VCE Articles - Fluvanna Master Gardeners

Mar 24 2008

Blueberries

24 March 2008

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Charlottesville/Albemarle County Office
460 Stagecoach Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
phone: 434.872.4580 fax: 434.872.4578

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many home gardeners in Virginia have been successful with highbush blueberry plantings. Although they may be grown in any area where native blueberries, azaleas, mountain laurel, or rhododendrons do well, they have a better flavor when grown where nights are cool during the ripening season. They are very exacting in soil and moisture requirements, but require little protection from insect and disease pests.

A picture of blueberries.

To provide adequate cross-pollination and to increase chances for a good crop of fruit, two or more varieties of blueberries should be planted. Blueberries should be planted where they have full sunlight most of the day and are far enough from the roots of trees to avoid competition for moisture and nutrients. They are shallow-rooted plants and must either be irrigated, heavily mulched, or planted in a soil with a high water table. Adequate drainage must be provided, however, because they cannot tolerate saturated soils.

They grow best in porous, moist, sandy soils high in organic matter with a pH range of 4.2 to 5.5. Have the soil tested, and if it is not acid enough for blueberries, work such materials as peat moss, oak leaves, pine needles, or sulfur into the area where the plants are to be set. This should be done six months to a year before planting. To acidify sandy soils, sulfur is recommended at the rate of 3/4 pound per 100 square feet for each full point the soil tests above pH 4.5. On heavier soils use 1 1/2 to 2 pounds. Once proper acidity is established, it can be maintained through the annual use of an acid fertilizer, such as ammonium sulfate or cottonseed meal.

Vigorous, 2-year-old plants about 15 inches high are recommended for planting. Set in early spring about three or four weeks before the average date of the last frost. Blueberries are usually planted every 4 feet in rows 6 feet apart.

Give the roots plenty of room. Where the plants are to be set, dig the holes wider than and as deep as necessary to accommodate the root systems. It is not necessary to incorporate organic matter or other soil amendments into the backfill soil. Trim off diseased and damaged portions of the top and roots, and set the plants at the same depth that they grew in the nursery. Spread the roots out, and carefully firm the soil over them. Water the plants thoroughly after planting.

Mulching is the preferred soil management practice in a blueberry planting. The entire area around and between the plants should be mulched. Hardwood or softwood bark applied to a depth of 3 or 5 inches is recommended. Renewed annually, this heavy mulch retains moisture, keeps the soil cool, and adds needed organic matter.

No fertilizer should be applied at planting time, and usually none is needed during the first growing season. On weak soils, however, the application of 2 ounces of ammonium sulfate around each plant about the first of June is beneficial.

Ammonium sulfate, at the rate of 2 ounces per plant, should be spread in a circle around each plant about 6 to 8 inches from its base just before the buds begin to swell the second spring. Increase the amount each succeeding spring by 1 ounce until each mature bush is receiving a total of 8 ounces annually. Cottonseed meal has proven to be an excellent fertilizer for blueberries and is used by many home gardeners. It supplies the needed nutrients and helps maintain an acid soil. Use it at the rate of 1/2 pound per plant. The rate should be doubled when the plants come into bearing.

Until the end of the third growing season, pruning consists mainly of the removal of low spreading canes and dead and broken branches. As the bushes come into bearing, regular annual pruning will be necessary. This may be done any time from leaf fall until growth begins in the spring. Select six to eight of the most vigorous, upright growing canes for fruiting wood and remove all others.

After about five or six years, the canes begin to lose vigor and fruit production is reduced. At the dormant pruning, remove the older canes of declining vigor and replace with strong, vigorous new shoots that grew from the base of the bush the previous season. Keep the number of fruiting canes to six or eight, and remove the rest. Head back excessive terminal growth to a convenient berry-picking height.

Birds are by far the greatest pests in a blueberry planting. Covering the bushes with wire cages, plastic netting, or tobacco cloth is perhaps the best method of control. Aluminum pie tins have been used successfully. They are suspended by a string or wire above the bushes in such a manner that they twist and turn in the breeze and keep the birds away.

Some varieties of blueberries will bear the second year after planting. Full production is reached in about six years with a yield of 4 to 6 quarts per plant, depending on vigor and the amount of pruning.

Blueberries hang on the bushes well and are not as perishable as blackberries or raspberries. Picking is usually necessary only once every five to seven days. Blueberries will keep for several weeks in cold storage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information about this and other landscape topics contact your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office. The local Virginia Cooperative Extension office numbers are Albemarle 872-4580, Fluvanna 591-1950, Greene 985-5236, Louisa 540-967-3422, and Nelson 263-4035.

Mar 17 2008

Crabgrass 2008

17 March 2008

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Charlottesville/Albemarle County Office
460 Stagecoach Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
phone: 434.872.4580 fax: 434.872.4578

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crabgrass seed lies in the soil, waiting for the right temperature and moisture to emerge in lawns for another season. Crabgrass continues to be the number one pest in lawns worldwide. No matter how much effort you have taken in previous years to control crabgrass, our soils remain a veritable seed bank of crabgrass from years past. This warm-season summer annual grass germinates from seed prior to the first significant growth period of our lawn grasses. As annual plants are genetically programmed to do since they live such a short time, they grow like mad under optimal temperature conditions. Hence, a warm-season crabgrass plant has an inherent competitive advantage against cool-season lawn grasses (fescues, bluegrasses, and ryegrasses) and can even slug it out with perennial warm-season grasses (things like bermudagrass and zoysiagrass) because it gets a jump on them in early spring growth.

A picture of crabgrass.

Use your turf to maximize crabgrass control

Crabgrass requires sunlight to germinate, a requirement that we can use to our advantage. The lawn itself controls far more weeds than any chemical you will ever apply because the most weed control is gained by maintaining a dense turf canopy. If you were fortunate enough to survive the drought of 2007 with a reasonably dense lawn, spring weed pressure will be minimal. You still might want to use a standard preemergent (PRE) herbicide (a product that controls germinating plant seedlings), but it is unlikely your lawn will be swamped with weeds. If your turf stand is very sparse, then it is almost guaranteed that you will have significant weed pressure. So there is now a decision to be madedo you apply a PRE herbicide to control weeds OR do you apply new grass seed to fill in the gaps. For standard PRE herbicides available to most homeowners, there is no selectivity in control between weed or grass seed. So if the lawn is really thin, you will likely be better served to plan on a spring seeding over the next few weeks. You can still expect crabgrass pressure as the new grasses try to establish, but since the best weed control comes from the grass in your lawn and not the chemicals applied, this is likely the best approach. For those of you working with a professional lawn care operator, there are PRE options (chemical names of siduron and quinclorac) available to them that can be applied at spring seeding of cool-season grasses (not warm-season). This is another of the advantages available to homeowners when working with trained professionals.

What PRE herbicides are readily available to homeowners?

There are many trade names of products on the market, so while it takes a little extra effort to look for the complicated common chemical names, it is the safest way to identify the product you are looking for. The following chemicals can most often be found at stores that deal with specialty products for lawns and landscapes, and at least a few of them will likely be available at your big-box retailers. Look for these chemical names under the Active Ingredient label of the prospective product: benefin, benefin + trifluralin, dithiopyr, pendimethalin, and prodiamine.

There is also an organic weed control product on the market as well: corn gluten meal (CGM). CGM works by releasing a protein that slows development of weed seedling roots leaving seedlings vulnerable to drought. In periods of extended rainfall CGM will fail to control weeds and its length of activity is very short-lived (a few weeks) as compared to standard synthetic chemistry which may last 120 days. If you are trying to establish turfgrass seedlings, CGM can harm them similar to synthetic chemistries, so consider if seeding is desired. CGM works best in northern climates and in lawns that have good turf density. Labeled rates of CGM treatments will deliver approximately 1 pound of water insoluble nitrogen per 1000 sq ft, making CGM another offering in the group of products known as weed and feed materials. For noticeable effects on crabgrass populations, 2 to 3 applications are needed in Virginia. Thus, 2 to 3 pounds of nitrogen is added to the turf in the spring. In the north, this added fertility tends to increase turfgrass competitiveness with crabgrass and reduce crabgrass infestation. In southern areas like Virginia, this added fertility in the spring can be injurious to tall fescue and lead to decline in turf during the stressful summer months. This decline in turf due to over fertility from CGM will leave openings in the turfgrass canopy and might actually promote weed infestation. For the Virginia do-it-yourselfer interested in CGM, we suggest you use CGM only once in early spring and add a half rate of synthetic preemergence crabgrass herbicide. Be sure that the herbicide does not contain any fertilizer. In so doing, you can rest assured that you have reduced your use of synthetic pesticides by using the half rate and reduced excessive nitrogen by using only one treatment of CGM.

Timing of PRE applications?

A valuable visual tool in the landscape that typically allows us to optimize the timing of PRE herbicides for homeowners is forsythia. Its blooming can never be taken as an absolute signal of pending crabgrass emergence but it works in most years and research has found that the time when forsythia starts to drop its blooms is when PRE herbicides need to be in place in order to maximize crabgrass control. Do not be alarmed if your lawn care operator has applied earlier because due to sheer numbers of lawns to treat, there is no way they could make all the applications to their customers according to forsythia bloom. The PRE herbicides they are using have soil activity for 6-8 weeks that will address a broad window of crabgrass germination potential and it is better to be extra early rather than late when applying preemergence herbicides for crabgrass control.

Post-treatment considerations?

One thing required for all PRE herbicide applications is to water the product into the soil with either a suitable rainfall or irrigation event. The only way the product works is if it gets into the top of the soil profile to form a chemical barrier that germinating seedlings penetrate. Appropriate moisture is critical to optimize herbicide efficacy. And remember to keep all products on the turf and off hardscapes. This is the easiest way to protect our water resources.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mar 10 2008

March Landscape Activities

10 March 2008

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Charlottesville/Albemarle County Office
460 Stagecoach Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
phone: 434.872.4580 fax: 434.872.4578

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is almost spring. What do you want to get done in your landscape?

A Carolina Rhododendron.

Pruning?

When pruning or cutting roses, cut all flower stems 1/4 inch above a complete (5 leaflet) leaf, leaving two complete leaves below the cut bud. Always use sharp, pruning shears and cut on a slant.

After pussy willow catkins have passed their prime, prune the plants drastically to encourage long branches and large catkins for next year.

Hedges can receive their first pruning this month. As you prune, be sure to leave the base of the plant wider than the top. This allows sunlight to get to the bottom of the plant, creating a full, dense hedge.

Be sure to employ properly trained tree trimmers. Pruning is not a particularly difficult job. However, it does require an understanding of the growth habit of the plants and the form needed to secure the desired landscape effect.

Do not leave stubs when pruning. Stubs usually die and are entry points for disease. Cut just outside the branch collar, the slightly thickened area at the base of the branch. Pruning should never be done in damp or wet weather when the fungal spores and bacteria that infect plants through fresh wounds spread easily.

Trees that bleed, such as birch and maple, should not be pruned until after their leaves are fully developed.

Once new growth begins on trees and shrubs, cut back winterkilled twigs to living, green wood.

For more compact pyracanthas without the risk of losing berries, pinch back new growth now.

Prune evergreen shrubs before growth starts. Prune spring-flowering shrubs after flowering is completed.

Boxwood should be pruned by thinning the outer foliage of the plant and cutting back the branches to retain desired height.

If you are not sure when to prune a particular plant, ask us for a pruning calendar.

Transplanting?

Plant new rose bushes in properly dug beds. Fertilize established roses after pruning. It is wise to have your soil tested about every two years. If black spot or powdery mildew has been a problem, start applications of a recommended fungicide. Contact your local Extension agent for current recommendations.

When transplanting dogwoods, it is best that the trees be small (2 to 3 feet tall) and dormant. These do better than larger ones. The larger the tree, the greater the risk of death due to transplant shock since more roots are removed during digging. Dogwoods and magnolias should only be moved in early spring. Always move magnolias with a ball of dirt.

Research has shown that young trees allowed to move with the wind develop greater trunk strength than trees rigidly staked.

Plant roses and bare-root shrubs while they are still dormant, about four weeks before the average date of the last frost. This is around May 1 in central Virginia but you might wait until Mothers Day to be sure.

When transplanting a young shade tree, it may help to orient the tree in its new location the same way it was in its old home. This will prevent previously shaded bark from suddenly being exposed to afternoon sun and causing injury. When not possible or desirable, or if the original orientation is unknown, wrap the trunk in biodegradable tree tape or coat the sunny sides with white, exterior, latex paint for one growing season.

Synthetic materials enclosing the roots of trees and shrubs must be completely removed to ensure success of the transplants. If you purchase balled and burlapped plants, to be on the safe side, remove the material covering the soil. If the tree is very heavy, peel the burlap down to the bottom of the hole if you cannot remove it completely.

If you are buying bare-root trees, look for ones with a large root system in relation to the top growth. It is not necessary to purchase a very, large tree to get a quality plant.

If you are planning to plant a rhododendron, consider the planting space. A good rule of thumb for planting rhododendrons is to put them in an area that is slightly shaded and protected from wind. Also, the smaller the leaf (i.e., R. carolinianum, R. laetivirens), the more tolerant it is of winter sunlight. Large-leaf rhododendrons, such as R. catawbiense or R. maximum, have more winter injury when planted in bright locations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mar 03 2008

Planting Trees and Shrubs

3 March 2008

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Charlottesville/Albemarle County Office
460 Stagecoach Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
phone: 434.872.4580 fax: 434.872.4578

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Itching to get out and plant something? By following some basic planting guidelines you can save yourself and your plants some trouble down the road. The cornerstones of successful tree or shrub planting are plant and site selection, site preparation, plant preparation, and care after planting. Begin by selecting trees and shrubs that are well adapted to conditions of individual planting sites. Poorly sited plants are doomed from the start, no matter how carefully they are planted.

Children gardening.

Test your soil drainage before planting. Dig a test hole as deep as your planting hole and fill with water. If water drains at a rate of less than one inch per hour, consider installing drainage to carry water away from the planting hole base, or moving or raising the planting site. Also consider using more water-tolerant species. For trees, try red maple, sycamore, bald cypress, willow oak, or river birch. For shrubs, try inkberry, redtwig dogwood, and buttonbush. Avoid other dogwood species, azaleas, boxwoods, Japanese hollies, and other plants that don't like "wet feet" where drainage is poor.

Examine soil for compaction before planting. If soils are compacted, consider replacement with a good loam soil, or incorporation of several inches of an organic material such as composted yard waste to a depth of at least 8 inches over the entire planting area. Do not incorporate small quantities of sand because compaction will increase and drainage will decrease.

Dig shallow planting holes two to three times as wide as the root ball. Wide, shallow holes encourage horizontal root growth that trees and shrubs naturally produce. In well-drained soil, dig holes as deep as the root ball. In poorly drained heavy clay soil, dig holes one to two inches shallower than the root ball. Cover the exposed root ball top with mulch.

Do not dig holes deeper than root balls or put loose soil beneath roots balls because loose soil will compact over time, leaving trees and shrubs planted too deep. Widen holes near the soil surface where most root growth occurs. Score walls of machine-dug (auger, backhoe) holes to prevent glazing.

Backfill holes with existing unamended soil. Do not incorporate organic matter such as peat moss into backfill for individual planting holes. Differences in soil pore sizes will be created causing problems with water movement and root growth between the root ball, planting hole, and surrounding soil. Backfill half the soil and then water thoroughly to settle out air pockets. Finish backfilling and then water again. Cover any exposed root ball tops with mulch.

Closely inspect the wrapping around root balls of B&B (balled and burlapped) trees and shrubs. Growers use many synthetic materials, as well as burlap treated to retard degradation, to wrap root balls. Many of these materials will not degrade. To insure root growth into surrounding soil, remove pinning nails or rope lacing, then cut away or drop the wrapping material to the bottom of the planting hole, backfilling over it.

Wire baskets used to protect root balls degrade very slowly underground. Remove at least the top 8-12 inches of wire to keep equipment from getting caught in wire loops, and surface roots from girdling. Remove all rope, whether jute or nylon, from trunks. Again, degradation is slow or nonexistent, and ropes can girdle trunks and roots.

If roots are circling around the root ball exterior, cut through the roots in a few places. Cutting helps prevent circling roots from eventually girdling the trunk. Select trees grown in containers with vertical ribs or a copper-treatment on the interior container wall. These container modifications and treatments minimize circling root formation.

Remove tags and labels from trees and shrubs to prevent girdling branches and trunks. Good follow-up watering helps promote root growth. Drip irrigation systems and water reservoir devices can facilitate watering.

Mulch, but do not over mulch newly planted trees and shrubs. Two to three inches of mulch is best. Use less if you are using a fine material, more if the material is coarse. Use either organic mulches (shredded or chunk pine bark, pine straw, composts) or inorganic mulches (volcanic and river rocks). Keep mulch from touching tree trunks and shrub stems. This prevents disease and rodent problems if using organic mulches, and bark abrasion if using inorganic mulches.

Only stake trees with large crowns, or those situated on windy sites or where people may push them over. Stake for a maximum of one year. Allow trees a slight amount of flex rather than holding them rigidly in place. Use guying or attaching material that will not damage the bark. To prevent trunk girdling, remove all guying material after one year.

Most trees should not have their trunks wrapped. Wrapping often increases insect, disease, and water damage to trunks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feb 25 2008

Garden For Pleasure

25 February 2008

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Charlottesville/Albemarle County Office
460 Stagecoach Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
phone: 434.872.4580 fax: 434.872.4578

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is Pleasure Day so how are you celebrating? Are you out in the garden with your kids planning your spring landscape renovation and pruning your butterfly bushes? Maybe you are not waiting for spring and putting fresh pansies in the ground to brighten up your garden or maybe you have postponed all of this to go to a hockey tournament or a basketball game.

Children gardening.

Today's hectic lifestyles leave families little time to spend together; however, gardening offers a perfect opportunity for a family to share and learn together. Many activities are suitable for family time in the garden, such as:

Plant a tree to celebrate a birth. A tree's growth is much like a child's. It starts small and young, as a seedling. It needs nourishment and watering. Like a young child, a tree goes through growth spurts, passing through juvenility and entering maturity. In maturity, it is able to share with others its fine attributes, such as shade to cool and add comfort to a yard or home, leaves to help make soil-building compost, and sturdy branches from which young children can swing.
Your child can see his or her own growth reflected in the growth of the tree and can appreciate the length of time it takes for a tree to grow to maturity. The love of trees your child gains now will carry on through adulthood.
Learn the names of plants. Spending time in the garden to learn about plants can be fun for parents and children both. In addition to learning about food crops and beautiful flowers, this time is a perfect opportunity to learn which plants or plant parts can be potentially poisonous and how to enjoy the plants safely.
Plant a vegetable garden. The rewards of a vegetable garden are as exciting to adults as they are to children, giving both a sense of accomplishment. Sharing the joy and excitement or even the disappointment and failure of a vegetable garden strengthens family ties.
Make crafts from garden harvests. Projects, such as making bird houses from gourds grown in the family garden or arranging dried flowers, offer times of sharing for family members.
Share gifts of the garden. Giving gifts of handmade crafts and treasures from the garden is extremely satisfying, and I have never met anyone who was not delighted in receiving such gifts. Even fresh produce, such as tomatoes, squash, and green beans, make terrific gifts for people who do not have a garden. Offering these gifts gives adults and children alike an opportunity to show they care about others.

The garden is a fertile ground of opportunities for families to grow together and learn more about each other while tending the garden. It offers the opportunity for adults and children to share ideas -- to talk and, most importantly, to listen to each other and, by working together, to communicate the many messages that must be said without words. Gardening develops self-esteem, a sense of nurturing, and the quality of generosity. The garden is a wonderful family room!

Start now to involve your child in the planning of your spring garden. There are many books for children to educate and excite them about gardening. Seed catalogs can be a source of fascination and are perfect for craft projects after the plants have been ordered.

If you wish you had someone to team up with try contacting your local 4-H club to see if they have plans for gardening projects this spring. Maybe you can help get one started. Each county Extension office has a 4-H Extension Agent who helps these sorts of clubs get organized with the help of local adult leaders. We are always looking for new leaders and for more kids to participate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~