July 17, 2008 -- Carol Stocker gardening chat
Carol_Stocker: Greetings Gardeners! I'm Boston Globe Garden Writer Carol Stocker and I will be on line for the next hour, until 2:30 p.m. July 17 to answer your gardening questions. You can leave your questiopns here anytime but the next opportunity I will have to ansewr them is Thursday, Aug. 21 at 1 p.m.
Carol_Stocker: WHAT TO DO IN THE GARDEN FOR THE NEXT MONTH: Summer is all about smart watering. Don't neglect trees, especially those on the sidewalk strip in front of your house. Lack of water, not pollution, is the biggest killer of young street trees. I am a low tech waterer, using an oscillating sprinkler and a hose. But I do like to attach a mechanical Nelson timer, which is like a kitchen timer. I turn it all the way to three hours and it turns off the flow of water when time is up. This way I don't have to remember to turn off the hose. Three hours sounds like a lot of time but it is better to water once a week deeply than quickly every day because that way the water sinks in and the plant roots go deep after it. The exception is plants in containers, which need to be watered daily, especially hanging planters in hot weather, as moisture evaporates on all sides. When I leave town, I take my potted plants and line them up along the edge of my property to take advantage of the daily spritz of my abutter's inground lawn irrigation system!
Carol_Stocker: For detailed week by week advice, order my book, "The Boston Globe Illustrated New England Gardening Almanac" from globestore.com
Edso__Guest_: Hi Carol, I recently got too aggressive with a bottle of RoundUp and have turned lots of grass brown. Any way to revive it?
Carol_Stocker: Sorry. I've done the same thing myself so I can report from experience that that grass is dead and not coming back. Here's what I do - I stop watering my lawn so the whole thing goes dormant and turns brown. I figure that's better than polka dot. Then in September, when the weather cools off and fall rains commence, I water the lawn and let the live grass green up, then I rake out the dead grass and overseed with a good grass seed mix. The good news is that overseeding is something all of us should be doing in the fall anyway to keep our lawns thick. Just make sure to moisten the soil daily for the first ten days, as grass seed will die if it dries out after germination begins. This is another reason why you have to wait for cooler weather. If, like me, you have killed a really large patch, buy sod and plug it in. Once again, wait until fall and water frequently at first.
evenblend__Guest_: Are there any good vegetables that will grow well if I planted them now?
Carol_Stocker: It depends upon the size of the vegetable. THere are hot weather vegetables and cold weather vegetables. TOmatoes, peppers, eggplants like hot weather but you need to plant a plant. They don't have time to develop from seed before the weather turns too cool for them. However, cool weather vegetables, such as peas, spinach, lettuce, bok choy and broccoli can be planted from seed at the end of August, just before the weather turns cold.
Norwood_Mom__Guest_: I planted black eye susans last year and they came up great, do I need to do anything special so that they will grow again?
Carol_Stocker: They should come back with no effort on your part.
bbb__Guest_: What are the best flowering shrubs for full sun on the Cape...
Carol_Stocker: I recommend rose of sharon, roses, vitex (A little known August bloomer with clear blue spikes), and of course hydrangeas.
eeeeeee__Guest_: Hi Carol - I have lots of daylilies coming up, but have only gotten two stems with flowers. This is only my second year with them, so I'm not sure - is this typical?
Carol_Stocker: The saying about perennials, including daylilies, is this: The first year they sleep; The second year they creep; The third year they leap! So wait for the third year. However, the only daylilies that bloom well in shade are the wild orange tawny daylily.
Leslie__Guest_: We have a "volunteer" wisteria that is huge. About 5 - 7 years old. What can we do to encourage it to bloom? I understand that the plant needs to be older to bloom. I believe that it is now old enough. Also, any recommendations on pruning the monster? Thanks.
Carol_Stocker: Do not fertilize it again since nitrogen causes plants to grow leaves rather than flowers. Assuming your vine is getting the full sun that it needs, you can encourage blooming by cutting back all the side shoots to just six leaves in early June (or after it finishes blooming.)After that, cut subsequent shoots that develop from the pruned side shoots. On the main branches, leave a single shoot at the end to serve as a leader. In late winter, prune back half of the new growth on the leader and prune the side shoots you pruned in June to just an inch from their bases. That way the side shoots will become flowering spurs. Pruning wisteria is a lot of work! But it must be done to get flowers and prevent a leafy mess.
eeeeeee__Guest_: Perhaps a naive question, but should cucumber vines be flowering by now? I have a couple of vines that are trying to take over the world, but the buds haven't flowered yet. Not sure if I should be concerned that all I'm going to get are pretty vines.
Carol_Stocker: Mine haven't flowered yet, either. Don't fertilize with nitrogen. Hot weather can prevent pollination, but not flowering.
tinker__Guest_: For about 10 years, I've been building a shade garden in our back yard with loads of shade loving perrenials. Our neighbor recently cut down three large trees - the source of shade - and now the garden has full sun exposure all day. Aside from starting over with sun-lovers, is there anything I can do to help the perrenials I have to survive and thrive?
Carol_Stocker: When catalogs say plants are "shade tolerant" they mean just that. That they tolerate shade. Most shade plants actually PREFER sun if they can get it. And they'll be thrilled not to have to compete with those tree roots for water and nutrients. So most of your shade plants should do fine. The secret is to give them more water and to mulch the ground so it doesn't dry out a lot.
joegardener__Guest_: I have a patio dominated by a big Norway maple and every season the plants in the ground around the patio dry out really fast even when I water them daily. Some have even died. i think the trees roots are sucking up all the moisture. Does this sound likely? nothing seems to grow ell here. any suggestions? I've thought about putting nothing but container plants. I think the
Carol_Stocker: You are right about the Norway maple tree roots and the answer is indeed to only grow plants in containers so they are free of those tree roots, which are among the world's greediest.
Virgo__Guest_: Hi Carol, any advice on getting rid of garden snake who likes to hang around my front entrance bushes?
Carol_Stocker: Snakes are good for eating snails and slugs so most gardeners like them. I'm glad you don't want to kill it. I read about one gardener who always carried a gun in her garden for shooting the snakes that lived in her stone retaining wall! Snakes like to hang around rocks and rock piles which retain heat and warm them. They like sunny spots. If you have such a pile you could remove it.
aramweb__Guest_: I'm wondering if there is a good organic treatment for cucumber and zucchini plants......often I get the white "fungus" growing on them
Carol_Stocker: I think you are referring to mildew. Sulfur is a natural fungicide. It comes as a powder for dusting or spraying and as a component in fungicidal soaps. Don't apply when temperatures are over 80 degrees or you could damage leaves.
Carol_Stocker: spray on an overcast day and cover both the tops and undersides of leaves.
Carol_Stocker: That's all we have time for today. I'll be back live on August 21 at 1 p.m. You can leave your questions here any time. Happy gardening!