July 14, 2020 trumpet vine troubles

Hello Gardeners

Trumpet vine flowers

Trumpet vine is a pain in the butt. I know it’s a native and hummingbirds like it but think very, very carefully before you get it started in your garden. I didn’t start the trumpet vine growing here, it was here when we moved in. Last night I was out in the far reaches of the yard trying to untangle a big hydrangea bush from the trumpet vine bully.

It’s been too hot to do a lot of work in the sun, so I kind of ignored that plant way out there in the yard.  And then I noticed orange flowers mixed in with the white hydrangea flowers and knew I had to act. Its pretty in a way but I knew if I left the trumpet vine the hydrangea would suffer. 

There was so much trumpet vine in that hydrangea.  It had to move underground, across a mowed space about 30 feet wide to come up in the hydrangea. I began breaking and cutting it out – it breaks easily- and I had a huge pile of branches on the ground.  Then suddenly, as I got close to the center of the plant I ran into a problem. Birds nest. Yep a small bird of some type had a nest in there.  (Not a hummingbird though). 

I left the nest and the remaining trumpet vine for now. The nest looked unoccupied but in case it was soon to be a bird home I decided to wait a bit. Goldfinches are still nesting.  I’ll check in a week or two and see if its still unoccupied.

Want to know more about trumpet vines? Check out this page.

http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/trumpet-vine-campisradicans-grows.html

I don’t know how many of you got rain last week. We got less than a half inch although places around us got much more.  We have entered what meteorologists call “very dry” conditions but it sure looks like drought to me.  After a few days of cooler weather, it’s hot and humid again today and it’s supposed to stay that way for a long time.

Most of us in the US are going to sweltering until the end of July, at least, because of this big dome of high pressure over us.  It’s supposed to be a bit stormier this heat wave than the last. The plants would handle the heat much better if we got more rain.

Many of my hosta that are in sunnier locations are showing leaf scorch.  They are getting watered regularly, but the heat and sun are too much. I am noticing some trees and shrubs are starting to droop and it’s hard to get water to them. 

I mowed the lawn and pasture this weekend just because things like trumpet vine, bristly locust, black walnut, bamboo, and staghorn sumac don’t mind sending out runners to colonize the areas around them even in a drought.,

Even though I water, the zinnias, cosmos and other annuals I planted from seed are very short and are starting to flower with very small flowers. I have a mum beginning to flower- in July- it’s probably heat stress. All the orienpet lilies are beginning bloom, the martagon lilies and Asiatic lilies are blooming.  Daylilies are blooming. My new climbing rose hasn’t grown very much but it is flowering, quite a pretty red and yellow flower.

The lavender likes this weather. It’s blooming like crazy. The cannas and dahlias are finally starting to bloom. Woodland nicotiana, cleome, Joe Pye weed, English daisies and snapdragons are in bloom.

In the vegetable garden I harvested a small cucumber and a red pepper this week.  I’ll have tomatoes soon.

Weeds that spread disease to your plants

When it’s hot and plants are mature enough to compete well with weeds, gardeners sometimes give up on weeding.  Besides the fact that weeds shade garden plants and compete for water and nutrients, there is another reason to keep weeds out of the garden. Some weeds also bring disease and harmful insects into the garden.

Common lambsquarters, pigweed and nightshade all get some of the fungal diseases that tomatoes and potatoes get.  These are extremely common weeds in gardens.  They can serve as a source of infection for early and late blight and also septoria leaf spot.  Nightshade is a perennial and some fungal diseases may over winter in its living tissue.  Petunias, while not a weed, can also carry some tomato-potato diseases.  Don’t plant them near those crops.

Lambsquarters

Dandelions and wild carrots or Queen Anne’s Lace, growing near garden carrots may be a source of “aster yellows” a disease that infects garden carrots. They are spread to carrots by an insect called a leafhopper that feeds on both types of plants.

Many viral diseases are spread by aphids, leafhoppers and beetles feeding on infected weeds and then moving to related garden plants. Tobacco mosaic virus of tomatoes and peppers, cucumber mosaic virus and powdery mildew are some diseases that can be spread by insects from weeds to garden plants. Pests like the tomato hornworm may begin feeding on nightshade and then move to tomatoes.

Here are some other weeds that are important to remove from your garden to help control disease and insects.  Prickly lettuce, sowthistles, Canadian goldenrod, ragweed, shepards purse, purslane, yellow rocket, dayflower, deadnettle, teasel, heal all, chickweed and bur cucumber.

Prickly lettuce

If you grow raspberries or blackberries in the garden all wild brambles should be removed for 100 feet around your plot.  They serve as a reservoir for rust and other diseases.

Neem oil- and how to use it in the garden

Neem oil is the newest wonder product of the plant world, although it’s been around gardens a long time. While Neem is a chemical product derived from a plant, it is a registered pesticide and should always be treated as such.  While it is considered organic and is less harmful than some other chemicals, there are still risks associated with the use of Neem, and it can have toxic effects, including death, to humans and animals if not handled in the right manner. Neem can also kill or damage plants if not applied properly.

Neem oil is derived primarily from the seeds of a tree native to India and Burma, (Azadirachta indica). Other parts of the plant are also used for various commercial uses. There are a number of different formulations and strengths of neem oil.  Azadirachtin is the chemical in neem oil responsible for its pesticidal effects.  However even neem oil purified to have little of that chemical retains some pesticidal advantage.

Neem oil works in two ways to kill insects, by smothering those it directly contacts and by altering hormonal activity in those that ingest it. When the oil gets on an insect it is non- selective- that is it kills both good and harmful insects. However, when the spray has dried on plant leaves only insects that eat the plant will be affected. It can take some time for insects ingesting neem to die.

Not all insects are equally affected by neem oil. It doesn’t seem to do much to Japanese beetles for example. Soft bodied insects like aphids are more easily killed by neem oil.

Neem is also used for some fungal diseases of plants. It does not cure plants of fungal disease, rather it limits the ability of the fungus to reproduce and spread. It can be used as a preventative for fungal disease because fungal spores landing on treated foliage do not reproduce well.

Neem oil won’t help plant problems caused by environmental factors, such as blossom end rot in tomatoes.  It is not a fertilizer and won’t correct nutritional deficiencies. Neem oil won’t kill mosquitoes, ticks or fleas unless it gets directly on them and it should never be applied to humans or pets to control these pests. Neem oil is moderately toxic to fish and other aquatic life and should never be put in natural water or ornamental ponds.

No pesticide, including neem oil should be used unless necessary. Try other non-chemical means of controlling pests first, such as hand picking or trapping insects.  Neem oil is not harmless, as many gardeners seem to think, and should be used carefully.  Plants often experience problems from the application of neem oil, especially if it is done more often or in stronger concentrations than recommended on the label.

Damage to plants from neem oil includes yellowed, dying foliage, areas that look scorched or bleached, death of new growth, wilting and distorted foliage and flowers.  Poor growth and stunting may occur with frequent use.

If you want to try neem oil in your garden always buy a product intended for garden use. (There are neem oil products for human cosmetic and medicinal uses.)  Then read and follow the label directions carefully. Usually if mixing is required only water is used.  DO NOT MIX NEEM OIL WITH OTHER PRODUCTS.  Do not add soap, vinegar, baking soda, or other things.  These things can interact with neem oil and make it more harmful to both you and your plants. There are many “homemade recipes” out there that raise the harmful effects of neem oil considerably.

Neem oil should be applied to plants in the early morning or evening when pollinators are not active.  It will kill pollinators and other beneficial insects if it contacts them. Don’t apply neem oil to flowers pollinated by insects. It should not be applied when the sun is high as neem oil often causes a photoreaction “burn” if applied in the sun. Don’t apply it when temperatures are above 95 degrees F or below freezing.

  

Do not apply neem to newly transplanted plants, or wilted plants. Doing so may kill or damage them. Some species of plants do not tolerate neem oil well and it shouldn’t be used on them.  Those plants include impatiens, carnations, hibiscus, and fuchsia as well as some other less common plants.

Always try a little neem oil pesticide on a small part of a new plant first, especially if it is a valuable one, and observe for 24 hours.  Even if you have used neem oil on a plant before different environmental conditions or different neem products can cause plant damage. Tender new growth on any plant is more likely to be burnt by neem oil.

Human and animal problems

When used as directed on the label neem oil has a low toxicity to humans, wildlife and pets. It can be used on food crops safely, but produce must be washed before it’s eaten. However, if it is mixed with other products the mixtures can be harmful. Birds and animals do not seem to have problems eating plant parts treated with neem. Fish are harmed by neem and it should be kept out of natural water bodies.

Some people have reported that cats are more sensitive to neem oil toxicity than other pets. They should not be sprayed with neem and probably shouldn’t ingest plants sprayed with it. However not much has been reported in science based articles on the subject.

Neem oil pesticide products must never be directly consumed by pets or children. Keep products out of their reach. Death can result from this and poison control should be called immediately. It can cause severe vomiting, convulsions, metabolic acidosis, kidney failure, encephalopathy and severe brain ischemia.  Yes, there are neem products like toothpaste and herbal preparations that people use in moderation, but neem pesticides are not safe to consume. 

Avoid getting the neem products on your skin-the pesticide can be absorbed through the skin. Many people have allergic reactions like rashes when neem oil gets on skin. Do not use neem oil for gardens on people or pets to control things like lice or fleas. There is a neem preparation for lice sold, but it can be a harsh treatment.

Neem oil is very irritating to the eyes.  It can cause problems if spray is inhaled also.  In herbal medicine neem is used as a contraceptive and to cause abortions (among many other things). It is known to cause reproductive problems in animals exposed to it. If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, I would be very careful using neem products.

Neem oil can be helpful in the garden with low toxicity.  However, it is still a pesticide and should be used exactly as directed on the product label.  While it works well to control some insects and aids in controlling some plant diseases it does not solve every garden pest problem.

More reading

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3841499/

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/neemgen.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/neem-oil

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24415597_Apparent_adverse_reactions_to_neem_margosa_oil_in_cats

New Garden? How to decide what to plant

Do you have a new garden spot you want to develop or a garden area you want to renew?  Many people are hesitant to trust their own judgement when choosing what to plant or they don’t have any idea of what species of plants they can choose from.

Here’s how many new gardeners plan a garden. They show a picture to social media and ask what to put there. They are bombarded with suggestions reflecting with what each person likes and dislikes, often without regard to conditions at your garden or size of the plants you need. And it’s often apparent the people offering the suggestions really don’t know much about the plants they are suggesting.

Or the new gardener asks for plant donations and accepts everything anyone offers. They cruise stores for deals and marked down plants.  Free plants and deals are fine- if they are plants that will suit your growing conditions and stay within your garden boundaries. New gardeners should be very careful adding marked down, half dead plants to their new garden.  It’s a good way to get some insect pest or disease started.

The right way to plan your garden

Do your research first. Know what plants will grow in your planting zone and growing conditions. People always want to skip any research and just ask someone for help. But there is so much to learn that conversations with friends and people online just can’t substitute for a little research. I am going to give some tips here, but you still need to do some research and make some decisions.

It helps to decide on a look or theme you want for your garden, formal, low maintenance, cottage garden, all native, wetland, and so on. Look at other people’s gardens, public gardens, gardens in books and online.  Be aware that formal gardens, those with sheared hedges and topiary plants, generally need a lot more labor than less formal gardens.

Decide what you like. Don’t let people intimidate you into only native plants or a formal garden if that’s not your idea of a garden. Your garden should be what you like, not what others want.

To plan properly you must know your garden zone.  This is very important as you select perennial plants.  It determines what plants are likely to survive winter in your zone and thrive there. You can choose plants with a zone rating lower than yours or the same as yours but choosing plants with a higher zone rating will probably be a waste of time and money because they won’t survive in your area.

You can find that information here.

https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

What kind of light conditions does your garden spot get? Remember that light conditions will change somewhat during the year as the suns position changes. Determine your average light conditions by observing the spot about this time of the year- late June-early July.  Full sun is considered to be about 8 hours of sun a day. Partial shade is 4-5 hours of sun a day. Light shade is filtered light through a small tree, or lattice. If the north side of a house doesn’t get any additional shade from trees or other buildings, it’s probably light shade. Full shade is no direct sun.

Check your soil type. Is it sandy, nice loam, or clay?  All kinds of soil can support a nice garden and there are plants that will grow in just about any soil type. What is the drainage in the spot? If water puddles there after a good rain and stays for more than an hour you probably have poor drainage or a wet spot. You’ll have to fix the problem or choose plants that tolerate wet roots.

For new gardeners it’s always a good idea to get a soil test done.  That will tell you the soil pH, (whether your soil is acidic or alkaline), and some basic information about soil fertility. Call your local county Extension office to find out how to submit a soil sample.

Next consider the time you have for gardening. Do you need low maintenance plants?  Then check to see if there are any laws or ordinances for your site that might affect what plants you can have.  In most places there won’t be, but some neighborhood associations and cities or villages do restrict what you can grow. They may require vegetable gardens be located in the rear of the house for example.

After you have done all this research, make a list of the plants you like that are suitable for your garden conditions and keep it handy.

First year

How a professional garden designer would work

A professional garden designer, or garden architect, would go about the project this way. They would come and thoroughly measure every aspect of the new garden site, including the length, depth, width, distance to trees, tree canopy space, location of buildings, decks, patios, drives and walks, location of wells, air conditioning units, meters, underground utilities and other obstacles. They would measure the distance from the ground to the bottom of windows that might be in the proposed garden space, and the distance between windows and doors in the space.   

A detailed, to scale drawing would then be made on graph paper showing all of these things. After a design is created using simple forms like circles, tall ovals, boxes and so on to indicate plant shapes, the designer would develop a list of plants that fit the site conditions and then would indicate the plant species on the design. The mature sizes of the plants would be used to decide what would fit where and their natural forms would be used to complete the design- a rounded form for a circle on the graph for example

People planning a new garden can do this themselves and it can be invaluable in planning. Bring out that list of plants you like that fit your conditions.  Make sure the mature height and width of those plants is included. Now get some graph paper. Graph paper has little squares evenly covering it and its available in most places paper is sold.

Assign a measurement such as 1 foot, to each square on the graph paper. Put in all the measurements you have taken- where the trees, windows, paths and other things are located on your “plan”.  Make sure you draw them in scale, if a path is six feet wide and each graph square equals 1 foot in the real garden, then you would block out 6 squares on your plan for the width of the path and as many squares long as the actual path runs.

You can then decide how many plants you can put in the space, allowing for paths and other things.  Use your prepared list of plants. Some people like to color in the square to coordinate with what the actual bloom color or foliage color of the plants might be.

You may want a separate drawing for every area you intend to plant in.  Make a master copy with the measurements and then you can make copies that you can mark up and move things around on.  Even a basic rudimentary drawing is better than no plan.

 

Bed after 3 years

Quick general suggestions

Before you start any digging, you need to know if there are any underground pipes or wires you might damage. You also need to see where overhead wires are and to know where your property lines are located.

Put taller species in back or the center of a bed that can be seen from all sides. A variation in plant height is more natural looking, with the shorter plants in front.

Don’t just choose plants for their flowers, how they will look when not flowering should be considered. Some things will die back after flowering and disappear. You’ll want something present in the garden all season and you may want winter interest too.

If you like flowers- some people prefer mainly foliage- try to choose plants that bloom at various times, spring, summer, and fall. Most perennials have one bloom period, they don’t bloom all season. You may want some of the few that do bloom for long periods like the landscape roses, to keep color in the garden all season. It’s also good to add some annual flowers each year to fill in when the perennials aren’t in bloom.  Annuals tend to bloom all season.

One big hint. Don’t choose plants at a nursery because the flower colors look good together unless you carefully look up the normal bloom time for the plants and the growing conditions they require.  Plants in nurseries often don’t bloom at the same time they would in your garden. Those plants may never bloom again at the same time and worse they may require different growing conditions, so they can’t be grown together.

Color schemes should suit you. Formal gardens tend to have one or two main colors with an accent color here and there. Informal gardens tend to blend many complementary colors.  Some people find a simple color scheme soothing and pleasing. While other people are more attracted to the riot of “anything goes” color schemes. Do what you like.

Foliage color should also be considered. Various shades of green and perhaps some variegated foliage are more pleasing to the eye than one shade of green.  Don’t overdo “accent” colors like golden or purple foliage plants. One or two is nice, a whole garden of golden or purple foliaged plants is generally not very appealing.

Choose a variety of shapes and textures of plants. Formal gardens will have less variety and informal gardens more. That does not mean that every plant should be different. Generally, plants look better in clusters of 3 or more but that’s not a hard and fast rule. Sometimes one larger plant can be a focal point, a weeping tree or Japanese Maple for instance.  And small areas may only be suitable for one plant of each kind instead of clusters.

If you are offered plants or see bargains refer to your plant list.  Don’t take just anything because it’s free or cheap.

You may have to plan your garden in stages, in fact that’s an excellent way to start. You learn over time to save up for a large, quality plant instead of settling for a cheap seedling from a little known company that you are going to have to replace 3 times or that will take 10 years to grow to blooming size.  Buy a few good plants instead of a lot of bargain bin half dead plants.  Next year add a few more quality plants. 

When you do have a budget to consider, buy the plants that will be focal points or the largest plants first. They can be growing in your garden, getting large and beautiful as you fill in around them.

New gardeners tend to jam too many plants of too many species into a garden. You probably cannot have every plant you’ve ever admired in the same garden bed, unless it’s very large.  And it’s tempting to plant too closely when plants are small. Plan for the mature size of the plants. The old saying first year they sleep, second they creep, third they leap is pretty accurate. Until they “leap” you can fill in with annual plants.

Gardening is a learning experience and you need to take the time to learn a little about it. Planning a garden is a lot of fun, or it should be. You won’t get your garden perfect the first time. It will need to be tinkered with and improved. Every gardener I know is planning changes for the next year. But starting with a plan and some knowledge will get you better results than just jamming a bunch of plants you know little about into an empty space. 

"Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."

—Henry James

Kim Willis

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And So On….

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