Horticulture Hotline

Preemerge Weeds

2012-01-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

Preemergent weed control time is rapidly approaching. Just spread a product and no small seeded annual weeds to worry about for a few months (check label for weeds controlled). Keep weeds away before they take over your lawn and ornamental plantings. Controlling weeds is a whole lot easier before they come up with a preemergent product, than after they come up with a post emergent product or by hand pulling.

If you enjoy pulling weeds in the flower and shrub beds, skip the preemergent product in these areas. The beauty of pulling weeds! Sweating (the lady folks - glowing), then swatting at that mosquito or gnat that is flying about your face, and ending up with a nice dirt smudge (in that split second soil changes over to dirt) on your face. So much fun!

Pulling weeds by hand is like bailing water out of a boat with a hole in the bottom of boat. Weed seeds are very small for the most part (usually over 2,000,000 seeds per pound), so they need to be right near the soil surface to germinate. For the more technical, these seeds do not have enough endosperm (stored food supply – energy) when they germinate to fight their way up to the soil surface where their new leaves can begin to manufacture their own food.

These weed seeds just wait in the soil until the soil gets disturbed and they get their chance to become a full grown weed. Dogs digging, birds pecking, moles tunneling, you planting or transplanting a plant, tilling, and yes, you pulling a weed will bring weed seeds to the surface where they can germinate. Many farmers have switched to no-till farming, so they will not bring up new seeds to the surface.

Think of the process of pulling a weed. I’ll skip the part about applying sun screen, applying bug spray, taking medication for back, arthritis, and knee pain, looking for the other glove for your pair, fighting with your spouse over how weedy the yard is, telling your friend that you cannot go fishing, shopping, golfing, etc. until you pull the weeds and paying the fine to the homeowner association for not keeping up the proper appearance.

When you pull a weed, you want to pull up the roots as well. Everyone’s mother taught them that, “be sure you get the roots or they will grow right back!” Attached to the roots is soil. The roots may go several inches into the ground, so you bring soil up to the surface from several inches below the surface. When you pull out the weed, you shake the soil off of the weeds roots. In this soil are weed seeds that you were nice enough to bring to the soil surface where they could germinate. Yes, by pulling weeds, you have just given weed seeds that would have stayed in the ground unnoticed, a chance at life.

Understand why it is like bailing water out of a boat with a hole in the bottom? Make your life easier and use a preemergent product in your lawn and beds this year! The time to apply them is rapidly approaching.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

To Do List 01/23/12

2012-01-23T09:06:00.001-05:00

Here are a few things to do on these nice winter days.

· Get soil tested – for everyone that has not already.

· Kill winter weeds now while they are young.

· Take mower in to have serviced to beat the Spring rush. With the new ethanol gas lawn mower engines and other engines have had issues. No one likes their mechanic to tell them, “pick it up in 4 weeks.”

· Keep leaves off lawn areas. Keeps moisture from being trapped and if you or your lawn service are applying products, you will have a more uniform coverage without the leaves.

· Move any shrub or tree now before it is too late. Root prune now, move before they start putting on new growth.

· Spray trees and shrubs with paraffinic oil (ultra-fine, Omni Supreme oil) as opposed to petroleum oils (Volck) to control over-wintering insects. Watch temperatures. If you have ongoing issues with scale, aphids, white flies, or other sucking bugs, try Safari or Dominion for long term control.

· Sharpen pruning tools or purchase new ones.

· If you haven’t already, get your bulbs in the ground.

· Apply SeaHume to turf, trees, flowers, and shrubs. Adding organics now will help in the spring. Cotton Burr Compost?

· Re-do bed lines to reflect maturing landscape.

· Get bird house ready for nesting birds.

· Have moles, get Mole Patrol – it really works.

· Have deer, get Deer Stopper – it really works.

· Check irrigation or get on professional’s list to check. It has been dry this winter. Be sure the heads are pointed the right way. Can you eliminate (turn off) the zone watering the shrubs and trees? Have you tried wetting agents to lower your water bill (we hear between 30 and 60 percent)? Less water equals less disease.

· Prune Crepe Myrtles – don’t butcher them.

· Hold off on pruning plants damaged by the cold – we could still have freezing temperatures.

· Test well for salt.

· Attend meetings of the Rose, Camellia, Horticultural Societies and others like horticultural societies.

· Get ready to preemerge in February. Kill small seeded summer annual weeds before they take over your landscape.

· Get out and enjoy our County, State and City parks as well as our local plantations.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

SeaHume, Wetting Agents, Custom Programs

2012-01-16T08:49:00.000-05:00

Last week I met with the Mt Pleasant Garden Club. We were talking about SeaHume G, Wetting Agents, Cotton Burr Compost, soil tests, custom programs, organic fertilizer and many other products. It was great because I would mention a product and several people would talk about how great it had worked for them.

One person had used SeaHume G on her shrubs that were a pale green. She lives in an area with challenging soils to say the least. The SeaHume G helped to green them right up.

When we were talking about saving money on the water bill by using wetting agents, this same lady (I know her name; however, I have not asked her if I could use it) had used wetting agents on a berm that always dried out quicker than the rest of her yard. By using the wetting agent, she did not have to overwater the rest of her yard to keep the berm watered.

I see overwatering a lot with flower beds that are not on a zone of their own. People will overwater their turf or shrubs to water their flowers. The turf will be diseased and the shrubs will be drowning, but the water is running for the flowers.

Preparing the flower beds with flower bed amendment, mule mix, SeaHume, 04-04-04 Bolster and a wetting agent will help reduce the flower’s water needs, and the flowers should not dry out so quickly. The flowers should quickly establish a massive root system and require less water.

Many of the people had taken advantage of Possum’s soil test and custom programs to help them know what to do and when (win) for their soil. Some of the people purchased several months of product in advance, so when they were ready to spread, the product was waiting in their garage for them.

I wanted to congratulate Michael Henry, Head Groundskeeper for Porter Gaud School, for winning Pioneer Paint’s “Field of Excellence” award for the Cyclones football field. This award is for all the state of SC and the eastern part of Ga. A lot of hard work goes into these sports turf fields, so it is good to see so many customers of Possum’s winning these different awards.

Have you taken a soil test recently? The time is now!

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

SeaHume

2012-01-09T07:25:00.000-05:00

Get ready, another year of gardening is rapidly approaching. The weather has been super nice, so it is hard to believe it is winter. Try to avoid getting too much spring fever quite yet. Surely, we will get some cold, overcast, rainy days soon. If you are dying to do something outside in the yard, there are plenty of things you could do that will not harm your plants or turf if we get some freezing weather.

Before the holidays, I wrote about Excellerator. Excellerator has proven to be a great product for our Lowcountry soils. Another product that people had very favorable results from in 2011 was SeaHume G. SeaHume G is a combination of seaweed and humic acid.

SeaHume granular is formulated to enhance root formation, increase vascular strength, promote green color and reduce stress on turf, ornamentals, and vegetable plants. SeaHume G is a natural organic product and is non-toxic to humans, animals, and fish.

Humates do wonders for the soil. A few highlights are reduces thatch, increases water holding capacity, makes soil more friable, increases aeration of soil, makes insoluble nutrients in the soil into forms available to plants, acts as organic catalyst, increase viability and germination of seeds, accelerates cell division and root development, contains a lot of micronutrients, and increases photosynthesis.

Humates contain a high amount of carbon that is used as a food source by microorganisms in the soil. Microorganisms help the soil and in turn the plants and turf. A healthy population of beneficial microorganisms can make it hard for disease causing microorganisms to colonize and attack the plant. Microorganisms aerate the soil and make nutrients in the soil into a form that is available to the plant.

Seaweed is a great natural bio stimulant. These amino acids, carbohydrates, minor nutrients, major nutrients, and bio stimulants can really help your turf, flowers, shrubs, trees, and vegetables come out of dormancy in the spring.

At one soccer complex that had SeaHume applied in 2011, they used to have to replace 60 pallets of sod at the end of the season. In 2011, they only had to replace 7 pallets in basically the goal mouths. At another complex they went from 5 pallets down to a half a pallet in the goal mouths. The root structure of the grass plants was huge compared to years past on over 65 acres of fields we looked at.

If you have the need to apply something to your yard with this nice weather, give SeaHume or Excellerator a try. Your plants, trees, flowers, vegetables, and turf will thank you.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T09:38:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Well, what a December in the Lowcountry! The warm weather, the snakes, the gnats, and the moles gave us a very interesting Holiday Season. For one month I went from being “The Possum Man” to being “The Mole Man”.

Between writing a three part series on moles and the Charleston City Paper’s T. Ballard Lesemann including me in their ‘How To’ edition (December 28, 2011), I was “the Mole Man” for the month. With the social aspect of the month of December (the parties), I learned more about ways people have tried to kill moles and how they have killed moles then I ever thought was possible.

The big thing with moles is they are managed not eradicated. When you kill one mole another one will take its place in about 2 weeks to a month, unless you use the three prong approach. Managing their food source and maintaining a repellent barrier is needed to being mole free.

The reptiles have been very confused by the warm weather. Yesterday, I saw a dead baby snake (rat snake if it matters) that should have been hibernating. I was talking to some people from Atlanta that had been to Magnolia Plantation and enjoyed seeing the alligators sunning themselves on the banks and on the planks. My cousin from Charlotte, Geary, lost her 10 year old box turtle named Friend in a cold snap they had in the beginning of the month.

Geary is an official Certified North Carolina Wildlife Rescue Person. She saved Friend about a decade ago, and ever since then while she worked in the yard, the turtle would follow her around in the yard like a dog. Her other turtles were already hibernating in the mulch along a brick wall (because of the warmth); however, Friend was confused because of the warm weather. RIP Friend.

December also brought Mike Williams of the Charleston Riverdogs a Sports Turf Managers Association award for Best Baseball Field in the state. Bobby Behr of Ashley Ridge High School was awarded Best Softball Field in the state (which makes sense since this field already won Best Softball Field in the Nation).

Spring is approaching rapidly. Get your soil test into us as soon as possible, so we can get them back to you.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Moles - part 3

2011-12-26T09:07:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year and may your yard have less mole damage in 2012. Moles are such a hot topic in this winter, so I figured I needed to expand on some other crucial points in dealing with the dreaded varmint.

Since I did not ask his permission to use his name, I will just call him the “Coke man”. The “Coke man” saw me one day and said, “Billy, watch out with that Mole Patrol. I killed a popular mole and ten moles came to his funeral!”

If a mole dies, moles will take over the tunnel system and territory of another mole. The three pronged approach works to deter this re-infestation (kill the mole, manage its food source, and repel curious intruders). Any of you Lowcountry dwellers that have ever swam in pluff mud know how hard it must be for the mole to tunnel through compacted soil, so if some other mole can do the hard work, why not move in to their habitat? If you just kill the mole, a new one will move in in about three to eight weeks.

As when you go fishing, hunting, or (for the ladies) shopping, you do not catch, kill, or buy something every time you cast, hunt, or go into a store. Baiting or trapping moles takes persistence. You may have to bait more than one time to be successful. Here are a few comments from people that were successful:

“Recommended Mole Patrol – Great stuff! Kills moles. Found 3 dead moles above ground just days after treatment.” Rick Clark

“Mole Patrol – Awesome, I had 40-50 tunnels in the yard. In 7-10 days, all moles were gone!” Mike Lamm

“The other product that works great is Mole Patrol. Once I got the knack of getting the product in the right tunnels without collapsing them, and touching the product. It really kills the moles. I will go about 7-8 weeks without seeing a single mole track and when they pop up, I bait again and there are no more tracks for another 7-8 weeks. I don’t like the way moles can tear up your yard in a single day. The Mole Patrol does not keep them out but sure makes their stay very short.” Robert Felts, Studio Cielo (sounds like Robert needs to try that three pronged approach to keep them out)

With baits as with any product following the label is crucial. I got a call from a customer one time that was putting way too much bait in the tunnel, and she was having poor results. She was really mad at these moles! Just like fishing, you do not want a huge piece of cut mullet to try to catch a small bream. We adjusted her rate down and she got great results. In her words, “Mole Patrol-if you know how to apply it, it will work perfect. I sold a lot of this product to my customers and they were very happy with the results.”Barbara Loza, B & L Landscaping.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Happy Moley Days

2011-12-19T08:21:00.001-05:00

Moles: such a wonderful holiday topic, part two of three.

I still recommend a 3 prong approach when controlling moles for the less adventurous. These 3 steps are:

Kill the mole
Manage its food source
Repel other moles from your yard

Moles tunnel through your yard looking for food. They usually have several main runs through your yard as well as secondary tunnels. The secondary tunnels are where they collect their food and once they have a gone down a secondary tunnel they will not return to that tunnel. In order to kill a mole with bait or a trap, you must be able to locate the main tunnel.

The best way to locate the main runs is to take a stick and poke holes in the tunnels in your yard. Next, mark where you made these holes. The next morning come and check to see if the holes are plugged, then you know you have a main tunnel. The mole will only plug holes on the main tunnel. That evening, open up one of the holes that the mole plugged the night before and place bait 5 feet on either side of the hole that you reopened. When the mole comes back to re-plug the hole it will have to walk right over the bait. These baits are very tasty to the mole, so the mole will usually eat the bait and die.

Three baits that we regularly hear good results about are Mole Patrol, TomCat and Talpirid. I prefer Mole Patrol because it is one third the price and has 6 times the amount of bait placement as Talpirid. Stay away from poison peanuts. Moles do not eat peanuts, they eat insects and worms.

Controlling the food source is the next most important factor in managing moles on your property. Depending on which doctor (PHD) you believe, the mole eats 85-125% of its body weight every day. In human terms a 100 lb. person would eat 85-125 lbs of food per day. That is a lot of food! Using a product like Lebanon Insect Control or Aloft on a regular basis will do a good job in managing the mole’s food source. Monitor your insect populations with a soap solution to determine how often you need to apply insecticides. Use two ounces of lemon dish detergent in a five gallon bucket of water and pour slowly over your soil in the areas where you think you might have insects and see what comes to the surface. Some products get tied up in the thatch to kill surface insects (like ants), so be sure to get a product for sub-surface insects.

Castrol products (Mole Repellent, Holy Moly) and other repellents (Mole Stopper) work good as perimeter treatments to keep moles from re-infesting your property. Be sure there are not any moles on your property before you put out this barrier or you will trap them inside your landscape. Make a 10-20 foot band treatment around the perimeter of your property. Reapply these repellents as the label recommends.

If you yard is free of moles right now, you can skip #1 and just manage their food source and repel them at the perimeter of your property. Be sure your yard is free of moles before you skip #1 in this process. If you take away the mole’s food source and he is in your yard already, he will really tear up your yard looking for food!

As it gets cooler, it is the time to kill them. Try to take away their food source, and try to repel them from your property and you should have good luck against the moles. Beware moles usually get more active as the temperature cools.

Managing moles is an ongoing process. Quick fixes are usually unsuccessful. We did have a customer at Possum’s that used some Mule Mix to dry up a wet area that moles favored, and the area dried up and the moles left. Maybe the moles do not like tunneling through Mule Mix, or once the area was dry, it was not an area that they wanted to tunnel (no insects?).

Moles roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost….

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Moles Anyone?

2011-12-12T08:27:00.000-05:00

Moles are really active once again. Every year I try not to write about them because I have been writing about them for over twenty years; however, when the question keeps popping up, I figure many other people have the same question. When people leaving messages on my phone asking me to a party and slip in at the end, “and hey, what do I do about this mole tearing up my yard?” I had a supplier from Alabama ask me about moles in his yard! Of course eating out, walking the dog, or being in any public place or gathering, the conversation of the tiny, devastating, ever eating, little mammal comes up. I also noticed sales at Possum’s of mole killing, repelling, starving, and smoking out of tunnels has gone through the roof the last few weeks.

Termites eat millions of dollars of structures a year. Cockroaches are nasty and cause problems for asthma sufferers. Rats, mice and squirrels eat wires in homes causing fires, and tear up duct work and insulation increasing your power bill. Gnats, mosquitoes and fire ants are biting and or sucking the blood out of you sometimes resulting in death and still do not raise the questions that the mole does.

The mole stays underground most of the time, destroying the beauty of your lawn and beds with tunnels – that’s it. We work hard to get a nice yard and they destroy it – Game on! Moles are definitely a big problem for this area.

Since moles are a mammal, they are a little harder to control than insects or other things that bother us in the yard. With insects you can use products that affect insects and do not affect mammals. With moles you have to be careful not to harm other mammals in your yard like children and pets.

Trapping moles is one option. Some people are very good with traps and are highly successful at catching moles; however, most people are not as skilled. Having traps in your yard might also attract the curiosity of other mammals (children and pets) that you do not want to injure. If you trap moles, you still want to control your mole cricket and grub population that could damage your turf.

We have heard many success stories with the Rodent Smoke Bombs. The bombs involve lighting a fuse and smoke, everyone’s dream way to get revenge on these rascals. At first I thought this was more of a “manly man” (Bubba) activity; however, we have had quite a few sophisticated looking females boasting their triumph over the mole with these smoke bombs. Limit their use to outdoors and please be careful. With the Rodent Smoke Bombs you do not have to be as skilled; however, you will still want to manage the insects in your soil that damage turf (mole crickets and grubs).

The mole takes several weeks to control and write about, so I will continue next week.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Excellerator Provides Great Results in Lowcountry Soils

2011-12-05T08:16:00.001-05:00

Excellerator (Excell for short) is a new product that has been bringing the Lowcountry gardener many good results over the past year. Excell is granular specialty micronutrient fertilizer that contains 39% Silicon along with many other micronutrients that has helped produced ‘green” where there was no “green” before the application.

Mike Williams, head grounds keeper for the Charleston Riverdogs, introduced us to the product about 2 years ago. Mike wanted to try to get some added micronutrients into his sand based soil he has at Joe Riley Park and get the benefits of the Silicon.

In 2011 we started selling this product across our whole customer base at Possum’s with very positive feedback. Excell has helped high sodium soils, weak lawns, ‘green up’ off color shrubs and trees, reduce insect and disease attack, lowered water needs (by about 20%), improved fertilizer results, improved recovery of damaged turf, and much more. People have been very impressed with the color and vigor of their turf.

Excell contains 39% Silicon (the highest concentration in the industry), 24% Calcium, 6% Magnesium, 1.8% Iron, 0.50% Manganese, and trace amounts of Boron, Copper, Zinc, and Molybdenum. These micronutrients feed and strengthen the plant and also improve many other processes and responses within the plant and in the soil.

Excell promotes soil flocculation (many small particles coming together to form large particles) and aggregation which helps the air to water ratio in the soil. Roots like air in the soil, and roots will grow deeper into the soil as long as there is air, creating a more drought resistant plant. The roots can also ‘mine’ more nutrients out of the soil with an increased, dense root system.

Silicon promotes the excretion of growth hormones like cytokines, gibberellins, auxins, and manitols enhancing cell division and elongation. Silicon promotes better entrance of nutrients into the plant and also makes sure they get distributed correctly in the plant. Chewing insects have shown an aversion to plants high in Silicon. Silicon also helps the immune system of the plant, making it more resistant to disease.

Excellerator can give my yard less disease, less chewing insects, greener, healthier plants and turf, save 20% on water bill, and much, much more. Sounds like a great present to me!

Remember now is the best time to soil test to be ready for 2012.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Coach, Vice Principal, Athletic Director, Teacher, and Head Grounds Superintendent Bobby Behr Wins National Award

2011-11-28T09:47:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to another Grounds Superintendent that uses Possum’s Products on their facility. Bobby Behr, Adam, and the many student helpers at Ashley Ridge High School won The Sports Turf Manager’s Association (STMA) NATIONAL Softball Field of the Year Award. Yes, they have the best Softball field in the USA.

Last year, Coach, Vice Principal, Athletic Director, Teacher, and Head Grounds Superintendent Bobby Behr and crew won the STMA’s top spot in the State for soccer, softball, and baseball fields. (I think the only reason he did not win football is the STMA did not want to give him a clean sweep – just my opinion!)

Whether the award is local, regional, or national, it gives us great pleasure at Possum’s to see customers pictured beside that Yard of the Month sign or just being successful at killing a flea, a weed, or a roach! Although at Possum’s we do not provide any of the sweat, money, equipment maintenance, or any of the factors that go into maintaining a landscape, pest free home, or field, we love those success stories!

Right after Coach, Vice Principal, Athletic Director, Teacher, and Head Grounds Superintendent Bobby Behr told me about his National Award for his softball field, the next question was, “when are we getting together to take soil tests to develop our program for next year?”

Soil testing is so important. How can you know how to fertilize an area without a soil test? Some areas in the USA require you take a soil test before fertilizing. When you soil test, you can target the nutrients you need to add or not add, getting the most bang for your buck. If you need lime, the soil test will tell you how much and what kind of lime (dolomitic or calcium based). With the amount of water we have around here that we depend on for jobs, food, and entertainment, soil testing seems like the responsible way to go and get the best results for your money.

Ashley Ridge High School played some good football this year as well. The Swamp Foxes had a 10 and 3 record and were the 2011 AAAA Region 8 Champs. They beat some perennial powerhouses along the way, including Summerville, Ft. Dorchester, and Stratford.

Next week, unless something major takes place, I will be writing about Excell, Dog Rocks, and SeaHume.

"Oh Christmas Tree....

2011-11-21T08:15:00.001-05:00

I was out this weekend and the Salvation Army Bell was ringing and the Christmas Tree sales tents were going up. I wanted to get this article out early, so you could make plans to go to a local Christmas Tree Farm, find a local source for a cut tree or use a live tree that you could use in your landscape after the holidays if you were so inclined.

After Thanksgiving, many of you will be searching for a Christmas tree. If you are going to buy a cut tree, consider buying it from a local business that is here year-round like a garden center. If you buy it from a tent, or a temporary site, look for one that is run by the Exchange Club, Optimist Club, Rotary Club, a local church, a local school club, a local landscaper or another local organization. Many local organizations that sell trees give a portion of the profits to local charities such as Camp Happy Days.

There are some people from out of state that set up tents in grocery store parking lots. They take their profits out of state when they leave. If you support our local businesses, then you keep our money in our local economy and maybe save a local job.

Many of the local garden centers offer great Christmas gifts along with trees this time of year. They have purchased many seasonal items that would be a great present for anyone. Gift certificates are usually available for the hard to shop for gardener. Shopping at a garden center is a great way to avoid long lines. The parking is free and plentiful this time of year.

Have you ever considered a live tree? Different Hollies (right now you can tell the females with beautiful berries), Leyland Cypress, Eastern Red Cedar, Little Gem Magnolias, Osmanthus, Deodara Cedar and many more make great trees and after the holidays you can plant them in your yard instead of throwing them to the curb.

Local tree farms are also an option. Noel’s Christmas Tree Farm on Johns Island and Too Goo Doo Tree Farm on the way to Edisto are two local tree farms. Picking out your own tree is fun for the whole family and usually involves hot chocolate and hay rides. You know you are getting a fresh tree when you cut it yourself.

If you go with a traditional cut tree, make sure it is in water at the place you buy it (unless it is coming fresh off of the truck), and make sure it stays in water until you take it to the curb. Once you bring it home cut an inch off of the bottom of the tree and place it in a 5 gallon bucket of water. Be sure this is a clean 5 gallon bucket that doesn’t have any bait ball residue left from shrimp season! While the tree is still outside, consider spraying the tree with Transfilm, Cloud Cover or Wilt Proof to keep the water loss through the leaves at a minimum. Let the tree dry before bringing it into the house.

Locate your tree within your house away from heating ducts and the fireplace. A stand that can hold a lot of water is a big plus because a fresh cut Christmas tree can drink 1-2 gallons of water per day. Have one responsible adult in charge of watering the Christmas tree daily to avoid ruining the carpet or floors. If you can, fill (2) one gallon milk jugs each day and let them sit for 24 hours, this will allow the chlorine to evaporate out of the water. Letting the chlorine evaporate from the water you water your plants, is a practice you should use when watering all house plants.

There are many secrets to keeping a tree fresh. Having a fresh cut and keeping water above this cut at all times is the most important thing you can do for the tree. The water conducting vessels quickly close up if the tree does not have constant water. Using a drop of Super Thrive in each gallon of water will help the tree stay fresh. Many people use 7-up and an aspirin in the water.

Thank you for all of your letters, questions and for reading The Horticulture Hotline.

Fall Fleas and other goings on

2011-11-14T09:14:00.000-05:00

The great Lowcountry weather continues. We could definitely use some rain. The people that put out ryegrass in non-irrigated areas would certainly like some rain before the temperatures get too cold for the rye to germinate and thicken up. Fleas seemed to have exploded in population in the past two weeks. The never ending mole activity seems to have increased. On a positive note at Possum’s have been getting very positive feedback on Excellerator (Excell), Dog Rocks and SeaHume Granular.

Even though we are in prime Large Brown Patch season, the turf needs some water. These low humidity, windy days can really dry out turf, trees, and plants. Plants and turf that are dehydrated are not healthy, so it is more susceptible to disease and other damage. Wear damage from dogs is always an issue with dehydrated turf.

Speaking of dogs, something triggered fleas to get active again and terrorize our pets. The population exploded! The dry weather then the rain we had was most likely the trigger; however, we could say it had something to do with the full moon, high tide, and Halloween (blood sucking fleas).

Controlling fleas is a multi-step activity if you are a do it yourselfer, or a one step process if you like to let the professional handle the job (pick up phone and call a Pest Management Company).

For fleas the right product is crucial. Look for one with an adulticide and a growth regulator in it. Product names to look for include Precor 2000 and Ultracide. These products are easy to use aerosols that kill the adult fleas and prevent fleas that come out later into developing into adult fleas. Vacuum, spray, let dry, and vacuum again. The vibration from vacuuming brings the flea out of the larva stage and into the adult stage that the control products are designed to be effective against. Always empty your vacuum or the bag of your vacuum outside or your vacuum will be a source for spreading the fleas.

Treat your animal with Petcor or Bio Spot. Both of these products have an adulticide and a growth regulator and do a fabulous job compared to a much more expensive highly advertised product (at about one third of the price).

The yard should be treated with Cyonara and Nylar. Again, the Cyonara will knock down the adults and the Nylar is a growth regulator that will help break up the life cycle of the flea. Nylar also works on roaches and mosquitoes as a bonus.

Unless something major happens, I will continue these topics next week.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Fall Leaf Drop

2011-11-07T08:55:00.001-05:00

A little cool some mornings, but the beautiful days continue. Oyster Roasts, Frogmore Stew, and Fish Fries are in full swing. What a great time to be in the Lowcountry. The Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park is just around the corner, so the holiday mode will take over. I have been to several other light shows in this state and in the Southeast and none of them have even come close to the spectacular show put on by Charleston County Parks and Recreation.

Gardenias, Azaleas, Magnolias, and many other evergreen plants are losing some of their leaves. Although these plants are evergreens, they still have some natural leaf drop this time of year every year.

Since the chlorophyll has left the leaves, people often mistake the yellowing of the leaves as a nutrient deficiency (most commonly iron) or think their plant is going into a decline. The chlorophyll is the “green” of the leaf, and usually masks the other colors of the leaf. Maple leaves turn red in the fall because the chlorophyll that usually masks the red color goes away leaving the red color behind.

As the chlorophyll leaves the leaf, bacteria and fungi grow on the leaf because the leaf is starting to drop from the plant and the leaf is not actively growing to ward off attack of these secondary invaders. At Possum’s we get a lot of calls from people that feel like their plant has a disease because of the leaf spots on the leaves that are getting ready to fall off of the plant. There is usually no reason to treat these leaf spot diseases that are attacking a leaf that is getting ready to fall off the plant anyway. These diseases are different from the diseases that attack an actively growing plant.

If you have a plant that is dropping leaves especially if it is a new plant, check to make sure it was not planted too deep. Established plants can end up being “planted too deep” because of mulch accumulation over the years. When I worked in Hilton Head, I was involved in a large project at the Lighthouse where azaleas were dying in large quantities from too much pine straw being applied year after year.

Most plants do not like wet roots. If you have a plant that is dropping leaves, check your drainage, and be sure the plant is not getting too much water or the soil is too clayey.

A well fertilized plant will usually have less leaf drop. Looking at crepe myrtles and azaleas really illustrates this fact. You have to be sure you are looking at the same varieties of plant, and you can see a huge difference in crepe myrtles in August and September depending on the fertility program they are on. Now is a great time to soil test to get ready for 2012.

I’ll leave you with that!!

Fall Time in the Lowcountry

2011-10-31T08:36:00.000-04:00

The weather has been as nice as I can ever remember it the Lowcountry the past few weeks. Visiting the State, County, City, and Town Parks is a must this time of year. Walking through the peninsula of Charleston or other Lowcountry cities can be most enjoyable with the weather we have been having. The Plantations are another great place to spend a morning or afternoon. Shoot, Ol’Boy (my pound hound) and I have enjoyed just walking around the neighborhood. While walking, always keep an eye out for a cool plant, fountain, bird feeder, or other landscape item to bring into your yard or just enjoy in your neighbors.

As the leaves fall off the Crepe Myrtles and other trees, it is a good time to identify rubbing and crossing limbs. Pruning now can save you some work during the busy spring.

If you had aphids, white flies or other insect problems on Crepe Myrtles or other plants, now is a great time to get ahead of those critters with horticultural oil and Dominion Tree and Shrub drench. Dominion will be absorb into the plant and be ready to protect the new leaves in the spring.

Try to keep up with the leaves as they fall. Leaves on your turf can lead to disease by holding moisture on the grass blades. If you (or a lawn care company) are applying products, the leaves will prevent an even application. If you can, try to compost or mulch the leaves on site. Your soil will thank you and you will enjoy the money saved on fertilizer and water.

November and December are great months for planting bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers. If you have had trouble with squirrels in the past, try Squirrel Stopper.

The great weather has brought on Large Patch disease in many yards. With any luck an application of a good systemic fungicide (Cleary’s, Disarm, and Prophesy) should get you through these favorable environmental conditions.

Soil testing in the fall allows you to amend the soil over the winter and be ready for spring. The better soil testing facilities and the people who need to interrupt the results of the test (that would be me if you soil test with Possum’s) have a little more time in the fall to get your information back to you.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Transplanting Trees and Shrubs

2011-10-24T08:03:00.000-04:00

This time of year is a great time to transplant and plant new plants. Many people are asking me the best way to transplant shrubs and trees. Here are my guidelines for successfully transplanting plants or trees:

· Decide the size of you root ball. For every inch in tree trunk diameter you want a foot of root ball. So if your tree is three inches in diameter your root ball should go in a circle one and a half feet from the trunk of the tree. You could tie a string around the tree leaving eighteen inches of string – then draw a line walking around the tree measuring with this string. Root balls can be very heavy so consider a hiring a professional. Be prepared to pay top dollar to move a plant because moving plants requires much more work than planting them out of containers. If your plants are way too crowded, get as much root ball as possible, and if they are so crowded that you cannot even get in there to work, you may have to sacrifice a few plants, so you do not kill them all. Always take as large a ball as possible.

· Spray the plant you are going to move with an anti-transpirant (Cloud Cover, Wilt Proof, or Transfilm). These products will hold moisture in leaves and stems.

· Drench the ground with BioRush and SuperThrive. These are bio stimulant products that encourage rooting. Repeat monthly until you move the plant.

· Root prune the plant. Go to the area that you determined your ball to go out to and push a shovel straight down – do not pry on the shovel – just cut the roots. Repeat this root pruning all the way around the plant. If the plant has been in the ground a long time, you may have to skip a shovel width each time you root prune to lessen the shock. Apply SeaHume granular (Humic acid and Seaweed bio stimulants) to decrease stress. Repeat monthly until you move the plant.

· Keep an eye on the plant for the next month. Be sure to water it as needed. When watering the soil, spray a fine mist on the foliage of the plant. Since the roots have just been severed, this will help the plant absorb the water through the foliage and water the roots as well.

· After thirty days or if you could wait until a cooler time (November, December, January, February), dig away from the plant in the area that you root pruned. Resist the temptation to pry up on the plant. You should have a ball in a mote when you are finished.

· Water the ball so the soil will stick to the roots.

· Severe the ball from the area underneath the plant.

· Always handle the root ball – do not grab the plant by its trunk.

· Move the plant onto a tarp or some burlap.

· Be sure when you move the plant to its new home, you plant it at or above existing grade. Plants buried too deep are the biggest problem I see in landscapes. A plant that is planted too deep is starved for oxygen which affects many other plant processes (ability to absorb nutrients or causes root rot).

· Be sure not to pile mulch up against the trunk of the tree or shrub as this will also kill the plant over a period of time. Consider using Cotton Burr Compost or Nature’s Blend as a mulch to get the nutrition associated with these products.

· Spray the leaves and stems with anti-transpirant.

· Use Diehard Transplant (contains a friendly fungus inoculum, wetting agents, water holding gel, humic acid, Sea Kelp, root stimulating vitamins and beneficial bacteria) should also be added to increase the surface absorbing area of root systems with the back fill. Spray foliage with BioRush as it is a special blend of natural organic ingredients designed to help transplant survival.

· Apply the right amount of water. Be sure to spray the foliage.

· Apply the right amount of Cotton Burr Compost or Natures Blend mulch.

· Apply granular SeaHume after you have moved the plant to encourage new root growth.

· Stake the tree or shrub if needed.

· Good Luck!

Fall Projects

2011-10-17T08:20:00.000-04:00

If you are planning on transplanting a tree this fall, now is the time to root prune. For root pruning trees, a good rule of thumb is for every inch in diameter of tree, you want twelve inches of root ball. Sometimes this is not practical because you are usually transplanting an over-crowded tree or a tree located too close to a house or sidewalk. If this is the case, outline the biggest ball you can possibly move and just dig straight down severing the roots without actually removing the soil. Come back in a month and dig away from the area that you severed leaving your tree in a little moat. Spray the tree with Transfilm (anti-transparent) and remove the tree.

Spray horticulture oils now to kill over-wintering insects, this will put you ahead of the insect game in the spring. Try Neem Oil this year and you will control some diseases as a bonus.

Yes, it is time to winterize your turf. Look for a product with a 00 for the first number (nitrogen). A 00-00-25 with sulfate of potash and minors would be great. If you do not need the potash, consider SeaHume a wonderful combination of seaweed and humic acid. The seaweed has over 60 minor nutrients, amino acids, and bio stimulants. The humic acid is also full of bio stimulants that help make nutrients that are in the soil available to the plant, help with soil structure, grow roots, and feed the microorganisms in the soil. Both these products can be used together and will help your yard this winter and next spring.

Beware of the national ad campaigns talking about winterizing fertilizers. These products are usually formulated for cool season grasses (rye, fescue). I saw one over the weekend that was a 22-00-14. Not exactly what we want to put on our yard in mid-October in the Lowcountry.

When buying gas for your lawn mower, be sure to include a gas stabilizer to help prevent your carburetor from getting varnished over the winter. Try to purchase gas from a gas station that has ethanol free gas for your mower as well as your two cycle hand held equipment.

Hold off putting out pine straw or mulching the beds until the leaves in the trees have dropped, so the leaves do not mess up your new straw or mulch. If you recycle the leaves that drop in your yard instead of bagging them and setting them by the curb, you will gain some free nutrients and organic matter.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

More Fall Happenings in the Yard

2011-10-10T08:41:00.000-04:00

Have you noticed how loaded the pecan trees are this year? The branches are so heavy with nuts that they are breaking off the tree. If you like to grill with a little pecan wood smoke flavor, this is the perfect time to pick up some small limbs to add to your grill. If you have a pecan tree that has lost limbs, you might want to have an arborist inspect the tree after it loses its leaves for water collecting cavities and unhealthy rips in the bark.

Mosquitoes have been extra heavy the past few weeks after all the rain we had. Scout around you property for anything that might collect water. Fountains, tires, bird baths, saucers underneath potted plants, buckets, a tarp covering firewood or a boat and many other water holding areas provide the water for mosquito breeding. I had just a small dent in the lid of one of my trash cans that collected about three tablespoons of water, and I could see the larva swimming in it. The other place I found some larva was in the base of my basketball goal. These hoops are located in driveways across the Lowcountry. You fill the base with water to stabilize the basket, and the lid that goes over the hole that you put the water in disappears, making a great mosquito breeding area.

Mosquito Repelling Granular is an organic product that does a great job of keeping an area free of mosquitoes. I did not pick figs off my fig tree until I started using this around the area of the tree. We sell this product to people that cater parties and host outdoor events. The product really works. Cyonara is another product we sell a lot of to control many insects in the yard that works great on mosquitoes.

The fall rains also encouraged the fire ants to form mounds and become very visible. For your safety and the safety of others (Halloween is not far away), it is time to kill the fire ant. Fire Ant Killer with Conserve is a natural product. Fire Ant baits are still very effective (watch the weather) and considered to be safe. Cyonara will also do a number on these stinging pests.

Large Patch Fungus (Brown Patch) is very active in lawns right now. Disarm, Prophesy or Cleary’s are all good systemic fungicides. Disarm will give you longer control. Unfortunately, fungus prevention / control usually require multiple applications depending on the weather.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Groundskeepers

2011-10-03T09:17:00.001-04:00

First things first, I want to congratulate Mike Williams of the Charleston Riverdogs for winning the South Atlantic League’s “Groundskeeper of the Year” award. Mike has won this award two of the last three years (my personal opinion is the powers at be do not want to give it to the same person year after year).

If you have been to “The Joe” in the last few years, you have witnessed the great job Mike and his crew do maintaining the field. Between The Citadel, the Southern Conference Tournament, The Riverdogs, and multiple other events “The Joe” has a tremendous amount of activity on it. It takes a lot of dedication to work the long hours in the Lowcountry’s heat to keep the field looking so good.

The knowledge of what to do when and the scheduling of those applications around the various events that take place requires great organization. Mike has super organizational skills to compliment his horticultural knowledge. He also has to consider the weather (especially wind and rain) when applying products at a very windy location near the water.

Groundskeepers are one of the most “thankless” jobs out there. They work in the heat during the summer and the cold during the winter. They work so hard to get a field perfect, and it rains during the game and wipes out months of hard work in an hour. Almost all fields in the area (recreation leagues, schools, professional stadiums, city fields, club fields) have way too much play on them. A groundskeeper works hard to make the field nice for someone else to destroy.

I guess it is like the housekeeper in a hotel. The bed is made up perfectly, and we destroy it. If it was not made up perfectly or it had bugs in it, we would call the front desk. Groundskeepers work hard to maintain the fields so they are safe for the people that play on them. Filling divots, adjusting irrigation heads that are not level with grade, lips on baseball / softball fields and controlling fire ants are big safety issues.

Groundskeepers need to be plumbers (irrigation), mechanics (equipment repair), inventors (rigging up something to do a certain job), agronomist (soils), entomologist (insects), plant pathologist (fungus and other killers of plants), horticulturist (plants), weatherman, surveyors (grade field), schedulers (coordinating applications around events) …

Next time you see a groundskeeper you might want to thank them, and if it is Mike Williams, congratulate him on his award.

Things to Consider

2011-09-19T09:25:00.000-04:00

For the new readers of the Horticulture Hotline, my To Do Lists are designed to help you target a few activities in your yard and in your home that will benefit you in the future. These lists are not designed to interfere with high school, college, or professional football games, sunset boating, shrimping, hunting, golfing, eating chicken wings at a local sports bar, oyster roasts, collecting oysters or clams from the local waters, or watching NASCAR on the couch with closed eyes! This is not designed to be a “honey do” list.

Do you have your preemergent product of choice on your lawn or in your beds? Prevent winter weeds now, so you will not have to fight them all winter and spring, taking time away from above activities.

Have you prepared your turf for the winter? With our fluctuating temperatures winter kill can be very devastating in this area. One day the temperature maybe 80 degrees and that night it could be in the 20’s. Centipede is particularly susceptible to winter kill. Manage your thatch levels, cut the grass at the right height for the species of grass (on the low end so the leaf blades do not trap the cold air around the crown of the grass plant), and correct any drainage issues (wet, low areas tend to winter kill the worst.)

Are you changing out flower beds for winter color? Be sure to till in plenty of Back To Nature’s Flower Bed Amendment. Flower Bed Amendment will add cotton burr compost, composted cattle manure, feather meal, cottonseed meal, and alfalfa meal to your soil. Talk about some good organic matter! Many gardeners in the Lowcountry swear by it (in a good way) and would not consider planting without it.

Have you thought about planting bulbs this fall for spring color? Now is the time to get your orders in. Early blooming bulbs are always a welcome sight after a long cold (?) Lowcountry winter. When planting bulbs, remember to add a little Flower Bed Amendment, bone meal, and/or 04-04-04 Sustane to the hole.

Do you plant ryegrass for that green grass all year? Be sure to check the amount of weed seeds listed on the seed tag, so you are not sowing more than you bargained for. If you put a preemergent herbicide in your beds just prior to seeding with rye, you can avoid unwanted ryegrass strangling your shrubs. Have you ever considered green paint as an alternative to ryegrass?

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Perimeter Pest Control

2011-09-12T08:37:00.000-04:00

After sending out our five star alerts on sod webworms, I had several people thank me for the “head’s up.” They were able to catch the damage early and have the grass recover from the munching very quickly.

We are still getting calls about this pest, so keep scouting your yard for areas of grass that look mowed; even though, you have not mowed them. Look for a high population of moths in your yard at dusk as well. The moth will fly up from the ground in a zigzag pattern and land again very quickly.

With the cooling weather, the time is right for killing roaches, spiders, and other nuisance invaders with a perimeter spray of insecticides around your house. I really do not like killing spiders because like snakes most of the spiders are considered beneficial. Unfortunately, spider and snakes get classified as “the only good one is a dead one” around here.

Establishing a barrier will keep unwanted guest out of your house as the weather cools. There are several products on the market that will nail these roaches (along with many other pests). Bifen, Viper, Cyonara Lawn and Garden, Tirade, Niban (“green”) and EcoPCO WP X (“green”) are a small sample of many products that are available.

Generally, treating the perimeter involves spraying 3 to 10 feet out from your house in the mulched areas. Apply plenty of water with the product to carry it down into the mulch where the pests are hiding. You could also use a granular product in these areas.

Also spray about 3 feet up the side of your house, around windows, porches, lights, garages, eaves, garbage areas and other areas where pests may be found. Read and follow label directions for the specifics of doing a perimeter treatment for the product you choose to use.

There are many new laws about the packaging and application of rodent killing products that went into effect this year. So if mice or rats have been an issue in the past, expect a change in your old favorite bait and how you apply it.

If you are not a “do it yourselfer”, there are a bunch of great Pest Management Professionals in the area that would love to do this treatment for you.

Sod Webworms

2011-09-05T11:09:00.001-04:00

On Friday (09/02/11) we sent out a “Five Star Pest Alert” to our email subscribers at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. In nine years, we have sent out less than 4 pest alerts, and I do not remember any being “5 Star”. We try not to abuse your email address; however, with the holiday weekend, we wanted to give you a head’s up before you had so uninvited guests munching on your yard while you were out of town or munching on some barbeque.

From me to the stores, “Please send this five star pest alert to email list.

Sod Web Worms are munching! Look for areas that appear to have been
mowed with a lot of brown grass pushed up to surface. Leaf blades are
chewed. Moths are visible and so are the worms.

Sevin, Bug Blaster and Tirade will easily control. You can use very
low rates, so it is not too expensive. Plan to apply twice.

Sod Web Worms can do a lot of damage at a time of year that the grass
will be slow to recover.”

The recent cloudy, rainy weather from Irene must have been perfect for the sod webworm to hatch and the larva begin to munch.

Moths in your lawn indicate sod webworm. The moths are the adult form of the sod webworm and they lay eggs in your grass. When these eggs hatch the worm-like larva stage of the sod webworm begins. The worm-like larva is the part of the life cycle that damages the turf. The sod webworm is a voracious eater that can damage large sections of your lawn very quickly. They feed on cloudy days and at night, so while you sleep, they eat.

One good thing is that they are very easy to eradicate, since their entire body is in contact with the ground. If worms of any type (sod webworm, army or cut worms) are attacking your grass it will appear that you have mowed your grass with a very dull mower blade at a slow speed and a low cutting height.

You can see the worm if you get into the border between the good grass and the munched on grass and spread the grass blades apart. The blades of the grass are tattered and have been chewed, so they are missing parts of the leaf blade.

If you see damage, be ready to apply control product, or they will do a lot of damage very quickly to your turf. Bt, EcoEXEMPT G, EcoPCO WP and Spinosad are organic controls that are very effective against young sod webworms. Sevin, Bug Blaster, Cyonara and Tirade will easily control the voracious chow-hound.