Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410220045
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN ARBOGAST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A: I did find this listed as one of the many cultivars, or cultivated varieties, of sunflowers. According to Agnew Seed Store in Roanoke, "Teddy Bear" sunflower is not a hybrid.
In order for the seeds to be viable, let the "Teddy Bear" flowers dry fully before removing seeds. Store the seeds in a dry, cool location for sowing next spring.
Q: Can you tell me a way to kill Johnson grass other than digging it up? J.T., Christiansburg
A: It is not possible or even safe to give a weed killer recommendation without knowing where the target weed is growing.
Is your Johnson grass growing in a vegetable garden, lawn, pasture, adjacent to landscape plants, etc? I hope you can understand that this reply is not a "cop-out"; if this aggressive perennial grassy weed is in a vegetable garden, digging it out may be the only safe and legal control recommendation. If it's in a pasture, control recommendations must consider the health of the animals.
Call your local Montgomery County Extension Office at 382-5790, tell them where your Johnson grass is growing, and get specific control suggestions.
Q: My back yard is overgrown with high weeds as well as small trees. I had the yard sprayed for weeds a year ago, but it is worse now than ever. What is a solution? Is there something that can and will destroy what is causing the overgrowth? H.H., Roanoke
A: Chemicals probably are not the answer to your problem. Homeowners have a choice to make here: Are you willing to do periodic mowing or even bush-hogging necessary to keep areas from becoming overgrown; or will you accept those areas with whatever regrowth nature provides?
If your decision is the first option, look in the
Yellow Pages under "lawn maintenance" to find someone who will provide the level of mowing you desire.
If your back yard can be bush-hogged only, talk to a farm supply place or a nursery for a suggestion of someone to call.
Q: I have thornless blackberries that are taking over the area into adjoining garden. When do I trim and fertilize them for the '95 crop? When do you cut out the old and fertilize raspberries? Can worms come out of the ground at night to eat holes in leaves of various plants? I've heard others say that they have holes but no sign of insects. E.W., Roanoke
A: Both blackberries and raspberries are in the category called brambles. For both types of plants, remove all dead canes now if you did not do so right after harvesting. Also cut to the ground and remove all blackberry canes that have come up in unwanted areas. Many of the bramble fruit types require dormant pruning to thin out excessive young canes. Select the stout fruiting canes for the coming year. The dormant pruning usually is done in the winter after danger of severe cold is past but before the buds begin to swell.
Your letter points out the need for all mail to this column to be specific about the plants in question, since I can't give specifics about pruning without knowing if your blackberry variety is erect-growing versus trailing and if your raspberries are everbearing, red, black or purple.
Call your local Extension office with this information and receive proper pruning suggestions. The phone number is listed under Virginia Cooperative Extension for the jurisdiction of your residence.
On fertile soils, or where a good organic mulch is maintained, it is usually unnecessary to fertilize bramble plants. Some insects as well as slugs and snails feed only at night, thus leaving us with damage evidence during the day but no culprits. Anyone experiencing this should go out to the plants after dark when the damage is occurring and look with a flashlight to see what controls are appropriate.
Q: I used to call you with questions regularly, but both my mother and I were told that we shouldn't call you since we live in Roanoke County rather than Roanoke city. Perhaps you would get more response to Dear John if your office didn't discourage "regional" questions. G.C., Roanoke
A: Your letter puzzles me, since the Roanoke City Extension Office has the policy that callers are not asked where they live before we take a call. Please keep in mind, though, that each local Extension office is partially funded by that local government, thus making the residents and government of that locality a priority for the Extension staff working there.
Q: I have an area in front of my house where nothing will grow. I am thinking of transplanting forsythia there. Questions: 1. Can I dig up my existing plants, split them into several portions, and replant? 2. When should I do this? 3. How should I prepare the soil? 4. How do I treat them after planting? D.H., Salem
A: 1. Yes. 2. Since you will dig up and divide the
forsythias without soil around the roots, do this in mid-fall when the forsythias are dormant but the ground is still warm. 3. Investigate the site and try to determine why nothing will grow there. This will be important to both your third and fourth questions. Dig a wide hole for each transplant and loosen the soil around the edges of each hole. Generally, outside soil amendments are not recommended, just topsoil. 4. Mulch the new plants with 2 inches of organic mulch and water thoroughly once a week from leaf emergence through leaf fall for at least the first year.
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.
by CNB