—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 21. 1977
54
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Plant lovers’ corner
PLANT ANNUALS IN MAY
You can start planting
annuals any time now unless
you are located in a frost
pocket area, then it might be
wise to wait another week.
Donald B. Lacey, Ex
tension specialist in home
horticulture at Cook College,
Rutgers University, says Uie
date he has circled on his
calendar to plant annuals in
the Rutgers Display Garden
in New Brunswick is May 23.
You don’t have to wait
until planting time to buy the
plants you want. If you wait
too long the best selections
may be gone, so do your
shopping now.
Lacey suggests you keep
your plants in a protected
area at home. If you see you
are going to get a frost you
can take them inside.
Proper soil preparation is
important. Cover the soil
surface with about two in
ches of peat moss. If you
haven’t added lime within
the last two years, add three
to four pounds for every 100
square feet.
Apply one to IVz pounds of
5-10-5 or 5-10-10 fertilizer to
every 100 square feet. Using
a fertilizer with a higher rate
of nitrogen will only en
courage leaf growth.
Work the peat moss and
lime into the soil by turning
it under about the depth of
the spade, about six to eight
inches, then rake in the
fertilizer just before plan
ting.
A thorough soaking of
water when you set your
plants will get them off to a
good start.
SEVERE WINTER
DAMAGESEVERGREENS
Many gardeners are
concerned about the damage
their evergreens have suf
fered as a result of the
severe winter and are asking
how they should be treated,
says Donald B. Lacey,
Extension specialist in home
horticulture at Cook College,
Rutgers University.
The combination of wind
and bright sun during
periods of low temperature
has caused considerable
browning of foliage and
some dieback of twigs,
particularly on Japanese
holly, azaleas and
rhododendrons.
Lacey recommends
waiting a few more weeks
before doing any drastic
pruning. Dormant buds
should break open further
down the damaged stem.
The dead tips can be
removed at this time.
HARD TO GARDEN
WITHOUT
SPRAYER OR DUSTER
You can’t get along
without a sprayer or duster
in your yard and garden,
according to Louis M.
Vasvary, Extension en
tomologist at Cook College,
Rutgers University. He
reviews the kinds you can
get-
The garden hose sprayer
connects to a garden hose
and uses the household water
supply and water pressure to
apply pesticides.
Compressed air sprayers,
simple in design and
''''"ration, are relatively
xpensive to buy and
.ntain For best results,
i«l the tank to only three
fourth capacity, allowing
room at the top for building
air pressure.
The plunger type carton is
filled with dust and you can
throw it away when it’s
empty. They come in many
sizes and you can use them
not only in your flower and
vegetable gardens but also to
control ants, fleas and other
pests in the lawn.
Many garden sprayers and
dusters also are used to
control household pests, says
Vasvary.
GROUND COVER GOOD
SUBSTITUTE FOR GRASS
If you have trouble
growing grass under shade
trees or if you have a steep
terrace or slope that needs
the strength of a muscleman
to struggle with a lawn
mower, then a ground cover
is one of the answers to your
problem.
Ground covers are low
plants that spread quickly
and are used where lawn
grasses do not grow well or
where grass is hard to
maintain.
More than 200 plants can
be used as ground covers but
ivy, pachysandra, and
periwinkle (myrtle) are the
most popular and known as
the “big-three.” Now is a
good time to buy and plant
ground cover.
If you’re working under
trees where the ground is dry
and there are plenty of roots,
Donald B. Lacey, Extension
specialist in home hor
ticulture at Cook College,
Rutgers University,
suggests you dig a pocket,
fill it with a mixture of good
soil and peat moss, and plant
the ground cover in clumps
or single plants.
Next Spring spread a
granular 5-10-10 fertilizer.
On terraces, slopes or
banks, mulch the area first
with salt hay or straw. To
keep the mulch from blowing
away, tie it down with string
or baling twine in a
crisscross pattern and an
chor it to pegs, then make
your pocket and plant your
plants.
If preparing a newly
graded bank, use the same
procedure as you do when
planting annual flowers.
Spacing of plants depends
on their type, and how
quickly they will spread. One
plant or clump every one to
four square feet is a good
guide. Closer spacing will
cover the area quicker but it
will cost more.
CONTROLCABBAGE
MAGGOTS
Cabbage maggots soon
will attack cabbage plants
and cause them to appear
sickly and wilted.
Adult maggots (flies) lay
eggs at the same time sour
cherry trees are in full
bloom.
The flies lay eggs on the
stems of cabbage tran-
splants and tbr- tiny maggots
cause the roots to become
brownish and slimy by their
feedingactivity. Many times
the legless, white maggots
can be found feeding in the
stems and larger roots of
plants.
Cabbage plants can be
protected from maggot
attack by applying a spray of
20 per cent diazinon (four
fluid ounces per 1000 square
feet) to the developing
plants. The mixture can be
applied with a small sprayer
or a sprinkler can. Be sure to
soak the stems and soil
around the stems
thoroughly.
MUSTSPRAY
APPLE TREES
ON TIME TO KILL PESTS
Soon apple insect pests
that bore into developing
fruits or feed on leaves will
be active in this area.
Unfortunately, few
homeowners realize the
problems associated with
apple production and
become discouraged when
they witness the damage
inflicted by insect pests on
backyard trees.
Prize-winning fruits can
never develop if left to
chance alone. They are the
result of planned hor
ticultural programs and
carefully timed pest control
spray schedules.
Successful insect control
on apples is based on
preventing injury before it
starts. Some apple pests are
present in the spring and
others in the summer so
insecticides must be applied
according to a prearranged
schedule.
Failure to apply one spray
can result in wormy fruit
since fruit peats are always
present and injury to un
protected trees can occur in
as short a period as two or
three days.
It is time to apply the first
insecticide spray when 90
per cent of the blossom
petals have fallen from the
tree. A spray at-that time
controls curculio, leaf
rollers, and several kinds of
leaf feeding caterpillars.
For more information
about spraying your apple
tree ask your county
agricultural agent.
SEEDLINGS IN
BACKYARD
GREENHOUSES NEED
COVER
Backyard greenhouses are
becoming increasingly
popular and more home
gardeners are growing their
own flower and vegetable
plants from seed than ever
before.
Novice greenhouse owners
will find that there’s more to
starting their own seedlings
than just planting seeds in
flats or containers and let
ting the sun penetrate
through die glass or plastic
to start germination, ac
cording to die horticulturists
at Cook College, Rutgers
University.
Seedlings in greenhouses
need to be conditioned. As
the temperature gets war
mer the plants will get
. “leggy” or stretch and you’ll
end up with weak, spindly
plants unless the tem
perature is controlled.
You can reduce the
temperature in your
greenhouse by ventilation or
cover the plants with a
lightweight cloth
(cheesecloth) or window
screening to shade the
seedlings. This will help
harden them so they’ll be
ready to set out when
weather conditions permit.
If you bought your bedding
plants and are holding them
until this cold, damp weather
breaks, keep a close check to
see that they don’t dry out.
Plants-, kept for a long
period of time should be
watered, fertilized, and
protected from the wind.
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-. CHRYSANTHEMUM ’ ’ them away. Merely moving
VTILT INGUR ABLE - the plants to another location
Many home gardeners find will only help to spread the
each fell that some of their fungus to other pints of the
chrysanthemum varieties, yard,
are stunted and fail to Many varieties of
produce many flowers no chrysanthemums are
matter how well fertilized resistant to wilt disease,
the plants may be. Your nurseryman may not
This indicates that
chrysanthemum wilt disease
is present, says Spencer H.
Davis Jr., Extension
specialist in plant pathology
at Cook College, Rutgers
University.
Dr. Davis explains that the
fungus that causes wilt lives
in die roots and stems of tb;
plant. Once the ’mum plant
. is infected, it never gets any
better, and the fungus will
continue to live in the roots
year after year. -
Dr. Davis advises that the
cure for chrysanthemum
wilt is drastic. Just puQ oat
all infected plants and throw
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have the exact color you
want, but his wilt-resistant
plants will grow. You may
get a list of disease resistant
varieties from your county
agent.
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