Posted: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:28 am
Stephenville Empire-Tribune
This week I wanted to share with you a few gardening tips for the month of May from Dr. William C. Welch, who is a Professor and Landscape Horticulturist with Texas AM AgriLife Extension Service office in College Station.
• Spring Flowering Shrubs – If you have any spring flowering shrubs, you can prune them after they bloom. Remember to keep the natural form of the shrub in tact and avoid excessive pruning.
• Roses – they have very high fertilizer requirements. For most soil types you can use a complete fertilizer on the first application, which can be applied when spring growth starts. Then, apply nitrogen only fertilizer every 4-6 weeks (usually after a flowering cycle). When selecting fertilizers, Nitrogen is the first number represented. For example, a 21-0-0 would mean there is 21 pounds of Nitrogen per 100 pounds of product, 0 pounds of Phosphorus and 0 pounds of Potassium. For organic sources of fertilizer, you could consider products such as cottonseed, composted manures, rotted manures and/or alfalfa pellets.
Many rose varieties are also susceptible to black spot fungus. If you are growing the susceptible varieties, spray with a rose fungicide every 7-10 days. Some of the old garden varieties and the newer varieties (especially KnockOut) are considerably resistant to the fungus and would not require fungicide applications.
As soon as climbing hybrid tea roses have completed their blooming cycle they can be pruned back.
• Trees – you may begin to see bag worms show up on junipers and narrow leafed evergreens. If so, you can use products like seven dust, or spray to control only if the insect and bags that are 1/2 inch in length or less. If they get much larger they become difficult to control.
Caterpillars may begin to attack live oak trees. When they do, they can be alarming, because they will be in large numbers and remove many leaves. There is not a good option for homeowners to control the caterpillars, but most healthy trees can regrow their leaves and return to normal after the cycle.
• Insects – Begin watching for aphids. These insects are very small and feed on many different plants. They secrete a sticky substance that leaves behind a residue on plants, sidewalks, vehicles, etc., depending upon the host plant and location. One of the most common aphid attacks each year is on Pecan trees. If they appear in large numbers, then control measures should be implemented. There are many insecticides available that can be used, but just washing them off with a strong spray of water can provide adequate control for the home landscape.
• Annual flowers – consider purchasing annual flowering plants to add instant color to the landscape. When planting, pinch off the flowers and buds to allow the plant to become better established. This will allow the plant to use its energy reserves to establish roots instead of supporting the blooms on the plant.
Whit Weems is an Erath County extension agent. His column appears weekly and online at yourstephenvilletx.com.
Sara Vanden Berge is the managing editor of the Empire-Tribune. She can be reached at sara.vandenberge@empiretribune.com. Follow her on Twitter @ETeditor.
Posted in
Community
on
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:28 am.
| Tags:
Speak Your Mind