Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

TIM S TIPS

A lot of people in Arkansas seem to like to plant Euonymus as a foundation planting around their houses. Euonymus is an attractive plant, but is an absolute scale factory. You cannot expect to grow Euonymus in Arkansas without being prepared to control scale almost on a yearly basis.

The Euonymus scale belongs to a group that is known as the armored scales and is enclosed in a tough cover that enlarges as the insect grows. Under the cover is a small yellowish legless insect. The males are found on leaves and the females are found on stems. The young scale, known as crawlers, are very small, orange, active insects. They move around some before stopping, inserting their mouthparts and forming the first scale cover. Euonymus scale is sometimes found on other shrubs near heavily infested Euonymus. If you don't examine the plants frequently, serious population levels of scale appear almost before you are aware of what has happened.

Scales suck plant sap and yellowing of leaves and leaf drop are the primary resulting symptoms of damage. Heavily infested plants can lose all their leaves by mid-summer and die-back usually follows heavy infestations. Most of the scale crawlers appear in May and June and there are probably two generations per year in Arkansas. There is overlap of the generations so all stages my be found at the same time.

When the shrubs are covered with extremely heavy scale infestation it is probably best to cut them back. Acceptable insecticides can then be used to prevent reinfestation. Scale dies in place when killed on Euoymus. It does not fall off the plant. As a result, even if you save heavily infested plants by spraying, the appearance will not be acceptable.

A horticultural oil spray in the spring before growth starts followed by insecticide sprays in the summer will help control Euonymus scale. Sprays should be directed toward the crawler stage to be most effective. As always, read and follow label directions.

REJUVENATING FLOWERS

Petunias, marigolds, geraniums and other summer annual flowers are usually abandoned once flowering ends in July, but with proper pruning, fertilization and watering, their beauty can be restored in a few weeks.

The first step in rejuvenating summer annual flowers is pruning. About half of the old wood needs to be removed so plants have areas for new growth. It is especially important that the old, spent flowers be cut off along with any seed heads that might have formed. Seed production requires a lot of energy and robs plants of the nutrients they need to produce new blossoms and foliage. Remove the spent blossoms by clipping or pinching them off just below the flower head.

If you want to save the seeds from a favorite plant, leave a few spent flowers. Usually, just a couple of flowers will produce an ample number of seeds. Once the seeds begin to form, remove the remaining flowers.

The next step is to apply a complete fertilizer such as 10-20-10 or 13-13-13 at a rate of three to four pounds per 100 square feet of bed area. The fertilizer can be lightly worked, then watered, into the soil. Remove the weeds when you're fertilizing the flower bed. Weeds will compete with flowers for fertilizer.

Keep a close watch on moisture levels in the flower bed. When moisture is needed, water well and then allow the bed to dry again. Do not use a shallow sprinkling of water, because this will promote shallow root growth which may cause problems in the future. Instead wet the soil to a depth of four to six inches every week.

Once you've started rejuvenating your annual flowers, it shouldn't take longer than two to four weeks for them to come back.

SPRING-FLOWERING PLANTS

NEED WATER NOW

Spring-flowering plants such as dogwood, azaleas, gardenias, weigelia and forsythia, as well as some summer-flowering plants like hydrangia need adequate water now to set the buds that will bloom next spring and summer.

If these plants don't get the water they need in August and September they won't set buds, or they may abort the buds they do set. If regular watering isn't possible, a mulch may be needed.

A mulch is a layer of leaves, pine needles, bark or similar material placed around plants, usually to a depth of two to four inches. The mulch conserves moisture, suppresses weeds and helps keep the soil cool.

Spring is the best time to apply a mulch, but applying one now can still reduce the number of times spring-flowering plants need to be watered by about half.

Flower bud formation has already begun on some types of azaleas and soon will on dogwoods, so moisture needs should be monitored closely. If plants appear to be nearing the wilting point, break out the garden hose.