Iris and Allium

Not a lot of garden work got done over the holiday weekend. The weed trees maple, oak, dogwood and chestnut have been poking their heads out here and there. I’ve been yanking them out for weeks thanks to Mother Nature and some over-zealous squirrels.

The yellow Iris, bloomed about two weeks ago. The cut, spent flowers were sent to the compost bin.
Allium Giant Persian Blue has finished blooming. The white Allium mulribulbosum blooms a little later. The blue was cut and added to the compost. The white will be around another week.

I hope you had a good holiday as we honored our troops.

*****

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood

Pre-emergent Herbicides

Control of annual grass weeds, like crabgrass, in the lawn is difficult. Pre-emergent herbicides prevent the seeds from germinating. Timing is important. Pre-emergent herbicides are used when the soil temperature is between 59 F and 65 F - or as the forsythia flowers begin to fade - which is just about now in the Lehigh Valley. Chemical pre-emergents provide a chemical barrier in the soil that prevents seed germination. There is a long list of products both with and without fertilizer. Organic corn gluten meal inhibits root development during seed germination, at least partially by desiccating the soil and reducing water uptake. Since pre-emergent applications do not discriminate among seeds, over-seeding the lawn can be done in fall. Whether you use chemical or organic pre-emergent treatment read the label carefully and follow directions. Information on “Chemical Weed Control” from Penn State Center for Turf Grass Science Corn meal gluten information from Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., Extension Horticulturist and Associate Professor,Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Washington State University.

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Macroweeding

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A little rain and it’s time for macroweeding.

Here are my definitions:

Macroweeding: The process of grabbing a handful of weeds and yanking them out by the roots.

as opposed to

Microweeding: The process of snatching one weed at a time and yanking

it out by the roots.

I have been macroweeding this week. Sometimes it’s not only weeds that get pulled but overgrown and self-sown annuals. There is a great feeling of accomplishment as you accumulate a large pile of weeds in a short time.

Crab grass and goosegrass look too similar for me to care about identifying them. They are everywhere in this hot, humid weather. I yank, dig, pull, hoe. Here they were mixed in with sweet alyssum. The self-sown alyssum was overgrown so it came out with the weedy grass.

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Now on to microweeding - Purslane in the rose bed, dandelion in the ground cover, crab grass and creeping wood sorrel at the garden edge, and oxalis among the cosmos call for microweeding – a little more tedious but just as satisfying.

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Ah, tidy once again.

Share your weeding stories in the comments. What is your worst weed? What is your favorite method of weeding? Do you have a secret to keep weeds out of the garden?

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Taming an Ivy Bank - Part Two

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Thursday’s weather forecast was - breezy with temp in the low 60’s. That sounded like a heat wave after the freezing wind. The gusts seemed as strong as the other days but at least it was a little warmer.

I trimmed the ivy that had overgrown the heather (Erica x darleyensis 'Silberschmelze').
I carefully unwound the ivy so I didn’t break the heather’s tender branches. It was slow going.

The ground under the greedy maple tree was dry from 2 days of wind. I continued pulling and clipping. I didn’t get as many roots as I did the on the two previous days. I sat on my little garden cart and wiggled my way along the bank.

As I was wiggling along I heard a loud CRACK. It was so loud that it made me jumped and run. I crept back under the tree and looked up. I could see a large cracked branch high in the tree. I grabbed my tools and scooted out of there. A short while later the branch came crashing down into the ivy where I was working.

My husband dragged it to the street and cut it into fireplace size. That was the end of day 3. Add another hour for a total of 4 on this cleanup so far. I’ll finish on Day 4 – without wind, I hope.

Ivy is a great plant – hardy, holds the bank well, smothers most weeds, keeps a deep green color through most of the year but it is a lot of work. I’ll be back to trim this summer and again in fall – with one eye on the big old maple.
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Taming an Ivy Bank

(This has turned into a long post so I’ll break it up into 2 parts. It’s the usual cleanup story with a twist. You’ll understand after you read part 2 on Wednesday.)

If you’re thinking of using ivy as a ground cover, I’d like to share the story of my ivy covered bank with you. It was called American Ivy by the neighbor who gave it to me many years ago. I usually work on the bank 3 times in the growing season. I didn’t keep it trimmed and weeded last year so it was quite a mess this spring. The ivy had grown over the rocks, into the heather and it was full of weeds.

After 3” of rain at the beginning of the week, I jumped at the chance to get the bank trimmed and weeded while the ground was still moist. It's Impossible to pull weeds up by the roots when the ground is dry.

In order to get the roots, I needed to reach down so grass didn’t break off. I was mostly successful. I also got the ever-present maple tree seedlings out. They are easier to get out if you pull them when they are very young.

I spent about 3 hours in a cold, biting, 20 to 30 mile-an-hour gusty wind on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to AccuWeather “real feel” dropped to the low 40’s. There was a freeze warning – not a frost warning - Tuesday and Wednesday night.

After the 3 hours, I had over half of the bed finished. Feeling frozen, I promised myself to come back the next day when the weather was predicted to be warmer. I was paying for last year's laziness.

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Strangleweed

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Dodder (Cuscuta campestri)

I never thought I would see a weed that I haven’t seen before in my area. Dodder, sometimes called strangleweed or field dodder, is a new one to me. I found it the other day while working in a local garden. It’s not a weed I will soon forget.

I searched online and verified through the Lehigh County Extension office.

It is a parasitic weed. The yellow tendrils wrap around the host plant (snapdragon in the picture) and suck the life blood out of the plant. The weed can cover a plant or shrub quickly. There are no roots to pull. Once the seed germinates, dodder gets all its nourishment from the host plant. One plant can produce up to 3,000 seeds. The seeds can remain in the soil for years.

I put a plastic trash bag over the affected plants, pulled them out and put the whole thing in the dumpster. I’ll use Preen to discourage any seeds from germinating. I’ll have to be sure to watch for a recurrence next year.

(More information about dodder from the University of California and Purdue University.)

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Weeding and Deadheading

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I’ve been trying to catch up in the garden.

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Mature gardeners running willy-nilly around the garden attacking plants is not a pretty sight. Then it also seems like nothing is ever complete. So this time I’ve made a list. I’m trying to be logical and sane – the cool, organized gardener.

After the vegetables were picked, I started weeding and deadheading.

With 3 inches of rain while we were gone, the weeds are as happy as the plants. I plan to weed one garden area at a time.

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Purslane, creeping woodsorrel, crabgrass need to be pulled before they go to seed. Some of the paths are overgrown. The plants are so pretty I’ll leave them. Cosmos and sweet alyssum took over the path above.

Lilies, calendula, hostas, petunias need to be deadheaded.

I’ll cut about 1/3 off the top of the lily stalk.

I’ll cut the hosta flower stems as low as I can.

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I plan to cut the calendula flowers off with a hedge clipper. There are so many of them I don’t want all those seeds to fall.

I also need to pinch off the seed heads on the petunias. They look a little sad after a week of neglect. I always pinch the flower and seed head. I know some people just pull the spent flower. I think if they’re making seeds, they have less energy to make flowers. What do you do? Does it matter?

That's my immediate list. I wonder how long it will take to go from the cool, organized gardener to a garden maniac?

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(See Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide for pictures of purslane, creeping woodsorrel and crabgrass. Weeding gives me a lot of time to think. I wonder what weeds are in your garden? What weeds give you fits in the middle of summer?)

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Wicked Weed

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Here’s another one I pursue. I don’t know the name so I hope someone can identify it. If you know its name (or even its alias), please leave a comment.

It looks like yellow rocket (Barbara vulgaris) – winter cress.

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But the flowers are white not yellow as in the description. “. . .bright yellow flowers clustered at the tips of the uppermost branches can be observed around fence posts or other structures. . .” (See page 15 in Weed Management in Turf.) The mature height is about 6 inches.

Those pretty little flowers will grow into not so pretty seed stalks. If you come anywhere near them they will violently shoot tiny seeds in all directions.

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Pulling them out after they have seeds is almost useless. They live to grow again

Gotta get them before they go to seed!

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Wild Garlic War

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(Allium vineale)

The Wild Garlic War has gone on for years. Every spring I prowl the garden like a maniacal secret agent. With my weeder in hand, I’m ready to pounce on any wild garlic covertly hidden in the lilac roots or brazenly positioned in the middle of the lawn.

Wild garlic is a clever, sneaky and sinister plant. In the plot to procreate, it produces bulblets attached to the main bulb. These tiny bulblets (near the tip of the weeder in photo - click to enlarge) slide off when you pull the plant. They stay in the soil. Each one will grow another plant. Getting the entire plant is a thrill better than … well never mind.

Wild garlic will also flower and produce seeds. I am proud to say I have never let one flower in my garden.

Spring, when the soil is soft, is the only time it’s possible to pull them out. Once the ground gets a little dry and hard the stubborn bulbs will hold tight to the soil. Often the main plant will break off at soil level.

I can’t say I’m winning the war. But, I have managed to keep the population under control.

So, I’m off again today to stalk the evil plant. I wonder if I need a disguise?

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(Information on wild garlic and other weeds in Penn State's College of Agriculture Publication, "Weed Management in Turf Grass.")

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Garden Homecoming

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I was on vacation last week – a very relaxing time away from home. The garden is looking only a little neglected. Fortunately, my friend Cindie watered the pots for me. Without her, they would have been toast!

The hydrangea (Hydrangea ‘Venice’) is blooming. The color this year goes from pink through lilac to purple. I never know what color it will be. Last year it was a bright pink. (see July 25, 2007 post) It is full of blooms. I mean FULL of blooms. The leaves are barely visible.

The Lace Cap is also blooming profusely. They are both happy in their spot – shaded from the hot afternoon sun.

The potted zinnias (Burpee Giant Flowering Mix and Magic Carpet Mix) look good on the patio. It’s too early for mildew.

The ('BrandyBoy') tomatoes are getting round and plump. I picked beans. The cucumbers are growing from their pot. I made cucumber salad. The 2 "Drip-Pro Waterer"s that I bought from Gardener's Supply seem to keep the potted vegetables from completely drying out.

Not everything looks as good. Japanese beetles are feasting on canna leaves, roses and pole beans. Dead looking, lace-leaved cannas are not a pretty sight. I haven’t found a way to get rid of those armored chewers. I never seem to have time to knock them in a bucket of soapy water. Karen Bernhard, Entomologist, Lehigh Co. Cooperative Extension, published Japanese Beetle information in “Penn State Master Gardeners” blog in the Morning Call July 10. http://blogs.mcall.com/master_gardeners/

Weeds that were tiny when I left are now large enough to have seed heads. Crabgrass, ever the opportunist, has sprouted in every unplanted inch of ground. I pulled one clump as big as a head of cabbage. The lilies are finished blooming and seed heads need to be cut off. Same with the hostas. The sweet alyssum needs a trim. Garden paths are overgrown. There’s compost tea to make. Annuals need to be fertilized.

Lots of work to do to catch up but it’s good to be back in the garden.

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Gardening – Four Feet at a Time

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This year I can’t seem to catch up in my garden. Everything needs to be done at once – weeding, mulching, planting, dead-heading, watering, trimming, composting, edging, clean-up, and did I say weeding.

I am frequently in a panic so I run all over the garden trying to catch up. Or it becomes so overwhelming that I do nothing – stuck not knowing where to start.

A good friend gave me some advice. Don’t think of what needs to be done in the entire garden. Each day you work in the garden, work on 4 feet at a time. Great advice I thought.

In the last two weeks, I worked through 100 feet.

Only 260 feet to go. But I won’t think about that.

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Rhododendron clarification. On the large flowered rhododendron, new shoots will grow on the sides of the spent bloom. If you decide to deadhead your rhody, be careful not to break off the new shoots. The picture (above) shows the collar with a new light green shoot growing out of the flower base (below my thumbnail).

Ciscoe Morris, King County Master Gardener:
”The best time to prune your rhododendron is within a couple of weeks after flowering is finished. Soon afterward new growth will emerge, and by early summer, next year's flower buds will form at the end of newly grown branches.”

“If you wait too long, pruning can interfere with the budding process and reduce the number of blossoms you'll get to enjoy next spring.”

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/361204_ciscoe01.html

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Spring Garden Priorities

It’s the time of year when everything in the garden needs to be done at once. My list includes:

Divide & pot perennials – coreopsis, daylily, liriope, mums, sweet woodruff, sweet shrub, brunnera, lily of the valley

Move Japanese Blood Grass

Continue Cleanup

Spray euonymus for scale (pictures before and after the cut)

Finish trimming shrubs

Finish trimming roses

Move mulch

Fertilize lawn according to the soil test

I got a good start this week but the next two weeks will be very busy with volunteer community garden cleanup, Earth Day, classes and meetings.

I try to remove weeds as fast as they appear. Wild garlic, yellow rocket and ground ivy are beginning to give me fits but I know it pays to keep up. My trusty dandelion digger is always with me.

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Why I Don’t Use Landscape Fabric

Many years ago I tried landscape fabric to keep weeds out of the garden. And it worked, somewhat.

It doesn’t mean I never had to pull a weed. I covered the fabric with mulch. Weed seeds love to settle in mulch and need to be pulled from time to time. Some weeds such as thistle or dandelion go through the fabric. I know someone who’s fabricked garden is completely covered with weeds.

Small weeds in fabricked landscape usually come out easily. If a weed gets large and you pull it out, it pulls the fabric with it and then you have to re-cover it with mulch. Sometimes a strong rain will wash away the mulch and expose the fabric. I hate to see black plastic soil.

The cost for landscape fabric can be anywhere from $13.95 for a 3’ X 50’ roll to $145.95 for 4’ X 250’ Professional Weed Barrier. I found the different types available today confusing.

I used some of the leftover fabric under rocks at the top of our small bank. I hear it may work well under a stone path. I really don’t know anyone who has rock mulch so I can’t comment on that.

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The point is – using landscape fabric is not completely maintenance free.

See more information from efn.org http://www.efn.org/~ipmpa/fabric.html

But, the most important reason I don’t use landscape fabric – it makes it impossible to add organic matter to the soil. Compost and mulch are basics in the garden. Over time, compost and mulch produce good soil. Good soil produces healthy plants.

If you have a weedy area that you want to cover and mulch, spread newspaper 6 sheets thick and spread mulch on top. It will kill the weeds and then degrade into the soil. My side garden was done that way.

Since you have to cover the fabric with mulch anyway, why not feed your plants at the same time. I don’t even want to think about planting a new shrub in a fabricked bed.

Tree of Heaven

The Tree of Heaven is not a heavenly tree. This invasive tree was imported from China in 1784 and rapidly spread in the US. It was greeted as a great landscape tree because it grew fast and had no natural enemies. In China it is known as “stinking chun”. I hear the leaves and male flowers smell like rotten peanut butter.

Tree of Heaven resembles a Sumac. The leaves reveal the difference.

Tree of Heaven has one to three serrations at the base of the leaf.



The Sumac leaf is serrated throughout.



The Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is difficult to get rid of once it is established. It spreads by seeds and root suckers. It can grow 10 to 15 feet a year. Repeated and frequent cutting before it gets large is recommended. For larger trees, the stump may need to be painted with an herbicide immediately after cutting. Vigilance is required to eliminate suckers that pop up. It may take 2 or 3 years to totally eliminate it in the landscape.

More information from Maryland Department of Natural Resources - Forest Service: http://www.naturalresources.umd.edu/Pages/Tree_of_heaven.htm