Take care of moss on azaleas
Our azaleas are filling with what looks like Spanish moss. Should I be concerned?
Spanish moss may grow in azaleas, but so does a lookalike called ball moss. They are closely related and use azaleas for support. These plants are epiphytes and take nothing from the azaleas but at times compete for foliage sites.
When moss begins to crowd out the azalea foliage, it can be physically removed to allow more room for azalea stems and leaves. Some gardeners also find copper fungicides labeled for use with azaleas help control moss and lichens that encrust the stems. Do check your care program to make sure the azaleas are growing at the proper soil pH and have adequate water and fertilizer which makes them better able to compete with the moss.
The underside of my sago foliage is being covered with a white scale. Is there a reliable product to help obtain control?
Some pests just hang around to attack our favorite landscape plants. White cycad scale is one of these that seems to sneak into the plantings to quickly cover trunks, leaves and inflorescence of the sagos to cause their decline.
Horticultural oil sprays offer a good control, but you have to hit the insects following label instructions to be effective. Gardeners have also used a home remedy solution made with saved coffee grounds to reduce the scale. This is applied as a spray or drench.
One long-term control is achieved by applying a systemic insecticides following label instructions. Several products are found at local garden centers and often have instructions for soil application.
I received a bonsai gardenia as a gift and it bloomed for the first week and now the tight buds are falling off. What can I do to help the plant?
A move from grower to garden center and home is often stressful for plants. Each stop could be in different growing conditions that may affect a gardenia. Flowering is usually the first to be affected after arriving at your home. Regretfully many of the flower buds are going to be lost but some might be saved with good care.
Give your gardenia a spot in bright light such as on a porch or shaded patio. Then make sure the soil is moist but not overly wet. During hot dry weather your plant may need daily watering. There is no rush to apply fertilizer as most plants come with enough for at least a month. As the plant starts to adjust to its new site, apply a slow-release fertilizer.
Is it really possible to grow a bahia lawn from seed? I have tenant property and it is doubtful it will be well-watered.
Seeding a new lawn is not for everyone. Tossing out the winter sowing of ryegrass and seeing it quickly create a green cover misleads us into thinking this works for all grasses. Regretfully obtaining a lawn of bahiagrass from seed takes good management practices, and that means someone must provide the care.
Starting a lawn from seed begins by eliminating the weeds and then loosening the soil. After the site is ready, the bahia seed is scattered across the ground and raked about one-half inch deep into the ground or covered with a top dressing of soil to the same depth. Then the area has to be kept moist.
Something that looks like a snail is eating holes in the leaves of my bean plants. Could it be a snail and what should I do that is a natural control?
Snails and slugs love bean leaves but they can also eat the tender stems and bean pods, too. If the critter you spotted has a shell, it is a snail. If lacking a shell, it could be a slug or caterpillar. One quick control is to handpick these pests from the plants.
When these pests are too numerous, try a natural snail and slug bait containing iron phosphate found at garden centers. Should your pests be caterpillars, natural controls of Thuricide or a spinosad containing product are also available at garden centers to use according to label.
I have several milkweed plants that I grow for the larva stage of the monarch butterflies but the aphids like the plant too. How do I get rid of the aphids without affecting the monarchs?
Allowing one insect to flourish while eliminating others can be kind of tricky. I guess you could try a barrage of lady beetles often found at independent garden centers. There is also a wasp living in many landscapes that likes to feed on the aphids and causes them to become tan-colored mummies. This means you have to tolerate aphids among the plantings.
Some gardeners dislodge the aphids with a strong stream of water while others tap them into a container of rubbing alcohol. Few pesticides are of help as they could affect the monarchs. One possibility is spraying the clusters of aphids feeding mainly in the tips of the plants with an insecticidal soap, following label instructions. It acts as a contact insecticide and only affects what you treat.