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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.
Question:
We recently moved into a new home with several large trees on
the property. Over the summer several have died. Now the largest oak
tree in our front yard has sawdust around the base of the tree that
appears to be coming out of little holes in the trunk. There are plenty
of leaves on the tree and it looks okay. I have been told that they
were termites. What do I spray to kill them?
Answer:
The sawdust indicates the presence of the ambrosia beetle.
These insects are very destructive. They will attack dying trees, fresh
cut stumps, and recently cut logs. The adults bore into the sapwood and
heartwood of trees and lumber. Very fine sawdust is pushed out of their
holes onto the outside of the tree. Ambrosia beetles usually restrict
their activities to injured or weakened trees. As a rule, most trees
that are heavily infested with ambrosia beetles will die within a few
weeks. Once they entered the tree there is no way to stop them. The
trees on your property were injured during the construction phase of
your home building. Grading, root disturbance, fill dirt, and soil
compaction, from building activity have all contributed to the demise of
most of your trees. The few that you have left, although still green,
have been injured. Those insects know that and will seek them out.
Many trees injured from construction will not make it three years. You
are pretty much helpless, just wait and see what happens, even if it
takes until next spring.
Question:
Slugs have eaten almost every plant I have put out this year.
Leaves have been stripped and some plants have just disappeared. I can
see their slime trails everywhere even on my porch doors. What can I
do?
Answer:
Abundant rain has made it easy for slugs to survive and that is
bad news for plants. It is also bad news for a barefoot county agent
going to his truck at night. Our most common slugs are the gray garden
slug and the gray field slug. Slugs must absorb water to move. They
also give up water as they move hence their trail. One method to
control them is to clean up their hiding and breeding places. This
would be boards, pots, and debris. The traditional metaldehyde baits
work their best in dry weather. In wet weather the slugs will overcome
their toxic effects. Therefore you may want to result to sprays or
dusts of Sevin and methiocarb. Cooper sulfate is toxic to slugs and
slugs will not crawl across a barrier of copper metal or surfaces
treated with copper sulfate. I like to use saucers of beer. I place
them randomly in my flower beds and push them down in the mulch. The
results of the all night beerfest (slugfest) will be evident in the
morning. Put the saucers out in the evening and move them every several
days.
Question:
I have a lot of bermuda grass or wiregrass in my lawn. Every
fall I plug the yard and reseed with fescue in hopes that I will get a
good stand of fescue. Do you think I am wasting my money?
Answer:
I sure do. But I do commend your efforts to help in these
times of a slow economy. Bermuda grass or wiregrass is far more
competitive than fescue especially during the summer months. Summer
time is when bermuda really takes off and spreads. For fescue, it is a
time to retreat and its growth is at a minimum due to heat. Fescue just
cannot overtake bermuda or shade it out no matter how high you mow it.
The only thing that I know that will slow the growth of bermuda is shade
from trees or buildings. Therefore, save your money and do not buy
fescue seed. If you must have green lawn during the winter, sow annual
rye grass this month. Fertilize it later in October and November. Rye
grass will provide you with plenty of fall and spring mowing.
WORKSHOP ON MOLD AND MILDEW
If your home has been plagued with mold and mildew problems this summer,
then you are invited to attend a workshop on Tuesday, September 16th at
the Agricultural Building, 209 North Graham Hopedale Rd. in Burlington.
There will be an afternoon session at 2 pm and again at 7 pm.
Specialists from N.C. State University will discuss; Health Related
Concerns, Cleanup, and Preventing Wood Decay'. The cost is $5 per
person or family. Register by calling 570-6740.
4-H ANTIQUE APPLE TREE SALES
Once again this fall, 4-H members are selling 10 varieties of antique
apple trees. These once popular apple varieties were spread throughout
North Carolina and the south. For $16 apiece you can grow at home a
piece of our history. The trees are one year old and grafted to
dwarfing root stock. Call the Cooperative Extension Service at 570-6740
to place your order. Quantities are limited.
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If you have any horticultural questions, please direct them to Rett Davis