GARDENING Q&A 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:
You lawn is infested with one or more species of white grubworms. White grubs are the larvae of scarab beetles. There are many different kinds in our area. The most common in our area are those of the Japanese beetle, Green June beetle, southern masked chafer, northern masked chafer, and the Asiatic garden beetle. How can you tell one from another you may ask? The best way to tell one grub from another is by the arrangement of the hairs on their raster. The raster is the lower side of the grub's posterior. What a great skill to have. It will take you far in life. As for your lawn, it means trouble if they are in great enough numbers to uproot young seedlings and cause grass to wilt. If you want to verify their presence, use a shovel to cut a 1 square foot section of turf about 4 inches deep. Roll the soil over and examine for grubs. Repeat in several locations. If you find 4 to 5 in each section it is time to treat the lawn. Even a few per square foot will invite other animals to come in and damage your lawn. Birds, moles, skunks, and even racoons will tear up turf grass for a tasty meal. It is important that you treat now before cold weather arrives which will drive them deeper into the ground. These grubs will remain in the soil until next summer. If you don't want to count hairs on the raster to determine what species of grub you have, then I would recommend using a granular formulation of Diazinon. It works on almost all white grubs. It should be watered in after application for best results. If your grubs are large and crawl on their back, then use Sevin sprayed on the soil surface. Do not water Sevin into the soil. The grubs of the Japanese beetle can be controlled by using Milky Spore. New grub worm products are appearing on the market as Diazinon is being phased out. Read the label to see if they control the grubs mentioned earlier.

Question:
My neighbor has azaleas that are blooming now. Isn't this unusual?

Answer: .
There is a variety of azalea that blooms both in the spring and fall. They are very unique among the azaleas. They are called Encore azaleas. Some are more cold hardy than others. Some worth trying for our area are Autumn Coral, Autumn Embers, Autumn Rouge, and Autumn Royalty. They are cold hardy and produce the most fall flowers. These azaleas require the same growing conditions as other azaleas. Plant in a well drained soil and in light shade. Protect them from evening sun. They are sold at some of our local nurseries. Don't confuse these with other azaleas that often offer a few blossoms in the fall due to unusual weather patterns.

Question:
The leaves on my peony plants are turning brown and wilting down. How soon can I cut them back?

Answer:
Remove peony leaves after they have been frosted on. That is not far away. We normally have frost around the third week of October. Remove the leaves just above the soil line. This would be a good time to dig and divide peonies if they need it. If they have stopped flowering, then divide them and move them to a sunny site.

Question:
My new lawn is doing great. The grass is coming up through the straw and will need to be mowed soon. Should I remove the straw before mowing?

Answer:
Leave the straw alone. The mower will shred it up. Trying to remove it will only damage the new grass. Mow your new grass when it reaches about 4 inches in height. Your mower should be set to mow fescue at around 3 inches in height.

NORTH CAROLINA GREENHOUSE VEGETABLE GROWERS ANNUAL MEETING
On October 7th through the 9th this organization will be having their annual meeting in the Wake County Agicultural Building. Anyone interested in the greenhouse production of vegetables is invited to attend. Call 919-250-1100 for further information. The Wake County office is located on the I-440 beltline around Raleigh.

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If you have any horticultural questions, please direct them to Rett Davis