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by Rett Davis | |
Gardening Q&A by Rett Davis appears in
Alamance County's daily newspaper, The Burlington Times-News,
every Sunday in the Accent section. Each week's installment is
posted to this
website, beginning with January 1998. Scroll to the bottom of
this page to navigate to other Gardening Q&As. Please contact
Rett via e-mail with questions
or
comments in regard to this column.
Answer:
All Japanese holly culitvars are susceptible to a soil disease call Black Root Rot. Infected plants become more apparent during periods of drought. This root disease destroys the roots. Black Root Rot is widely distributed across Alamance County and is more of a problem in clay soils and others that are poorly drained. Your infected plants will continue to decline. The best advice I can give you is to pull these sick plants out of your landscape. However you cannot replace them with Helleri holly or any other Japanese holly such as Compacta, Convexa, Rotundifolia, and even the very popular 'Soft Touch'. Avoid these and all other culitvars of Ilex crenata. Instead of Japanese holly you can plant Dwarf Yaupon, nandina, and any culitvar of Chinese holly. These plants can tolerate this disease .
Question:
I am concerned about one of my oak trees. There is a place at the bottom of tree that looks wet and coverted in June beetles. Will these June beetles bore into by tree and kill it?
Answer:
The wet area at the bottom of the tree is most likely slime flux. Slime flux is the result of a bacterial infection within the tree. Gas (carbon dioxide) is produced by the fermentation of the bacteria and creates pressure within the tree. This pressure forces sap from the trunk through cracks in branch crotches, pruning wounds, lawn mower wounds, and other injured places. Large areas on bark become soaked and is referred to as wet wood. There is often an odor associated with it. A foul odor I might add. Slime flux may be triggered by heat, drought, and other stress. I tend to see it more in late summer. Many insects, including the June beetle, are attracked to it. I have seen hornets and butterflies feeding on this material. The June beetles will not hurt this tree. There is no curative or preventative measures for slime flux. The presence of slime flux does not mean your tree is going to die.
Question:
Several of my tomato plants have wilted entirely over the past few days. However there are several almost ripe tomatoes on the vine. Is it alright to eat them even though the plant has died?
Answer:
There is nothing wrong with the fruit. The organisms that cause wilt are often bacterial or fungal in nature but are plant diseases. They will not cause you any health problems. In fact every tomato and every vegetable picked is coming from a plant that is infected with one or more plant diseases. I would just pick off all the fruit that is close to maturity with hopes it will finish ripening.
Question:
Our crapemyrtles have a lot of excess growth this year. I would like to do some pruning on them but I am not sure when the best time is. Will I hurt them if I prune them now?
Answer:
You can do a limited amount of pruning during late summer. At this time of the year you can remove spent flower clusters if you can reach them. This will remove some excess weight and keep the limbs from drooping. You can also remove excess growth that is coming up around the base of the tree or from around previous pruning cuts. If you wish to remove low branches or ones that are interfering with sidewalks or drives, then do so now. However do not radically top the trees or cut them back severely. Aggressive pruning and size reduction now can predispose these trees to winter injury should we have a cold winter. Remove dead wood anytime you see it.
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If you have any horticultural questions, please direct them to Rett Davis