They seem to pop up everywhere – weeds. New beds, old beds; it doesn’t seem to matter. At this point in the season, a little moisture encourages growth of tons of weeds. Seeing these weeds makes you wonder several thoughts. Where did they all come from? Why are they growing as well or better than…
Month: June 2019
The Best Way to Remove Problem Trees
Seedling trees come up in the oddest places, and in some cases, totally unnoticed. In the neighborhood I drive through, I observed a mulberry tree growing up through a shrub rose. The mulberry thrived, gradually completely shading out the rose. Eventually the rose owner noticed the mulberry and tried to remove it, resulting in the…
Newly Planted Trees, Shrubs, Perennials – Aftercare
You’ve installed some new trees, shrubs and perennials…now what? In order to keep them looking great, there are a few simple care steps that should follow planting, especially in June. A thorough soaking of water, followed by moisture monitoring. Nothing special here; use a sprinkler can to place water evenly throughout the entire root…
Going Soft
After cleaning up the damage to my plants from the hail storm on May 28th I didn’t cut back the damaged flower spikes to my German iris. Not sure why I didn’t. Probably because the flower stalks had injury but they didn’t seem to need immediate care. However, making that deceisoin I probably did more…
Peach Leaf Curl
Peach leaf curl is prevalent this spring. The fungal pathogen, Taphrina deformans, causes leaf puckering and unusual coloration, with bright red, yellow, lime green, or a combination of all three colors on one leaf. Infection occurs at bud swell and bud break, when spores, overwintering on twigs and buds, infect emerging leaves. The distortion of…
Unwanted Grass
Grass is usually a good thing; in lawns that is. However, if you’ve got grass anywhere else – a veggie garden, a flower bed, in groundcovers – then it’s a weed. Grass can get to the unwanted location through bird transfer, through misapplied seedings or through spreading. The rhizomes pictured here show this undesirable…