Your hydrangea doesn’t need to take a year off
“Nature is a rag-tag merchant, who works up every shred and ort and end into new creations.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Q: I have a beautiful hydrangea. Unfortunately it only blooms well every other year. Can I do something to make it look great every year? I also have others that are later in the season bloomers. Are they all different and is there anything I can do? —Jane, North Smithfield
A: Hydrangea macrophylla is the most common one that blooms in late June and July in zone 6. It has to be pruned in the spring or fall spending on the amount of shade it gets. This herbaceous plant loves heat and water but does much better in shade. Cut it back to a foot from the ground in the spring if it has been in a sunny spot more than eight hours per day. You might consider transplanting to a shady spot in the fall where it will do better. If it is in the shade more than eight hours on average per day cut it back to a foot. There are many other species of hydrangea. Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora has huge white flowers that bloom in July and August. They often turn to pink in the late fall. Pee Gee hydrangea grows quite tall to 15 feet in sun or shade.
Q: I see hydrangeas everywhere this year. Can I start the from seed? —Jim, Salem, Conn.
A: You will do much better by growing them from cuttings like the nurserymen do. Take a dozen or so terminal shoots that will be eight inches long. Remove all but the two top leaves. They can be cut in half.
You need some vegetive growth at the end of the shoot. Cut the very bottom of the cuttings at an acute angle. Make a sand box at least six inches deep and fill it with coarse sand. It should be near the spigot.
Insert the shoots into the sand about two inches deep. Soak the first day and mist everyday thereafter.
Root will appear before the frost dates. Put your rooted cuttings into four inch clay pots and bring into a sunny spot indoors. Next spring your plants are ready to go in your garden.
Q: My apricot tree has a borer eating in the bark and it is oozing sap. What can I do to remedy this? It is about five inches in diameter near the ground and about 15 feet high. —Steve, Roswell, N.M.
A: You can do some home surgery. If the borer girdles the bark completely there is no hope for the tree. The fibrovascular tubes that feed the tree from the roots are in the outer ring just inside the bark. Make a leaf shaped incision that will encompass the entire infected area with a sharpened knife. It must be contiguous and as wide as necessary to remove all black or brown wood. If you need to go deep, you can use a chisel. Dab the white wood with malathion and cover with tree wax or tree seal. If it is large hole, you can use cement. Eventually the new hole will grow together as the tree grows and the cement will crumble. It is only made of clay.
Q: I have a lot of the large tomato worms on my tomato plant that is in a pot. What can use to get rid of them?
I used some old garden soil. Is that the problem and can I transplant now? —Richard, Sprague, Conn.
A: You can apply rotenone to the soil. It is organic and made from a root of an African plant. You could put black plastic over the soil and the pot so the worms will go to the ground. Garden soil should be sterilized at 140 degrees for an hour in an oven before using it in pots. Lastly, pick them all off by hand for immediate relief.
One in the hand is not worth two in the bush.
Mort White is a gardening expert who contributes a weekly column to The Call and The Times. For more columns, visit themagicgarden.com. For the best solutions for your lawn, tree and shrub problems, call the experts at SeaScape, 800-294.5296 or visit seascapeinc.com.