are trying to control. Let us know what kind of fruit trees you have and we will help you select the right product.

 

Roses - Black Spot and Powdery Mildew samples are already being brought in by customers. To reduce your chances of dealing with these diseases, start by planting your roses in places that receive lots of sun and good air movement.

Planting rose varieties that are naturally resistant to these diseases also helps. If you do find yourself dealing with these problems, fungicides will be needed. We have two by Fertilome that we use that provide good control, Liquid Systemic Fungicide and F-Stop.

 

Lawns - Excessive moisture this time of the year often leads into the development of Brown Patch, a disease that creates irregular brown “patches” in tall fescue lawns and in severe cases, kills out areas of turf.

Warmer weather in the upcoming weeks will bring this one on. Although it is very common, most infections will only result in visual damage and eventually the lawn will recover. In years where the disease pressure is higher or in yards that are more prone to disease, prevention may be warranted. Use Fertilome F-Stop and start your applications before the disease gets started. That will be fairly soon. One other recommendation would be to avoiding excessive fertilizer this time of year.

If you have questions about what you are seeing on your plants, let us know. The quicker you identify problems and address them, the less damaging they will be. Bring in samples or email us pictures. We will do our best to get you the information you need and help you make the best decisions possible. You can email pictures and your questions to info@skinnergardenstore.com.

Slugs....Yuck!

As you may have noticed, we are having a very wet spring here in Northeast Kansas. While the yards are greening up and flowers are blooming, you may have also noticed a thriving slug population in your gardens and flower beds. What are these slimy things, and what do I do about them?

Slugs are mollusks, in the same family as oysters or clams, and are basically snails without a shell. These destructive pests have been known to devour your bulbs, vegetables, annuals, perennials, shrubs and more. One of their favorite snacks seems to be hostas. Thick leafed hostas tend to be a bit more slug resistant than thin leafed. Slugs are nocturnal and have the ability to destroy a seedling overnight. They hang out under mulch, in between boards and under various weeds and debris during the day, and require moisture to move around. This is why we see so many signs of them after a rain or during particularly humid nights. Slugs use a radula, a mouth covered in small teeth, to chew herbaceous plants, fruit on the ground and seedlings. The damage they cause is identifiable by the irregular shaped holes in the leaves they chew on.

There are several options for getting rid of slugs, and a few suggestions for reducing the risk of slug habitation. We offer Hi-Yield Slug and Snail Bait, Sluggo, and Diatomaceous Earth in our garden store. The Slug and Snail Bait temporarily paralyzes the slug until it dries out from the sun.   With Sluggo, the snail takes the bait to its hiding place and within 2-6 days, it dies. It can be used in organic garden, and is safe for use around kids and pets. Diatomaceous Earth is a natural approach to killing slugs. Also known as insect dust, it causes the slugs to dehydrate. Do not breathe it in as it can be harmful to your lungs. Each of these has a different approach to killing slugs, but should have the same results in the end. Some people have also found that collecting slugs and dropping them in soapy water or creating beer traps have also been effective for slug eradication.   On the other hand, watering in the morning as opposed to the evening can create less of an appealing environment for slugs. Also, removing as much debris and potential hiding places for slugs altogether is another approach.

Remember, while slugs will always be something that we have to deal with, there are effective ways to keep them from ruining all of our hard work in our gardens and flower beds. And as in most situations, the earlier we detect their presence, the sooner we can work to limit the damage they do.

Broadleaf Weeds - what do I do?

Broadleaf Weeds in My Lawn...What Do I Do?

Many homeowners find that all the great growth of spring also brings along with it a noticeable growth of weeds in the lawn...weeds that don’t look good and that are choking out the lawn.

Although the absolute best time to tackle these broadleaf weeds is late in the fall, the next best time to nail them is right now...before they get any bigger! There’s more than one way to go at them, but two of the best approaches with spraying them with Fertilome Weed-Free Zone or treating the yard with a weed and feed combination called Weed-Free Zone Plus Lawn Food. Both contain a highly effective broadleaf weed killer and the weed and feed product has a great fertilizer formulation for late spring applications...like right now!
 

Broadleaf lawn weeds really aren’t that hard to get rid of if you use the right product and you do things right. If you’ve had limited success in the past, give these products a try and if you have any other questions, just let us know!

Growing Great Tomatoes

Growing Great Tomatoes

Mike’s Smart Pot Update

With the warm weather coming a bit sooner this year, many of us have been experiencing Spring Fever for some time now. Most of us have our own theories and rituals as to when the best time to plant certain garden varieties is, and this year, I’m sure some of those have been tested. After watching tomato after tomato, and pepper after pepper leave the store over the past couple of weeks, I finally decided that the time had come to get to planting in my Smart Pots.

I am experimenting with several sizes of Smart Pots this season, and have taken on the challenge of trying a few varieties of vegetables as well. I chose the 5, 10, and 20 gallon size pot, as well as the Big Bag Bed Jr. Raised Bed. After a busy Mother’s Day weekend, I made Monday night my planting night. I love to make salsa every year, so I wanted to incorporate some of the ingredients into my planting plans. I planted four varieties of spicy peppers and some candy onions in the Raised Bed. I also love refrigerator pickles, so I planted a patio cucumber in the 20 gallon pot. My wife is crazy about eggplant, so I planted an oriental express eggplant in the 10 gallon pot. Finally, on a whim, I planted fennel in the 5 gallon sized pot. We have never grown fennel, so it will be a new experience all together.

Nothing tastes as good as food you have grown yourself! I love to grow, share and talk about food with anyone and everyone.   As the pots take off, I will post progress pictures to accompany my experiences. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions you may have about my experiences or yours with Smart Pots at miker@skinnergardenstore.com. And above all else, have fun!

-Mike Ray

What is that shrub?

What Is That Shrub?

It's blooming now all over the place. You can find it crowding wooded areas, filling in the edges of the roadside, popping up volunteer throughout the yard, and even occasionally incorporated into the landscape. So what is plant we are talking about? It's Amur Honeysuckle.

Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) was introduced by the New York Botanic Garden back in the late 1800's. It was widely planted for wildlife cover and to control soil erosion and has since escaped those areas and established itself into the native areas throughout much of the eastern U.S and on into the Great Plains where it now grows in rampant, choking out much of the native plant population in the process.

In our area, it will commonly be found taking over "natural" areas with its aggressive growth. It starts as a small sprout but quickly reaches greater size, becoming a large bushy plant of 10-15' in height, with older plants becoming small bushy trees of 20' or more. It leafs out very early in the spring, producing vigorous growth of bright green leaves and shoots. By this time of the year it is blooming, producing white to yellow flowers typical of honeysuckle that cover all portions of the plant. Small bright red fruits follow and by fall, plants are covered in these colorful fruits, soon to be eaten by birds and spread into new areas. There is a lot about this plant that is actually visually attractive, however the reality is that it's an ecological disaster.

Amur Honeysuckle is so aggressive that is quickly takes over areas, choking out the native growth in the process...native vegetation that native wildlife need to exist. It thrives in woodland areas, particularly along the timber's edge where it gets so thick it is almost impossible to penetrate. Soon it has choked out most naturally occurring growth, including the seedlings of the trees that make up our wooded areas. It also spreads readily into all areas of our yards and landscapes, and if left unchecked it will quickly engulf even the most established plantings. It is an aggressive menace that will choke out everything in its path.

Control and eradication is highly recommended. Young plants can be easily pulled from the ground, especially when the ground is soft and moist. Larger plants will need to be dug out or cut down and treated with stump killer...don't forget this important step! Untreated stumps will sprout back with a vengeance, very quickly regenerating new growth, making the problem even worse than before. Immediately after cutting the bush out, treat the fresh cut with Fertilome Cut Vine and Stump Killer to prevent this from happening. 

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are one of our most popular groups of flowering shrubs, and they should be. Large flower clusters that bloom over a long period of time are a real eye catcher. And with so many great selections, it’s easy to find one you will like, but it can also get a little confusing. Here are a few insights to help make your selection process a little simpler.

We do four different kinds, or species, of hydrangeas. (We actually do a fifth species, but Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris) is a vine and won’t be discussed here.) From those four types we have dozens of different offerings. Each species has some general characteristics that make it a little different from the others, and knowing some of those differences is important.  

First, a few lessons in Hydrangea terminology.

We start with...fertile vs. sterile.

Hydrangea’s impressive blooms are made up of lots and lots of smaller flowers. Upon closer examination, on many selections you will often be able to find flowers of two different sizes within each floral cluster. Some will be larger, the size of a quarter or maybe a half dollar piece; others will be smaller, about ¼’ in diameter. The smaller ones are fertile flowers that produce seed. The larger more showy ones, are sterile. It’s these sterile flowers that intrigue gardeners. Most popular selections have floral clusters that contain very large percentages of sterile, or “showy” flowers, and in many cases, blossoms maybe made up entirely of sterile flowers.

Here’s the second set of terms...lacecap vs. mophead.

lacetop

In the wild, floral structures are made up of mostly fertile flowers, adorned with a few adorned with a small number of sterile showy flowers. In some species, the blossom is a rounded, flat-topped cluster, ringed by larger sterile flowers. This floral composition is commonly referred to a lacecap.

While attractive, this floral composition certainly doesn’t catch the eye nearly as much as many of today’s popular garden forms. Most of these selections have floral structures composed primarily of all sterile flowers, producing a large rounded floral structures commonly referred to as a mophead.

mophead

It’s easy to see why the mopheads are gardener favorites. They are stunning! Their large showy floral clusters make an amazing show.  

Now, a third set of terms...old wood vs. new wood.
The first two sets of terms were interesting if you want better understand what you are looking at or better understand floral description you may be reading, but this last set is really important if you want to make sure you know how to grow this garden beauty successfully.

Some flowering shrubs produce flowers from buds created the previous season. These buds remain dormant until the follow spring when they emerge to put on their show. These plants are said to bloom on “old wood”. Other flowering shrubs produce flowers from buds created in season on the current year’s new growth. These are blooming on “new wood”. Understanding this concept and knowing which plants bloom on old wood and which bloom on new wood can help prevent pruning mishaps. Prune a flowering shrub that blooms off of old wood during the late summer, fall, winter or early spring, and you will be pruning off flower buds, and no buds means no flowers. Conversely, things that bloom off new wood can be pruned aggressively during those times without any fear of cutting into flower production.

In the Hydrangea world we find both and know which is which saves a lot of frustration. Cut back a hydrangea that blooms on new wood during early spring cleanups...no problem. The new growth of the season creates all kinds of wonderful flowers and everyone is happy. Cut back a hydrangea that blooms off of old wood at the same times...say goodbye to your flowers. That doesn’t make for happy gardening.

Now for a quick look at the four Hydrangea species we grow.

Smooth Hydrangea (H. arborescens) -This is one of the most dependable and easy to grow hydrangea species. It is a U.S. native, it is very hardy and it blooms reliably. It produces flowers off of new wood in the spring, so heavy pruning at the start of the season doesn’t bother it, in fact it’s recommended. Although the species generally produces lacecap-type flowers in the wild, these forms are rarely seen in gardens. Mophead selections are what really catch the gardener’s eye, and one of the best of those is a called ‘Annabelle’.

It produces large white floral clusters (up to 8-12” across!) and produces those in large numbers. This selection pretty much represents all of the Smooth Hydrangea found in the nursery trade. It grows about 3-5’ tall with a similar spread and does best in light shade. It looks best when pruned back hard each spring, taking last year’s stems back to 6-12” tall. It adds a nice brightness to shade gardens and is one of the easiest Hydrangeas to grow.

Bigleaf Hydrangea (H. macrophylla)-This native to Japan looks a lot like Smooth Hydrangea with one big exception, the color of the flowers. Instead of white, this species has flowers of pink, red, lavender, purple or blue borne in both lacecap and mophead floral stuctures. Many different forms exist offering a myriad of flower color, plant size and floral structure combinations, making their popularity understandable...in other parts of the country. Their use here is less common because of two major cultural problems, they are borderline winter hardy for us and they bloom off of old wood...and that’s not a good combination. If cold temperatures kill back topgrowth, then blooms the next season are scarce to no existent. That makes this species difficult to enjoy here in NE Kansas, and that has unfortunately prevented this species from being a major garden plant in our landscapes...until recently that is.

About 10 years ago, a new selection made its way into American gardens. Known as ‘Endless Summer’, this new form came by way of a chance discovery in the growing fields of a large wholesale grower. The original plant was observed blooming very late in the season, something this species doesn’t do. Upon further evaluation, it was found that this specific plant had the ability to bloom not only in the spring off of old wood, but again later in the season off the new wood. That almost guarantees floral production in climates like ours where this species tends to freeze back precious budwood each year! This new find, ultimately named ‘Endless Summer’, has given many gardens in colder areas the chance to enjoy the blooms of this species. However, in our hot dry climates, we have found that ‘Endless Summer’ isn’t very happy and overall success with this form has been less than what we had hoped for. A newer selection known as ‘BloomStruck’ is improving our chances for success. This selection is proving to be not only tougher, but also appears to have even more reliable blooming habits.

In general, this species gets about 3-5’ high and wide and does best if situated out of the hot afternoon sun. If will need regular watering during hot, dry summer months and most importantly, don’t prune it back! Remember, this species produces its spring flowers off of old wood.

One more interesting feature of this species is the ability of the flowers to change color. If you flowers are pink, you can make them blue by adding aluminum sulfate. If they are blue, and you’d like to make them pink, add limestone. It’s just like magic!

 

Panicle Hydrangea (H. paniculata)-An Asian species enjoyed by American gardeners for a very long time, this large shrub (6-10’ tall and wide), produces large cone-shaped panicles of pure white flowers (sorry, no blue here!), blooming off of the new wood of the season. That makes them hard to screw up! They typically bloom mid-summer, although there are forms that bloom as early as June (‘Quickfire’) and others that hit peak as late as September (‘Tardiva’). There are also a whole host of selections that offer different looking blooms (more or less sterile florets), larger or smaller panicles and more recently, dwarf sizes (3-5’ tall and wide). We carry a number of different selections and all make great plants. This hydrangea actually prefers more sun than the others, although light shade through the worst of the summer may be beneficial.

One interesting feature on this species is the occasional production of pink flowers. The flowers actually are still white, but towards the end of the bloom sequence, if the weather is right (cooler weather, especially at night), you will sometimes see the flowers fade into a rose-pink as they finish. Despite what you may read or hear about, this is unfortunately a fairly rare occurrence in our climate but it does occasionally happen, so enjoy when it does!

Oakleaf Hydrangea (H. quercifolia)-This is one of the best! This large American native shrub commonly grows to 6-8’ with a similar spread. It has large, oak-shaped leaves and large, cone-shaped flower clusters of pure white, much like Panicle Hydrangea. It blooms off of old wood, so don’t prune it during the dormant season! It has good winter hardiness and produces flowers reliably every year. The straight species is common grown in gardens and is impressive, but there are also many popular selections that offer variations in floral characteristics and variations in overall plant size, including many good dwarf forms. It does best when planted in areas that receive light shade, especially through the heat of the day.

 

One added plus to this species is great fall color. As cool weather sets in, leaves will change to red, orange, yellow and burgundy. It’s quite a show! This species can also have flowers that fade from white to rosy-pink towards the end of the blooming sequence, although this is rare for us in our climate as well.

There are many great hydrangeas to choose from and deciding between them may be difficult! Feel free to come out to the nursery and ask us some questions. We can show you some different options and give you some suggestions. If you want to check out all of the different Hydrangea offerings we have, you can follow this link to our online catalog to read more about them.

Have fun!