Yes, You CAN Divide Perennials Now!

Gardening

Note: This article, excerpted from April 2020, originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column have been edited slightly or deleted here as they are no longer relevant.

Spring, and we’re all eager to visit our favorite nurseries and start planting—vegetables, annuals, biennials, perennials. Unfortunately, in these months of restrictions due to COVID-19, you may find plant-shopping more complicated than in the past. As you probably already know, the Master Gardeners’ annual April plant sale has been cancelled. However, many nurseries have on-line catalogs and will put together your order for curbside pick-up.

In the meantime, while you are pulling those early weeds, such as henbit, hairy bittercress, common chickweed, garlic mustard, and of course, dandelions, check your perennials and bulbs to determine whether they need dividing. Has the plant outgrown its space? Does it now produce few or no flowers? Does it get too much/not enough shade? Take a picture or put a plant marker by the clump. Then, when the bulb foliage browns or the perennial finishes blooming, you’ll know which ones to divide.

Save money with perennials

Whether you are ordering from local nurseries or starting your own plants from seeds, consider replacing annuals, which die each year, with perennials, which live for at least several years. Although initially more expensive than annuals, perennials don’t have to be replaced each spring, and every few years, most must be divided, creating more plants at no cost to you. And while most perennials have a limited bloom time, you can work around that by mixing together in the same bed, those with different bloom times, different colors, and contrasting foliage. For example, about the time our spring bulbs and perennials, such as bleeding hearts have finished blooming, peonies, cone flowers, coreopsis, and black-eyed Susans boldly step forward; and when even these tire in late August, chrysanthemums and asters begin to bloom.

Generally, gardeners are told to plant perennials in seasons opposite of when they’ll bloom, i.e., plant spring-flowering perennials or bulbs in late summer or fall; plant in spring, those that will bloom in late summer or fall. However, rules are made to be broken. I have successfully divided clumps of crowded bulbs, which are producing lots of greenery but few flowers, in early spring or summer. Recently, I carefully dug up and transplanted some grape hyacinths and Shasta daisies, making sure the flowering stems and leaves stayed above ground and that they were replanted to the depth where they’d been before; so far, they seem happy in their new location. The UMD extension service recommends transplanting such perennials or bulbs on cloudy, cooler days to reduce stress from the sun or heat.

Most spring bulbs behave similarly to perennials—that is, the above-ground plant dies off, while the below-ground material (the bulb and its roots) remains alive. Differently from most perennials, however, the above-ground plant material from a bulb, such as a daffodil or hyacinth, dies off rather quickly once it has finished flowering. When the stem and leaves turn brown, you can trim them back to ground level or dig them up, keeping them refrigerated or in a cool place and replanting in late summer or early fall. Be sure to label daffodils, as people have sometimes eaten them, mistaking them for onions. All parts of these plants and plant sap are toxic if ingested (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, irritation of mouth).

Mind the gap

When we trim back the bulb foliage, we sometimes find a new challenge: a big gap between the now-empty bulb bed and nearby plants. A simple solution: fill garden gaps with annuals. Impatiens do nicely in the shade and bloom until the first hard frost. Zinnias, verbena, petunias, vincas, and marigolds are happy in the sun. Check the University of Maryland website, https://extension.umd.edu/hgic, for more information on sun- and shade-loving annuals and perennials.

Some perennials, such as varieties of coreopsis, need to be dead-headed regularly to encourage additional blooms. Also, if you notice the plant seems to be getting leggy, but has lush growth at the base, you might want to trim back the old foliage, allowing the newer leaves and stems to develop. However, even when they’ve stopped blooming, the seedheads, especially of coneflowers, attract finches and other birds.

Oh, and while you’re waiting for those new perennials and annuals to fill in the gaps, come on over to my place and pull a few weeds for me, will ya?

###

Finding Those Winter Garden Pests

Gardening, , , ,

Note: This article, excerpted from February 2020, originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column have been edited slightly or deleted here as they are no longer relevant.

Ah, February. Shortest month of the year (even though this year it’s 29 days); cold, wet, snowy. Surely, this is a month to set aside gardening chores and cuddle up under the afghan with a cup of tea or glass of wine and a good book. But no, bundle up and get ready for a mid-winter garden inspection tour.

Check for Vole Damage

Take a walk around your yard and check shrubs and even the lawn for vole damage. The University of Maryland Extension service (https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/february-tips-tasks) notes that voles’ favorite munchies include Mugho pines, cherry laurels, azaleas, boxwoods, and junipers—all common in gardens and yards in this part of Maryland. Dead stems or branches and evidence of chewing on above-ground wood, crowns of plants that have been cut back, and on roots may indicate vole activity. In the lawn, you may see long, two-inch-wide tunnels or paths through the grass.

Voles are sometimes called “meadow” or “country” mice. Both voles and mice range from about five to eight inches long and have gray or brown fur. However, voles have much shorter tails (a mouse’s tail is about as long as its body), larger eyes, and smaller ears than mice.

How do you get rid of voles? Some web sites suggest spreading garlic, hot sauce, or hot peppers in the areas where you find evidence of the little creatures; using gravel instead of mulch; or using a vibrating or high-pitched sound device near their tunnels. You Tube features numerous ways to discourage voles; many university extension services offer advice; and of course, pest control companies have traps, poisons and baits.

Look for Scale Insects

While you’re on your mid-winter stroll, you’ll want to inspect trees and shrubs for overwintering scale insects, either armored or soft-scale, so named for their scaly or shell-like waxy covering.

What should you look for? The sap-feeding causes yellowed plant tissue, slower growth, and branch dieback. According to the Morton Arboretum (https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-and-plant-advice/help-pests/scale-insects), scale may be found on lower branches or new leaves of euonymus, bittersweet, pachysandra, or other hosts. “The male scale produces a small, thin, white covering and can be quite numerous on the undersides of leaves. The female scale lives under a gray or brown shell and is usually found on the branches. The female scale overwinters under its protective shell and deposits eggs in early spring under the scale covering,” the web site states.

Soft-scale insects excrete excess plant sap as “honeydew,” a sweet, sticky material that drips onto the foliage and branches below, and which often attracts ants, bees, wasps, and flies. Also, a dark fungus called black sooty mold can be found growing on the sweet honeydew. This fungus blackens roofs, porches, and any plant foliage where the honeydew is deposited.

Again, you’ll want to check with the extension services or on-line for appropriate treatment. Often a dormant oil spray works best, as it smothers the scale. Follow the directions and be sure that the trees or shrubs are in a dormant stage and that temperatures will be above freezing for at least 24 hours after you apply the spray.

Search out egg masses of destructive insects

Besides armored and soft brown scale, you’ll want to look for Eastern tent caterpillar, gypsy moth, and spotted lanternfly egg masses. According to the UMD extension service, the Eastern caterpillar egg masses look like black Styrofoam and are most often found on the ends of cherry and crabapple tree branches. Gypsy moth egg masses, emerging from underneath tree bark, are covered with tan or buff-colored hairs, looking like stiff pine needles layered all over the cocoon. The egg mass is usually about 1 ½ inches long, about ¾ of an inch wide. Spotted lanternfly egg masses, the most recent invasive and destructive insect to breach Maryland’s borders, look like “unevenly spread [mud-like, gray] mortar smeared on almost any outdoor surface,” according to <farmanddairy.com>. If you find any, scrape them off into a bag and saturate the mass with hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol.

###

Bring Nature Inside

Gardening, , , ,

Bring Nature Inside

Note: This article, excerpted from December 2019, originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column have been deleted here as they are no longer relevant.

You may think that since your annuals and perennials are shriveled, dry, or nonexistent with the beginning of winter, that you have to rely on hothouse flowers or artificial ones to keep nature inside with you.

Not so.

As the snows pile up (well, as I write, the weather prognosticators are promising at least a couple of deep snows), you can be snug and warm, surrounded by lovely greens and other natural materials in your home.

Don’t throw out those dried arrangements you made for fall—just change out orange and brown accents for reds, greens, gold, silver and add some live greens. Junipers and yews can be lovely, as they so often have little berries (blue, juniper; red, yews) that add interest (but keep the poisonous berries away from pets). Jan Magill, a fellow master gardener who often presents seminars on holiday greenery at this time of year, suggests that you use bare branches, dried flowers, pods, and even bark to produce a natural effect in your holiday arrangements.

You’ll be amazed at the wealth of decorative possibilities when you poke around in your garden. I’ve brought in dogwood branches, some bare, some with berries; upright stiff, brown Ostrich fern fronds; grapevines for wreaths; grasses; even weeds—all for winter decorations.

Matt Ory and Steven Jeweler, owners of Ory Custom Floral Design in New Market, recommend either bold or feathery greens, trimming them to fit the shape and size you want, whether a traditional high or low pyramid, something horizontal, or a more contemporary or Asian design.

Matt often adds 10 or more OLD pennies (he says they have more copper than the newer ones) to a vase of fresh greens. He usually makes the tallest plant, whether dried or fresh, two times the height of the vase. Remember though, if the arrangement is going to be on a dining room table, it should be low enough that it doesn’t interrupt the sight line or conversation of people sitting across from one another.

Junipers and arborvitae tend to have curving, sometimes spreading branches, while yews and hollies have stiffer, more upright configurations. Magnolias and rhododendrons can add a broad, bold touch to your arrangement. You could also add bare branches or those with berries. If you’re into glitz, spray paint branches with gold, silver, or white; add a few ornaments, and weave tinsel, ribbon, or tiny fairy lights among the branches. Spritz a little spray “snow” here and there.

But even unadorned evergreens and bare branches are beautiful. Curly branches, available in craft stores if not in your back yard, can be used for decorations, too. Weight them in a vase filled with stones, marbles, or other material, and hang a collection of ornaments from the branches. Some years, I hang nothing but birds on the branches; other years, it might be Santas, snowmen, or polar bears. If you make a Christmas village on the mantel or under your tree, put twigs, small branches, or greens in Styrofoam squares and secure them in place with rubber cement or spackling paste. We’ve even used bits of coral from summer beach vacations as trees in our Christmas villages.

And don’t stop with the greenery you’re adding to your own surroundings. Consider using greenery or dried materials as gifts for friends and family during the upcoming holidays. (1) Fill a large seashell (or several smaller ones) with a well-drained potting mixture, then add some succulents appropriate for growing indoors, a small ornament or two, and a few sprigs of evergreen. (2) Create dried/green arrangements in odd-shaped jars, spray-painted cans, or other unusual containers. Add those bits of glitz and/or fairy lights for some sparkle. (3) Tie or hot glue greenery decorated with gilded or natural acorns or tiny pinecones (such as those from hemlocks) onto Hannakah or Christmas presents.

Bring nature inside!

###

A Gardener’s Work Is Never Done

Gardening, ,

Note: This article, excerpted from November 2019, originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column have been deleted here as they are no longer relevant.

You may be thinking that with the onset of winter, your garden work is done. Think again!

Did you prune trees and shrubs yet? Mulch perennials? Dig up tender plants and store them for next spring? To help you, the University of Maryland (UMD) lists several outdoor garden tasks for November on its extension web site (https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/november-tips-tasks).

Prune

While spring bloomers should have been pruned very soon after they finished blooming, fall is the time to prune summer-blooming shrubs, dormant shade trees, and do other trimming as needed. UMD recommends that you prune back to the branch collar (swollen area on the trunk or larger branch from which you are trimming other branches/twigs). To reduce the overall height of your tree, don’t give it a “crewcut”; rather, prune “entire branches at their point of origin,” says UMD.

If possible, pile pruned branches in a corner of your yard as a winter shelter for birds, insects, and other creatures. Chip up any branches destined for compost.

Protect

After the first hard frost, mulch tender perennials to protect them from heaving out of the soil because of the alternate freezing and thawing of soil. UMD notes that “mulch helps moderate temperature fluctuations, reducing” the heaving.

Shred the leaves from your trees with a mulching mower or a leaf shredder, then let them decompose naturally on the lawn, in your garden beds, or on your compost pile. Do NOT make a “volcano” of mulch around your trees, as that encourages insects and bacteria to invade the trees. UMD says covering the beds with “shredded leaves [can] minimize the risk of soil erosion and nutrient run-off. They can be tilled into the garden in spring or left in place as a mulch between rows of vegetables.”

If you have a pond, remove leaves and cover the pond with screening. Otherwise, the “decomposing leaves will produce gasses that can sicken or kill fish when trapped under a layer of ice.”

Along with traditional mulch and shredded leaves, you may want to layer organic matter, such as composted, aged horse, cow, sheep, or chicken manure, into your garden beds.

Some popular plants, such as azalea, rhododendrons, camellias, boxwood, cherry laurel, or magnolias, are at their northernmost limits in our region and need protection from our bitter winter winds, especially when these plants are young. Consider the plant’s placement in your garden—is it in a microclimate or a protected area? If not, UMD recommends a fence of staked burlap or plastic around the individual plant or along a row of plants. I’ve tried both burlap and plastic and found that burlap holds up better in winter winds.

Depending on where you live, you may also need to protect plants from deer damage with deer repellants, deer netting, or fencing.

Store

Many summer-blooming bulbs and tubers, including cannas, dahlias, gladioli, caladiums, and tuberous begonias, are too tender to survive our winters. Instead, dig them up and cut stems/leaves back almost to the bulb (but keep a 4-6″ stem on cannas and dahlias). Let the bulbs dry out for one to three weeks, according to UMD’s web site. Make sure you label plant types and colors. Store the dried plants in paper or mesh bags, cardboard boxes, or even in nylon stockings, layered with peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, or newspaper, in a cool, dry place (at 40-50°F), such as your basement, until spring. Check them periodically and discard any shriveled or decayed bulbs onto your compost pile.

Avoid Fertilizing or Seeding Now

Grass seed spread now is unlikely to survive the winter, as the seed does not have enough time to develop a good root system. Rather, sow seed in early spring. In addition, the Maryland Lawn Fertilizer Law requires that Maryland homeowners NOT apply fertilizer to their lawns between November 15th and March 1st.

Even with all those tasks out of the way, you’ll no doubt find more things that need your attention in the coming months. After all, a gardener’s work is never done. But perhaps you can take time to sit down with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, gaze out the window at your winter landscape, and imagine spring projects, a place for just one more tree, a new vegetable or flower bed…

###

Have Your Cake and…Enjoy the Garden

Gardening

Note: This article originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post in May 2019 as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column have been deleted here as they are no longer relevant or have been edited slightly.

Now that it’s nearly June, deciduous trees and shrubs have dropped their spring show and donned their summer leaves, helping to create an oasis of green around our homes. Along with those trees, flowers, shrubs, and other plants, come the birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, providing our own “Animal Planet” show.

Numerous health experts agree that gardening is not only a place of peace and mental calm, but is physically healthy for us, helping us remain mobile and flexible for much later in our lives than we might otherwise be. WebMD.com points out that gardening promotes your body’s endurance, flexibility, and strength. On WebMD.com, author Jeff Restuccio says to alternate the gardening activities—light and heavy chores—over a 30- to 60-minute span, then rest a while. Yardshare.com also notes that gardening improves “our endurance and strength…reduces stress and promotes relaxation…provides a sense of a job well done…”

Sounds encouraging, but I have to admit that my mobility and flexibility are still not what I’d like. These days it’s hard to kneel down and even harder to get up from my little bench; gardening chores take a lot longer now than when I was in my thirties; and allergies and heat intolerances are having their way with me. So how do I find time to relax in the garden with a glass of wine or cup of tea when I have never-ending weeding, trimming, pruning, and other chores to do?

One answer my husband and I have found is to adapt our gardens to our abilities. So our 20 or so gardens surrounding the house and yard perimeters are gradually becoming smaller, more narrow, or have been eliminated altogether.

You may also be contemplating changes to your own yard, whether it’s because the needs of the garden have changed, or because your needs and your endurance have changed. Consider cutting back, cutting out, and refreshing this summer—and give yourself more time to enjoy your garden.

One of the things I love about a garden is that it is ever-changing—plants die or grow too big for their spot, once-small trees loom over sun-loving plants. You begin to think of changes—what should replace the dead plant? Where should we move that too-big perennial or shrub? Should we change out the sun-loving plants for shade-loving ones under that big tree, or should we cut down the tree?

Are you putting a new garden in once barren land, or replacing plants? Look for low-maintenance (minimal pruning or trimming) natives. Keep in mind the eventual mature size of any trees or shrubs you want to plant.

Have you been learning about the importance of pollinators in the life cycle of plants and insects? Attract pollinators with perennials and annuals. Use shrubs and plants that bloom at different times of the season and that don’t require a lot of dead-heading.

Looking for something different, something to have an impact? Plant vegetables and herbs, such as cabbages, rosemary, and lavender, in places you usually reserve for annuals. Or go for tropicals, such as banana plants or canna lilies—just remember, you will need to dig up tropicals in the fall.

If you’re cutting back on garden beds, could you place raised beds or containers for vegetables or flowers on a patio, deck, or porch for easier access? Would weaving irrigation hoses through the garden or installing a water-conservation system help ease your work in the garden?

Finally, please don’t make mulch “volcanoes” around the trunks of trees—the mulch piled high around trunks and then flattening out beyond the trunks prevents rain water from soaking into the roots and is an open invitation to damaging insects and diseases to invade your trees. Instead, keep the mulch a couple inches away from the tree trunk; spread it evenly out to the dripline of the branches, then mound a ring of mulch along the edge, which helps to keep water in the root area, where it needs to be.

###

The Dead of Winter

Gardening,

Note: This article, excerpted from February 2019, originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column have been deleted here as they are no longer relevant.

Is February the “dead of winter”? Maybe. According to several web sites, the “dead of” anything doesn’t mean lack of life, as I had always thought, but rather, being in the middle of whatever it is—winter, night, etc. 

“In the middle of” winter makes much more sense to me than dead, as in lack of life, ever did. After all, if we look closely, we see signs of life all winter long, whether it’s December or February. Last fall’s leaves, slumped-over pampas grass, Russian sage, and flattened hostas all contribute to the life cycle of your garden—they provide shelter and food in the form of insects, larvae, seeds, for winter birds and other creatures, as well as the spring and summer guests on their way.

Look up at your garden’s vertical structures. On those bare, sculpted branches, in the evergreens whose tall, jagged silhouettes pierce the sky is life. Buds are breaking dormancy on branches. Pine cones are fattening in the high branches of pines, junipers, hemlocks.

Now look down. On your garden’s floor, you see dead, shriveled, collapsed stems and leaves. Yet, snow drops, crocuses and other early spring flowers are popping out of the soil. Scratch away a little bit of the surface detritus and you will see more itty-bitty tendrils peeping out of the soil and dead leaves.

But I know what you’re thinking—Looking at all that dead stuff, you’re getting itchy garden fingers. Go ahead—start pruning, spading, cleaning up (a little). However, a word of caution—know which plants will be happy with your grooming efforts and which ones want to hold onto their winter scruffiness just a little longer.

Prune: Master Gardeners recommend that you prune both to improve the shape of the plant and to open up the center of the plant for better air circulation. You can find lots of advice in gardening magazines and on websites. For example, the Garden Helper (http://www.thegardenhelper.com/) recommends that you first remove all dead, decayed, or broken branches. From there, the method of pruning depends on the type of plant.

Most important with pruning is that you know when the plant blooms. If it’s a springtime bloomer, such as rhododendron, azalea, forsythia, don’t prune until AFTER the blooming season. However, if it’s a summer bloomer, such as many crepe myrtles, it can be pruned now before buds form.

Make sure your pruners or clippers are sharp, and disinfect them between usage. Jessica Damiano of NewsDay.com recommends using “a 10-percent bleach/90 percent water solution, or disinfectant spray.”

Take a look at your hollies, roses, grapevines, and honeysuckle (plant native American honeysuckle, not the invasive Japanese varieties). Do they look a bit ragged and rough around the edges? February is a good time to make them happy with careful pruning, cutting out diseased canes and branches. 

Damiano also suggests that you prune deciduous trees (those that drop their leaves in the fall) now, except for those she calls “bleeders”: maple, beech, dogwood, elm, and sycamore. She notes that those trees should be in full leaf before you prune. Now would also be a good time to mark with bright paint the branches you want to prune later.

Replant, water, dig: As you make your garden rounds, you’ll find that Mother Nature has given the heave-ho to some bulbs, tubers and plant crowns. Gently press them back into the ground. We had so much rain and snow this past fall and in the early part of winter that you probably don’t need to water evergreens, but if the ground isn’t frozen, check to see how dry it is; water as needed. Turn the compost pile, Damiano commands.

Check trees and shrubs for damaging insects. You might see small, cottony masses on evergreens that could be woolly adelgid egg sacs. Make sure the wrappings on tree trunks are still secure to keep some larvae from inching their way up to burrow under tender bark. Treat woody plants with dormant oil spray to destroy overwintering aphids, mites, and scale.

If you’re unsure what kind of insect or disease is causing a problem, help is available by way of the University of Maryland Frederick Extension website http://extension.umd.edu/frederick-county/home-gardening/mg/happenings-seminars-plant-sale-wcwdfy. On the lower right portion of the page is a link to “Ask an Expert.” This will connect you to professionally trained horticulturists who will help identify the problem to the best of their ability.

Fertilize: You can also fertilize shrubs, trees, evergreens, and spring-flowering bulbs now. Use an acidic fertilizer for plants such as rhododendron, azaleas, conifers, evergreens, etc. For deciduous trees and shrubs, and roses, use an all-purpose fertilizer.

###

What’s That in the Tree?

Uncategorized, , ,


By Maritta Perry Grau


They were just thinking…as they looked out the window of their family room…

What is it? PopPop and Gigi stare at the gleaming object caught on a high branch of their plum tree.

“A piece of trash?” Gigi guesses.

Gigi imagines the fierce wind blowing and the tree reaching out to grasp the shiny object.

“A bird,” says PopPop.

PopPop imagines a bird is sleeping with its head tucked under its wing, there on the branch.

“But it’s not moving at all. And it’s been in one position for a long time.” Gigi is doubtful. “That’s a very thin, fragile branch for a bird to choose for a nap. And it’s ten in the morning. They don’t usually sleep now.”

Indeed, as they speak, they see other birds flitting back and forth among the trees and bushes.

PopPop scoops up the binoculars and focuses on the oval, gleaming thing in the tree. “Or could it possibly be…?”

“What? Could it be what?” Gig looks outside, trying to see some detail on the object PopPop sees through the binoculars.

He hands her the binoculars. “You look. Tell me what you think.”

Gigi finds the object in the binoculars. “Why, it looks like…” She moves closer to the window, looks again. She studies the object carefully.

Is that an eye? Part of a mouth? Shiny skin? She checks her mental list of creatures it could be. “It looks like a fish!”

“That’s what I thought,” PopPop answers. “But how could a fish be up in the tree?”

Gigi pictures a hawk or a heron swooping down on the nearby pond and grabbing a succulent fish for his dinner.

“Did the bird catch the fish and fly off with it? And then drop it? Maybe it’s not really a fish.” She is doubtful again.

“Only one way to find out,” PopPop says.

So they go outside, their dog Maxie with them, and walk to the tree.

Looking up, closer now, they study the object again.

“Oh, it’s not a fish.” Gigi sighs in relief.

“No, it’s a seedpod,” PopPop says.

“Yes, a milkweed pod that has broken open. What I thought were the eyes and part of a mouth were just seeds near the top edge. The gleaming fish scales I thought I saw—those were just the sun shining on the silky strands of the open milkweed pod and on the inside of the open pod.”

The fish are safe for another day.