Perennial Flowers Workshop Outlines Weed Control And Overwintering
JAYNE SEBRIGHT
Lancaster Farming Staff
HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.)
Both weed problems and
overwintering damage can cost
the landscape and nursery in
dustry significant dollars each
year.
Weeds can choke the growth
of desired plants, while not
properly overwintering can
cause tissue damage to the
plants.
Dr. James Sellmer spoke
about “Weed Control” and
“Overwintering” during a work
shop on “Perennial Flowers”
held at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit
and Vegetable Convention sev
eral weeks ago.
Dr. Sellmer is an assistant
professor in horticulture at the
Pennsylvania State University.
He specializes in ornamental
horticulture extension, working
with extension agents and
people in the landscape and nur
sery industry.
According to Sellmer, the big
gest issue that growers face in
weed control is that they haven’t
developed a plan for the weeds
around the parameter of their
garden or facility.
“A lot of times I get calls from
people who have weed problems
that have really gotten out of
control. They’re looking for a
silver bullet to get rid of those
weeds,” said Sellmer. “You got
to be really diligent in knowing
what weed problems are going
to affect your operation.”
Growers should take preven
tive measures against weeds in a
crop before the crop is planted.
That means coming up with a
weed control plan.
“You need to sit down to eval
uate your program yearly and
determine what weed problems
you have,” said Sellmer. “Dif
ferent weeds will grow different
years. The drought conditions
this year brought new weeds.”
The three-part plan that
growers should employ includes
eliminating weeds in and
around the growing area and
killing seeds or vegetative parts
before planting, preventing
weed control in and around the
growing area, and eliminating
weeds as they appear.
The weed control methods
that Sellmer reviewed during his
presentation included ' both
physical methods and chemical
applications. The physical
methods were cultivating,
mowing, mulching, hand pull
ing, selecting a weed-free grow
ing medium, and planting cover
crop. The chemical methods
were classified in the following
categories preemergence or
postemergence, contact or tran
slocated, selective or nonselec
tive, and fumigants.
“You need to know what
weeds are going to impact your
production,” said Sellmer.
“That will allow you to know
what practice to use whether
it is cultivating, hand pulling, or
chemical use. It will also help
you decide which chemicals to
apply.”
Cultivating is an effective way
to prevent weed problems, al
though it can be time consuming
and must be repeated through
out the season. Mowing is most
commonly used to control weeds
in fields. It is also time consum
ing and can cause damage to
crop plants when equipment op
erators run on them.
Mulching can be applied to
Excess moisture and animal damage are the two big
gest problems in overwintering perennials. Ideal
overwintering covers should provide insulation, but
allow the grower to check for damage control during the
winter.
limit weed growth around high
value crops. It can prevent
weeds from seeds that germinate
at or near the soil surface. How
ever, a thicker layer of mulch
may be harmful to landscape or
namentals and can provide hab
itat for seeds to germinate.
Hand pulling is used to elimi
nate weeds that escape preven
tive measures. A weed-free
growing medium, like perlite or
peat, can help the grower to
avoid weed problems in contain
er-grown plants.
According to Sellmer, total
weed control is possible, but can
cause problems. “Soil erosion,
pesticide and fertilizer runoff,
and impassable fields after a
rainfall are all associated with
total weed control,” said
Sellmer. Both cover crops and
mulching can prevent against
these problems.
During his presentation on
“Overwintering,” Sellmer re
viewed factors involved in
overwintering. They included
fertilization, irrigation, pest con
trol, and the timing of covering
and uncovering plants.
“If you’re new to the business,
you need to consider how much
overwintering you need to do,”
said Sellmer. “It depends on
whether you’re going into retail
or production.”
For retailers, traditionally the
goal has been to be done selling
product and have it out of stock
by winter. Those working in pro
duction don’t expect everything
grown to be sold the first year or
even the second year. However,
Sellmer and his colleagues from
Penn State recently conducted a
survey of growers in the indus
try. One of the trends they found
was that more retailers are
overwintering than in the past.
“You need to consider what
plants you’re overwintering,”
said Sellmer. The Penn State
study found that growers con
sidered ornamental grasses to be
the most difficult perennials to
overwinter.
“We did the survey to find out
how overwintering is affecting
the industry and how the indus
try is dealing with overwintering
issues,” said Sellmer. “Based on
the study, we are discussing
researching ways to better
overwinter ornamental grasses.
Then we can give growers
suggestions.”
According to Sellmer, the
structures and techniques in
overwintering haven’t changed
over the years. The bottom line
is that the system growers
choose will affect how they
manage it.
He suggested that growers ask
these questions about their
overwintering systems: Does it
provide adequate protection?
Docs it reduce moisture loss,
thus reducing tissue damage? Is
it easy to handle and manage?
Can it be adapted to the growth
of your stock? Is it economical?
Overwintering systems com
monly used in the industry in
clude structureless systems,
polyhuts, and polyhouses. Ac
cording to Sellmer’s study,
structureless systems are the
most popular systems among
growers.
Structureless systems involve
consolidating plants and sur
rounding them with kraft paper,
bales of straw, white polyethy
lene film, a thermal blanket, or
any combination of these covers.
Although this type of system
is the simplest solution, it pro
vides limited protection. Sellmer
suggests that any coverings be
placed from north to south for
best protection.
According to Sellmer, this
Armchair Shoppers Beware:
Home Shopping Poses Some Risks
TUNNAHOCKEN (Wyoming
Co.)-Today’s technological ad
vances allow consumers to shop
almost anytime and anyplace
from home. But it’s important to
know the rules and tools that
will protect you from con artists
and unprincipled business folks
trying to make a fast buck, says
a consumer scientist in Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences.
“While there may be great
opportunities for good buys and
unusual items, shopping from
home does have its risks,” says
Cathy Bowen, assistant profes
sor of agricultural and extension
education. Shopping from home
includes online/e-commerce, tele
marketing, mail order, door-to
door, yard sales, and flea mar
kets.
“Here are some key points to
remember when shopping from
home,” she says. Know who you
are dealing with. “Find out the
seller’s location and reputation,”
Bowen says. “What is their
street address and phone num
ber? Do they belong to a trade
group, or take part in a program
such as the Better Business
Bureau’s program for online
merchants at www.BßßOnline?”
Protect your privacy. Bowen
recommends that home shop
pers only provide personal infor
mation if they know who is col
lecting it, why they are collect
ing it and how the information
will be used. Good Web sites
should allow you to choose
whether and how your personal
Poiyhuts are one form of cover used for overwintering
perennials. The polyhuts allow for ventilation, irrigation,
and secondary, interior covers.
type of system traps in moisture,
preventing tissue damage. How
ever, troubleshooting rodent
problems or moisture loss is dif
ficult because of the coverings.
Polyhuts are typically five to
six feet wide and four feet tall
with low hoops and polyethy
lene plastic coverings. Po
lyhouses are taller and wider
than the polyhuts. Both allow
for ventilation, irrigation, and
secondary, interior covers.
Sellmer suggests determining
the overwintering method based
on the plant hardiness. “We
have a lot of plant materials,
and we don’t know how hardy
each plant is,” said Sellmer.
“Plants vary drastically in har
diness.”
Other overwintering issues
Sellmer spoke about included
fertilization, irrigation, pest con
trol, and weed control. Healthy
information will be shared.
Pay the safest way. “Know the
different options for paying and
use the one that offers the best
protection,” Bowen says. When
shopping online, thieves can
intercept credit card, debit card,
or other payment information.
Information stored in company
databases also may be retrieved
by hackers or dishonest employ
ees.
The National Consumers
League (NCL) recommends credit
cards as usually being the safest
way to pay, because you can
legally dispute the charges if the
product or service is misrepre
sented or never delivered. You
also have limited liability if your
card number is stolen or mis
used. If the company doesn’t
accept credit cards, NCL says,
you might consider using an
escrow service that will hold
your money until you are satis
fied with the purchase.
If you do a lot of shopping on
the Internet, Bowen suggests
having a designated credit card
with a low credit line specifical
ly for that purpose. Know what
you are buying. “It’s important
to get a complete description of
the product or service, and all of
the terms of the transaction,”
she says.
mm
plants that are “not excessively
vigorous” are better able to
withstand winter. So Sellmer
suggests fertilizing enough to
sustain normal growth but not
enough to push growth.
Irrigating the growing area to
its capacity prior to storage will
provide the moisture and hu
midity to prevent freeze-drying.
In hoop systems, growers will
probably also need to irrigate
during the winter.
According to Sellmer’s study,
excessive moisture and animal
damage caused the biggest
losses for growers who
overwintered their plants.
Sellmer suggests applying bait
around houses and taking pre
ventative measures against ro
dents. He also suggests checking
the growing area and getting
floor weeds under control before
overwintering.
“When buying used items,
make sure they meet safety
standards.” When making pur
chases online, The National
Consumers League suggests you
print out all of the information
for online transactions, includ
ing product description, delivery
information, privacy policy, war
ranties and confirmation notices.
Think through your purchase.
“Don’t act on impulse or
because of pressure,” Bowen
says.
Know who to complain to. “If
you have a problem, and cannot
get satisfaction from the compa
ny, find out what government
agencies, industry organizations
or other groups can help you,”
Bowen says. “The Federal Trade
Commission offers an online
complaint form at http://www.ftc.
gov/ftc/complaint.htm.”
To raise consumer awareness
of protection and education
efforts being made nationwide,
Feb. 14-20 has been set aside as
National Consumer Protection
Week. This year’s theme,
“Armchair Armor: Shopping
Safely From Home,” addresses
the growing technological ad
vances and issues that allow
today’s consumers to conve
niently shop from home. For
more information, see http://www.
consumer, gov/ncpw.