THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604260072
SECTION: HOME & GARDEN PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Gardening
SOURCE: Robert Stiffler
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
We have two lilac bushes 3 to 4 feet tall, which we grew from cuttings. They are 5 years old. One is in semishade, and the other is in mostly full sun. Neither has ever shown any sign of blooms. Can you advise as to the probable reason and what, if anything, can we do to encourage them to bloom?
Peter W. Rowe, Seaview Farm, Eastville
Your plants are young. Give them enough time and they will flower, given proper care. You must be giving them proper care to get them up to 4 feet tall. Be prepared for problems as they mature, because it's difficult to get lilacs to grow successfully in this area.
My question is that you told Catherine Weagle of Toano that hardwood mulch can create a manganese problem. I have been using hardwood mulch for three years, because I like its looks. I have given my camellias iron, but they still look like they need more, and it seems to do no good. I have also lost seven gardenias in the same area during that time. Do you think mulch is causing my problems? Are there antidotes for manganese or do I have to remove the hardwood mulch and put down pine bark?
Joyce Grosch, Virginia Beach
Iron is one of the antidotes for lack of manganese, so continue to apply it, according to package directions. Virginia Tech officials suggest, after looking at the camellia leaves you sent, that they may have poor drainage. If so, you might want to remove all mulch, because it might be keeping your plants too wet. If your gardenias were in full sun with good drainage, it's hard to tell what caused their death. But it could be caused by roots in wet soil.
Please give me a treatment for moles in my yard. We've tried Mole-Med.
Also I have a miniature rose bush that I've had several years. It was beautiful until last summer when leaves turned yellow, dropped off, and it quit blooming. In the fall, I cut it back to half its height, although it used to bloom until frost. Do you have suggestions?
Ms. Clare Lily, Virginia Beach
I still believe Mole-Med is the best way to get rid of moles. It must be applied three times per year and watered in. Abner's Hardware in Oceana is the store nearest you that keeps it. You can use poison peanuts, Juicy Fruit gum and castor bean seeds every 2 feet in the run and kill the few that may come back. Or treat your entire area with Merit or diazinon, which are insecticides that kill grubs in the soil. Then the moles are supposed to leave. Or spread milky spore over the entire area, which gives grubs a disease. The moles will move out, because they feed on grubs and worms.
Your rose problem is not easy to diagnose. It sounds like its roots are infected, and the plant will probably die, perhaps from age. Many roses seem to have a limited life span. I like to keep miniature roses in containers at eye level, where you can appreciate their blooms.
I have a large beechnut tree in my backyard. Grass grows everywhere in the yard except under that tree. Is there any type grass you would recommend that might grow under the tree? I have a bed of leaves surrounding the tree, but the branches extend beyond the bed. Grass will not grow anywhere under the branches. My wife ran across an ad on a grass seed called ``Canada Green.'' What is your opinion of that grass?
Dean Cumbey, Franklin
There are grasses you can try, but under a large tree such as you describe, the tree robs the grass of water and food. Because of that, you'll fight a losing battle trying to get grass to grow. I'd enlarge your bed to the edge of the tree branches and plant liriope, mondo grass or low-growing cottoneaster. Any of them will grow much better in that area than grass, and they don't have to be mowed.
As to the ``Canada Green'' ad, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Virginia Tech specialists examined the ad and found that it did not say whether the grass was fescue, blue grass or what. Any ad that non-specific is probably not going to reward you with anything worthwhile.
No one seemed to know what I should do with my citrosa plants at the end of last summer. I had three big ones on my deck and would hope to have them this season. Do you cut them back and put them in a sheltered area? Because of the scent, I did not want to bring them into the house, but they are not inexpensive. They did seem to assist with the mosquitoes on my deck.
Alisa Bearov Landrum, Norfolk
Treat your citrosa as any other geranium, which it is. I've heard conflicting reports about these plants. They are supposed to prevent mosquitoes for up to 3 feet in each direction. I hope you brought yours inside to a sunny window, where they should live until it's warm enough to put on your deck this summer.
My wife and I would like to plant apple trees. We decided we would like to plant Gala and Spitzenburg. Are they compatible? Are they self-pollinating or will they properly pollinate one another?
Dan Scott, Portsmouth
The apple expert in this area is Rollin Wooley, landscape supervisor at Colonial Williamsburg. He is planting an orchard of nearly 100 apples, all of different varieties. He says Gala is a good pollinator and that it will pollinate the Spitzenburg. That means the two you want should provide plenty of apples. Remember that all fruit in this area requires numerous sprays to combat insects and disease.
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