Horticulture Hotline 02/17/20
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
The Tulip Magnolia (Saucer Magnolia) is blooming in the
Lowcountry. It is time to be sure the
winter projects have been completed, and the proactive spring projects in the
yard and around the house are in the works.
Trees grow. Areas of grass might be shaded and thin that
were once high-quality turf. Now, might be a good time to cut new bed lines and
let the tree have more room to grow. Check the sides of your house for limbs
rubbing the paint off of your house. The paint protects your house like your
skin protects you or like bark protects a tree.
Look above your roof line and see if any limbs are growing
above your roof that could allow varmints (squirrels, raccoons, or the loveable
possum) into your attic. Make sure your source of power to your house is free
of limbs. Hire an insured arborist if you need some pruning done.
Any transplanting or planting of new trees or shrubs should
be done as soon as you can. Try to get them in the ground before the plant
flushes out new growth or blooms. If you are buying a blooming plant that you
want a specific color or to match a color you already have, you may have to
wait to see that the bloom on the plant (don’t always trust the tags) is the
color you want; otherwise, the sooner you can plant the better.
When planting remember the Diehard Transplant, it is like
the yogurt Jamie Lee Curtis (great in the old version of Fun with Dick and
Jane) advertises (full of probiotics). Diehard Transplant adds all the good
bacteria, wetting agents and fungi into the soil that a plant needs to help
with survival. Remember the old saying when planting, “plant it high and it
will not die!”
Intice 10 perimeter bait is a great product to put out
around the perimeter of your house for roaches, crickets, sowbugs, earwigs,
silverfish, millipedes and certain ants. Intice 10 is a LEED tier 3 product and
N.O.P. (National Organics Program) compliant, so it is considered very safe.
Intice 10 should also be broadcasted in the yard for mole
crickets. Since Over n Out changed the active ingredient away from Fipronil, mole
crickets have become a major turf pest again. Mole crickets come to the surface
on these warm days and love to eat this bait!
Judging from the flea products we have been selling at
Possum’s, now would be a good time to get ahead of the fleas. Be sure to use a
product with a growth regulator. Pivot Ultra Plus, Precor 2000, Ultracide, IG
Regulator, Alpine Flea Insecticide with IGR are just a few products that will
get you ahead of the curve. The Prefurred line of products that you apply
directly to the animal also works very well.
Get out your preemergent, or forever fight weeds!! I usually
wait until my bald cypress starts to “needle out” and then I go on an organic
binge with SeaHume, Cotton Burr Compost, worm castings and others; however,
this year I’m already seeing new growth on some plants, so I guess it is time
for the organics. Of course, anytime is a great time for organics.
If you have a history with fungus or insects on certain
plants, sanitation, lime / sulfur, and your fungicide or insecticide of choice
is good to put out now to protect the new growth. With these cloudy, overcast
days brown patch / large patch has been flourishing in lawns.
Other things – make sure mower is good to go – air filter is
key, prune roses, work on breeding sights for mosquitoes, kill winter weeds,
spray neem oil or horticultural oils for overwintering insects, apply Dominion
Drench to perennial insect loving plants…
Spring in the Lowcountry… Work hard then go to an oyster
roast!
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
