Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 5, 1993 TAG: 9309060275
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Last Sunday's (Aug. 1) question in regard to the use of saltpeter to remove stumps came to my attention. This used to be common practice in Canada when I lived there a number of years ago. The reason for soaking the stump with saltpeter is that it acts as an oxidizing agent. (This means that the saltpeter works to increase oxygen in the stump.) Then, once a fire is built on top of the stump, it will fully combust; combustion will also occur underground where it cannot obtain oxygen from the air.
Q: What is the proper height to cut grass for lawns? Also, can grass clippings be used as mulch in the vegetable garden after drying? Every time I put clippings on the ground, they seem to mold after a rain. S.H., Willis
A: The proper mowing height for lawns should be based on the type of grass being grown, as these recommendations from Virginia Tech show: Kentucky bluegrass: 2-2 1/2 inches;tall fescue: 2 1/2-3 inches; red fescue: 2-3 inches; Bermuda grass: 1/2-1 inch; and zoysia grass: 3/4-1 inch.
Grass clippings that do not have residue from a lawn weed killer make an excellent organic mulch in the vegetable garden. However, fresh grass clippings do tend to mold easily, particularly when they get wet. This can be avoided by spreading clippings in very thin layers of no more than 1/2 inch thick so they can dry throughout before more clippings are added on top.
Q: My crape myrtle is large with lots of branches and healthy green leaves but very few blossoms. What can I do to increase the number of blossoms it produces for next year? S.C.K., Roanoke
A: Two situations known to reduce or prevent flowering of crape myrtles are dry soils, especially during the spring or early summer, (that could result from soil that doesn't retain moisture because of rockiness or competition from other plants) and anything less than full sun. I can't tell from your short note if either of these factors hold true in your yard. However, to increase the number of crape myrtle flowers next year, you might need to transplant yours in midfall to give it better soil or more sun.
Q: I am having a hard time with tomatoes. I have had a blight for a number of years, but the last two years my tomatoes died long before their time. This year I have sprayed with Daconil and later, Copper. Copper seems to have helped some, but little. I started spraying when planted. I feel there is a disease in my soil. Is there a fungicide or something that can be plowed into the ground to kill the disease or slow it down? I have changed garden plots from time with no help. E.H.W., Roanoke
A: I would need to know the exact cause of your tomato problems before I could mention a soil treatment or any other control. Your situation may not be because of disease. For example, tomatoes will wilt and die before their time if grown near black walnut trees. There is no chemical treatment for that. The term "blight" is fairly broad and does not give enough information to make any diagnosis on which to base any control recommendation. So, contact your local county or city Extension office (listed with your local government phone numbers) so you can have a two-way discussion about the possibilities as well as the different garden plots you have used for tomatoes.
Q: I have about five blueberry bushes that are growing very tall and thick. I would like to know how to trim them and when. The berries are very small and sour this year. Mrs. C.P., Copper Hill
A: Pruning for young blueberry bushes mainly consists of the removal of low spreading canes and dead and broken branches. Since yours are of bearing age, however, you should prune the blueberry plants each year, any time from leaf fall in autumn until growth begins in the spring, in order to keep the plants producing high quality fruits. Thus, each year, select six to eight of the most vigorous, upright-growing canes in each bush to become the fruiting wood and then remove all other old canes.
Normally, after about five or six years of age, a blueberry cane will begin to lose vigor and produce less fruit. So, at the dormant pruning, remove older canes but leave strong, vigorous new shoots that grew from the base of the bush the previous season to eventually be fruiting canes. Also in that dormant pruning, you can cut back excessive top growth to a convenient berry-picking height.
Send short questions about your lawn, garden, plants or insects to Dear John, c/o the Roanoke Times & World-News, P. O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. We need your mail, but this column can't reply to all letters. Those of wide appeal will be answered each week. Personal replies cannot be given. Please do not send stamped envelopes, samples or pictures.
John Arbogast is the agricultural extension agent for Roanoke.
by CNB