North Shore Gardener May 2008

Photo: B. Jones

May 7 : Red lily beetles!, Tulips, Holly, Left out spruce/clay soil and tree, Callery pears /Bradford

Red lily beetles!
Q: RE your last column, Three years ago my lilies were completely decimated by the nasty critters, the next year I sprayed them with "neem" it does kill them but one needs to keep spraying them and the stuff is expensive. Last year I heard on Paul Parent's show about using "Bayer Tree and Shrub". It is a systemic material that is applied early in the season (just did mine). It was a miracle, not one of the critters was to be seen. You might give it a try.
A.R.,Topsfield

A: Paul Parent is one of the most knowledgeable gardeners around - if he says it works, I'm going to try it, too!
My thanks to Paul Parent - and to you, too - maybe we can have our lilies back again!
Thank you for taking the time to write and sharing this with us!

Tulips
Q: I received some beautiful tulip plants for Easter. Can I plant the bulbs now or should I dry them and plan in the fall. - Thanks you for a wonderful column. - Dot

A: I hope you have continued to water and grow the foliage on your tulip plants. Since they were forced to bloom at Easter and were probably grown in an inexpensive sand and soil mixture, the bulbs probably have had little chance for any nourishment this spring. It is questionable whether they will come back - but if you have the space, dig them in, about 5-6 inches deep, dying foliage and all, just the way you would plant fresh bulbs. Don't remove the yellow foliage until it literally drops off. Fertilize through the summer with your other plants. The tulips may not have the strength to bloom for another year or two if they ever bloom at all - but they're fun to watch if you have room!

Holly
Q: Again, your column is my guide, as it was this wk on 4/9. Was wondering about plants some perennials etc. Saw the answer in this wks Salem News.
Question: I have 2 holly bushes. Female & male. The male 2 winters’ ago got freezer wind damage. Last spring, tree did not die, but half is still empty of leaves. looks tacky. I left alone until this spring. Still looks tacky. Was going to cut most off, and hope for the best. Any advice? Thanks for any help. Jude

A: If you can bear it, I think I'd give it another year. This year, you could carefully prune any dead wood - make sure it's really dead!
Water the tree very regularly this season and give it plenty of holly food (available at garden centers) and mulch well to maintain moisture.
Next winter, spray it with Wilt-Pruf, which is an anti-desiccant and will protect it from cold, dry winds.....
Hollies grow very slowly, so it takes patience!
Then maybe it will be time to make a decision about replacing it....

Thank you for being a reader! I appreciate it!
BB

Left out spruce/clay soil and tree
I am more than excited to get outdoors and start poking around and have a couple of questions perhaps you could answer. The first is that I would like to plant a small tree (12-15 ft) and have found three inches in a clay layer of several inches. My question to you would be if it is > possible to sure this up with topsoil layers enough to support a smallish tree. There have been daisies planted there and they grow, but what root
system would be suitable?
Secondly, I inadvertently seem to have killed a dwarf Alberta spruce. It was uprooted at the end of the season as not appropriate for the area and was (embarrassingly) left covered in my lawn cart. Surprisingly, the tree stayed dormant and green. When I took it in the house, however, the quills dropped off. Is it savable if I plant if now. It looks pretty bare at the moment!
Thank you for your input, it's always appreciated!!!
Breeda Garmil

A: Yes, I think the soil can be properly amended enough to support a small tree (which is going to grow into a large tree!!) Get as much depth in the planting hole as you can manage - don't amend the soil with too much bought soil - use decent compost and decent topsoil from the adjoining area, not too much peat, and fertilizers, etc. - but you might want to add some sand if the drainage is poor, as it probably is with the clay substructure being so deep.

Why did you bring the spruce tree indoors? The true test of the tree's life is not only in the needles, but rather in the branches - break one and see if it bends (possibly live!) or snaps (dead!). If it bends, it still has some moisture and sap in it - and MIGHT live! But after being uprooted and left out on a garden cart all winter, even if covered, it is doubtful it would have survived....
You might want to try planting it if there is some extra room in some inconspicuous place in the garden - but it might take some years to respond.

Callery pears /Bradford
Q: You mention birds eating the Bradford pears. Do Callery pears bear fruits? I thought the whole point of this much touted new hybrid ornamental is that it is sterile and has
no fruits to litter streets or yards.

A: In answer to your question about Callery pears: the scientific name is Pyrus calleryana "Bradford" - it was the original introduction of the Callery pear. Others have been "Chanticleer" Bradford pear and "Aristocrat", "Autumn Blaze" - and several others.
It is NOT native to the U.S. (it was introduces from China in 1908) – and has become almost invasive here - the tiny fruits are spread easily by birds -and trees cut down at ground level will often re-sprout!
Because the bids eat the tiny fruit and they seldom drop and make a mess on the ground, they are not a problem on city streets where they are often planted

This week’s dirt…………………………………………………………
Now that it’s May – are you wondering when you can safely plant? Want to know how to forecast the weather? ”Lettuce” show you how!! Gardeners have depended on these old May sayings and adages for generations:

“When oak leaves are the size of a mouse’s ear, it’s time to plant corn and other hot weather veggies.”

“A cold May is kindly, and fills the barn finely…”

“Plant corn when the apple blossoms fall”

“If a thunderstorm occurs before seven in the morning in April or May, we’ll have a wet summer!”
Many thunderstorms in May, and the farmer sings “Hey! Hey!”

And we all know, “April showers bring May flowers!” It should be a beautiful May!

May 14 : 25th Anniversary

This week marks the twenty -fifth anniversary of North Shore Gardener!

Twenty-five years ago when I proposed doing this column, my editor asked me if I could sustain it for more than a few weeks – 25 years later and we’re still here! That's over 1300 articles about gardening in New England. Where has the time gone?
Twenty-five years ago, this is what we wrote in the first column to begin the series:

North Shore Gardener – Chapter One – May 12, 1983
Today begins a new column for The Salem Evening News - and the North Shore.
“North Shore Gardener” is designed to be a very personal, very regional gardening column, written by a gardener who lives and works right here with you and will be gardening right along with you, hand in hand, through every season. It is designed to be as personal as a chat over the backyard fence with a neighbor, because gardening is a year-round exchange of ideas and information.
We'll talk about what is growing in your garden and mine - the houseplants on the windowsill and what grows and works for us outdoors here on the North Shore -- and what doesn't. We'll try to answer your questions and even try to help find products pertaining to this area. We will try to help the novice with his first tomato or spider plant and we'll even try to help the poor soul who complains about not having had enough zucchini last year - and we'll remind you of the seasonal garden chores ready to be done in our area this week - or put off in favor of a game of golf.
We live on a unique piece of our fragile planet - we cope with ice, deep snow, September fogs, summer heat and the fury of ocean storms. We cope with the elements because it's worth coping to live on the North Shore - you can fool Mother Nature- you can have your garden and eat it, too”…
-And so began North Shore Gardener, twenty-five years ago this week.

What's happened in 20 years? We’ve become good friends. I know all about you!
You wrote to tell me when someone was ill - and you had to take care of their plants while they were in the hospital. You needed a little advice on what should you do because the health of those plants was so important to the sick person…
You told me about your own heirloom tomato seeds, brought from Italy from your parents, which you insisted grew more wonderfully delicious tomatoes than any tomatoes on the market today. Their priceless seeds had been passed down through generations, from grandfathers and mothers to fathers and mothers, and then carefully saved by you and planted every year… and now heirloom veggies are increasingly popular…
There were letters about cherished rose bushes and azaleas which bloomed, almost miraculously each year, on the anniversary of the death of a loved one…
I heard about your kid's school projects, growing plants in paper cups, and making terrariums in a mayonnaise jar or planting a first vegetable garden…
We advised you to grow a pot of grass just for your indoor kitties, so they (hopefully) wouldn't eat the houseplants.
More than a decade ago, we adopted in a huge lemon tree from one reader, a cherished plant that she was going to have to leave behind when she retired to a smaller place. She needed a good home for her tree. We adopted it and named it “Lucy”, after the owner. Five-foot "Lucy Lemon tree" is still with me, spending winters on a glassed porch and basking each summer in a sunny garden spot outdoors. And each year, we have high hopes that we will see a lemon or even just one flower - we haven’t! Maybe this year…

You've shared with me, but what have I shared with you over the garden fence? It got kinda personal…..
We've shared my garden failures. Sure, there are failures! Who ever said that gardening is bed of roses?
-Remember the small pond I built, which then had to be stocked with goldfish to prevent mosquitoes? Local raccoons declared it a sushi bar – and fish skeletons were found all over the garden one morning! The pond was promptly drained and the spot was re-planted with annuals that fall.
We warned you first-hand of the dangers of bacterial infections in garden products when I was hospitalized for two days after puncturing my hand in a bag of bark mulch. in a bag of bark mulch - and right then I began my campaign on gardening with gloves - and the need to get regular tetanus shots!

And you were in on the secret when I bought a birdbath for my hubby's birthday - and a tree for our anniversary! Just to be fair, I must tell you he’s given me a wheelbarrow, and a load of compost!!

You've shared the lives and deaths of my pets/companions. I was amazed and grateful at the sympathy expressed when our nineteen-year-old Siamese cat died a few months ago. Our sole furry (indoor) resident now is the thirteen year old Persian, whose only fault is peeing in the gravel of the greenhouse. .
And you gleefully read and offered suggestions one year as my hubby chronicled his attempt to grow tomatoes from seed in his very first garden ever - and we counted on one hand the number of tomatoes he harvested that first year! I must add that his gardening skills haven’t changed much over the years. This year, he announce that he was bravely going to plant about 6 carrot seeds this year - he thought that six bunches of carrots would be enough carrots for the summer…
This year, the joke is on him: I’ve ordered some highly colored heirloom tomatoes plants for him to grow – my intention is to surprise him with tomatoes that are yellow, and green striped and almost black…...
.
What else have we done together?
We've done some daffy things over 25 years, like growing our own bamboo stakes one year when there was a shortage. Now we have all the bamboo stakes we’ll ever need – but we’re also stuck with an ever-increasing clump of running bamboo that is menacing my lawn and garden – and threatening the lives of others in the vicinity! Get out the machete!

We've taken you native plant collecting for yellow-eyed field daisies, and 6 foot silvery mullein and indigo blue trandescantia at the old city dump…

We've tried to humanely rid our garden of certain pesty garden mammals – no traps, no poisons but by using everything from animal hair, to fox urine and mothballs and used cat litter. Nothing seems to work on all of these pesty animals all of the time - so we’ve learned permit a certain amount of noshing, and don't get too excited (except that when a skunk ate four dozen prized pink tulip buds, I almost considered a pellet gun.)

Some things have changed in twenty years.
A lot of plants have been lost from this earth in the last 25 years, some through the ever-disappearing rain forest, some through pollution and global warming - but some plant loss occurred a lot closer to home. I'm happy to report that some of the native wildflowers that were disappearing in New England 25 years ago are now making a rebirth because you and I are more careful in the fields and forests. We're growing some of the endangered species in our gardens, because these gorgeous plants are now commercially available, grown through responsible harvesting of seed by professionals. Thanks to you, our grandchildren will be able to enjoy many of the same cherished flowers we've loved.
And we're all doing more recycling. We've learned that composting is for everyone and composting even a little bit helps. There's more ecological awareness, because we know what will happen if we don't do it - and we care.

And some things remain the same-
Gardening hasn't changed that much in 25 years. We're still growing many of the old favorites because they grow best in the Northeast – and we still get our hands and knees very dirty!
We still get many of the same questions, about bulbs, tomatoes and geraniums and lots of questions about pests. We've all got 'em! But how do we deal with them? Now we’re using safer insecticides instead of harmful poisons.
We still plant geraniums in at Memorial Day and tulips in the fall, but we're getting more adventurous indoors, growing orchids and tropicals on the windowsill.
We still move the houseplants out in June for their brief holiday in the sun and back in September. And we still save yogurt and milk cartons each year for seed planting.

Contact with my readers through mail means so much.
I know and appreciate the effort it takes to write, stamp, and mail a letter. We promised we’d answer every letter promptly – either in the column, by mail or sometimes by ‘phone – and we’ve kept our promise!
Thank heaven for E- mail – and what a difference! Now you can have an answer from me in a day or two or sometimes, on a rainy day, within hours - and that can mean the difference between life and death for your plants. But we still love those old-fashion letters!
And we have a new website www.nsgardener.com where you can access questions from years past and see some of our favorite pictures as well.

We're here to answer your gardening questions. I don't have all the answers, but boy, do I have a network and resources built over the past 25 years! We know where to get the information you need. But the best garden sources are still my readers, who know exactly what's growing here on the North Shore, indoors or out.

Now it’s 25 years later – and we love being your neighbor!
We're here, every Wednesday in the News - but we're also here every day to share information over the garden gate - your gate or mine! If you're around for the next twenty-five years, I'll try to be here, too.

Thank you for the past twenty-five wonderful years of gardening!
We said it twenty –five years ago, and we’ll say it again:
"Walk lightly on the earth as we pass through. Take care of this world - it's the only one we've got."
Now let’s get busy and have another great year of gardening.
Barbara Barger

May 21 :Violets turning white, Peony transplanting, Iris not blooming, Spring planting

Violets turning white
Q: Yesterday when I wrote it really was only to thank you for your column, but would you believe that after walking this morning, I now have a question that perhaps you could answer. Last year I noticed what seemed to be wild violets that had "turned white" (the blossoms, that is). I first noticed them where there was no sunlight and wondered if it was like the "white" asparagus phenomenon. Then I began to notice them in other locations such as lawns and I truly never remember seeing them in previous years. And again this morning, I saw them in numerous locations. Is it possible I just never noticed them before or did something happen in the past few years that caused this? A neighbor's lawn actually looks like it has snow on it because there are so many in bloom right now!

A: I'm not going to be much help! I have absolutely no idea why the violets are white now - could it possibly be, as you suggest, that you hadn't noticed them in past years?? I really doubt it! I will put the question out to my readers, 'tho - as you know, they're a smart bunch-

Peony transplanting
Q: I have a few questions for you regarding transplanting. I had written to you last summer about a white mildew on my peony plants. I cut them back as you directed, and tossed the cuttings far away from the garden. You also said being up against a stone wall is not the best location, which is where they are. I did not have an opportunity in the Fall to transplant them to an open area. Did I miss the boat in not transplanting them last fall? Can I do it now? Don't see any "eyes" coming up yet.

A: Your peonies would be much better off if you transplanted them in the fall - so I'm afraid you have another season of mildew, etc. - Mark it on your calendar so you don't forget next fall!
You do remember my telling you that they will take several years after transplanting to recover and bloom - so choose the new are well, so you won't have to do this transplant again and suffer no flowers!

Iris not blooming
Q: I have some big, beautiful, purple iris' that were here when I bought this new home. I did transplant them about a year and a half ago as they were on the edge of a slope. I was careful and moved the whole clump, grass and all, to a new location. Last year they produced only one flower which disappointed me, the other buds dried up and fell off. Can I dig up the bulbs and replant them elsewhere at this time, or should just let them be until the Fall? I'd like to add that the area they are in now does not have the best drainage and gets to be a wet area in the spring.
Thanks, as always, for your knowledge in helping us develop green thumbs!

A: It sounds to me that the iris, which are normally transplanted after they bloom, were dug up with the clump of grass and replanted too deeply. Iris tubers need to be almost at the surface to bloom well, which involves only covering with a thin coating of soil - this may very well be the reason they're not blooming. You need to dig them and replant after blooming time - then next year, you should get blooms.
You're right when you mention poor drainage - iris can easily rot if standing in water. While you're at it, clear out the grass and weeds for the new iris bed - they don't like competition for food and water!

Spring planting
Q: This year, I am more than excited to get outdoors and start poking around and have a couple of questions perhaps you could answer. The first is that I would like to plant a small tree (12-15 ft) and have found three inches in a clay layer of several inches. My question to you would be if it is possible to sure this up with topsoil layers enough to support a
smallish tree. There have been daisies planted there and they grow, but what root
system would be suitable?
Secondly, I inadvertently seem to have killed a dwarf Alberta spruce. It was uprooted at the end of the season as not appropriate for the area and was (embarrassingly) left covered in my lawn cart. Surprisingly, the tree stayed dormant and green. When I took it in the house, however, the quills dropped off. Is it savable if I plant if now. It looks pretty bare at the moment!
Thank you for your input, it's always appreciated!!!

A: Yes, I think the soil can be properly amended enough to support a small tree (which is going to grow into a large tree!!) Get as much depth in the planting hole as you can manage - don't amend the soil with too much bought soil - use decent compost and decent topsoil from the adjoining area, not too much peat, and fertilizers, etc. - but you might want to add some sand if the drainage is poor, as it probably is with the clay substructure being so deep.
Why did you bring the spruce tree indoors? The true test of the tree's life is not only in the needles, but rather in the branches - break one and see if it bends (possibly live!) or snaps (dead!). If it bends, it still has some moisture and sap in it - and MIGHT live! But after being uprooted and left out on a garden cart all winter, even if covered, it is doubtful it would have survived....
You might want to try planting it if there is some extra room in some inconspicuous place in the garden - but it might take some years to respond.
-Drop me a note if you have any questions! Isn't it nice to be out again!

This week’s dirt…………………………………………………………
Seeds planted in warm ground sprout faster with less danger of rotting – that’s why bottom heat is often recommended when we start seeds early indoors. But peas are different! With peas, sprouting can occur at ground temperatures as low as 40 degrees!
For everything else, it pays to wait just a few more days!

It is time to take your seedling plants out for a walk: It’s still too cold to plant most seedlings but you can get your seedlings ready to go outdoors and let them enjoy the warm days! Take them out for a walk! They will enjoy these sunny, warm days as much as you do. Take them out for a few hours each day, beginning in a shady area and gradually moving into the sun. Protect them from wind and hard rainfall – and watch out for still quickly dropping afternoon temperatures.
Bring them inside each day as the sun goes down – then take them out another day, as temperatures permit. A few days of this treatment and they’ll be ready for their permanent trip to the garden about the end of the month. .

May 28 :Vegetable soap, Mulch prevents perennials seedlings , Over-liming soil ,Composting in existing garden

Vegetable soap
Q: In your recipe for 'Bunny Juice" you refer to vegetable soap. What are some examples of such soap? Thanks.

A: Vegetable soaps contain only natural non-animal fats and oils like olive oil, aloe, shea butter, palm oil, avocado and coconut oil, or other non-animal fats and are, for this reason, often preferred and used by pure vegetarians, as well as people who simply find non-animal fats soothing to the skin. They can be found in various forms from bars to powdered laundry and baby soaps at most health food stores as well as some drugstores.
Thank you for your note- have a great gardening day!

Mulch prevents perennials seedlings
Q: I do have a question connected to the bark mulch. We have been spreading it around the perennials and I'm wondering if that's a good idea or not. I understand that mulching cuts down on weeds and keeps the moisture in, but it seems that the perennial seeds would have a harder time replanting themselves, which I would like. Perhaps something else instead of bark as mulch?

A: You have a bit of a dilemma, Eve: it's mulch - or seedlings! The mulch is going to deter the self-seeding of perennials as well as weeds.
Maybe you could compromise: if there is a particular plant you are interested in seeding, eliminate the mulch around the base of that plant (and even purposely shake the seedpods as they ripen.) Re-mulch the area when your tiny new plants have appeared and have been transplanted to a more permanent place in the garden.

Over-liming soil
Q:    I learned last year, via your column, of course, that moss growing anywhere means the soil is acidic. That's great for my tomatoes and totally explains why my strawberry plants love me so much, but moss is appearing more and more in my lawn whether it be in shade or in full sun sections. I bought lime last fall and put some down, but here is spring and the moss seems pretty happy. Can I ”O.D."  the lawn with lime? Will it hurt grass, worms, and beneficial good guys in there? How aggressive can I get w/ lime?

Ps/ my Tiger Lilies are officially history. I tried for years to save them from that blasted beetle, but it was a losing battle and an infuriating, gross one. *sigh*   on a Good note, I, like you I'm sure, am back in garden therapy now and LOVING it!!   I call it "Yahdening"  and am out there til Dahk! :-)

A: You can overdo the lime or any soil additive - and besides the damage, why waste the money? Before you put another shovelful of anything on your lawn, DO A SOIL TEST!
You wouldn't take medicine before you had a diagnosis, would you? Treat your lawn and garden the same way: Diagnose first, and then treat with the prescribed dosage!
-Nice to be out getting for our prescribed dose of Vitamin D again!

Composting in existing garden
Q: I read your column as much as possible, and always learn something new. My question has to do with fortifying soil for an existing garden, where I don't want to take out all the plants.
For many years, I planned what plants I wanted to create a garden, made the hole big enough, and just dropped them in, watered, and fertilized during the growing season. We also use dark mulch on the surface. Lately, I have been reading more about amending garden soil when creating new beds, but my question is, can I amend or fortify the soil for an existing garden, and if so, how do I do that with all the plants there?
Can we use maple leaves that have mulched for a few years, and what else should we be using? Our soil has some clay, our yard ranges from very bright sun to very deep shade.
Also, is this something I can do now in early spring, or should I wait until the fall?
-A Beverly gardener

A: Taking care of your garden soil is an on-going job - it doesn't happen in just one season, or even two.....
The first thing you need to do is get a soil test - U of Mass has a lab and the cost is under $15.00 - there is no sense spending needless money to add stuff to the soil before you really know its needed.
Then begin using your composted leaves and garden clippings- maple leaves which have been composted for a few years should be ready to use this season!
Next fall, start a simple compost area - it doesn't have to be a formal bin, just a protected pile, so it doesn't blow all over the neighborhood. As I keep telling you - "Compost happens!" - but you can speed it up by chopping (run a lawn mower over it!) turning the pile, and keeping the pile about as damp as a sponge!
Compost is not a substitute for fertilizer - it is a soil texture additive, which allows the roots to take up the nutrients easily (you'll use less fertilizer) -and holds and makes moisture available! In time, it can make even sandy and clay soils perfectly workable!
You mention dark mulch which you have used on the garden beds over the years: This sounds like compost mulch, which consists of partially composted materials, ground to a loose mulch. It has a lot of value in the garden: In the fall, gently scratch it into the soil.
Where you have room between plants, (you will see this particularly in early spring and mid- to -late fall, when there is less growth). Add your composted material wherever you can, and gently dig it in. Add compost to your usual routine of planting: add some compost whenever you dig a planting hole - the plants will benefit immediately!
Over the years, you'll be able to see - and feel- your soil improve - and most of the improvements will have been generated by your very own compost pile. As you can see, you're going to have a lot of use for compost - so make that a big compost pile.
Thank you for your very nice note - I appreciate it! Please don't hesitate
to write again if there are any other questions!

This week’s dirt…………………………………………………………
Fill your LARGE planters with empty plastic bottles and containers to take up space before adding soil (your plants only need about 8-10’ of depth) – it will save soil, and will cut down on total weight, which might be a factor on decks! Plastic bottles won’t rot and can be saved and used again as fillers next year.
What about drainage in those whisky barrel planters? Small gaps between slats may produce enough drainage – you can test with a garden hose to make sure the barrel leaks enough to provide drainage for plants!

Clarification:
Bayer Lawn and Garden, which I mentioned as a cure for the Red Lily beetle attacking the Asiatic lilies is not for use around eatables and that includes herbs – I apologize for suggesting a chemical, but we’re desperate to get our lilies back again!