Last month I put together a post based on search engine hits in the form of a question to The Home Garden and I thought I’d do the same for August. I picked out several questions that I thought were either interesting or important and hopefully both!
August Garden Questions
Q. How do you get rid of aphids on a spirea?
A. I’ve had the same problem and I can definitely tell you aphids and spirea don’t mix! There are three good ways to do it without using dangerous chemicals. The first is to use a strong blast of water from the hose to knock those awful aphids away. The second method is to use an insecticidal soap to deliver the killing dose to the insect infestation. The third method is to get lady bugs to do the work for you. You can purchase ladybugs through the mail and release them in your garden. The larval state of the lady beetle looks like a little alligator and are extremely hungry! Both the water hose and insecticidal soap may require multiple treatments.
Q. How do you get bees out of the garden to pick vegetables?
A. You don’t! I would recommend working around the bees since they are working for you. Those bees you are anxiously avoiding are busy pollinating your garden. Harvest in the evening when the bees have gone to bed and you can completely avoid them. I’ve found that the only bees that bother me when I’m in the garden are the bumblebees. They are more aggressive and territorial than honey bees. Honey bees will just mind their own business as long as you mind yours.
Q. When should you prune a Japanese dappled willow (Salix integra)?
A. Most people recommend pruning willows in the early spring to encourage lots of the red tipped dappled foliage but if you need to prune it at other times it should be OK. Just prune during the growing season well before the frosts to avoid triggering new growth that will get damaged by cold weather. Or prune in the dormant season before fresh new spring growth begins. Use the buds as a guide, if they are starting to emerge it’s probably a good time to prune! Of course dead growth can be pruned off anytime. Extra tips: always make your pruning cut so you leave a vertically slanted cut on the branch. That will help prevent water from resting on the branch and causing rot. Also consider using the cut ends to make more willows through propagation!
Off the wall and in the garden:
Q. How did my Japanese dappled willow dry out?
A. It could be not enough water, but that’s just a hunch! Seriously willows need a good deal of water to keep them flourishing. I’m in the same boat right now as I have been lax in watering our dappled willows. Several of them have brown leaves and seem to be dying back to the main stem of the plant. All you need to do is clip back the darkening, dead and dying stems to the live growth and resume watering. I don’t think you can over water a willow but you definitely can under water one.
Q. What do you do with large tomato crops?
A. What a good problem to have! After you’ve eaten your fill of BLT’s and tomato sandwiches and after you’ve made and frozen enough tomato sauce to last you through the winter, consider donating some of your crop to a food pantry. I’m sure they would appreciate any extra food that comes their way.
Q. How do you make an origami zinnia?
A. I have no clue! My last experience with origami was many years ago. My younger brother liked to practice that ancient art of folding paper but I don’t remember him ever making a zinnia from it. Although I do remember plenty of cranes!
What a variety of questions come your way each month Dave. I've never had any problems with Aphids on my Spirea but they do love the Roses & Milkweed. I used the cold water method and eventually nature took it's course. The ladybugs found their way to the Milkweed and cleaned up the problem for me. Yay! Origami Zinnias???? That was a new one on me. lol
Never heard of a origami zinnia:) I’ll have to ask the Jimster as he is into origami. I have a question for you since we are on the question of problems and I know how you good you are with propagation. I recently took fothergilla cuttings and it is not looking good for them. Should I have taken cuttings in the spring versus now? Are you familiar with this plant? Thanks! Some neat questions here.
Hi Dave, what great questions. I have not had a problem with the aphids on spireas either, and we have a ton of the magic carpets, my favorite cultivar. We do have aphids on the milkweeds, and many other bugs too. We have lots of ladybugs and they get most of the aphids eventually, it is more of a problem in the spring on the roses and iris, this year was worst than most. The willows get cut here twice a year, late winter to the ground and again mid spring to keep them smaller and make the winter pruning easier. They have never dried out and get no extra water. Thanks for these interesting questions, Dave.
Great questions Dave. I have one to ask. Can you propagate Lantana in water or should it be done in soil. I purchased a variegated Lantana {I think variegated} & a couple limbs were broken so I put them in water as soon as I reached home. Do I need to put them in soil.
There was a pink blossom {more pronounced} then there were a couple that had orange/yellow. Would that make it variegated?
Hey Dave,
Great questions and answers. Origami Zinnia! Maybe they were asking about a type of zinnia! That is quite possibly the most interesting question to ask a gardener!
Gail
Dave – what a variety of questions! Having too many tomatoes is a good problem to have. Luckily my in-laws are sharing their too many with me 🙂
My favorite question though is the orgami zinnia!
PGL,
I;ve had aphids it seems almost everywhere this year. I do have a few aphid-proof plants like the salvias and Russian sage. The aphids really seem to like my crabapple and spireas. There are several different kinds of aphids out there and they seem to gravitate to one particular kind of plant. A spirea aphid probably won’t spread to another kind of plant. They tend to stick to a family of plants. I’m glad your ladybugs went to work!
Tina,
I’m not real familiar with Fothergilla and I’ve never taken cuttings from one but generally it depends what kind of cutting you took and what time of year it was taken in. Was it stem a tip green wood or hardwood? Hardwood will generally work better in the fall-winter while greenwood and stem tip work better in the spring-summer. Stem-tip cuttings and greenwood have a tendency to rot more than hardwood one’s do but they root faster.
Frances,
My in-laws have some established willows that they don’t water and are doing great. It depends on the root system and the size of the plant.
Lola,
I like lantana but I haven’t rooted one yet. Lantana ought to very easily in a pot of dirt. Layering should work very good!
Lola,
Variegation normally refers to the foliage. It sounds like you have some pretty multicolored lantana though!
Gail,
Origami zinnia would be an interesting name for a variety! I’ve never heard of one though.
Cindy,
That is an interesting question! Too many tomatoes is a problem I like as well.