812-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 31,1990
School Shows Ways To Improve Your Garden Center
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
CENTERVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) “This year, the cold
spring we’ve been having will
probably damage a lot of fruit
trees,’’ said Jay Stauffer, from
Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill, at the
1990 Capital Region Garden Cen
ter School last week.
Stauffer was one of four who
spoke on the panel, “1989 In
Review: A Look Back On Last
Season’s Insect And Disease Prob
lems,” at the two-day conference.
The conference was attended by
about 55 gardeners, nursery mana
gers, and garden center
professionals.
“Our biggest problem by far
was peach leaf curl on things we
didn’t expect it on,” said Stauffer.
“Who would expect to find peach
leaf curl on an apple tree? But if
you sec it, it’s already too late.”
Anthracnose, which includes
lesions on sugar and silver maples,
was the most common problem
faced by Mt. Lakes Roadside
Marketing, said Keith Pomerame.
The problems his company faced
were aggravated by the 1988
draught and the wet spring of
1989, which contributed to plant
stress and many plant diseases.
Fire blight
Fire blight on mountain ash was
a common problem. Pomeranie
emphasized the importance of try
ing to find host-resistant plant var
ieties to help fight disease. Also,
many problems can be attributed to
insect bores, rather than some fun
gi or plant infection.
“It was a great year for grubs,
and insect controls were a big sell
er,” said Stauffer. Other common
problems included black rot, scab
on apples, fireblight, bag worms,
webworms, root weavels, gypsy
moths, scale, tip blight, and rose
black spot.
For lawn growers, common
problems include crabgrass and
nulsedge. “It was worse last year
for crabgrass than ever before,” he
said.
Alan Michael, multi-county
extension agent, moderated the
panel. While the Japanese beetle
The burgeoning market of water gardens was discussed
by Virginia Crum, Lily Ponds Water Gardens, last week at
the Garden Center School.
was a common pest, he cautioned
that the use of certain pesticides,
particularly Sevin, were deadly to
bees.
Dormant oil
“Dormant oil is not harmful to
the environment and provides
another way to kill off eggs and
insects on shrubbery and trees,”
said Tom Piper, Adams County
extension agent.
Piper stressed the importance of
timing when using pesticides.
Problems encountered in
Adams County included scab dis
ease, anthracnose-, oak leaf blister,
peach leaf curl, bag worm, leaf
minor, bore (birch and dogwood),
mite, gypsy moth, and galls. Piper
offered ways to prevent or stop the
spread of the diseases and
disorders.
Piper recommended the book by
Pascal Parone, “Diseases and
Pests of Ornamental Plants,” pub
lished by John Wiley and Sons, for
helping diagnose and treat plant
diseases.
Alternative methods
H. Bruce Hellerick, horticulture
extension agent, stressed the
importance of using alternative
methods to control weeds and
pests. He urged everyone who
attended the conference to become
more environmentally aware when
using herbicides and pesticides.
“The IPM logo will be a rubber
stamp, like ‘low cholesterol’ or ‘no
cholesterol,”’ said Tom Becker,
York County extension agent.
Becker introduced the topic,
integrated pest management
(IPM), and what it would mean to
garden centers in the future.
IPM includes the methods in
determining when, where, and
how to to treat an area with a pesti
cide. It avoids relying exclusively
on using chemical and chemical
controls for pests, said Becker, and
uses sound agricultural principles.
Emphasized need
A video emphasized the need,
because of increasing governmen
tal pressure to heavily regulate the
use of pesticides, for gardeners to
use a combination of methods to
Plant experts take a look back on last year’s Insect and disease problems at the Gar
den Center School last week. Left to right, Tom Piper, Adams County extension agent;
Jay Stauffer, Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill; H. Bruce Hellerick, horticulture extension agent;
and Keith Pomeranle, Mt. Lakes Roadside Market.
suppress pests, including traps,
appropriate selection of plants, and
habitant sanitation.
“This involves a rethinking of
values,” said Becker, “and ways
to help get growers off the ‘pesti
cide treadmill.’”
“Water gardening is becoming
more affordable for the average
person,” said Virginia Crum, from
Lily Ponds Water Gardens. She
spoke about the burgeoning mark
et for water gardens and how the
average person can now afford a
small water garden, with prices
from S5OO to SI,OOO.
The materials needed are PVCs,
fiberglass pools, or concrete
ponds.
Various shapes
Fiberglass can be formed into
various shapes and placed on an
Who’s answering the phone? And what are we going to do about Mrs. Greenbot
tom? were some of the questions answered after a “Greehouse Effect” skit by the
Lancaster-area Improvisation troupe Co-Motion, whose members Include, left to
right, Eric Fulmer, Camilla Schade, and Lou Ziegler.
Consider Nature As Additional
Landowners who leased hunt
ing rights as a source of income
may have been disappointed this
past year. The Canada goose
population was down. If the
decline continues, other sources of
income will need to be investi
gated, according to Dean Belt,
retired University of Delaware
Extension renewable resources
agent.
‘Good planning and manage
ment can improve income from
other areas,” he says. “The public
is looking for a variety of outdoor,
environmental experiences, and
they arc willing to pay to use
them. Camping, trail walking,
bird-watching, pond fishing,
nature photography, hunting pre
serves, spotting clay and fee hunt
ing or day hunting are just a few of
excavated shell. “However, PVC
is the most popular and the least
expensive,” Crum said.
But before gardeners install
water gardens, sunshine must be
present.
“They need 5 to 6 hours of sun
shine for water lilies to bloom, as
well as most other aquatic plants,”
she said. “In general, avoid
trees.”
Also, water runoff must be
checked, by either creating some
kind of ‘ ‘mote’ ’ around the garden
or raising the garden a few inches
from ground level.
“As long as you have two cubic
feet of water, you can have some
kind of water garden,” said Crum.
v
the areas with potential."
The value of any of these will
depend on the convenience, qual
ity and the management input of
the landowner, Belt says. One area
with a great need and major envir
onmental potential is habitat
improvement for upland game.
Much of this land has been
destroyed by cultivation and deve
lopment. Farmers can take advan
tage of this opportunity with only
minor changes in their operation.
Habitat enhancement can be done
at various times of the year to be
compatible with regular cropping
practices.
“Obviously the first year or two
will require the most effort and
costs associated with planting, fer
tility and modifications,” Belt
says. “But in time, a blend of
Two cubic feet
“By using PVC liner, you can
make the garden as big as you
want.”
Crum explained the hardy
perennial water lilies as well as the
tropicals. Each water lily must
have 14 quarts of clay and 18
inches of water to grow.
The average water lily needs
about 12 square feet of surface
area. All water lilies in the pond
should fill up no more than 70 per
cent entire surface area.
Various types of water lilies
were shown, including the Night
Bloomer, which opens at about
10:00 p.m. and closes about 11:00
a.m.
“The James Bridge water lily
can run $5O and up at the retail
level,” Crum said.
*** * *
Income Source
perennial and annual plantings
and reduced annual maintenance
will modify the costs and time
involved.
“High-quality habitat has the
potential for attracting and hold
ing wildlife,” he notes. “The
income potential can be realized
from hunting, wildlife observation
and photography. The sooner you
start, the sooner you’ll be in a pos
ition to attract those interested in
your resource.”
Belt recommends that persons
interested in establishing wildlife
habitat on their property contact
the Fish and Wildlife Division of
Delaware’s Department of Natur
al Resources and Environmental
Control, Soil Conservation Ser
vice, Conservation Districts or
Cooperative Extension
*"
£ 4*
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