Stink bugs invading your home? Check out this link
This week we offer tips to help keep some of your invasive perennials from driving you crazy or driving you to rid yourself of them, we remind you how and why you need to clean out your iris patch and give the down and dirty about what may be lurking in your fall leaves.
Stink Bug Information Link
http://neohiogarden.com/how-to-identify-the-real-pest-stink-bug-lady-bug-or-lady-beetle/
About those invasive perennials, the ones you admire from afar but would not dare to invite to your garden party. Or the ones that looked so dashing and sweet at the nursery, promising to bring a smile to your face as you looked upon them through your kitchen window. Only to have that smile relinquished from your face as the year passes and you find your little flowery friend has made themselves quite at home – so much at home in fact you need not look out your kitchen window to admire your smile in a pocket – this little flower has decided to conquer all garden space in the neighborhood and your garden is ground zero.
I was speaking to a master gardener the other day about Rudbekia or black eye Susan’s – this Master Gardener spoke of how invasive they were – in my experience, if you deadhead the Black eye Susan immediately after the flower fades, odds are it will not budge from where you have planted it. The same bodes true for Echinacea or Coneflower, Chives, Gaillardia or Blanket Flower, some Hosta such as Blue Angel and any perennial that spreads by seed, easily controlled with proper deadheading. Columbine is another creature in itself and one must be very attached to this flower to own one. We thank those who do love them enough to wrestle them in or let them go wild, as they are the most beautiful flower from afar.
Do not forget to clean out the Iris patch, remember, this will help to prevent burrowing insects from infesting the iris tubers as these insects such as the iris borer love to over winter in the tubers which are insulated with leaves and fall debris. Also it is not a bad idea to cut the iris leaves back to four to six inches once they start to look rough in the summer.
We all look forward, ages five to a hundred and thirty five, to the change of leaf color in the fall. They write about it in the paper, talk about it on the news, log the changes from year to year in journals, press them in leaf presses, tours are offered in peak season and gas tanks are filled for autumn drives – the air is humming. Then without notice they all turn to a wretched crispy brown sometimes turning to a slimy, heavy mass after a rainstorm. I have not met one person over the age of 24 that enjoys fall leaves at this point. As it is always good to clean up the leaves as they fall or mulch them back into the lawn with your mulching mower if you prefer – some leaves are just not meant to stay. If you own any type of Cherry tree, ornamental or fruit bearing, or any other fruit bearing tree for that matter you will want to make sure you keep the fallen leaves cleaned out from under it and dispose of these leaves with your garbage. The best spot for many bad fungus and disease to over winter is within these fallen leaves, ready to propagate and attack its host in the spring. This lurking pests host is your fruit tree. To help keep your fruit trees healthy on one front be sure to complete this task and keep any blowing leaves from accumulating under these trees. You do not want to mulch these leaves or use them in compost, as you will only proceed to compound the pest problem.
One gardener told us a story recently of how he was power washing his Gazebo to coat it and ready it for the winter. When he was spraying the ceiling on the inside he was stunned as it began raining walnuts, green casing and all. As he was standing in the gazebo stunned one of these walnuts, as the stream of the power washer hit it, the walnut was sent soaring into a rafter behind it and bouncing off of this rafter was headed straight for him, the gardener ducked as the walnut flew past smacked a beam behind and soared over his head a second time. Upon losing direction of the walnut he stood up as it had hit the afar beam and was flying back to smack him square between the eyes. He had the mark to prove it. A very ingenious squirrel had decided this was a good place to put his winter stash. The walnuts had been perfectly balanced in a row across the gazebos ceiling beams. Quietly and artistically tucked away for a private winter garden party booby-trap included.
If any of your garden chores are driving you nuts write in and let us know, it may just be worth a thousand smiles!
