Things to Do in September

August was a hot one. Many air conditioners went out last month including mine. Of course, Sandra decided not to renew our Home Shield Warranty, that expired in June, so we had to pay for the new one out of pocket, so Rohde’s will not have a sale this month! Well maybe.

(Check out our web site early Sunday Morning, September 4^th, for a very important announcement.)

We realized that we were not the only ones to have a/c problems. Many customers came in and told us that as soon as the a/c malfunctioned they started to see roaches everywhere. "My wife wants to call an exterminator, what should I do?" More about that later.

What we need to do now is to start working on our seasonal color. Let us try to make things that got dry and ugly, pretty again, just in time for fall. As the days get shorter and cooler temperatures come back, you will have no excuse to not go out and work in the garden.

Lawns

Many yards have suffered through two years of hotter then normal summers and prolonged droughts. In the summer of 1998 North Texas melted under 100 degree plus days for 56 days, and even though we did not have that many hot days this year the temperatures were higher and the period between rains was longer.

Many customers are complaining about how poor their lawns are looking, but we still have time to overseed bermuda. It will germinate quickly and root out enough to fill in bare spots and crowd out weeds. Remember that we are in Zone 8, check with your nursery or local extension service to find out if you still have time for bermuda seed to germinate in your area. You can also Sod now, remember to water frequently when installing sod or seed.

Fertilize the lawn with a good organic fertilizer and apply microbes to help digest and deliver the fertilizer faster and more efficiently to the root system of the plants. Fertilizing in the fall encourages root development and helps the grass turn greener after any stressful summer.

Now, if you think about that saying "Change is good", this may be a good time for you to hire a landscape architect or consultant to help you change your landscape design. Hire someone that can help you determine what killed the grass, and if there is something that will do better in that area.

You may decide, on a pond, a patio or better yet both.

I have a great idea give us a call. Carol Feldman will be glad to work on your project.

Weeds

Hot weather seems to encourage weeds, and why not. Their roots are faster growing, they penetrate deeper into the soil where the moisture is present. As they mature, they shade the desired plant and slow down its growth, so this would be a good time to pull, hoe or spray weeds with vinegar before they have a chance to seed and produce more weeds. When applying Vinegar use the 20% if you can find it and add Citrus Oil or Black Strap Molasses, about 1 cup of either one to a gallon of Vinegar. After killing the weeds cover all bare soils to block the sunlight so seeds will not germinate. .

We need to repair damaged roots. Many trees are dying or suffering treeemendously because of root damage. Root damage could be caused by, improper watering, heat and neglect from owners. By the way : tremendously. T-r-e-m-e-n-d-o-u-s-l-y. Tremendously! And you thought that I had misspelled another word again.

Insects

Now is a good time to try to control insects for next spring. With cooler temperatures and more rainfall now is the time to apply Beneficial Nematodes (BN).

These soil dwelling insects are predators for over 200 insects, including termites, roaches, grubs and fire ants, be sure to keep the soil moist to insure livability of these beneficial insects.

While you are in the garden look for large clusters of eggs the size of a bb’s. These eggs could be from slugs and are normally found in cool moist areas at the edge of the lawn, under stones or larger pieces of decaying material. These eggs are almost see through.KILLL! These babies before they grow. Use Ultra Fine dormant oil, after reading the directions.

Planting

Fall is for planting. Most people think that spring is the best planting time, but that is not true. Fall. Fall. Fall is the best time to plant, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, perennials, bulbs, and native and perennial seeds.

I like scattering native seeds now for germination next spring. The best time for root growth is during the winter, so fall is the time to get all your winter hardy planting done. A health root system will help the plants find water through next years drought. The cooler temperatures at this time of year are less stressful to plants as they get established in their new locations.

Simply scatter the seeds over your lawn or scatter them in your flower beds. As the seedlings mature the healthier ones can be transplanted to a better location.

By the way, save some of the seeds from your perennial and wildflowers, collect seed from your favorites and save to sow in next year's garden. Now is also the time to divide perennials.

Mulch

When I mulch my beds for the winter, I first put down a thin layer of Back To Earth Compost over the beds and then come back with a thicker layer of mulch. As I water the lawn, or when it rains the compost makes a nice tea that slowly works its way into the soil. This also helps to keep weeds from germinating and insulates the plants from possible freezing temperatures. Never pile mulch directly around the trunk of trees, it can cause basal rot, disease and even death. Start placing the mulch about three to four inches away from the trunk leaving the entire stem exposed, layer out to the tree’s drip line. The finished project should look like a volcano crater the trunk being the smoke coming out of the volcano.

Always replenish the mulch after it decays to a thickness of one inch, keeping a layer three inches high.

More Problem Solving

The good news is that more customers are actually bringing in samples of their problems, and are writing down descriptions of their surrounding areas to better help solve these problems. As customers come in I still try to get Sally to identify the problem. She has much more resolve and will spend all the time needed to find the problem and the cure. If Sally is not around then I pass it on to Karen or Kathy.

One customer brought in some leaves that were, distorted kind of cupped, thickened almost like a leather, with a mosaic pattern of dark and light green colors. My first question was to ask how often they were watering, I was sure that this looked like over watering or some kind of fungi.

But, then someone, I think it was Sally, pointed out the stem that was curled up like an curley fry.

Sally’s question was how big of an area is affected like this? The answer was the length of the east side of the lawn. Sally asked if there was a drainage problem in this area. The answer was no.

Has your neighbor sprayed anything recently? Yes.

I would ask him what he used.

The next day we received a call from our customer who informed us that her neighbor had sprayed her lawn with a herbicide to kill weeds in her bermuda grass. Bingo!

Herbicide over spray!

Many plants can be affected by the careless spraying of weeds in lawns. Doesn’t any one read labels anymore? Do not spray on windy days. Do not spray under tress and ornamental plants. Do not spray around food crops.

DO NOT SPRAY.

Period!

During the summer many gardeners sprayed herbicides, broadleaf herbicides such as 2,4-D. This herbicide may drift across lawns and across the street in concentrations strong enough to damage or kill plants.

Remember that herbicide damage can look like a virus. Look at the big picture, does your neighbors lawn look like it has been sprayed with an herbicide. Is there more then one plant infected. Look for the curled or twisting stems on new growth.

Document your findings.

Did one of the trained professionals that drive one of those green and white trucks treat the neighbors yard recently? Or, ask your neighbor when and with what he sprayed. Ask him if he is willing to replace the plants that do not make it. If he seems to hem and haw or beat around the dead bush, call in your count extension agent. Take photos, panoramic and close ups. I do not think that videos will help that much. If trees start to show symptoms of herbicide damage call in an arborist. Tell your neighbor or responsible party what you are doing, keep him informed.

We have called Lambert’s of Dallas for consultation of certain tree problems. Ask for Tyson Woods at 214-350-8350 ext. 100.

We really get a lot of customers who bring in leaves of potted plants that have turned a lime almost yellow color with dark green veins

Iron Chlorosis

For some reason the plant is not able to get the iron it needs. The plant needs iron to produce chlorophyll. The fact that it can not, means that it looses the green color in the foliage. If the leaf can not get Iron for long periods then the leaf will start to get sunburn and die.

Feed your plants regularly using materials that contain trace minerals and sulfur. Foliar applications of Iron onto the plants can help. Plants take in iron through the leaves If you are into organic gardening you will not have as much of a problem. Howard Garret does not seem concerned with the pH in organic gardening and I agree with him. Howard thinks that by using organic matter that things will correct themselves. Because of the quantity of ingredients that go into organic matter you are constantly replacing leached out or absorbed material. Plants in pots, hanging baskets, window boxes, or any medium in which the water drains out quickly will allow the nutrients and minerals to leave the soil requiring more frequent applications of fertilizers and minerals.

An older lady came into our nursery carrying a large purse over her shoulder. As she approached the counter she took the purse off of her shoulder and dumped the contents onto our counter. About 50 twigs fell out and she started to tell me that after a heavy rain her lawn was covered with these twigs. She thought that a squirrel was breaking them off as it foraged for pecans. I looked at the twigs and noticed that each one looked like it had been carved evenly with a knife or very sharp teeth:

Twig Girdler

There is a female beetle that deposits its eggs in scars chewed into the bark of twigs. It then gnaws around the small branch, girdling it. Apparently the beetle wants to stop the flow of sap to that area of the tree so that the larvae is able to develop, but when a strong wind or rain storm comes along the weakened branch falls to the ground and the eggs hatch. The more beetles that are there the more damage will be caused. However this damage does not affect the overall health of the tree and is not noticeable.

If you are curious to know about the appearance of the adult they are gray to brown with horns. There bodies are like a cylinder and short.

What to Do: The larvae stays inside the twig and feeds on the wood around it until it emerges as an adult in August. So, you must pick up the twigs as soon as possible. I would release Beneficial Nematodes, if the twigs get pushed into the soil or become accessible to the BN then the larvae of the Twig Girdler will become their prey. Do not apply a dormant oil or an insecticide since it will be ineffective.

It Is Your Decision!

Sometime in July we had a fairly nasty wind storm that damaged half of my neighbors tree, a Silver Leaf Maple. Shortly there after they hired someone to cut the rest of the tree down. About a week after the tree was removed my daughter Assisi, came into my room around 10:00pm. And quietly whispered: "Daddy I need you to come to my room". In a half asleep state I told her that if she was afraid that she could sleep in my bed. "No daddy, I am to old for that, but you need to come to my room, there is a lizard on my wall".

"Lizards are good, they come into the house looking for insects. They will not bother you."

"Daddy, please come and get it out of my room", she pleaded.

Knowing that I was not going to get to go to sleep until I helped my daughter. A small gecko was looking at us from his vantage point way up by the ceiling. I had to go out to the garage to get the step ladder and by the time I got back Assisi was telling me that the gecko had gone under her bed.

I looked under the bed and found a stash of who knows what that had been accumulating since we moved in. I told her to clean up that mess and I would find the gecko. Reluctantly, saying that she was to tired, she went to bed that night wondering if she would be alive the next morning.

The following day Sandra, my darling wife and my daughter came to greet me as soon as I walked in the house. Not only had they seen another "alligator", it was eating a small roach in my daughters room and I was told to catch it and take it out of the house.

"Why?" I asked, "You see what it is doing. He is in the house to catch insects".

That comment did me no good. Now they were worried not only about geckos but also roaches.

That same evening Sandra saw a roach in the kitchen and Assisi saw one in her room and one in her bathroom.

"Greggggggg!", came the call from the wild……woman. I call her my wife. Either you control the roaches and the geckos or I will…

"You’ll what?" I interrupted. "Are you going to borrow your mom’s broom and fly on over to your sisters house until I kill the roaches?" I hoped.

"No, I will hire an exterminator and have them bomb the house. It is your decision", she hisssssssed.

I talked to several exterminators and told them that we had seen more roaches in the last three days then we had seen all year. All of them told me that the heat was causing many roaches to seek shelter in cooler areas and moisture wherever possible, but one exterminator asked me if there had been any large trees removed from my house or a house near by. Man this guy is good! He must be psychic. No one else asked me this. He told me that the tree was more then likely hollow in several areas and had been the living quarters for the roaches. When the tree fell down their nest was removed and they needed a place to stay so why not The Rohde’s House and any where else that it was cool. The geckos were coming in for easy prey.

I have known Michael Bohdan for many years. Whenever I have had a question of how to take care of insects or vermin I have called on him. Michael does thing using both traditional chemicals and organic methods. Luckily he uses the least toxic of the chemicals and tries to recommend natural products first. I asked Michael to write and article for our newsletter and was lucky when he said he would.

His book has both methods for control but I know that whoever reads this newsletter and is interested in his book will make the proper decision.

Hot Weather Drives Ants and Roaches Inside

by Michael Bohdan, author of "What's Buggin You"

The recent wave of hot weather has driven many pests inside homes, the most common complaints I hear are ants on the counter top and roaches in the garage and kitchen.

Ants

In the Dallas area we have about 12 species of ants that invade homes and become pests, if you don't know what species you are dealing with, you are going to have a hard time in controlling them. The first step in ant control is to identify the enemy, is it a fire, carpenter, acrobat, pharaoh, odorous, or crazy ant.

Collecting ants is easy, all you need to do is get a Q-tip and dip it into alcohol and swap a few ants and put them in a zip lock bag. Once you collect them, you need to take it to someone for ID or look for a good reference book to help you out. Howard Garrett has a good book on garden pests called, " The Texas Bug Book" and I have a book called "What's Buggin You" that specializes in insect pests that invade homes. In my book are very detailed drawings of the various insects to help you identify them very quickly. Make sure to get some sort of magnification to help you look at the ants, for most are 1/8 inch or smaller.

Once your ants have been identified then lets look at what can be done to control these ants. On the market are a number of good boric acid baits that have a sweet attractant. Most of the time you will need to inject this into small straw sections and tape to the areas of ant activity. I believe that you will have better luck in buying baits already mixed for you. The research has been done to make the ants not die so quickly and be able to feed it to the queen.

When ants are not on the sweet feeding mode, their are a number of low-impact bait stations that can be used successfully. Follow all label instructions.

Once your current problem is solved then look at...

Prevention

Here are some good tips to consider:

• Dust weep holes with Boric acid (use bulb duster).
• Trim bushes so they are not touching the house.
• Caulk all cracks around the window and doors.
• Check seals on all doors.
• If you have pets, don't leave food out at night.
• Dust plumbing voids with Boric acid dust.

Roaches

In the metroplex we have a number of species of roaches, some fly and some just plod along under your leaf litter. The most common roaches are the German, The Smokey Brown and the American.

Most homeowners have problems with the large waterbug type roaches, these would be the Smokey Brown and the American roach. If we are going to go the organic route and low-impact approach we need to consider the use of baits and dust.

On the outside of the house I would use the same prevention tips that I talked about above regarding ants. Once inside your home, you need to have a good battle plan if you want to control theses pest, they have been around for over 350 million years.

The most important tools are a flashlight and a screwdriver. This will help you inspect and put your dust and or baits in areas where the roaches are living and that is not on your baseboards.

Possible products:

• Boric Acid Dust
• Glue Boards
• Low-impact Bait Stations
• Copper mesh called "Stuff-It" for exclusion
• Check out new line of dust made from tree oils

Most of the products that you use should be placed inside walls voids and plumbing areas of the house. If you can see the dust then it is in the wrong place. Please take time and read all of your labels completely. If you need to talk to a knowledgeable person call Greg or myself.

Don't think that you can get rid of every six-legged creature that crawls on your property, but you can control them at an acceptable level.

For free insect ID at my store, The Pest Shop Inc., in Plano, feel free to call me at 972-519-0355.