Christmas Tree and More

 

Horticulture Hotline 11/23/25

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

Another year has almost gone by. What a year! Army worms, lots of high tides (salt issues), mosquitoes, strange rain (or lack of rain) patterns, and moles. With the dry spring, we had very little, large patch fungus – a nice change! With the recent prolonged mild temperatures, large patch fungus and pythium (on rye grass) have been hot topics.

 

This week I started seeing tents going up in parking lots, so I figured it was time for the yearly Christmas tree article.  

 

The Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park is always a must see this time of year. The light show is a tradition with my family. The lights, the train, hot chocolate, smores (if you listen to “The Garden Clinic”  you know I’m not a fan of smores -sticky messy-, but everyone else seems to be), the walking trails with lights, the big sand feature, music, gift shop, and oh yeah, Santa. If you are a kid, does Christmas still seem like it takes forever to get here? It sure comes up quickly to me now that I’m an old geezer! 

 

I wanted to get this yearly Christmas Tree article out, 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 an independently owned 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 or Ronald McDonald House.

 

There are some people from out of state that set up tents in grocery store parking lots. Many of them bring their employees with them. 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. It is very important to always keep profits local, especially these days with so much going to online merchants that do not hire people or spend money locally.

 

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 gardeners. Shopping at a garden center is a great way to avoid long lines.  The parking is free and plentiful at this time of year. A nice pot, potting soil, wetting agent, and fertilizer would make a great gift.

 

Have you ever considered a live tree? Different Hollies (right now you can tell the females with beautiful berries), 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. Leyland Cypress have been removed from this list due to their disease issues.

 

Local tree farms are also an option. A ride in the country is always a good family event (young children, “how much longer will it take to get there?”). Picking out your own tree is fun for the whole family and usually involves hot chocolate and hayrides. 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 the truck), and make sure it stays in water until you take it to the curb after the holidays.  Once you bring the tree home, cut an inch off the bottom of the tree, and place the tree in a five-gallon bucket of water.  While the tree is still outside, consider spraying the tree with Transfilm, Cloud Cover or Wilt Proof to keep the water loss through the needles to a minimum. If you notice any insects on the tree, blast it with a strong stream of water or consider an insecticidal soap. 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 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 always is the most important thing you can do for the tree.  The water conducting vessels quickly close 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. You might want to save the aspirin if you drink Uncle Joe’s egg nogg, bourbon soaked cherries, or Holiday Punch.  

 

Thank you for shopping at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply and for all your letters, questions, comments when I meet you, and for reading “The Horticulture Hotline”! Make it a Great and Safe Holiday Season!

 

 Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hot

Fall Color and Other Lowcountry

Sunset Near Folly (no filters)

Cassia and Rye

Poor Possum

Beautiful Japanese Maple

Milkweed Monarch

Mistletoe

Pyracantha

Ryegrass Riverdogs / Riley Park

Ginko

Virginia Creeper and Yaupon

Poison Ivy 

Red Fox - my new dog?

My Old Dog (Ol'Boy)- Holiday Festival of Lights

 

                                           Pure White Sasanqua Camellia

                                            Rye on Fertilizer Program

                                           Rye on Dog Urine Fertilizer Program

                                            Rye and Cassia

Horticulture Hotline 11/03/25

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

I have eight tea olives in my yard that are all over fifteen feet tall. When fall comes and they are blooming and smelling so sweet, I know the hot days of summer are coming to an end. The tea olives are spread in strategic places throughout my yard, so no matter how the wind blows, I will get to smell them. When they bloom, usually the threat of hurricane season comes to an end (fingers crossed), football season is in full swing, the weather is perfect, visits to our local gardens, parks, and plantations are awesome - oysters, anyone?

 

Great weather, cassia blooming, camellias blooming, holly berries, pyracantha berries, nandina berries and fall leaf color – one of the reasons you live in the Lowcountry? The different varieties of Japanese Maples provide many different hues of color in the fall. And of course, there is poison ivy – be sure to garnish your Thanksgiving table with something other than this colorful vine.

 

One big question to answer this time of year is do I want to grow ryegrass in my lawn, paint my lawn green, or let it go dormant? The football fields, soccer fields, baseball fields, and golf courses look so nice this time of year. Green grass all winter would be nice. Many of the people that live in Charleston now are used to green grass in the winter. If you are a little apprehensive, instead of doing the front yard where the whole world can see, try the back yard or a side yard. If you have active children or dogs (the other children), ryegrass can lessen the damage from traffic. Ryegrass does very good under the canopy of oak trees – just ride by The College of Charleston’s Cistern during the winter.

 

While driving through neighborhoods, I see a lot of houses for sale. Ryegrass or green paint could separate your house from the multitude of other houses that are on the market.

For the very low cost of seed and fertilizer or paint, if you could sell your house one month earlier saving you a monthly payment, wouldn’t it be worth it? What about a year earlier?

 

Ryegrass has a bad reputation because people misapply it. I often get asked, “doesn’t rye kill my centipede (or St. Augustine)?” If you manage the rye correctly, you should have no problems. The ryegrass question is like buying a dog. If you base your decision on the few untrained pit-bull stories and never purchased or adopted a dog of any type because of these stories, it would be too bad.

 

The 3 biggest mistakes I see with rye grass that give it a bad reputation are:

1. Put out at too high of a rate, so it chokes permanent grass.
2. Use cheap rye with lots of weed seeds and poor color.
3. No fertilizer programs. Light green grass and no additional fertilizer so dog urine spots (dark green grass) become your fertilizer program.
4. It is not managed in the spring chemically or culturally, so it competes with permanent grass while it is coming out of dormancy.

 

If you decide you want to put out ryegrass, now is the time to check your trusty application chart. Have you put out a pre-emergent herbicide this fall on your lawn? If so, when and at what rate? If you have recently applied pre-emergent products, you may want to try the paint or wait until next year. You could put out something to deactivate the pre-emergent so you could rye, but that will just add to your cost. If you decide to rye, putting a pre-emergent product in your beds will help to keep rye from popping up in your beds, saving you time and frustration.

 

If you are painting or not using rye, you can attack some of the nasty winter weeds that will compete with your turf grass next spring without having to worry about the rye grass. Painting will also capture heat that will help your grass “green up” sooner in the spring. Who wants to be “mowing weeds” late winter / early spring? Florida Betony and other winter weeds are visible now. Remember it is easier to kill them now when they are young and actively growing than to wait until they are flowering.

 

Three Possum’s Stores hot topic reports – vicious late season mosquitoes, winterizing fertilizers (use SeaHume, Possum’s Minors, 00-00-25, Cotton Burr Compost - stay away from winter fertilizers for fescue and blue grass), large patch (I was trying to avoid saying large patch this week), moles (of course), pots / winter color, fire ants, Neem oil for shrubs, and mole crickets. Bring in your soil test now, so you beat the spring rush!

 

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

 

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply (follow us on Facebook). Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com.