Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9408050045
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: John Arbogast
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
R.S., Covington
A: Mushrooms grow from decaying organic matter (O.M.), so the abundance of any type of fresh O. M. that is damp can be a source of mushrooms. That could explain mushrooms where you spread that compost over those newly seeded spots, since I'm guessing that you apply moisture regularly for the new grass. Mushrooms growing prolifically in other parts of the lawn could be growing from damp decaying thatch or other moist organic matter that can occur naturally.
Other than raking out the dead sod and spot seeding as you are already doing, the only solutions would be to restrict your dog to certain areas or else follow her when she goes out to the bathroom and then water the affected area thoroughly to wash away the urine as soon as she finishes. Early September is the best time of year for seeding cool season grasses in our region, even though water must be applied then too.
Q: I have a snowball bush hydrangea from a nursery that has never grown above just a few inches even though we keep it watered and have tried two locations. Why has this happened? Soil type? Is there any special fertilizer I should be using?
M.A.A., Vinton
A: If your plant had not been dug and replanted in different locations, I would give the most common reasons for stunted growth of a woody plant which would be planting too deep, compacted soil, or some sort of root limitation. However, since the plant has been dug and reset and the stunting continues, I ould have to guess that your plant is just biologically unable to grow.
The plant that folks refer to as "snowball plant" prefers good, loamy, moist, well-drained soil. No special fertilizer should be required. Granular 10-10-10 or a soluble fertilizer mixed according to directions should be just fine if indeed there is a need to fertilize this plant.
Q: My damson trees have a hard black fungus that encircles the branches. I had to destroy several trees because of this in the past. Please help.
C.B., Salem
A: You have described the fungus disease called "Black Knot", which is known to attack many species of wild and cultivated plums and cherries. The damson tree is a type of plum. Some tips to help save your current plum trees: prune out and destroy all the knots on small twigs and branches during the dormant season and cut out swellings on the side of large limbs; closely inspect all parts annually during the pruning season to detect any new black knot infections; and spray with fungicide (although most fungicides are not specifically registered for black knot control on plums or cherries, in home\ fruit plantings where a good spray program for control of the disease called "brown rot" is followed, black knot will not be a problem).
Q: I have a beautiful, two-year-old holly bush with healthy glossy leaves. In the spring it has a lot of blooms and a few berries but they all fall off. I put miracid around it often. Why doesn't it have berries and when do I prune it?
D.M.J., Roanoke
A: The most obvious explanation for this would be that you have a female holly of one of the types of holly that produces male and female flowers on separate plants and that there is not a male holly of the same type as yours within a close enough distance to give yours sufficient pollen. If you know the name of your holly or have the tag that came with the plant, I could do a better job with this answer. The lack of berries is the result of no pollination rather than an indication of needed fertilization.
Don't apply any more miracid or any other fertilizer around this plant until late in the winter.
Prune your holly in late winter or early spring.
John K. Arbogast is the agricultural and natural resources extension agent for Roanoke.
by CNB