THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509220085
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
After my iris bloomed this year and last, leaves started falling down to the ground. I dug up around the bulbs and found several that were soft.
I also have a problem with my front lawn. It was seeded this year with Kentucky 31 fescue in early spring. It was beautiful until mid-May. Then it started losing its green color and now has turned brown. I have been giving it at least an inch of water every three days. What do I need to do?
John D. Taylor, Onancock
Your iris have borers. Dig out the soft iris rhizomes and dust the remaining ones with Sevin or spray with Cygon. Most iris society members recommend Cygon. You'll need to do this annually to keep borers under control.
As to your grass, it has brown patch or rust. Your letter sounds like you may be giving it too much water. The usual recommendation is 1 inch of water per week. If you water in the evening, that helps promote the fungus disease called brown patch. Rake out dead areas in mid-September and reseed then, fertilizing at that time with 10-10-10. Fertilize once or twice more with a high nitrogen fertilizer (30-5-10) or something similar. This should give you better results next summer. It's been dry, but brown patch results when you have high humidity, too much nitrogen fertilizer and grass that's wet at night. Always sprinkle lawns early in the day.
Please send more information on when to use Epsom Salts on tomato plants and in what stage of their life.
Orville W. Rogers, Wanchese, N.C.
As with much garden advice, everyone has a different recommendation. The most recent for tomatoes is to use at the rate of 1 tablespoonful per plant, monthly throughout the growing season. Cultivate in lightly and water well. Epsom Salts are so named because they were first found in Epsom, England. They are magnesium sulfate, a readily available form of magnesium. They have a neutral effect on soil acidity, so you need not be concerned about that. The Epsom Salt Council is recommending you spray your lawn with four pounds of Epsom Salt per 5,000 square feet each spring. This builds a deeper root structure, helping your lawn withstand summer's blistering heat.
Have you written any gardening books? If so, how and where can I obtain them?
Joe A. Peay, Virginia Beach
My first and only gardening book is expected from the printer around Oct. 1. It will be available by mail and in selected bookstores, soon to be announced. Price is $16.95.
A method used to control sand spurs at Ocean View in the 1930s and '40s by my parents and grandparents was to drag a sheet of burlap around the yard to ``harvest'' the sand spurs. Then burn the burlap. Of course, the dragging had to be repeated periodically. This method works, because the spines of a sand spur are barbed.
J.A. Wright Jr., Edenton, N.C.
Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe your idea will help the people at Ocean View and on the Outer Banks, who regularly complain about sand spurs.
I have been trying to identify the 45-year-old tree in my father's back yard for over a year and am not having much success. I was told by Joe Carr at Gardens in a Flowerpot that maybe it was a cedar, but he suggested I call the Hampton Roads Research Center on Diamond Springs Road. Their expert plant identifier, Dr. Dan Milbocker, has retired and only works periodically, so they told me to see my extension agent in Norfolk. I went to the extension service and left a tree sample. Two men there tried to identify it. One said he could not guarantee his identification but he believed it was a ``Karri'' oak, which only grows in Australia. I do not think it is an oak, and I know Daddy did not get it from Australia. Would you please try and identify it? The tree is deciduous. In spring, there are pink blossoms followed by fine, ferny leaves. In October, the leaves turn to white, airy ``blossoms.'' It's 15 to 20 feet tall and half as wide.
Milda Harrold, Norfolk
It didn't take long for my identification expert to properly identify your father's tree as a Tamarisk, sometimes spelled Tamarix. You've described it perfectly. You see more of them in the Midwest than around here. My grandmother grew one. I've grown it in Virginia Beach, but it's hard to find. Mine came from Smithfield Gardens. It's a tough, attractive small tree and should be grown by more people. MEMO: No gardening questions will be taken over the phone. Write to Robert
Stiffler, The Virginian-Pilot, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va.
23510. Answers will be published on a space-available basis. For an
earlier reply, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. by CNB