Spring Features

Gabby Gardeners

BUYING SHRUBS – IS BIGGER BETTER
Dear Rebecca,
My husband and I are moving into a new home soon. We’ll be doing all the landscaping. As we’ve been shopping for shrubs we notice the same plant in three different sizes. Is one size better than the others? Carol Summers
Brookfi eld, Wisconsin

REBECCA SAYS
No, the biggest difference in the containers will be the price. Obviously the bigger plants will be most expensive. If you absolutely need that bigger look now, go for the bigger container. But do remember within about three to four years they all will be the same size. So if you can wait, and you’re on a budget, smaller pots are your ticket. It’s important to space smaller plants according to directions. They might look sparse spread out but planting them properly now will save you the headache of digging them out down the road.

MOLES IN OUR LAWN
Dear Rebecca, How can we get rid of moles in our lawn? We have kids and pets and refuse to use any toxic treatment. Is there anything organic that will work? Evan Walberg
Houston, Texas

REBECCA SAYS
Where there are moles, typically there are grubs. Grubs feed on the roots of grass; moles feed on the grubs, both of which can kill your lawn. The key is to tackle the grub issue, which should take care of the moles, but will also prevent the grubs from turning into Japanese Beetles. I’ve had both and found “Milky Spore” to be quite effective. Milky spore is the common name for spores of the bacterium Bacillus popillae. It doesn’t work all in one season, but when used two to three seasons it can be very effective.
As the grubs ingest the spores, they become infected and die, each releasing one to two billion spores back into the soil. Milky spore disease can suppress the development of large beetle populations. Since each adult female will lay between 40 and 60 eggs in your lawn before she dies, you can see how fast the population of grubs in your lawn can grow.

DAYLILIES NOT BLOOMING?
Dear Rebecca,
Our daylilies used to bloom nicely, but last season many of them didn’t bloom at all. What happened?
Lisa and Tom Higgins
Minneapolis, Minnesota

REBECCA SAYS
It sounds like your lilies are feeling a bit overcrowded. Once established, daylilies need dividing every few years. When kept in close quarters too long, their dense fi brous roots form masses and fl ower production tends to slow down or even stop. You need to dig them up and divide them. Typically they prefer being divided after they have bloomed in late summer, but daylilies are tough plants and will endure a division in early spring. To divide them this spring,insert a pitchfork deep into the soil around the entire rootball. This will help loosen the soil allowing the roots to be pulled up easier. Continue around the plant until you can pull it up. Then using a sharp spade, cut through the clump to make new divisions. Replant the divisions by digging a hole 18-inches deep and wider than the roots. Create a small mound at the base of the hole. Place the crown on top of the mound and cover with soil that has been mixed with compost and manure. (The crown should end up about one and a half inches below the soil surface.) Each plant should be spaced about two feet apart.

PURPLE LILACS TURNED WHITE
Dear Rebecca,
My 20-year-old lilac bushes bloom profusely each spring with purple fl owers, but last year all the fl owers were white. Why? We pruned heavily last year, which is the only thing I did differently from past years. Tim Jones
Edina, Minnesota

REBECCA SAYS
You probably pruned past the bud graft union on the plant and the lilac reverted back to its parentage or native state. To get purple fl owered lilacs back, you’ll have to plant a new shrub.

MOVING SPRING BULBS
Dear Rebecca,
I’ll be moving within the next few weeks and want to take my tulips and hyacinths with me to replant at my new home. They have already started to come up (just the green tips of the leaves). Can I uproot them or will it damage the bulbs? I want to take these bulbs for sentimental reasons and don’t want to run the risk of damage by uprooting them improperly. Can you give me some advice in this regard?
Betty Miller
Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania

REBECCA SAYS
You can transplant them while they are growing or blooming if you do it carefully. Prepare the new planting area ahead of time; dig out the area and amend the soil. Water your bulbs the day before you plan to move them. When you dig them up keep as much of the surrounding soil as possible intact so that you have not only the bulb itself, but also the root system around and beneath it. Replant immediately into the prepared hole and water them. If you have taken enough of the root ball, they won’t even know they’ve been moved.

PRUNING PAINT – A GOOD THING?
Dear Rebecca,
We hope to get some pruning done this year. When I was a kid, my father always painted the trees he cut with white paint. Is this necessary? Can I use any kind of paint?
Bob Jenkins
Salt Lake City, Utah

REBECCA SAYS
Your dad, my dad, and many others did the same thing years ago because it was believed that paint helped seal the wound preventing insect damage and disease. Times have changed however. Research shows that painting a wound does not prevent decay. In fact in some cases the painting actually created a breeding ground for decay. Trees have the amazing ability to seal their wounds. So if you plan on pruning this season, do it right and the tree will heal itself.

SUMMER BULBS TIP
Dear Rebecca,
Hey Rebecca, here’s a great tip my father-in-law taught me. Plant summer bulbs into two-gallon plastic containers instead of directly into the soil and plant the bucket right in the garden. Cover the base with mulch to conceal the top lip of the container. Then when it’s time to dig up your bulbs, they are already selfcontained and can be placed, bucket, soil, and all right in the garage throughout the winter.
Denice Lacher
Anoka, Minnesota

REBECCA SAYS
Thanks, Denice, what a great idea! I’ll definitely put this one to the test especially since I damaged many of my bulbs last year as I dug them up.

FRUIT TREES DIDN’T PRODUCE
Dear Rebecca,
Last year our fruit trees hardly produced any fruit. The trees are fairly young and I worry they might all have the same problem.
Beth Stanton
Salt Lake City, Utah

REBECCA SAYS
Without knowing more information, I would venture to guess that your trees suffered from “Bud Blast.” Bud blast occurs when areas get a late frost cold enough to kill the newly set buds. There is nothing you can do to prevent bud blast. It’s all in Mother Nature’s hands.

Lettuce varieties can be loosely categorized into four groups: crisphead, butterhead, leaf, and romaine. Each group has its own growth and taste characteristics. Crisphead lettuce is the most familiar of the four. You probably know it as “iceberg lettuce.” It is a head lettuce, which takes a long time to grow and doesn’t like the heat. If it gets too hot it will bolt, sending up a flower stalk under hot summer conditions. It is the most difficult to grow in the home garden.

The butterhead types have smaller, softer heads of loosely folded leaves. The outer leaves may be green or brownish with cream or butter-colored inner leaves. There are several cultivars available – find one specific to your climate. Leaf lettuce doesn’t form a head. The leaves are loose and vary in color, form, texture, and taste. Leaf lettuce matures quickly and is the easiest to grow. Romaine lettuces form upright, cylindrical heads of tightly folded leaves. The plants may reach up to ten inches in height. The outer leaves are medium green with greenish-white inner leaves. Romaine is sweeter than the other types of lettuce.

• Cool, moist conditions (temperature 45-65 degrees)
• Enriched, well-drained soil (ph 6.0-6.5)
• Sun/part sun
• Organic plant food
• Organic mulch
• Thorough watering

Leaf lettuce will grow anywhere; in a window box, hanging basket, a pot, or more traditionally - right in the garden. If you’re planting lettuce in containers, boxes, or baskets dump out the old soil and start with a good organic potting soil. If you’re planting directly into the garden, enrich the soil with peat moss, manure, and compost. Mix it well and remove clods. Lettuce seed can be planted about four to six weeks before last frost. Once overnight lows remain in the 40’s with daytime highs in the 60’s you can plant seeds directly into the soil (seeds can also be started indoors and moved to the garden once warm enough). Lettuce seed is very small and needs lots of water to germinate and grow. Start by watering the soil deeply the day before planting the seed. Then sprinkle or sow seeds as directed on top of the soil and gently press them into the soil. Cover seed with a thin layer (no more than one-quarter inch) of soil. Keep the seed bed moist until the seed germinates. Once the lettuce is up and growing, continue irrigating regularly. For successive crops, sow more seeds every couple of weeks. Lettuce doesn’t do well and can taste bitter once summer sets in; so plant a second crop in late summer for fall harvest. Leave 18 inches between rows for leaf lettuce and 24 inches for other types.

Baby greens should be harvested promptly and often for maximum flavor and texture. If you wait too long the heat will turn the leafy greens bitter and tough. Typically it takes about 35-60 days for greens to be ready for harvest. The leaves should be about three inches tall. Cut off the top two to three inches of growth with a scissors, leaving one inch. Remove outer leaves first so center leaves can continue to grow.
Butterhead or romaine types can be harvested by digging up the whole plant or cutting it one inch above the soil. Crisphead lettuce is picked when the center is firm. Mesclun is the Provençal term for a mixture of very young lettuces and greens. In Europe the mix includes equal proportions of chervil, arugula, lettuce, and endive.