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March 5: Spring's Almost Here!
March 12: Check Research-based, Non-biased Information First
March 19: Survey Your Yard
March 26: Time to Prune Landscape Plants
March 5: Spring's Almost Here!
I can tell spring's almost here because the pussy willows and the silver maples are beginning to bloom. It's hard to believe that spring's only 15 days away - but I'm lovin' it.The pussy willow's Latin name is Salix discolor and it can be found throughout North America, primarily near water in lakes, streams and ponds. It's a large shrub and quickly can grow to about 20 feet tall. They like full sun, but they also can grow and flower in shade.
Prior to blooming, they have shiny, smooth, brown bud scales which cover the leaf and flower buds. They flower about now with gray-silver furry catkins. The catkins are long thin strands of many flowers.
After a few days of flowering, the yellow pollen emerges as the entire bloom turns a yellowish color. By walking by and touching the plant, you can produce a fluffy yellow cloud of pollen.
If the pollen is present on a warm sunny day, honeybees will gather this first source of pollen. This pollen usually doesn't end up in honey, although some might. The pollen is used to feed the young bees and to increase their numbers. The increase in numbers is important for the hive to produce honey.
The plant tolerates about any soil, but but it prefers somewhat moist soil. It's also a quick grower. Be sure to give it space.
Regular pruning is a must, unless you want a wild and crazy plant. It easily can grow two to three feet in one year. For best results, prune after it finishes blooming in early spring.
There's a cultivar of pussy willow called "Rosea" that has pale pink flowers. There's also a weeping form of pussy willow.
According to a Polish legend, one early spring day, a mother cat and her kittens were exploring the forest along the river near their home. A butterfly drifted past them and over the water. The kittens, being young and inexperienced, leaped into the air to try to catch the butterfly, but instead landed in the swiftly moving water.
The mother cat cried while her young kittens struggled with the current. The mother cat was afraid the kittens soon would drown.
Along the bank of the river there grew a wise willow with graceful branches that bent all the way to the water. The willow saw the kittens floating nearby and bent all the way into the water.
Each kitten grabbed the branch and was pulled to shore by the willow. To this day, the willow is honored for its heroic deeds by the tiny fur-like buds that sprout each season as the rivers start to run each spring. Willow also contains salicylic acid, an aspirin-like compound. Native Americans used willow as a medicine, as we today use aspirin.
The compound is found in the bark and aspirin originally was synthesized from salicylic acid. Studies also have identified several other components of willow bark with antioxidant, fever-reducing, antiseptic and immune-boosting effects.
Willows, in general, aren't the best landscape plants due to their "messy" nature. The branches break rather easily and the landscape always needs to be cleaned. They also are susceptible to several insects and diseases. As easy as they are to grow, if one dies, you can replace it. They are cool plants to have in the landscape.
March 12: Check Research-based, Non-biased Information First
At a recent meeting, someone said that they heard if you now sprayed for gypsy moth, you could prevent them from damaging your trees. Knowing this isn't true, I asked where they got the information.It turns out that a salesperson had called, wanting to treat their trees to prevent gypsy moth infestations - at a cost of about $300 per tree. This gave me a great column idea: With all of the horticulture/gardening information available, how do you know what's right and what to believe? This is where Ohio State University Extension comes in. Our responsibility is to provide consumers with research-based, non-biased information.
We have access to this type of information due to our close connection to Ohio State University. We take what researchers discover, learn it, and teach it in our community.
In Ohio counties, there are Extension educators (such as me) who are responsible for teaching and sharing research information.
In Clark County, we have several educators who have different specialization areas. Mike Haubner is responsible for agriculture issues, Carol Miller for family and consumer science issues, and Patty House, 4-H youth development issues.
With the gypsy moth example, I provided the person with the correct information - saving them $900.
My job, however, is not to make the decision for the client, but to provide them with sound, science-based information. In the moth case, I told the gentleman that he can spray for the gypsy moth, but now's not the time to do it.
Gypsy moths are best controlled with the larvae first hatch, which generally is around mid-April in Clark County. If you do decide to spray, target your applications for that time.
The man also said he's never had gypsy moths, but he had heard that they're coming and was told he could prevent them.
It's true they're slowly moving into our area and there are areas of infestation here. He lived, however, in an area where none had been trapped by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and it's unlikely he would have large populations this year.
I told him what to look for and to be observant. I said that when he spotted them, make the decision on whether or not to spray or call and ask questions.
The gypsy moth example is not the only one. With the emerald ash borer (EAB) making a stir in Michigan and now in Ohio, many people are offering to cut down your ash trees now (rather than waiting until they die from this insect).
People also are offering to treat your trees to prevent this pest. While you can treat with pesticides and keep your tree from getting infested, the reality at this time in Ohio is that if any other ash tree within a one-half mile radius of your tree is found to have EAB, all trees in this area will be removed.
Treating the tree is costly and it's a decision that you should make after you're informed - not on the spur of the moment or because someone says they can do it cheaply.
If someone approaches you with those lines, call our Clark County office at 328-4607 or your county's Extension office to ask questions.
In our information society, we easily can get information on just about anything. As consumers, we have to decide on the information's quality and validity. Extension can help you make informed decisions.
March 19: Survey Your Yard
As lawns begin to green, itıs the perfect time to survey your yard to determine if anything needs to be done this spring to get it back into shape.In the spring, problem areas stick out like a sore thumb. Wild onions, for example, will be noticeable in the lawn, especially since we havenıt cut the grass.
Wild onions are difficult to control because few herbicides work on them. Also, their foliage is protected by a waxy coating that prevents herbicides from being absorbed.
Pulling wild onions out sometimes is an option. Make sure you yank the entire onion < not just its top. I find that using a pitchfork helps to loosen the soil around the clump of onions, making it easier to pull the entire plant, root and all.
Round-up (i.e. glysophate) will help control wild onions, but it wonıt distinguish between the grass and the onion plant. Any turf that comes in contact with it will be killed.
To successfully control wild onions by using chemical control, you have to break that waxy coating down for the herbicide to be absorbed. Donıt, however, completely destroy the foliage because it has to be around to absorb the chemical.
I find that dragging a leaf rake across the foilage works. Also, I've discovered that it's not a one time application. It sometimes takes two to three herbicide applications to the same clump of onions.
The best prevention for having wild onions in the lawn is to have a thick stand of turf that wonıt allow them to become established.
Don't apply your crabgrass pre-emergent herbicides now. Itıs too early for our area. The recommended application time is just before April 15 (which is about the time crabgrass germinates).
You now can see nimblewill in bluegrass or ryegrass lawns. The wiry, brown grass creeps through the lawn, slowly taking over.
Donıt confuse this with zoysiagrass because it takes longer than Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass to green up. You should learn the differences betweennimblewill and zoysiagrass.
Nimblewill is more of a brownish gray color, while zoysia is a yellowish, straw-like color. Nimblewill is coarse, but has more of a wiry tendency than zoysia. Zoysia usually is intentionally plantedm while nimblewill creeps in.
To eliminate nimblewill, you have to wait until itıs completely greened up (normally sometime in May). Spray it with glyophosate (i.e. Round-up). Now's the time to mark the areas of nimblewill, however. This allows you to know what it is when it's time to spray.
Mark an area at least 12 inches outside of the brown nimblewill area. This will ensure that you get all of it.
If you donıt have a lot of nimblewill, you can dig the area up but make sure you get the entire root system.
After you've eliminated the nimblewill, keep your lawn thick to prevent re-infestation.
Look at your lawn to see if you have any areas that died last fall from drought or insect problems. Those areas can be reseeded now.
Remember that if you reseed this spring, you can't use pre-emergent herbicides for crabgrass because it would prevent new grass from germinating.
If you're not going to use a crabgrass control, itıs time apply the first fertilizer application.
It's not time to apply broadleaf weed control. Thsse products are most effective in late spring (May).
Before long, we'll be cutting grass. Make sure you have a healthy stand of grass to cut.
March 26: Time to Prune Landscape Plants
Because the weather seems to be moving toward the calendarıs spring side, itıs time to prune landscape plants.Before the leaves emerge is a great time to take a close structural look at your plants. You can see which branches should be removed easier than when thereıs a full leaf canopy.
People tend to get worried when they think about pruning. Most are anxious that they might indeed "ruin" the plant. Take heart, itıs not easy to ruin a plant unless, of course, you take a chainsaw to its base.
Pruning is easier if you know some of the basics and here they are:
The first step is to remove broken, dead, diseased or dying branches, which are useless to the plant, continue to decay and eventually fall off (sometimes at an inopportune time).
The next step is to take a look at crossing or rubbing branches. As the branches expand, they grow into each other, causing future problems. Determine which branch fits more into the plantıs desired shape and remove the other.
Do not leave stubs when pruning trees. Make clean cuts at the place called the branch bark collar or branch bark ring. Look closely at the treeıs branch and youıll see a ring around it.
The ring is considered the best place to make your cut. Do not cut flush to the treeıs trunk because it would leave a bigger wound. The smaller the wound, the quicker the healing.
If youıre working on fruit trees, try to open up the plantıs center to allow sunlight to penetrate. The sunlight will lead to larger fruit size.
If youıre working on roses, the above concept also applies. Open up the plantıs center to allow for good air circulation and sunlight penetration. If you want to renovate overgrown shrubs, such as forsythia, viburnum and flowering almond or cherry, cut them back to just above ground level. These plants recover quickly so that by midsummer, youıll have a decent-looking shrub.
This technique should be completed before the plant begins to leaf out. That way, all of the energy is in the root system and it will be spent on new growth. If you cut it back after it leafs out, itıll take longer to recover, and some plants may not recover.
Itıs not necessary to cover pruning cuts with pruning paint (or any type of coating) to protect them. Research reveals they seal over just as quickly without the extra help.
Cutting maples now wonıt cause them to bleed to death. Theyıll seep some, but it doesnıt harm the tree.
There are many pruning resources on the internet. One of the best resources can be found at the International Society of Arboriculture Web site: www.treesaregood.com
Resources on trees and how to hire a professional arborist can be found, too.
If you canıt keep your feet on the ground when pruning, you should hire a professional. Iıve heard too many horror stories about untrained people up in trees with chainsaws.
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March 2005
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