TREES/SHRUBS: Mulch, keep mulch material away from trunks to prevent disease. Wrap lower trunks with fine mesh wire guards to prevent mice damage. Keep mulch a few inches away from base of tree. Ever wonder why those parking lot trees with mulch piled up a foot around the base continue to live? Me too! Prune shrubs as the flowers finish, such as lilacs. Prune out suckers, weak, crossed branches, & those growing inwards. Trim hedges. Detroit News writer Janet Macunovich says "...Green thumbs down" to heavy fertilization of new trees/shrubs after July 1 because insects are attracted to the resultant soft, new growth. Such plants are also prone to winter dieback because our summers aren't long enough for new growth to harden.
ANNUALS IN CONTAINERS: Protect them from drowning in the rain by moving them into a sheltered area or covering with plastic, especially those in hangers or hayracks lined with fiber mats. Those mats, by the way, should be completely soaked before planting mix is introduced, and it, in turn, should be thoroughly moistened before plants are introduced. My splotched white & splotched bright yellow pansies are still perky; the pale, all-yellow variety is kaput.
BULBS: Let those leaves die naturally. Do not tie daffodil leaves into cute little knots. If the sight of yellowing leaves displeases, dig up & replant in an out-of-sight sunny bed, or replant on the edge of a woods & leave them there forever. Some people treat tulips like annuals & toss them out. Chipmunks do the same for me, so I limit bulbs to daffodils & scillas which chippers dislike.
PERENNIALS: Plant as weather permits, but avoid areas where soil is still cold & sticky. Divide daylilies. Those that bloom throughout summer, such as the ubiquitous 'Stella de Oro' & 'Rosy Returns,' the newer rebloomer by the same hybridizer, must be divided every two years in order to continue reblooming. The remainder of the Hemerocallis world should be divided every four or five years to encourage blooming at all. Hostas needn't be divided, unless you or your friends want more. If the cupped-leaf hostas have collection fistfuls of maple sumaras & other wind-blown seeds, take a feather duster to their "faces." In The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, Planting & Pruning Techniques, (a book recommended by Mary Beth & myself a few years ago), author Tracy DiSabato-Aust has several chapters on pruning & cutting back perennials for many good reasons. Now is the time to cut back by 50% Sedum 'Autumn Joy' if it sprawls apart when in bloom. This "swooning" act is caused by too much shade or too rich soil. Hacking a plant in half is not for the faint of heart. Some prefer the less drastic pinching back of bloom heads. Do some of both & compare. I prefer the former.
BAD GUYS: It's that time of year again! Gypsy Moths have undoubtedly moved in their little caravans & are camping out in some of their favorite tree houses: Serviceberry, gray & paper birch, hawthorn, witchhazel, apple, crabapple, oak, mountain ash, to name a few. Your options: 1. Contact an arborist for big trees. 2. Wait for the government to spray heavily infested areas. 3. Do-it-yourself chemical warfare. 4. Hand-picking during the larvae early morning rush to the top of the trees. 5. Attach those attractive burlap bands on trees. Leave the bottom edge unattached so the larvae can crawl under to hide. Collect & destroy daily. I find it easier to simply bounce them off the bark into a container of deadly liquid. Keep trees under such stress healthy by regular fertilization, watering during dry times & select trees less appealing to the gypsy, such as: Fir, horse chestnut, catalpa, dogwood, ash (Fraxinus, NOT Sorbus), holly, mulberry, sycamore.
APHIDS: Ladybugs normally keep them under control, but after deadheading several containers of pansies recently, my hand was covered with the tiny, lime green critters. I hosed off the plants (hand also), haven't noticed any further infestation.
JAPANESE BEETLES: We came across a few early last month while digging, but not enought to warrant a grub exterminator. Adult beetles can be controlled on many ornamentals & food crops with kill products. If large patches of grass turn tan, we may consider a grub killer in fall.
GOING NATIVE CATCHING ON: It was a SRO crowd at the annual meeting of the North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy at Cedar Crest Academy in Springfield Twp. last month. Four speakers presented a program on "Naturescaping for Wildlife & Human Pleasure," outlining the many pluses of planting native (here when settlers arrived) as opposed to non-native or exotic (imported) plants. While not everyone wants to transform the front lawn into a meadow, there are many good reasons to transform borders & islands out back into woodsy or sunny areas that attract birds & butterflies, provide shelter for wildlife, require no mowing & little watering. Ask yourself: Would I prefer to continually amend my soil to accommodatea certain non-native plants, or would I select a native plants who prefer conditions already present on my plot? Clue: What plants on your property did not get eaten or damaged last winter? Hit of the show was the CD created by the Springfield Township Native Vegetation Enhancement Project. This is an encyclopedic disk that should prove indispensable to local gardeners who are downsizing patches of demanding ("feed me, water me, wrap me") plants as well as those who are just getting a landscape started. I will check on how many disks might be available. At $6, this disk is reason alone to buy a computer if you're not yet hooked up.
TAKE A WALK: In somebody's garden. Tickets to the Springfield Branch tour are available from June 14 through the tour day, June 30, at Mailboxes Etc. in the corner of the shopping center at Dixie & White Lake Rd. Mary Bertolini says all gardens are within five miles of each other.
Troy Branch holds its 27th annual walk on Wednesday, July 11. Limited advance tickets, $10, at: A Sense of Thyme, Telly's, Troy Historical Museum, Wilkop Landscape or call 248.879.8091.
Warren Branch holds its fifth annual walk Sunday, July 22. Advance tickets, $5, at: Jim's Florist, Eckert's Perennials, Greco's Nursery, all in Warren, or by calling 810.264.4522.
Linda Meadors, Horticulture Chair.