Things to Do in July

All the rain that we had in June has caused many fungal problems in gardens throughout North Texas. For those of you who have been alert and have kept up with your spraying, congratulations, but do not rejoice yet. Keep up your good work and make sure that an enterprising fungi is not waiting for you to relax your defenses.

Watering

We have said before that the key to good watering is to water thoroughly and deeply. June rains have provided much needed rainwater, but my fear is that the root systems of the plants have become lazy and have come closer to the surface. Now, we must make them go deep again.

Do not water often, let your plants wilt just a little, but don't let them get too dry.

Normally I water once a week, but this year I have not had to since we have been getting so much rain. My system is turned off unless I manually set it to run. After watering I will turn the controller off again.

Some automatic systems are equipped with rain gauges. These gauges are inexpensive, about $75.00 each plus installation. Call David Harmon at 972-686-7756 or at 214-832 4401 or Dan Fisher at 972-562-0906. It does not matter which sprinkler repair service you use, but when they are out there have them fine-tune your entire system. You would be surprised at how a tiny adjustment of a sprinkler head can make a difference in wasted water or proper coverage.

An efficient sprinkler system or watering device will properly direct the sprinkler water onto the lawn, flowerbeds or vegetable garden, not the driveway, sidewalk or the side of the house.

Even though we have had plenty of rain, the rain does not always get sufficient moisture to the soil around the foundation of the house. You must go around the entire house, checking under the eaves of the house and under tall evergreens. Be certain to take time to check the need for watering in these two locations.

Hanging baskets and container plantings may need special watering consideration once the temperature gets much above seventy degrees. In fact, they may need daily or twice daily watering if it should get hotter, into the eighties or nineties. Container grown plants may need watering once or twice a day during the hottest months of summer. Maintain their beauty by fertilizing on a weekly basis. We have polymers in our potted plants and hanging baskets.

Polymers

I do not know if we are going to have a very wet summer. I certainly hope that we do, but I do not think it hurts to use Polymers. Polymers act as a reservoir of water that is available to plants on demand, reducing the amount and frequency of watering and fertilizing. The plant roots grow directly into the water-swollen polymer where it can absorb up to 90 percent of the available water.

Because you do not water as often you reduce the leaching of fertilizer from the soil, but polymers actually absorb water-soluble fertilizers and hold them.

Polymers are environmentally safe and do not contaminate ground water, soil or plants. Polymers break down into their component parts of ammonia, carbon dioxide and water with no residual toxicity in four to five years. SolidWater or other polymers should not be inhaled or digested and should be kept out of reach of children. The Jell-O like appearance is enticing to kids, so use caution and keep them out of reach.

Lawn Care

With all the rain that we have had I am going to apply another round of fertilizer to my lawn and garden at a rate of 20 pounds per 1000 square foot. Because of the greater amount of water and the added weight that it has put onto the top layer of soil, I will also aerate and apply GreenSense Microbial Treatment to relieve compaction.

I have noticed fewer Fire Ant mounds this year. Normally when our creek floods I will see mounds of ants pop up after a short while, but that has not been the case this year. I have had to treat only four mounds so far and one of them was on my neighbor's lawn. Another benefit of the Microbial Treatment is that I also apply a liquid humate. This humate acts as a food source for the microbes while they are in the bottle, and also can be digested by them once they are released into the soil.

Mow your lawn as high as you can; the soil below will not be as hot and the moisture will not evaporate as quickly. You can help Rohde’s with a semi-scientific survey. All you need to do is a temperature test. Push a soil thermometer into the ground where you or one of your neighbors has mowed the lawn very short. Next go to a neighbor's lawn that has not yet mowed his yard and check the temperature there. I would be interested in your results. Please e-mail me these.

Beneficial Nematodes

I normally apply BN's in the early spring and late fall. This year we have sold more BN's then ever before. Many of my customers have been raving about their success with these critters. Roaches, fire ants, and fleas have decreased in large numbers both inside their homes and out in the landscape for the customers who have applied them. Try some; just remember BN’s are applied in the soils that will be kept moist through the summer. Apply them around the foundation of the house and around the fence line, in groundcover areas and under trees.

The Vegetable Garden

This is the time to start your seeds for fall gardens. Start with a really good potting soil, and place the soil in small pots or egg cartons. Make sure that you have good drainage. Place two or three seeds in each container and place the containers in lots of sunlight so the seeds can germinate.

Fertilize the existing vegetable garden with a good fertilizer that contains cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal and trace minerals like GreenSense Vegetable & Flower Food. Apply foliar spray early in the morning and add an extra tablespoon of kelp (seaweed) to your solution to help the plants through the heat stress.

Stake tomatoes and cover them with bird netting. One of our customers was bragging about how beautiful his tomatoes looked. They had just changed color to a bright red. He did not want to pick the beautiful tomatoes because he was going to show them off to his neighbors. Well, his neighbors also included some very hungry birds that just about destroyed his crop. If he had used bird netting, he would enjoy the fruit because the net makes it difficult for the birds to get to them.

Many customers think that if the leaves of the plants are covering the fruit they should remove these leaves so that they can expose the fruit to sunlight. Removing leaves does not hasten ripening and may result in sunscald.

Spider mites thrive in hot weather. If leaves of plants have a stained appearance, inspect the undersides of the leaves and look for webbing. Hose mites off the foliage. Spraying an extra dose of kelp at a rate of three ounces to a gallon of water helps to prevent spider mites. Some Neem Oil products are registered for use on food crops, but remember that Neem will also kill your beneficial insects.

Annual Flowers and Perennials

As Sandra and I walk around our neighborhood the many different flowers that are being used in the landscape delight us. Of course, Sandra has to ask me what every different plant is. Hell, I only know half of them, so we argue about what each plant is. One day I am going to get Karen, our store manager, to come to our house and write down the name of every plant in the neighborhood, house by house. Then I will give that list to Sandra. Next time she asks me the name of the plant, I will tell her to look it up and let me know what it is.

My favorite annuals for this time of the year are Mexican Heather, Blue Daze, Moss Rose, Portulaca, Tropical Hibiscus and Zinnia Lineares.

My perennial favorites are all the Sedums, Texas Star Hibiscus, Turk’s Cap, Ice Plant, Skull Cap, Black Foot Daisy and Coreopsis. Even though the Mexican Mint Marigold is not yet in bloom, buy one now so that you can enjoy its beautiful fall flowers and fragrance.

To extend the blooming season, keep pinching faded flowers off annuals and perennials. If allowed to go to seed, the plant will direct its energy toward seed production instead of forming new blooms.

If you are trying to attract birds and you want the seed for food, disregard the above.

Remember that when a plant is in production it is also highly stressed and needs more nutrients. Feed with a solid fertilizer such as cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal and rock phosphate. Blend a combination of your own or buy a ready to use product. GreenSense Vegetable and Flower Food just happens to pop into my mind.

Water as needed. Symptoms of drought stress include wilting flowers and droopy, off-color foliage.

Mulch around plants, this will help keep weeds down and to reduce water evaporation.

Water deeply and on an irregular basis and, if possible, water early in the morning. Do not over water.

Shrubs and Trees

If you have not yet pruned spring-flowering shrubs do it now. Fertilize once a month until you start to see buds forming on the plant. At that point the excess nitrogen may burn the buds. Maintain a three inch thick mulch cover to reduce water evaporation and discourage weed growth.

Trees can be pruned lightly to remove dead, diseased, crossing, rubbing and broken branches. Be careful! If you prune heavily you may expose shaded leaves and bark to too much sun and cause sunscald.

Now that it is getting hot, this is the second best time to trim Live Oaks. Only trim trees if the branches are growing in a direction that could cause property or bodily damage.

Corn Meal Products

Howard Garrett has been talking about corn meal for use as a fungicide on most plants and grasses. The ingredients that make up the different blends of "horticultural corn meal" have given them specific target treatments.

1. Bed Preparation: Wheat Bran/Corn Meal Soil Amendment with Molasses is used at 10-50 pounds per 100 square feet as a source for nutrients, organic matter and cornmeal's natural disease control. It can be used as the primary bed prep material or mixed with any of the commonly recommended organic additives.
2. Disease Control: Use Corn Meal for root or soil borne fungus problems at 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Cornmeal works as a disease fighter in the soil by stimulating beneficial micro-organisms that feed on pathogens such as brown patch in St. Augustine, damping off in seedlings and other fungal diseases. Use cornmeal at about two pounds per 100 square feet to help control any soil borne fungal diseases on both food and ornamental crops. One application may be all that is needed, but multiple applications are okay if necessary because cornmeal serves as a mild organic fertilizer and soil builder.

The cornmeal needs moisture to activate. Rain won't hurt cornmeal's efficacy because, like all organic products, it is not water-soluble.

Butterfly Gardening

The great thing about my job is that customers will come to our nursery and share their garden adventures, misfortunes and success stories with us. Some people will tell me that they do not want me to write about them in our newsletter, but since I never really mention names, I have not been sued yet. YET!

One customer came into the nursery this year and decided that instead of annual flowers she was going to use only perennials. Of course, she wanted different plants so that she would have something blooming all year around if possible.

Kathy, our master gardener, helped this lady for over an hour. They picked plants that would do well for the conditions that she described. Two days later she called us and said that she was totally confused with the selection of plants and wondered if some one could come out to her house and consult with her. Yes, there was a fee, but Kathy would be able to help her design her perennial bed.

Well, she was quite upset that after she spent over $40.00 on plants from our store we would charge her a consultation fee, even though she lived in Rockwall.

"Never mind,” she said. “I will call someone else.” .

Two days later, she called again. This time she said that she wanted to design a perennial bed and wondered if someone could go out and look at her garden.

Yes, I said. We do have a designer that could come over to her house. She charges $50.00 for a consultation.

Can you give me a better price? I am widowed and on social security, she said.

After talking to Kathy, I told her that Kathy would come out and only charge her $40.00.

After agreeing that the price was acceptable, Kathy went out on her appointment to the widow’s house. Her small house was located just a couple miles south of Chandler's Landing. It must have been rough for this widow, who was on social security, to live on a property that was more then an acre in size and barely had room for the five or six thousand square foot house. Kathy was glad to see that there was plenty of room in the driveway for the widow's housekeeper's car. When Kathy rang the doorbell she was greeted by the housekeeper, who told Kathy that the little widow was upstairs and would be down as soon as she got dressed.

Twenty minutes later the widow makes her appearance dressed to kill. Apparently she had a luncheon and was in a hurry to leave, so would Kathy be so kind as to place the plants she thought appropriate for the bed out there by the mailbox.

"Sure, but before you leave, would you mind paying me," Kathy asked.

"Oh, no. When I get back, I will look it over and if I like it I will send you a check", said the widow, dressed to the max.

Well, Kathy did not think that this was acceptable and told the lady so. After some back-and-forth negotiating the nice widow agreed to pay for the consultation. About 20 minutes had passed since she came down to meet with Kathy. Kathy went outside, placed the plants and left.

It has been over a year since this happened and we have not seen the widow since ... until today. When I saw her coming towards the door I started to run and lock it, but she faked me out and as I headed for he front door she went to the side door getting there before I could. Damn!

But, to my surprise she was pleasant, saying that she had spent the whole morning in her garden with her granddaughter. She enjoyed watching her daughter playing next to the garden that Kathy designed. She could not believe the amount of butterflies that were coming to this flowerbed. Did I think that Kathy would come out and help her? I explained to her that Kathy was not working that day. I explained to her that the consultation fee was $50.00 and I would have to ask her and get back with her.

Kathy did not want to go back unless she got $60.00, to make up for the underpayment on her first job. The now sweet widow agreed and told Kathy that she was even willing to pay for more. It seems she liked to bet on the horses and had come into a spell of good luck and was able to pay her more.

The ornamental plants that Kathy had sold the homeowner were also great for butterfly gardens. If you know you want a butterfly garden, remember that the only difference between it and a regular perennial garden lies in choosing the plants you know can attract butterflies as a food source or a habitat

Every butterfly garden should include three basic elements:

Water, plants for nectar and, plants to be used for food for the larvae.

Since a lot of people are switching over to perennials, butterflies are having an easier time finding nectar, but not everyone puts out a water source for these beautiful flying flowers.

Deep water does not attract butterflies. If you pay close attention you will see them using a shallow water source, such as wet sand or mud. The saucers that fit underneath clay pots make excellent shallow watering holes for butterflies when you add just a little bit sand. David Hurt, of Wild Birds Unlimited, has a flat rock with a shallow depression that he uses to provide water for his butterflies and birds at his house.

If you do not have plants that produce nectar you will have a tough time attracting butterflies. Flowers must be very fragrant flowers and have colors such as red, purple, orange, yellow and pink.

Some plants that are good for attracting butterflies that also nectar plants are:

Bee balm, black-eyed susan, bluebeard, coneflower, coreopsis, dogbane, goldenrod, ironweed, Joe-Pye weed, lantana, marigold, Mexican sunflower, milkweed, new England aster, phlox, pincushion flower, pink live forever, sweet William, thistles, verbena, white alyssum, zinnia, butterfly bush, fruit trees, lilac, privet, redbud, rose of Sharon, spicebush, spirea, sumacs.

Plant them in a sunny border area of your landscape.

Some plants that are good butterfly hosts are listed below:

Daisies, parsley, fennel, dill, rue, fennel, Queen Anne’s lace, Plum trees, passion flower vine and sorrel.

Although nectar-producing plants are necessary to attract adult butterflies, the ideal butterfly garden requires food plants and habitat for the larvae (caterpillars). The suggested plant material should be in an undisturbed area that is free of pesticides (in this case, we want the caterpillars to flourish!). Start with an unmowed area of the lawn that receives lots of sun. These meadow areas should only be mowed at the end of the butterfly season, October to November, to avoid harming the larvae. The larvae of each butterfly have a fairly strong preference when it comes to their diet. However, groups of plants that are desirable to a fairly wide range of butterfly larvae include willow, wild cherry, milkweeds, sweet bay, passion vine, legumes, crucifers, and asters. Many of the wildflowers that perform well in the southeast provide excellent nectar and larvae food.