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CCE Wyoming County
>>
Gardening
>> Gardening Resources
Please send requests for additional information by emailing your
local Master Gardener, Lutie Batt, at lcb37@cornell.edu
printable version (pdf)
 There
has been interest among gardeners in recent years in attracting
bats to the home garden for managing insects. Of course, the obvious
method is to construct a bat house where they can roost and raise
their young and thus concentrate their insect-feeding activity
nearby. However, bats are particular about the design and location
of their living space. A stable temperature of between 80F and
110F degrees is needed in bat nurseries, depending on the species.
Therefore, the house needs to be as airtight as possible, so seal
all external joints with silicone caulk to prevent heat loss.
Also, orient the house to receive maximum sunlight, particularly
in early morning; a southern exposure works well.
A few other tips: Western red cedar is the recommended construction
material; do not treat the bat house with paint or varnish as
bats are sensitive to chemicals; erect houses 10 to 15 feet off
the ground and protect from north and west winds; houses placed
within a quarter mile of a permanent water source are more attractive
to bats than those without water nearby.
Back to Gardening Tips
Hydrogels are crystal-like polymer that absorb and hold water
- they are mixed into soilless mixes for containers, for example.
Individual particles will absorb between 60 and 400 times their
dry eight in water, depending on the specific type. This absorbed
water is then slowly made available to plant roots to prevent
or delay water stress. This product is useful in small containers
and hanging baskets that tend to dry out quickly.
Back to Gardening Tips
 Apply
no more than two inches of mulch around newly planted trees and
shrubs and keep the mulch a few inches away from plant crowns.
Do not pile mulch up in deep cone-shaped mounds around tree trunks,
which can hold moisture around trunks and potentially lead to
crown and stem rots. Extend mulch out one to two feet beyond the
planting hole to allow for the season's root growth for trees
and shrubs, which benefits establishment.
Back to Gardening Tips
Many gardeners are faced with the problem of tree surface roots.
These are difficult to mow or walk over and can lead to decline
and death of nearby grass or groundcovers. Gardeners often attempt
to remedy the situation by adding fill soil over the roots and
then replanting grass or groundcover. However, this addition of
soil reduces the concentration of soil oxygen needed by roots
to survive and the tree will begin to show symptoms of decline
over time; sometimes this occurs immediately and sometimes it
occurs over a period of years. Visible symptoms of injury may
include small, off color leaves, premature fall color, suckering
along the main trunk, and dead twigs throughout the canopy of
the tree or even death of large branches.
Injury will vary by tree species, age, health of the tree, depth
and type of fill and drainage. Trees that are usually severely
injured by additional fill include sugar maple, beech, dogwood,
many oaks, pines and spruces. Birch and hemlock seem less affected
and elms, willow, London plane tree, pin oak and locust seem least
affected. Older trees and those in a weakened state are more likely
to be injured than younger, more vigorous trees.
A better way to deal with surface roots is to cut a bed around
the offending root system and cover with coarse mulch. Trying
to establish grass or groundcover in among surface roots is often
difficult, if not impossible to do.
Back to Gardening Tips
 Moles
and their damage are most noticeable after rains, when the soil
is soft and suitable for tunneling. In the spring and summer,
damage consists of raised tunnels that wind through the lawn and
adjacent flowerbeds. Moles are insectivores, feeding on live earthworms,
grubs, beetles, ants and other insect larvae.
Trapping is the most successful method of getting rid of moles
- but patience and persistence is also needed! The best time to
trap is early spring when tunnels are first noticed or after the
first fall rains. Traps work well because they capitalize on the
mole's natural instinct to clear an obstructed tunnel. A harpoon
trap is perhaps the easiest to use; follow directions that come
with the trap. If after two days no mole is caught, reset it over
another active tunnel.
Although other remedies, such as bleach, petroleum products, lye,
sonic devices, broken bottles, chewing gum and the "mole
plant" (Euphorbia lathris) claim to keep moles out of lawns
and flowerbeds, no known research supports these claims.
Back to Gardening Tips
 You
can do a few things to protect honey bees in your own garden.
One is to use integrated pest management methods, so that the
use of insecticides is limited. Insecticides that are considered
"highly toxic" to bees include diazinon, lindane, malathion,
Orthene and Sevin. Relatively non-toxic insecticides include Bacillus
thuringiensis (DiPel), pyrethrum, rotenone, insecticidal soap
and horticultural oil. Also consider the formulation; wettable
powder and dust formulations are more toxic to bees than are emulsifiable
concentrates (liquids).
If you must use an insecticide to treat a pest, do so when bees
are least active, which is usually in early morning or late evening.
Rely on "soft" insecticides such as soaps and oils for
aphids, whiteflies and other soft-bodied insects. If possible,
don't spray any flowering plants that are attractive to bees.
Back to Gardening Tips
Cool, wet spring weather contributes to the development fungal
diseases. Ash anthracnose is a fungal disease that primarily attacks
white ash, but sometimes-green ash. Infection occurs just after
bud break' with symptoms becoming evident several weeks later.
Large, irregular brown areas develop in the young leaflets, following
the veins and extending to the leaflet margin. Leaflets may also
be deformed and leaf drop from trees can be severe. Though leaf
drop may be considerable, especially from the lower parts of the
canopy, overall tree health is usually not severely affected and
trees usually refoliate.
Fungicide control is rarely warranted because anthracnose usually
does not seriously damage tree health and adequate control is
seldom achieved. Instead, practice good tree care to promote vigorous
growth, which aids general tolerance to the effects of this disease
and rapid refoliation in seasons when this disease is severe.
Back to Gardening Tips
As the season progresses, we will be confronted with many plant
disease problems. Some will be harmless, some a nuisance and some
quite devastating. If we could choose a preferred method of disease
control, it would be resistance. Of course, that is not always
possible.
Disease resistance is the capacity of a plant to lessen the harmful
effects of a pathogen. We see fewer disease symptoms on plants
with some level of resistance. Resistance is an inherited trait.
It seems most useful in preventing diseases such as rust, powdery
mildew, vascular wilts and scab; but there are available varieties
resistant against many other diseases.
If a pathogen is able to cause only a small amount of disease
on a plant, that plant is resistant. If the pathogen causes a
large amount of disease, the host is susceptible. Resistance is
a continuum from mild disease to severe disease, with all levels
in between.
In terms of disease-control options, resistance is preferred
over other methods because it
- Reduces expense (no labor or chemical
costs).
- Eliminates inconvenience of other disease
control activities, such as pruning.
- Eliminates side effects, such as impact
of chemicals on the environment.
- May be the only disease control option,
as may be the case with Verticillium wilt or crown gall diseases.
Disease resistance may be rated in many ways. There is no uniform
rating scale. The usual scales are numerical or ordinal. Many
companies that rate their plants for resistance level use a 1
to 9 scale, with 1 indicating most susceptible and 9 most resistant.
Beware, however, that other companies use a 9 to 1 scale or other
variation. Ordinal scales include ratings using words such as
high, medium or low disease resistance. Word scales are easy to
understand but are not always as precise as numerical ratings.
HR for highly resistant, R for resistant, MR for moderately resistant,
MS for moderately susceptible and S for susceptible are commonly
used. When using resistant plant material, look for the rating
provided by the seller, but also look for an explanation of the
scale.
Where do we find disease-resistance information? There
is no one central location. It can be found in a variety of places,
some highly visible and some difficult to find. Web searches have
made this information more available. Some sources to try include
university publications; botanic garden trials; breeding and selection
programs, such as the U. S. National Arboretum, land grant universities
and the private sector, plant societies, such as the hosta society.
 There
are also textbooks and other publications that list resistance
information. Some of this information will last for many years;
and some will be short-lived, as new pathogen races develop. An
excellent book that discusses available disease-resistant cultivars
is Diseases of Woody Ornamentals & Trees in Nurseries,
by APS Press, St. Paul, MN. Some journals and newsletters that
discuss current resistance information include California Agriculture,
Greenhouse Grower, Mycologist, Plant Disease and the Ohio Florist
Association Bulletin. Always be open to these and other sources
of information. The U of I. Report on Plant Disease series provides
a starting point.
Who sells resistant plant material? Identifying the resistant
plants is useless if the plants are not available. Often it is
best to start with operators of local garden centers that know
the disease problems in an area and try to find sources of resistance
in locally adapted plants. A program called Chicagoland Grows,
Inc., evaluates plants that do well in northern Illinois and provides
a list of retail businesses that sell them. The Center for Development
of Hardy Landscape Plants provides similar information in Minnesota.
Undoubtedly, there are other such sources.
Try to find disease-resistant varieties in the plants you purchase
this spring, especially for areas where you had problems in the
past. As an example, there are many varieties of phlox with powdery
mildew resistance. Some tomatoes have resistance to Verticillium
and Fusarium infection. Most new crabapples are resistant to scab.
There are hundreds of other examples, so look into disease resistance
now, before you purchase or plant.
Back to Gardening
Tips
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