 |
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:
This is the year I have decided to use a crabgrass preventer on my lawn and do it myself. Can you help me choose a product that will work?
Answer:
Be forewarned that you have many products to choose from and will be overwhelmed when you see all the brands. I will try to simplify this as best I can in a short amount of space. If you have a lawn that is primarily fescue then this is a good time to put out a crabgrass preventer with fertilizer mixed with it. Every big box store and farm supply will have products from Scotts, Southern States, Sta- Green, Hi-Yield, Vigoro, and Lescoe. The crabgrass preventer in them will either be dithiopyr (Dimension,Crabex), Prodiamine (Barricade), or Pendimethalin (Halts or Pre-M). These can be applied safely to well established fescue. If you overseeded last fall and your new grass is small and not very vigorous, then apply a Prodiamine (Barricade) product. It is the safest. For those of you that have bermuda lawns you should apply a crabgrass preventer without fertilizer. There is no point in fertilizing dormant bermuda. You can buy the crabgrass preventer alone. Look for Halts, Team, Crabex, or Preen for Lawns. All of these products should be applied by March 15th. Crabgrass germinates here the last week of March. Once germinated these products will not work. The products I mentioned will wear out in 8-12 weeks. Therefore reapplication will be required for season long control in late May. Buy a stand alone crabgrass preventer now so you will have it on hand. You do not want to fertilize fescue in late May. These products tend to be gone from the shelves in May when you need it. So you are forewarned. Also, measure the square footage of your lawn so you will purchase the amount needed to do the job. Do not use preventers if you plan to overseed this spring. The only product that can be used at seeding is Tupersan.
Question:
I saw some elephant ear bulbs for sale this week and bought some. But there were no planting instructions. When and how are they planted?
Answer:
Plant elephant ears in a sunny location that is well drained. Those large bulbs need to be planted with the blunt end down with the top about 2 inches below the soil. Adding extra organic matter to the soil will really help this plant get off to a good start. If you do not have any compost then purchase some Black Cow and add 2-3 full shovel fulls to each hole and mix it with the soil. Plant elephant ears in March or after. Place 3-4 inches of mulch over the bulb. In the fall frost will kill the tops back. Cover the ground with a lot of leaves or mulch for winter protection.
Question:
I have a lot of brown crabgrass that is mixed in with my fescue lawn. It looks so bad that I want to spray it out this spring. When is good time to do this?
Answer:
If you see a brown grass mixed with your green grass now, it is most likely not crabgrass, but wiregrass (bermuda). If you want to remove it from your fescue, then the time of year to spray it will be in August. Roundup is used to control wiregrass with applications beginning in early August. Roundup will kill your fescue too. But that is the best strategy for now. After at least 3 sprayings of Roundup in August, you can reseed those areas to fescue in September.
LAND USE MEETINGS
Every resident of Alamance County is encouraged to attend the community meetings on the future development of your county. From these meetings will come the foundation of development regulations and zoning. The meetings are: Feb. 23rd at Western Alamance High School, Feb. 28th at Southern Alamance High School, March 2nd at Pleasant Grove Community Center, and March 7th at Eli Whitney Recreation Center. Get involved!
SOUTHERN ANNEX SCHEDULE
Paul Walker, Extension Livestock agent, will be at the Southern Annex office, on the corner of Bethel South Fork Rd and Snow Camp Rd. this coming Thursday from 8 until noon. He is there to answer your questions on pastures and other livestock related matters.
North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commitment themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability. In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&;T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.