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THE EARTH : Humus: The Gardener’s Black Gold
What is this mysterious substance in the soil that makes it dark in color, very fertile, and which gardeners talk about so reverently? Growers affectionately call this substance Black Gold, but in the scientific world it is known as humus. Humus gives healthy earth its characteristic color, smell, and fertility. The object of the grower is to have rich healthy soil so crops will be vigorous and productive.
Chemically, humus is incredibly complex and defies precise analysis by soil scientists. It best can be described as consisting of decomposed organic matter, along with the remains of soil microorganisms, and is extremely rich in nutrients. When humus is increased in the soil it creates and maintains a soil that has the capacity to produce crops year after year without using chemical fertilizers.
Integrated Pest Management: Tips for March
Begin monitoring conifers for spruce spider mites. These small, dark arachnids are active in cool weather and can be found on pines, hemlocks, arborvitae, and spruce and are especially damaging to Norway and dwarf Alberta spruce. Look for stippling on the needles and webbing in between the needles on the underside of the branches. A simple beat test is also a good way to detect their presence. Tap a branch over a white sheet of paper and look for tiny, slow moving, yellowish green mites. Also look for faster moving predatory mites or tiny, round black ladybird beetles that feed on the mites. If a beat test reveals more than twenty mites per beat, and you do not see predatory mites or ladybird beetles, you should treat your tree with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap.
Begin checking your dwarf white pines for white pine tip dwarf mites. Unlike most mites, white pine tip dwarf mites like cool weather and are most active in early spring. They cause older needles to become yellow and drop, and, if the tree is severely infested, it can become completely defoliated just before new foliage emerges in the spring. Beat test your trees weekly in early spring by tapping a branch on a piece of paper.
Integrated Pest Management
Pay close attention to your azaleas now to prevent ghastly yellowed and stippled leaves caused by the azalea lace bug. The lace bug feeds on the underside of leaves, but damage is apparent on the upper surface. Lace bugs leave cast skins and black, gummy, varnish-like feces on the underside of leaves. They deposit eggs, cemented with a brown crusty material, near leaf veins. Warm temperatures cause the eggs to hatch, usually in May. The damage becomes more visible as successive generations hatch in June and July. The lace bug thrives on azaleas grown in the sun; it falls victim to spiders on azaleas properly grown in the shade. Insecticidal soap, horticultural oil, or a systemic insecticide help to control this pest.
TODO July & August’s Garden
Stay out of the midday heat, now is the time to really appreciate the shade garden and cooler evening hours before sundown. Save any replanting for a forecast of rain or a prediction of several cloudy days to give your transplants a chance to adjust. Sometimes I will not plant in a full sun location till fall rather than subject the transplant to July & August blasts of sun combined with drought.
Some Unusual Rose Conditions
This year the rose problems have been a bit different from other years. I thought it might be useful to list some of these to assist Master Gardeners when clients present problems with roses.
1. Symptoms of the first problem: In early June blossoms failed to open up normally This is referred to as “balling” of the blossoms. The edges of the petals were brown. The symptoms are more likely to occur on light colored roses. There are two possible causes listed in the textbooks.
Your ‘When To’ List
One of the questions many home owners have concerning their landscape is, “when should I do this, or do that? ” Here’s a brief guide that gives you the best time of the year to perform some common home landscape chores.
In the home landscape there are seasons to reap and seasons to sow. Here’s a few tips on the best time of the year to take care of a few important landscape maintenance items.
Basic Tree Care for the Home Yard
Your trees are the most important part of your home landscape. They provide beauty, shade, and enjoyment. They are expensive to remove when dead or damaged, and they are impossible to replace once they gain a little size. Learn to take care of your trees.
I have received a number of phone calls this spring reporting various stages of die back in the tops of a number of large, shade trees. Most of this is due to the two or three years of drought preceding the “wet” summer we are experiencing now. Many of our yard trees are growing on disturbed soils (disturbed when the house or community was built) and they tend to develop rather shallow root systems. Combine this with a prolonged period of dry weather and these trees become stressed. Stressed trees don’t
Integrated Pest Management
Woody and perennial weeds can be controlled now by spraying their foliage with glyphosate or triclopyr. Plants are moving sugars from their leaves down to their roots, and the herbicide will be moved as well, killing the root system of the weed and eliminating the chance for regrowth. Don’t spray unless winds are calm. Nonselective herbicides like these could kill any plant that comes in contact with the spray, so be extremely careful. In a tight spot, apply the herbicide with a paint brush or sponge attached to a long stick.
