Joan Swenson: Surviving August means garden break is over
| Tuesday, Sep 16 2008 09:14 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 05:59 PM
It’s clean-up time at our house.
First, the roses. I should have done it in early August, but that would have meant going out in the full heat of summer, and I couldn’t bear it. So, here it was, September, after Labor Day, and I was finally pruning my roses for fall bloom. It’s about a six-week cycle from a nice pruning to good bloom, so I will have nice flowers in October.
As I was cutting, I found a couple of rose bushes that had finally died, ones that I had bought when they were half-dead to begin with — no bargain, in retrospect, but really cheap at the time — and which will have to be removed this winter, when the full winter prune-down gives better access to the bed. And I found some wildly growing canes, which probably sprouted from below bud union grafts and which will also have to be trimmed away with a lopper.
Then, the tomatoes. We had a good year, with just enough tomatoes for our family to keep up with consumption. We did not have a single tomato horn worm this season, a cabbage looper or a pinworm. (Another gardener recently reminded me of his advice for worm control: plant dill alongside your tomatoes. It couldn’t hurt – and dill has such a lovely appearance, a delicious scent in the garden, and is useful in the kitchen, too.) We didn’t have a problem with fruit split, either. The area is shaded more this year than last by the lemon tree that will need a heavy pruning this fall to improve sun exposure for the tomatoes.
Removing tomato plants is so much easier than taking care of them all summer. Fortunately, I am only in charge of the removal aspect of the job. I cut the plants off at the base, pulled out the stakes and forked the mess into the green waste bin over a couple of weeks.
And along the way, I’ve still been dispatching spiders. I know that spiders are good, even black widow spiders, but when they appear to have tied down the trash and recycling bins, shrubs, fences and even a car, it was time for some action. I pulled out an all-purpose outdoor pesticide and squirted it in crevices where the spiders seemed to be lurking. Next morning, I found half a dozen dead black widows dangling in the webs. Pretty impressive.
I heard from another gardener who said that she had been working among her plants and had come across several black widows. Typically I find them in dry, undisturbed areas, but she said that these were really green sections. She’s using gloves for safety.
GRAPELEAF SKELETONIZER
A reader wrote about the infestation of black moths landing on his grapevine leaves and laying eggs, which produced black-yellow-and blue horizontally striped caterpillars that had been stripping the grape leaves down to the large veins. The caterpillars eventually mature into moths themselves, laying another generation of eggs.
He has the grapeleaf skeletonizer, which in commercial grapes are mostly controlled by insect parasites and a virus. But the parasites and virus may not be common where folks grow backyard grapes.
For backyard growers, a recommended solution is the old standby, bacillus thuringiensis or Bt. It needs to be applied with regularity to battle the worms, which it kills by starvation within a few days of feeding upon the bacteria. One might also search for the eggs (pale yellow or white, oval) on the underside of leaves and squash them. Avoid handling the caterpillars, which have little stinging hairs.
GREEN THUMB MEETING
The Bakersfield Green Thumb Garden Club will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Church of the Brethren, Palm and A streets.
Portulcaria-Afra is the plant of the month and member Nancy Burns will discuss its growing habits. A tour of member Rob Rephan's garden will follow the meeting. Directions to his garden can be picked up at the meeting.
The main program will be a hands-on planting workshop. Everyone is to bring a 10- to 12- inch container and a few plants. Soil will be provided as well as expert directions by Gloria Aminian. Some plants will be for sale for planting needs.
The club’s annual Plant Sale at the church is scheduled to run from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. the following Saturday, Sept. 27.
