Ryan Sproul

Posted: Monday, December 9, 2013 12:00 am
|


Updated: 12:14 pm, Mon Dec 9, 2013.

Garden tips for December

Ryan Sproul

Grove Sun – Delaware County Journal

GARDEN TIPS FOR DECEMBER

Well it is definitely winter time here in Delaware County. While we were lucky we did not get the ice that our neighbors down in southeast Oklahoma got, the snow sure made the roads slick and added a few more hours to those of us that have livestock to feed and take care of.

It is December, and I reckon this kind of weather can be expected, but the first one of the year takes some getting used to. For this week’s column, I wanted to share horticulture tips for the month of December. Stay safe out there and have a good week!!!

Lawn Turf

• Remove leaves from cool-season grasses or mow with a mulching mower.

• Continue mowing cool-season lawns on a regular basis.

• Continue to control broadleaf weeds in well-established warm- or cool-season lawns with a post-emergent broadleaf weed killer.

Tree Shrubs

• Select a freshly cut Christmas tree. Make a new cut prior to placing in tree stand. Add water daily.

• Live Christmas trees are a wise investment, as they become permanent additions to the landscape after the holidays.

• Light pruning of evergreens can be used for holiday decorations. Be careful with sap that can mar surfaces.

Flowers

• Apply winter mulch to protect rose bush bud unions and other perennials. Wait until after several early freezes or you will give insects a good place to winter.

• Poinsettias must have at least six hours of bright, indirect light daily. Keep plants away from drafts.

Fruits Nuts

• Cover strawberry plants with a mulch about 3 to 4 inches thick if plants are prone to winter injury.

• Wait to prune fruit trees until late February or March.

General

• Keep all plants watered during dry conditions even though some may be dormant.

• Irrigate all plantings at least 24 hours before hard-freezing weather if soil is dry.

• Order gardening supplies for next season.

• Now is a great time to design and make structural improvements in your garden and landscape.

• Send for mail-order catalogs if you are not already on their mailing lists.

• Clean and fill bird feeders.

• Make sure indoor plants are receiving enough light or set up an indoor fluorescent plant light.

• Till garden plots without a cover crop to further expose garden pests to harsh winter conditions.

• Review your garden records so you can correct past mistakes. Purchase a new gardening journal or calendar to keep the New Year’s gardening records.

Ryan Sproul is the extension educator, for ag and 4-H youth development, with the OSU Extension Services in Delaware County. For more information, or to contact Sproul, persons interested may call 918-253-4332 or email ryan.sproul@okstate.edu.

More about Ryan Sproul

• ARTICLE: Observe bulls closely as fall breeding season begins
• ARTICLE: Locals compete, place at District 4H Poultry and Rabbit Show
• ARTICLE: 4-H Poultry and Rabbit Show Saturday
• ARTICLE: Caterpillar the culprit in tree damage

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• ARTICLE: Business Briefs
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Monday, December 9, 2013 12:00 am.

Updated: 12:14 pm.

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Ryan Sproul,

Grove,

Grove Sun,

Osu Extension Office,

Delaware County,

Extension Educator

Holiday plants (such as azaleas, cyclamens, forced bulbs, topiaries, kalanchoe, poinsettias), cut greens and live wreaths and trees aren’t really meant to live indoors forever. They do best in cooler, moist air outdoors, but they can be kept in good condition indoors for several weeks if we try to replicate their natural environments.

Place holiday plants in cooler spots in the home, away from heat sources like fireplaces and furnace vents. Provide bright, indirect light, but not direct sunlight. In winter, the angle of the sun’s rays is lower on the southern horizon and shafts of sunlight are not deflected by overhanging eaves. Southern light will be strongest in the house and, unless the sunlight is filtered through shades or shutters, the rays and heat can dry out or scorch tender needles and leaves on holiday plants and greens.

Remove paper or foil wrappings and place the pot on a saucer or into a cachepot to prevent damage to furniture. If the pot doesn’t have a drain hole, use a nail to poke several holes in the bottom of a plastic pot or re-pot into a pot with a drain hole. Empty the saucer or a decorative cachepot after every watering.

Different houseplants require differing levels of soil moisture and differing methods of watering. Kalanchoe (pronounced cal-AN-cho) and Christmas cacti (shlumbergera) need consistently moist but not soggy soil while in bloom. Cyclamen are susceptible to gray rot if the crown of the plant is kept wet; pour water around the cyclamen but not over the crown. Poinsettias die quickly if the soil is allowed to dry out completely. Phalenopsis or moth orchids draw their water from the damp orchid bark; a couple of tablespoons of water a week is usually sufficient to keep the bark moist. Use your trusty finger (the best tool for determining moisture levels) and water azaleas, rosemary and ivy topiaries, poinsettias and forced bulbs when the top of the soil is dry.

Daily misting will lower humidity levels, but make sure that any lights on live holiday plants and trees are UL-approved outdoor lights. Anti-transpirants help prevent moisture loss from leaves and needles. You can find anti-transpirants at most garden centers and well-stocked nurseries. Cloud Cover and Moisturin 5 are two brand names. Spray anti-transpirants outdoors before decorating the greenery.

Before you set your tree into the container, make a fresh cut on the trunk. Then fill the container with sweetened, not diet, clear soda like 7Up or Sprite and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. The sugar in the soda provides nutrients and the lemon acts as an anti-bacterial agent. This recipe also works well to keep cut flowers fresh longer.

 

Elinor Teague is a Fresno County master gardener. Send her plant questions at etgrow@comcast.net or features@fresnobee.com (“plants” in the subject line).

Will it hurt my liriope if I prune it now? It grows along my sidewalk and makes shoveling snow difficult.

Liriope has done plenty of growing already, and pruning will not kill it. However, as long as the leaves are green it’s carrying on photosynthesis and producing carbohydrates to store, so you may want to wait for a snow forecast before you cut it back.

Is it too late to divide and transplant my ligularia?

While almost all perennials can be transplanted in fall as long as the soil is not yet frozen, ligularias are an exception and division should be done only in the spring. It is recommended to divide ligularia every three years to maintain vitality. Be careful to ensure that they never suffer dry soil.

Plant of the week

Winterberry holly

Ilex verticillata

Winterberry, our native wetland holly, makes a stunning specimen for the winter garden. Its autumn leaves turn yellow and fall to reveal a breathtaking view of thousands of brilliant red berries clinging to bare stems. What a joy to have such color in the middle of winter. Bird watchers appreciate seeing birds flock to the berries for a midwinter feast. Winterberry reaches heights of 6 to 10 feet with equal spread and is also available in dwarf varieties such as Maryland Beauty. Plant in moist, acidic organic soil. Females set fruit best in full sun and require a male pollinator. Some female varieties must be matched with a particular male variety. —Shelley McNeal

Posted: Friday, December 6, 2013 12:07 am

Late fall garden tips

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Now that cold weather has really arrived, I hope that most of your ‘outside’ garden chores are completed. Some of those may have included using your mower with the mulch setting to finely chop leaves and twigs and at the same time mulch your lawn areas with this natural winter protection. Chopped leaves help to fertilize the soil and the mulching effect will protect the grass through our variable weather of cold, cool and sometimes mild days ahead.

In the perennial beds, leaving the stalks of plants with good seed heads provide food for the birds. We usually leave our zinnias, cone flowers and black eyed Susan until spring cleanup. During winter, when the feeders are empty, the birds scour the flower beds. It helps the perennial plants to have a stem during cold and windy weather. The stem and dried leaves of the hibernating perennial collect the tree leaves that are blowing around. This collected leaf material provides a blanket of insulation protecting the root mass of the perennial throughout the winter.

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Posted in
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Friday, December 6, 2013 12:07 am.

Not to worry – plant one of each if you can then you will have a holly bush with wonderfully golden variegated leaves and – in the case of  ‘Golden King’ – berries as well.

Do not worry that the bushes will eventually eat you out of house and home.

They are relatively slow growing and if you plant them with a view to cutting a few stems every Christmas you can keep them within bounds by means of this annual pruning.

They make great back-of-the-border plants and are a terrific backdrop to other plants in summer.

Look around and you will find all kinds of variation in both leaves and fruit – some of the berries are red, others orange and there are even yellow varieties.

Some leaves are variegated, others dark green, some have very few spines on the leaves, others, like hedgehog holly Ilex aquifolium “Ferox” have so many spines they erupt through the centre of the leaf as well as appearing on the edges.

There are even blue-leafed hollies – well, blue-ish leafed – to add to the variety.

None of these is too fussy about the growing conditions. They will do well in sun or shade, though leaf variegation will be less dramatic in deep gloom, and they can cope with most soils.

Plant a container-grown holly now and if it is already in berry you can risk taking a few sprigs this Christmas as well as looking  forward to masses more in the Christmases to come.

Don’t miss Alan’s gardening column today and every day in the Daily Express. For information on his range of gardening products, visit www.alantitchmarsh.com

Garden writer Sally Cunningham offers some helpful tips on selecting and caring for a Christmas tree in her column today. Now what about decorating it? Anyone who has admired a professionally decorated tree knows there are tricks to be learned. We asked experts to share a few.

Whether your tree is fresh or faux, think deep, said one.

“It’s best to get your lights in and out (on the branches), not just on the surface so that you have some depth to your lighting,” said Mike Monnat, one of the floral designers at Woyshner’s Flower Shop and Christmas Shoppe on Ridge Road, Lackawanna.

“The same thing with ornaments. You want to get some in deep, and then you want to get some on the surface. So when you look into the tree, it’s exciting – not just one dimensional,” he said.

Another tip: If you’re working with an artificial tree, it’s important to prep it for decorating.

“The biggest thing is that people don’t fluff the branches open,” Monnat said.

Elaine Schmitt, of Dave’s Christmas Wonderland on Union Road in Cheektowaga and Transit Road in Amherst, agreed, and elaborated on what they tell customers about today’s pre-lit artificial trees: “When you put your artificial tree together, you need to spend time shaping it properly. Put the base in the stand, plug it in and shape your branches. If you pull out a light, you’ll know where you pulled it out. You carefully add one section at a time and shape your branches. If you shape the base of the tree well, no matter what you hang on it will look really good, ” she said.

Next step: “You’re going to run a separate tree cord – if it’s a pre-lit tree you can’t plug into that line anyway – and add your topper, your angel, anything lighted or animated and plug into that so you don’t overload the main line. Then you put your garlands on – either tinsel or beaded – and your ribbons. The last things to go on are your precious collectible pieces – your ornaments – and your tree will be done. But you need to take your time,” she said.

• Buy poinsettia plants now for color throughout the holiday season.

• Pick plants that are rich in color and have no browning at the leaf tips. There should be no signs of wilting from lack of water.

• Buy plants that are free from disease and insect problems. Turn several leaves over and inspect for unwanted holiday pests. And then, refuse to bring them home. I think there is a correlation here.

• Poinsettia should have a group of tight yellow buds at the center of the colorful brackets (flowers). If the yellow buds have started to open, the plant is past its prime.

• Once home, place your poinsettia near a window with at least six hours of bright indirect sunlight, avoid drafts and keep the plant soil slightly moist, not soggy.

• These holiday plants come in a variety of colors. As with any design, try to coordinate the flower colors with the colors of your decorations.

• Buy a colorful holiday container for your poinsettia. Those shiny plastic things that the plant comes in when you buy it are meant to be temporary.

• Remember, one very large, colorful, healthy poinsettia makes a more dramatic and tasteful statement than a bunch of tiny plants!

• One final note: If there are weird colors or sparkles on the leaves and flowers, your poinsettias will look like plastic. This Christmas, don’t buy live plants that look like fake plants … yikes!

Todd Goulding provides residential landscape design consultations. Contact him at 478-345-0719, www.fernvalley.com or on Facebook.

Indoor plants may satisfy your need for blooms during short winter days. Or you may still itch to get out in the garden and enjoy getting your hands dirty on the occasional warm sunny day. Either way some seasonal gardening suggestions apply indoors and outside.

Indoor plants

Group your houseplants together during the forced air heating season. They will benefit from one another’s transpired moisture. Keep them away from heat sources and protected from drafts.

Water gift and house plants with room temperature or tepid water. Don’t shock plants with cold water. Let plants dry out between watering; overwatering is the most common cause of house plant death. If you want to keep the festive foil wrap on gift plants, cut holes in the bottom so excess water can drain out.

Maintain a vigilant eye for insects on indoor plants. They are the same pests you struggle against outside – aphids, spider mites, scale, white flies and mealy bugs. Spray off your plants’ leaves in the sink or shower each time you water them. It may sound like a big job, but dealing with an insect infestation is a much bigger one. The bath will also give your plants much needed humidity and remove accumulated dust. Keep a bottle of insecticidal soap spray handy for unwanted guests.

Outside in the garden

Don’t walk on or dig in wet garden soil. Both actions compact the soil.

Don’t forget to water outside plants during a winter dry spell. Dry roots along with freezing temperatures can severely damage, even kill, a plant. Remember that plants under a roof overhang or the heavy cover of evergreens are sheltered from rain. They may need to be watered when other areas of your yard do not.

Be careful what you prune. Shrubs that bloom in the winter and spring have already set their buds. If you want to enjoy their flowers, don’t prune them until after they bloom. Don’t fertilize them either until after they bloom.

Know your hydrangeas and clematis. Do they bloom on new or old wood? If your plants bloom on old wood, don’t prune them until after they finish next year’s flowering.

Save heavy pruning on trees and shrubs for mid to late winter. Go to Clemson HGIC 1053 on the Internet for more detailed information about pruning.

In the event of heavy rain, replace mulch that has washed away. Mulch does more than hold moisture in the soil. It helps moderate soil temperature – a good thing in both hot sun and freezing cold. Keep tender roots mulched to protect them from injury.

Don’t apply ‘volcano’ mulching piled high around the base of your trees. Pull mulch away from tree trunks. ‘Volcano’ mulching harbors insects and disease. A two to three inch layer of mulch is all you need spread around the root zone.

If an evergreen or perennial is injured by frost, don’t prune off the damage. The dead ends will help protect the unaffected parts of the plant during the next frost or freeze.

Don’t leave debris from roses on the ground. Fungus from infected leaves and twigs lives in the soil waiting to infect your roses with black spot and mildew next year.

Remove dead plants and weeds from your vegetable garden. The debris shelters last year’s insect pests and diseases so they can revisit your garden next year.

Pull winter weeds out of your lawn before they bloom and go to seed. Their bright green growth is easy enough to spot in the brown grass.

Don’t use plastic to cover plants that are vulnerable in freezing temperatures. Use a fabric that breaths. Uncover plants during the day.

Don’t fertilize until spring.

If you need something to do in the garden, you can always top dress plants with compost. Also, collect a soil sample and have it tested so you can make appropriate corrections for next year’s growing season. Go to Clemson HGIC 1652 for soil test information and instructions.

Reach DEBBIE MENCHEK, a Clemson Master Gardener, at dmgha3@aol.com.

If you want to be happy with the end result of an auction or estate sale, do your homework long before the gavel strikes.

“Auction services” has been one of the most complained-about categories on Angie’s List for several years, with almost 30 percent of consumer reviews earning D or F grades. Many members report that while their initial interactions with auction or estate-sale pros seemed fine, post-sale problems ruined the experience.

Unhappy consumers cited issues with proper accounting for funds or property, unexpected fees, missing items, late or no payments and items sold with steeper-than-expected discounts.

So if you’re planning to hire help with disposing of a loved one’s estate, or with downsizing for a move, heed the advice our researchers gathered in interviewing highly rated pros, consumers and others.

• Make sure the company is not only reputable and reliable, but also has experience selling the kind of items that you plan to sell.

• Keep price expectations realistic. Be aware that no matter how much sentimental value you may place on something, it’s ultimately worth what someone is willing to pay. If an estate sale is planned to last more than one day, expect that discounting will occur to reach the goal of having everything sold.

• If you’re planning an on-site auction, which generally occurs at a set time on one day, make sure you have sufficient parking, bathroom facilities and a display area.

The cost of hiring a pro can vary. In talking to highly rated auction and estate-sale pros from around the country, our researchers learned of options ranging from a flat fee based on total profit to a commission of 30 to 40 percent.

Before you hire an auction or estate sale company, get clarity about the following details:

• Credentials. Verify local requirements; auctioneers must be licensed in about half the states.

• Contract. Don’t neglect to read it or to ask about anything that’s unclear.

• Fees. Ask about any and all that might be charged. Examples: photography, advertising, setup, pricing, labor, tables, tents, and cleanup or trash removal. Some companies may also charge consultation or per-item fees.

• Bonding and insurance. Make sure the company has coverage, so you don’t end up liable if someone’s hurt on your property or if employees aren’t paid.

• References. Ask for references and take time to contact them. If possible, attend an auction or sale managed by the company.

• Permits. Make sure your neighborhood or locality allows sales or auctions. Some require a garage sale or auction permit. Be clear if you or the company you hire is responsible for getting the permit.

• Price cuts. Ask in advance how much discounting to expect.

• Payment timing. Ask when you should expect to receive your post-sale check, and include that information in the contract.

• Unsold items. Some companies may offer to take care of leftover items themselves. Be sure you’re comfortable with what ultimately happens to anything unsold.

Stephan McLean explains Thanksgiving dining room table arrangements to members Lily Hall and Jane Mudd of the Anderson Garden Club.

Following lunch at the Saluda River Grill, the October meeting of The Anderson Garden Club was held at 205 Iler St., Piedmont. “Elements of Nature” was the topic of the day and was presented by Stephan McLean in the newly rennovated mill, site of his floral design business. Members enjoyed seeing his natural decor and use of live potted plants.

President Lynn Stoddard presided and the devotion was given by Ruth Belk. Standing committee reports on civic development in conjunction with wecome committee, Arbor Day, and Cater’s Lake were given.

Debbie Dunaway gave an update on garden therapy in the Cancer Association of Anderson. Hostesses for the meeting were Frankie Spake, Kay Brown and Suzanne Todd.

The Anderson Garden Club is a member of the Garden Clubs of South Carolina.