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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 have just built a new house and went to a lot of trouble to protect the trees. In the last few weeks they have started to change colors and we have noticed sawdust around the trunk. What is happening with our trees?
Answer:
Construction, grading, installation of irrigation and underground utility lines makes life for a tree very difficult. The fact of the matter is that a majority of a tree's root system is in the top 12 inches of the soil. Therefore, the roots of trees are in the same zone where all the digging and grading is done. As a result, trees are put under different degrees of stress. Early fall coloration is an indication of stress. The fine sawdust you have noticed at the base of the tree indicates the presence of the ambrosia beetle. Ambrosia beetles will seek out dead or dying trees to feed on. The presence of ambrosia beetles is not an encouraging sign. As a general rule, the tree will most often be dead within several months. Once inside the tree, as evidenced by the sawdust, there is nothing you can do. Prevention is also very difficult. In my experience, trees infested with ambrosia beetles do not recover. But, you can certainly wait until spring when trees releaf to see if they died out over the winter. There is no sense of urgency in this matter.
Question:
This is the second year in a row that my muscadine grape has had no grapes on it. What is wrong?
Answer:
Not all muscadine grape varieties are created equal. Some have both male and female flower parts and some only have female parts. I suspect you have a female muscadine grape. Some of our most popular muscadine grapes such as Scuppernong, Black Beauty, Sweet Jenny, Fry, and Hunt are all girls. In order to have grapes you will need to buy one or more varieties that are what we call self-fertile. This means that the flower will contain both male and female organs. The pollen from the male organ will then be able to find it's way over to that lonely female vine. Once this happens everyone will be happy when those mouth watering grapes ripen in late summer. Seek out self-fertile varieties such as Dixieland, Pineapple, Cowart (my favorite), Noble (my wife's favorite), Dixie Red, and Carlos. It will take at least 2 years before the newly planted vines will be able to provide enough pollen to improve your yield.
Question:
I am looking for small trees to put in my natural areas other than dogwoods. It has to be a tree that will do well in shade. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer:
Perhaps one of the most under used tree is our native redbud. It is well adapted to our soils and climate. In addition to being fairly trouble free, they offer striking color from their blossoms in late March. Redbuds grow around 20-25 feet high in our urban soils. Redbud trees will have a multi-stemmed trunk that allows them to spread 10-15 feet in width. In the fall of the year their seed pods hang down from their branches and resemble a bean pod. Guess what? They are actually in the same family of plants as our beans. If you want to be on the cutting edge of newest plant varieties search out the newest selections of redbuds such as Forest Pansy, Hearts of Gold, Pauline Lily, Appalachian Red, Ace of Hearts, Flame, Traveler, or Floating Clouds. The thrill is in the hunt! Not to mention the bragging rights.
Question:
Our new home has a lawn irrigation system that comes on every 3 days. When do I cut this off for winter?
Answer:
Unless you have just reseeded your lawn, I would cut it off now. Use it only to get your new seed up and growing. Fescue grass is not under stress now and cooler weather increases it's growth. Use your irrigation system as an insurance policy when we get into the more stressful parts of the year which is typically mid-to- late summer. When you do reset it in the spring, try an irrigation program that is at least 5-7 days apart.
SORE FEET?
We all get sore feet, especially horses. How to take care of those feet will be subject of a class taught by Martin Kenny from the 'Hoof Redevelopment Center' in Carthage, N.C. All horse owners are invited to this program to be held at the Agricultural Building, 209 N. Graham Hopedale Rd. in Burlington on October 17th. The program begins at 6:30 pm and the cost is $5 per person. Call to register at 336-570-6740.
SOUTHERN ANNEX SCHEDULE
Paul Walker, Extension Livestock agent, will be at the our most southern office on the corner of Bethel South Fork Rd. and Snow Camp Rd. this coming Thursday at 8 am until 11:30. Drop by with all our livestock related questions.
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.