Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 27, 1994< TAG: 9403260148
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN ARBOGAST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Kousa seems to be a tougher small flowering tree than its much-loved cousin, showing little in the way of serious disease or pest problems. The Kousa was mentioned as a good alternative to flowering dogwoods a couple of years ago when they were being hit by the fatal anthracnose disease.
The Kousa has creamy white flowers that appear in May or early June after the leaves are out.
Give a Kousa the same room you would a flowering dogwood. It can grow as tall as 20 feet and be equally as wide. It grows best in a well-drained soil and requires a relatively sunny location. Regular watering will be needed during establishment, but the Kousa is supposedly more drought resistant than the flowering dogwood.
Q: Please tell me why a yard near woods would begin to lose grass and is beginning to have mold all over it. N.H., Roanoke
A: If the lawn is not too old and once was part of the woods, I would guess the soil is poor, acidic and compacted. These conditions may have gradually weakened grass that was strong when new.
Take a soil test from to see if acidic soil is the culprit. That problem can be corrected by appropriate liming. Compacted soil can be helped by core aerification at this time of year.
Tree roots from a neighboring woods can reduce vigor of a lawn by competing for moisture and nutrients. This can explain why soil within the root spread of mature trees is often dry . The solution is to provide water and nutrients to support turf or change to another ground cover that doesn't mind competition and drier conditions.
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 DON'T SEND STAMPS, STAMPED ENVELOPES, SAMPLES, OR PICTURES.
Gardener's checklist
The increased sunlight coming through windows at this time of year usually means that houseplants will be making new growth soon. Resume monthly fertilizer applications. Any soluble houseplant food can be used as long as the directions are followed. Too much fertilizer applied to potted plants will cause an accumulation in the soil and result in root burn and death.
Grass has resumed growth. Lawns can be managed for their best growth by mowing often enough so that no more than one-third of the grass height is cut in one mowing. Allowing the grass to grow tall and then mowing short causes shock and injury to the roots. In the spring when the grass is growing rapidly, frequent mowing is required. Be sure your mower blade is sharp.
Even though lawn fertilizers may be on sale at this time of year, Virginia Tech suggests that little or no nitrogen fertilizer be applied to bluegrass or fescue between mid-January and mid-May until after the spring flush of growth in our part of the country. Nitrogen, the major fertilizer element of typical lawn foods, causes a quick response in grass plants that is easily observed. Nitrogen applied now that is quickly available to the grass plants can reduce the turf root growth.
Sow grass seed to fill in bare spots this time of year as the soil begins to warm, but be sure to prepare the soil first. In reseeding bare areas, make certain that the new grasses will blend well with the existing turf. Use high quality varieties.
Apply fertilizer only to shrubs that have exhibited poor growth, such as light green leaves and short, thin twigs, or those that have been winter-injured. Apply uniformly over the root zone in a ring, starting about 6 inches from the base of the shrub and extending to about a foot beyond the ends of the branches.
John Arbogast is the agriculture extension agent for Roanoke.
940326 9999 STORY #28288 TOPIC KEYWORD DESK AUTHOR:REMOTE120003/26/94 \ chif and move to homes sunday homes, dear john
Folks in Western Virginia who
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