Horticulture Hotline 12/14/2025
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
Ok, I get it. The mid-seventies in late November. It is
Charleston and why we love it. Apparently, the mole crickets, moles, fire ants,
and large patch fungus love it as well. The rat managing products have been
flying off the shelf at the three Possum’s stores too. I have seen more fire
ant mounds this fall than I can ever remember seeing! We (Possum’s) sell
25-pound bags of fire ant bait that cover over 16 acres per bag. I never
remember selling so many of these bags this late in the season.
I thought about sending out an alert type Horticulture
Hotline (I think it would have been only the second one in 36 years of writing
this column); however, I did not want to cause any hysteria around the Holiday
Season. I have been writing about large patch since early August, so hopefully,
some of you were saved from the disease! Driving around the Lowcountry, it is
amazing how many yards have been damaged. The cold weather this week will slow
it down for a few days; however, when it warms back up, the disease will be
active again. Strobe Pro G and T-Methyl are two good systemic fungicides to
rotate to manage this disease.
Sweating while you bring in the Christmas Tree – ah the
Lowcountry! Here are a few holiday gift ideas for the gardener.
Does it seem like your free time is spent doing maintenance
yard work around the house? You work
long hours all week, and then on the weekend instead of spending time with your
family, shopping, on the boat, on the golf course, hunting, etc., you spend it
pushing a lawn mower inhaling that blue smoke?
Give yourself a lawn care company for a year and enjoy your time off
doing what you like to do. You can still
spend time in the yard doing specialty things; just get rid of the mowing,
edging, control product applying and blowing.
Also consider hiring professionals to do other house maintenance (power
washing, painting….). The gift of free time is awesome! If you enjoy working in the yard, a custom
program from Possum’s based on your soil test can give you a plan for success.
Plan a trip to a local public garden (for example Magnolia
Plantation, Middleton, Boone Hall, Drayton Hall, Charles Towne Landing, the
many county parks – be sure to take in the Holiday Festival of Lights at James
Island County Park, or Hampton Park) and get ideas for your own landscape. This also makes for a wonderful day with the
family. You can take a picnic lunch and
make it a full day enjoying the beauty of the Lowcountry. Many of these parks
you can buy a yearly pass for just a little more than a onetime visit and enjoy
the park throughout the year. The gift of visiting an ever changing and special
place to the Lowcountry is awesome! Since you live in the Charleston area, you
probably have out-of-town visitors, so you will have a great place to take them
for the day.
If you would like to take a road trip, travel to Brookgreen
Gardens by Myrtle Beach, or Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. You can also give a
gardener a trip out of the area for a long-distance gardening adventure. Calloway Gardens in Atlanta, Longwood Gardens
in Pennsylvania, The National Arboretum outside of Washington, D.C., The
Redwoods in California, or any other garden throughout the United States…. or
anywhere in the world!
There are some awesome gardens!
Give a gardener a gift certificate for a future Home and
Garden Tour event. There are great tour
events throughout the year in areas all over the Lowcountry. Kiawah, Seabrook,
Give your gardener a membership to one of the many clubs or
societies in the
Books (different Universities sell very informative books at
very good prices), quality hand tools (especially pruners and pruning saws),
decorative pots, cuttings from your garden, a plant, tree, or bulbs, or
something you have canned from your garden, all make great gifts!
A gift certificate to any of the local garden centers or
nurseries makes an excellent choice for the garden enthusiast. They are bound to find something they want,
and you do not have to worry about whether they will like the gift. For the
most part free and easy parking. Now that is awesome!
Happy Holiday Season! Are you ready for New Year’s
Resolutions for a gardener?
Bill Lamson-Scribner
can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply.
Possum’s has three locations
