ON THE SHELF: FIRST LADY GIVES READERS LOOK AT WHITE HOUSE GARDEN/pp First lady Michelle Obama takes readers on a virtual visit to the White House garden in her new book, “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.”/pp The story of the garden is the central theme, but the book has the wider purpose of encouraging others to eat and live more healthfully. It describes the joys and challenges of growing food at the White House, offers gardening tips and recipes, profiles public food gardens around the country and promotes the first lady’s campaign to end childhood obesity./pp Essays and photos bring the garden to life, including plenty of portraits of the first dog, Bo./pp The book is published by Crown Publishing and is $30 in hardcover. Michelle Obama did not take an advance for the book, and all author proceeds will go to the National Park Foundation./pp QA: HOSTA VIRUS HAS NO CURE/pp Q: The leaves on one of my hosta plants are curled, but they never were before. The plant came up that way this year. My other hostas don’t look like that. What’s going on?/pp A: Judging from the leaf sample you provided, it looks like your plant has been infected with a virus called hosta virus X. The virus causes a variety of symptoms, one of which is a puckering of the leaves. That’s what happened with yours./pp Unfortunately, there’s no treatment for an infected plant. In an Ohio State University Extension fact sheet on the topic, plant pathologist Dennis J. Lewandowski recommends removing and destroying the plant. Don’t compost it, because that could spread the disease./pp If you want to plant another hosta in that spot, wait until any remaining bits of root have decomposed so there’s no residual virus in the soil, Lewandowski says. It’s OK to put another kind of plant there, because the virus affects only hostas./pp The disease can be spread to other hostas when sap from an infected plant touches a fresh wound on a healthy plant – for example, when the same tool is used to divide or trim both plants. Since a plant can be diseased before it shows symptoms, the fact sheet recommends disinfecting tools regularly, ideally between hosta plants. Tools can be disinfected with a solution of one part bleach to 10 parts water./pp Lewandowski’s fact sheet, HYG-3069-08, can be found at http://ohioline.osu.edu./pp WHAT’S NEW: KIT SIMPLIFIES CONSTRUCTION OF RAISED GARDEN BEDS/pp Scotts Miracle-Gro has streamlined the construction of raised garden beds./pp The company has introduced the Miracle-Gro Ultimate Raised Garden Bed, a bed-in-a-box with everything needed to customize and build up to three small beds./pp Assembly involves snapping together modular pieces of composite lumber, made from recycled materials. No tools are required./pp The kit can be used to build three beds, each 2 feet square and 6 inches high. Two or more squares can be stacked to make a taller bed./pp The product is available from online retailers, including Amazon.com, HomeDepot.com and Sears.com. It’s also available at select retailers, but the company couldn’t specify which stores carry it. The suggested retail price is $79.98./pp Have a question about home maintenance, decorating or gardening? Akron Beacon Journal home writer Mary Beth Breckenridge will find answers for the queries that are chosen to appear in the paper. To submit a question, call her at 330-996-3756, or send email to mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. Be sure to include your full name, your town and your phone number or email address.
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