DATE: Sunday, June 15, 1997                 TAG: 9706140067

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G4   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: GARDENING

                                            LENGTH:   94 lines

NO EASY WAY TO WIN BATTLE AGAINST BERMUDA GRASS

We moved into our newly constructed home four years ago and have been battling Bermuda grass and weeds ever since. Last August, I sprayed with Kleen-up to kill everything. Then in early September, I put out Rebel Jr. grass seed. I faithfully watered it but now I have a yard of every weed imagineable.

We are going to sell our house soon, so I don't want to put a lot of money into it. I would like to at least control the weeds. I remember reading that it doesn't do any good to spray weeds in winter, even if it's warm enough, because they are not actively growing. Short of pulling them up by hand, which I have done, is there anything I can do or you would recommend?

Melinda LaCaze, Chesapeake

You've pretty well answered your own questions. Weed control products do not work until the daytime temperatures stay in the 60-degree range. You should apply crabgrass control early in the spring and then use weed killer products in April or May, perhaps a weed and feed, to eliminate the weeds and feed the grass. Unfortunely with either crabgrass or weed control, you can't seed for six weeks, so you'll have to abandon any idea of sowing more grass seed.

An alternate plan would be to seed rye grass six weeks after using a weed killer. It would make your lawn look good until the heat of summer destroys the rye grass. I am sending you a program from weed specialist Laurie Smith, which she prepared at the Hampton Roads Research Center.

This information may arrive too late to help you this year. Readers, remember it's important to include a stamped, self-addressed envelope, if your problem is urgent. There is a longer wait for responses to appear in the newspaper.

I have two scuppernong grape vines. One is the old-timey bronze scuppernong with small grapes. They are the best around. The other vine is called Carolina scuppernong. It has dark blue small grapes and is not nearly as good as the bronze one. The hulls are tough. I've used the bronze grapes to make delicious preserves. The blue variety I cooked and cooked, but the grapes were still so tough I had to throw them out. They are nearly impossible to eat. What' s your advice?

Aimee Bell Harreys, Sedley

It appears the best plan for your blue grape is to dig it up and throw it away. The best advice on grapes in this area is from Paradise Nursery, the new name for Rob and Sybil Mays' operation. Here is their response to your problem:

``Like many other plant groups, grapes suffer from confusion between common names and actual cultivar names. In this case, the Muscadine cultivar `Scuppernong' is a female cultivar that requires another variety for fruit production. However, the term `scuppernong' is used as a general term to refer to most of the Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) grapes. Many of the muscadine-scuppernong grapes are self-fertile. We supply local garden centers with two self-fertile varieties of scuppernong: `Carolos,' a golden-bronze grape, and `Cowart,' a blue-purple grape. These classic Muscadine or scuppernong grapes do well in Hampton Roads and are an exceptionally good choice for organic gardeners and others wishing to avoid spraying. With a self-fertile variety, gardeners with limited space can still obtain a good harvest from a single, well-fed and properly pruned vine.''

For information on where you can find the grapes mentioned, call (757) 421-0201.

I have a built-up garden in my back yard that is framed by 8-foot timbers. I recently read in Organic Gardening that treated timbers can and may be leaching arsenic into the soil. Does arsenic get into plants? And then into the consumer's system?

Can I have my soil tested for arsenic, etc.? I plan on making a built-up strawberry bed on the end of this garden.

What timbers would be safe to use and that termites will not destroy?

Chester Franklin, Virginia Beach

This question has arisen often in the last 23 years, and I rely on horticulturist Dan Milbocker, now retired to Pennylvania, for the answer. He writes: ``Only relatively recent salt-treated timber contains arsenic, and then it is an arsenic-copper complex. I don't know for sure if much arsenic leaches from the timbers.

``Several facts should be taken into consideration before believing that a little arsenic is dangerous. (1) With the heavy rainfall along the East Coast, arsenic would leach out, instead of accumulating in the surrounding soil. Arsenic accumulates in dry-land wheat soils of the Midwest. Both arsenic and selenium accumulate in the wheat and becomes dangerous, only if animals feed exclusively on them. Flour made from such wheat is not considered dangerous because it is mixed with other flour and low levels are a stimulant to the body, instead of being toxic. (2) Arsenic is also used as a herbicide for lawns. It is not considered to be a potential danger for later uses of the soil - possibly as a garden. (3) Arsenic was used as an orchard insecticide for years and accumulated to approximately 70 pounds per acre. The apples grown in these orchards have never been considerd dangerous. (4) Finally, if you prefer, you can purchase copper napthanate and treat your own timbers and know that they contain no arsenic.''

I read and like Organic Gardening magazine, but it thrives on controversy. It's wise to use some moderation in interpreting its views. 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 at the

proper time for their use in the garden. For an earlier reply, send a

self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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