Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Get gardens ready for winter

Big patch fungus -- We are all busy with Thanksgiving and holiday plans, which admittedly can be more motivating than lawn and garden care. However, for a healthy lawn and garden next spring, a few details are worth attending to now.

A late season result of the wet weather we experienced this season is big patch (previously called brown patch) fungus in lawns.

To check your lawn for big patch, look for circular and irregular patches where grass is thinning and browning. A yellowish-orange perimeter may surround affected areas. If you find big patch in your lawn, treat it with a fungicide formulated for the disease. Your lawnmower can spread the fungus, so it is wise to treat your entire lawn and clean the underside of your mower.

Hopefully you will knock out the fungus before winter, and remaining grass roots will gain strength over the cold months.

Be aware that the grass in damaged areas will come back sparse in the spring. Watch for recurrences of the disease in damaged areas when grass greens up in the spring. You may need to treat those areas again with fungicide.

Spring blooming bulbs It is not too late to plant daffodils for spring blooms. Our ground does not freeze; consequently, you can plant daffodils as late as December.

In our warm climate, most bulbs need a chilling period before they are planted. The chill releases a hormone that signals the bulbs to develop their root systems in preparation for spring blooms.

Tulips are flowers that need a chilling period. If you did not purchase pre-chilled bulbs, put new bulbs in your refrigerator (separate from fruits and vegetables) for 6-8 weeks before you plant them.

If you want these same tulips to bloom next year, you will need dig them out after foliage has yellowed and died back, and store them in a cool, dry place until next fall. Pre-chill the bulbs in your refrigerator for 12-16 weeks and plant them next fall.

The labor involved in planting, digging up and replanting bulbs that need a chilling period can be off-putting. It is easier to treat them as annuals and leave them in the ground. A few will come back the next year. They may or may not bloom, and any blooms are likely to be stunted.

If you have special bulbs that you want to use year after year, it is easier to grow them in containers rather than in the ground.

For more detailed information about specific bulbs and their varieties, see www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/complete_list.html and scroll down to HGIC1155 Spring Flowering Bulbs.

Slugs Everyone will surely agree that slugs are among the most hated and repulsive pests in thegarden. A benefit of fall cleanup is ridding the garden of places where slugs can hide--under stray flower pots, bricks, pieces of wood, dead leaves and any other assorted garden debris.

It is worthwhile to walk around your garden with an eye for slug hiding places. Take a full salt shaker with you or a small disposable scoop and container with a lid so you can instantly eliminate any slimy pests you find hiding. If you uncover a small pile of tiny, white, pearl-like balls in slug territory, they are likely slug eggs. Obviously, you want to purge them from your garden instantly.

Regardless of how many slugs you manually remove, you know many more remain. So, what is there to do?

I recently read a report from a British gardener who tested a number of slug control methods. The most successful technique was surrounding slug-prone plants with bran. It drew out the slugs; they aggressively ate the bran, then exploded and died.

Put bran on the ground in areas where slug colonies are a problem. Bran is already on my grocery list.

Soil testing Fall is the ideal time to test your soil. You have heard that high blood pressure is a silent killer for humans. In a sense, pH is a silent killer for lawns and gardens. Problems you have with your lawn or your garden may be the result of a nutrient deficiency caused by too low or too high pH.

Clemson will test your soil for pH level and nutrient deficiencies, then respond with detailed instructions on how to correct your soil. Call Clemson Extension at 365-6715 in Conway or 546-4481 in Georgetown for soil test instructions.