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by Rett Davis | |
Gardening Q&A by Rett Davis appears in
Alamance County's daily newspaper, The Times-News,
every Sunday in the Accent section. Each week's installment is
posted to this
website, beginning with January of this year. 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:
Buckeyes are the fruits belonging to a family of trees that can
be found from the mountains to the coast. There are other species of
buckeye throughout the United States. The fruits of these trees are
reddish brown and very smooth. My grandfather (Ohio native) carried one
in his pocket for good luck. These fruit are generally bitter and
inedible. In addition to that, the fruits of the buckeyes from North
Carolina are considered poisonous. Your good luck will change to
misfortune if you decide to eat them. Leave them in your pocket.
Question:
A week ago I had a beautiful stand of fescue on about 3 acres
of land. In less than one week the grass has all but disappeared. It
seemed to have happened overnight. What has happened?
Answer:
In the last few weeks we have investigated numerous calls on
new lawns, roadside plantings, and pastures being completely destroyed.
Such dramatic events can be attributed to the fall armyworm. The beet
armyworm has also been implicated in these disappearances. In each case
the grass is eaten down to bare soil. Nothing at all remains.
Armyworms can be green or almost black in color. A faint yellow stripe
can be found on most. Thousands of these small worms can destroy grass
within just a few days. In most cases before the owner ever knows it.
If you can catch them in the act, a spraying of Sevin will stop them.
If the stand of grass is too far gone, then I would advise to replant
immediately. They should be gone by the time your new seed germinates.
But still keep a watchful eye on it until we have had a good frost.
Frost will be their demise.
Question:
Last week I treated my lawns for grubs. I could not believe
how many I found the next day. How long do I have to wait before I can
reseed my lawn? I have read the bag backwards and forwards but cannot
find an answer.
Answer:
You can reseed immediately. Even seed that was down before the
treatment is fine. These insecticides do not interfere with seed
germination.
Question:
There are small limbs falling off of my persimmon tree. Each
one looks as if it was cut with a knife. What is doing this?
Answer:
An insect called a twig girdler is responsible. They will
attack persimmon, hickory, pecan, cherry, and many other native trees.
Most twigs will be about the size of a pencil in diameter. Twig
girdlers are interesting insects. They are less than 1/2 inch long and
are colored just like the bark of the tree. This makes them difficult
to spot. After girdling the twig, the female lays her eggs in the part
that has been severed. Her young will hatch out in that part of the
twig this fall. Most infected trees are too tall to effectively spray.
Therefore the best control is to pick up the fallen twigs and either
burn them or put them in the trash. Small trees can be sprayed with
Sevin during late August and September. If you live in the woods you
will find that controlling this pest is an uphill battle. There are
just too many native trees that play host to this insect.
Question:
I have planted peanuts for the first time in my garden. How
can I tell when they are ready to dig?
Answer:
Peanuts should dug before frost. That will occur within in 2-3
weeks here. The best way to tell is to dig a few up and open the pods.
Immature pods will have white walls on the inside of the pod. Mature
pods will have prominent veins and will be dark in color. Another
indication of maturity is when the leaves begin to yellow and fall off
the plant.
HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL DAY
Alamance County is offering free disposal of paint and pesticides on
Saturday October 26th. Residents of Alamance County can dispose of all
paints and pesticides for free. Bring these products to the New
Agricultual Building, 209 North Graham Hopedale Road in Burlington from
10 am until 2 pm.
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If you have any horticultural questions, please direct them to Rett Davis