THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606210087
SECTION: HOME & GARDEN PAGE: G3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Gardening
SOURCE: Robert Stiffler
LENGTH: 123 lines
For years, I've enjoyed the beauty of our lovely crape myrtle trees. Even in winter, their bare branches and shapes are exquisite. And they're gorgeous in summer with their 100-day blossoms. But I'm noticing more and more are being pruned, (more accurately, chopped) to such an extent they resemble armless and legless creatures. Then in spring there appears these little straight stems on stubs, followed the next year by strange-looking bumps where the cuttings were made the prior year.
If the plan in cutting them back to that extent is to have more blossoms, forget it. I've observed them for several years and, if anything, they have fewer blossoms. There are several places in Norfolk - Ballentine Boulevard being one - where the streets are lined with older crape myrtles that have not been butchered (at least, not the last time I saw them). They are beautiful both winter and summer. I wish you could convince owners not to get carried away with their clippers and saws. Save our beautiful crape myrtles!
Virginia Hutchinson, Virginia Beach
I could not agree more. Your letter is one that should be reprinted every winter and spring. I'm one who followed the common practice of butchering them back. They look like horrible skeletons until hot weather. Then, as you say, they get all those knobs. The ony reason to prune any crape myrtle is to control size. Newer varieties have the size bred into them, so there is no need for pruning to size. More landscape architects and designers should lead the way to prevent the butchering of crape myrtles throughout this area.
Horticulturally, there is even more reason to leave them alone. Virginia Tech's Dan Milbocker says the food supply in the plant does not occur until after January, which means they should not be pruned in December or January. If pruning must be done, do it only after Feb. 1.
Let's improve the many landscapes throughout this area by preventing skeletal crape myrtle trees. Let them grow without pruning. Let them be natural and they'll be more beautiful year around.
If you know of anyone who is dividing their plants, I am a beginner and need some rooted plants or shrubs. My small seedlings do not seem to be doing anything because of rabbits, squirrels, moles, etc. I can come and dig them up if people who have extras will contact me. I need to get a feel for what will grow here.
Mrs. C.H. Wallace, 5505 Parliament Drive, Virginia Beach, Va. 23462; phone, 473-9388
Our readers love to share plants, so you should get calls from those who have extras. Just stand by your telephone and check your mailbox.
A local garden center recommended I use milky spore powder to control moles. By killing grubs, the salesman said that moles are forced to leave the area. Is this a reasonable expectation for this product?
Dallas Holston, Suffolk
Your garden center gave you good advice. Milky spore, although costly, gives grubs a disease and they die. When there is no food, moles move away. You'll also have fewer Japanese beetles. It takes two years for it to become fully effective, but it lasts for up to 20 years.
You will occasionally see a mole run. When that happens, you need to treat that one run with castor beans or poison peanuts. Overall, milky spore will do a good job.
Some years ago, a friend gave me some bulbs he called Resurrection. The bulbs came up in the spring with foliage only - and then it died. In the fall, they bloomed with a coral-red flower on a single stem - no leaves. I saw some of these bulbs last September in Williamsburg, but no one could identify them. I hope you can.
Earlene Williams, Virginia Beach
The plant you describe is lycoris, often called spider lily or magic lily. Planted in the fall, it comes up with foliage in the spring that soon disappears. In late August or September, it throws up tall spikes with spider-like flowers. They are available in varying colors - red, pink, white and yellow. The pink one is lycoris squamigera, which has a lily-shaped bloom. Lycoris are nice to have, because they bloom when little else is bright in a garden.
We moved from Oklahoma to Chesapeake in 1993. The lawn we inherited was fescue, but the neighbors had Bermuda, so we now have a combination of fescue and Bermuda. We would like to kill all the grass this summer and landscape in a way that any grass from the neighbor is prevented from entering our lawn. What is the best grass for this area to grow from seed?
M.L. Clendenin, Chesapeake
When your neighbors have Bermuda, it is a constant challenge to keep it out of your lawn, because birds carry the seed and wind blows it. My suggestion would be to live with your lawn this summer. Then kill it in late August with Roundup or Finale. Till it up and reseed around Sept. 15 with any of the hybrid fescues. Get a soil test by that time, and apply lime if needed. Seed is in short supply so you should buy what you want without delay. Good varieties include Shenandoah, Titan, Rebel II and a blend named Southern Belle. Fertilize before you seed with a starter fertilizer. Then fertilize again with a high-nitrogen turf food in October and November and again in early April. You'll have weeds this fall, so once your grass gets started, spray to kill the weeds in mid-October with an herbicide such as Weed-B-Gon.
In the spring, overseed the barespots with the same seed you used in September and plan to do that every fall to keep a thick stand. Everytime you see even a sprig of Bermuda, spray it with Roundup to keep it out of your lawn. With vigilence, you can keep Bermuda out.
Also remember that it takes three years to get a good lawn. A thick, green turf needs seed, fertilizer and water. If you supply those in ample quantity, you can have a good-looking lawn.
I have a large waterfront yard on the Lafayette River. My well water contains salt as well as iron. Ninety percent of my flowers have died due to salt water. Are there any plants that are salt resistant?
Lillian L. Walker, Norfolk
You may as well give up on annual vegetables and flowers, because they will not tolerate salt. Here are some that have thrived for me, despite salty water: roses, hibiscus (the hardy perennial one), liriope, mondo grass, daylilies (if you don't overwater them with your salty water), fruit trees, peonies, gaura and cannas.
Most perennials won't live long if watered regularly with salty water. The iron in your water most likely won't hurt them other than to make a brown stain on the foliage.
Your best bet may be to replant with plants that require little water. Then water only during dry periods. I am sending you a list of plants that will grow near the seashore. It may help you make wise choices. 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. ILLUSTRATION: FILE PHOTO
Mature crape myrtles don't need pruning, except to control size. by CNB