MOUNTAIN GARDENER. Buncombe County s Extension Newsletter for Home Lawn & Garden Enthusiasts

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1 MOUNTAIN GARDENER Buncombe County s Extension Newsletter for Home Lawn & Garden Enthusiasts Buncombe County Center, 94 Coxe Ave. Asheville, NC August 2014 HELPING GARDENERS PUT KNOWLEDGE TO WORK - Aug. Garden Chores, p.2 - Rain Barrel Mgt. 101, No-To Using Mothballs, Save the Date, p. 3 - Hydrangeas, p. 4 - Donate Fresh Produce, Leaves, 1 st Annual Harvest Conf., Veg. Wilts, p. 5 - Events, p. 6 Buncombe County Center 94 Coxe Avenue Asheville, NC (Phone) (Fax) Come to the Mountain State Fair This year s Mountain State Fair runs September 5-14 th at the WNC Agriculture Center on Airport Road. The Flower and Garden exhibits are in the Expo Building towards the back of the fairgrounds and below the livestock barns. The 2014 Extension Master Gardener Interns will have an educational exhibit on Fall Gardening in the Mountains and address topics such as soil testing, growing fall vegetables and techniques for extending the growing season. Please make plans to come and visit the exhibits and the Ask a Gardener table. Enter the Flower Show Now is a really great time to evaluate your flower and vegetable gardens for entering into one of the many possible categories at the Show. Entry dates are September 3 and 9 th. You can find all the information on Look under Mountain State Fair and then under Competitions. Here look in Dept. DA for Fruits and Vegetables and Dept. M for Flower and Garden. to: Alison.arnold@ncsu.edu Normal August Weather Weather Averages For Asheville, North Carolina Normal August Average High 82.9 o Normal August Average Low 62.9 o Normal August Precipitation 4.40 Hours of Daylight for Asheville, NC Sunrise Sunset August am 8:35pm August 31 7:01am 8:00pm

2 Page 2 Mountain Gardener August Garden Chores Lawns Wait to seed and fertilize cool season fescue or bluegrass lawns until the very end of August. Holding off if weather is hot and dry is best since optimum root growth occurs at degrees F and shoot growth at degrees F. Now is a good time to examine turf for the presence of white grubs. With a heavyduty knife or a spade cut a 1 square-foot flap of sod and roll it back. Examine the soil and roots in the top 3 to 4 inches. Repeat this process in several locations. If you find an average of five or more grubs per square foot, a pesticide application may be justified. Ornamentals Stay on top of weeds and remove them before they go to seed. Dahlias perk up with cooler temperatures. Now is a good time to reinforce supports on tall varieties as well as remove lateral flower buds to increase size of the one remaining flower. Monitor trees or shrubs planted last year and provide a deep watering once a week when rainfall is insufficient. By now many garden perennials may need deadheading. Removing the old and faded flowers will improve the appearance and may encourage some late blooms. Container gardens may need some late summer TLC and could benefit from grooming and a dose of liquid fertilizer. Now is NOT the time to fertilize shrubs and trees as they slow down growth and move towards fall leaf drop and winter dormancy. One exception is fall or reblooming roses where a quick release fertilizer can provide a late season boost. Also HOLD OFF on major pruning of shrubs and trees until late winter. This stimulates tender new growth that can be killed by our first hard frost. Fruits Continue grape and fruit tree sprays and follow label directions for pre-harvest intervals. Peach, cherry and plum trees with a history of Peach tree borers can benefit from a late August and early September insecticide application to the lower trunk region. Products labeled for borers, usually a type of pyrethroid are most effective. For more information see: Vegetables Frequent rain showers invite fungus diseases like early blight and late blight on tomatoes and mildews on squash and cucumbers. Apply fungicides every 1 to 2 weeks to maintain healthy plants. Organic gardeners may want to try Serenade (Bacillus subtilis) or copper. You can start planting fall vegetables anytime in August. Look for starts of cool season crops like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower at tailgates and in garden centers. Sow seeds for lettuce, kale, spinach, turnips and beets. Keep seedbeds consistently moist as seedlings emerge. Practice good sanitation. Remove spent plants from the garden as soon as harvest is complete. Also remove diseased plants as soon as possible. Other Be alert for yellow jacket nests while mowing and doing other yard work. This is the time of year they become very aggressive in defending their nest. For more information see: Browning leaves on Black Locust trees are a result of the Locust Leaf Miner where early on the larvae eat into the inner layer of the leaf tissue and later the adult beetle skeletonizes the undersurface of the leaf causing them to turn brown. Early yellowing and leaf drop on ornamental Cherries typically happens this time of year and is caused by either bacterial or fungal disease. Both are seen annually in our region and usually are not problematic. Best approach is to maintain good plant health.

3 Page 3 Mountain Gardener Rain Barrel Management 101 Following are a few tips for gardeners with rain barrels: Place the rain barrel on an elevated (on blocks) solid surface to provide stability and increased spigot pressure. Provide a spigot near the bottom to allow easy access. Install an overflow system or gutter diverter system for excess water to be carried away from the foundation of the house. Ideally redirect excess water back into the existing drainpipe coming off the existing gutter. Use a mosquito dunk to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in the bottom ¼ of the barrel when water levels are low. Periodically dump and rinse out the barrel. NO! To Using Mothballs in the Garden A Master Gardener recently was asked if it was OK to use mothballs in the garden to repel snakes. Mothballs are nearly 100% active ingredient and contain the chemicals naphthalene or paradichlorobenze. Each active ingredient can cause different health effects if exposure is high enough; when you smell mothballs you are inhaling the insecticide. They are very dangerous if chewed or eaten, a serious problem for children, pets or wildlife. Mothballs are a registered pesticide and labeled for use to kill clothes moths and other fabric pests. The label directly instructs the user to place mothballs in tightly closed containers to prevent pesticide fumes from escaping into the surrounding air. It is illegal to use mothballs in locations and for pests that are not on the label. This does not include gardens, attics, crawl spaces and outbuildings. So the answer is NO. It s not legal, it s not safe and it s not effective. If you are trying to repel snakes, deer, rabbits, rodents or insects of any kind there are more appropriate and more effective repellents to consider. Save the Date Landscaping in the WNC Mountains can present unique challenges. Planting on slopes, preventing erosion, managing storm water runoff, selecting the best plants, identifying and controlling invasive plants, dealing with wildlife and fire protection are issues common to many of our mountain home sites. Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers are offering a special 2-day program Analyze and Landscape your WNC Mountain Home Site that utilizes case studies and provides opportunity for participants to develop strategies and find solutions for their own properties. Integrating science, common sense and practical information this course helps anyone who is new to gardening in the area, wants to develop a landscape plan, is building a house, or simply seeking solutions to existing problems. Classes are scheduled for November 15 th and 22 nd, 9:00am 1:30pm both days and will be held at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville on Weaver Boulevard. Cost for the program is $30 for BGA members and $45 for nonmembers. Reservations are required. Contact the Botanical Gardens of Asheville for additional information and/or register at (828)

4 Page 4 August 2014 It s Hydrangea Time! July and August is a great time to visit local retail nurseries and garden centers to see the many new varieties of Hydrangeas that are on the market and a good time to make plans for new garden additions. Although the macrophylla types are fading, the paniculata and reblooming types continue to flower their hearts out. A recent conversation with a local nursery manager revealed not only the growing interest in this great summer flowering shrub but also the ever growing number of new forms and varieties that are available on the market. Here s a quick run down of what s popular: Wedding Gown Also known as Dancing Snow is a Lacecap Hydrangea with an appearance of a mini bridal bouquet, with an outer ring of large, double flowers surrounding a center packed with smaller, double ones. Flowering begins earlier than that of most varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla and continues on new growth into fall if spent blooms are removed regularly. It is also a reblooming type that blooms on both old and new growth and reportedly has better winter hardiness than many of the other H. macrophylla cultivars in commerce today. Even if old growth buds are damaged in winter, plants should still flower in summer on new growth. Also unlike many of the H.macrophylla cultivars in commerce today Wedding Gown flower color is not determined by soil ph, the flowers remain white and do not take on blue shades in acidic soils or pink shades in alkaline soils. Wedding Gown stays compact (3 T X 4 W) and prefers light shade. Star Gazer is another double compact (3 T X 5 W) form of Lacecap Hydrangeas with double picotee blooms that are two toned blue with white edges in acid soils and pink with white edges in alkaline soils. Of the Panicle Hydrangeas Limelight and Little Lime continue to be popular. Bobo is a new dwarf form (30 T X 36 W) engulfed in large white flowers that are held upright on strong stems that continue to grow and lengthen as they bloom. In fall they can turn pinkish Hydrangea Great Star bears rounded clusters of unusually shaped creamy white flowers that are up to 4 in. wide, with wavy, elongated petals. Plants typically reach 6-7ft tall and have a nearly upright, arching habit. They will grow in full sun or partial shade and flower from midsummer until the first hard frost. BloomStruck Hydrangea is the newest addition to the Endless Summer collection of reblooming hydrangeas grows 3-4 T X 4-5 W. It blooms on old and new growth, constantly pushing out new flower heads measuring 3-5 across. Intense rose-pink, violet or blue flower heads are held upright on striking red-purple stems. As with other hydrangea, BloomStruck s flowers can be pink, purple or blue depending on soil ph. And finally.. Snow Flake continues to be the ever popular form of our native Oakleaf Hydrangea with stunning white flower clusters made up of multiple bracts that give the appearance of a double form with blooms reaching long. Bloom season is much longer than single flower species with florets continuing to open throughout summer. Deeply lobed, oak tree-like leaves turns brilliant purple and crimson in the fall. Munchkin is an exceptional U.S. National Arboretum oakleaf hydrangea introduction (seedling of the Sikes Dwarf ) offering a profusion of large flower clusters with flowers that open white and age to pink, remaining upright even after heavy rain. Foliage turns brilliant mahogany in fall. A compact, dense habit (3 T X 4 W) is suited for smaller landscapes. Ruby Slippers another compact oakleaf form introduced by the U.S. National Arboretum shows a profusion of exceptionally large flower clusters opening white, quickly aging to deep pink and again are robust, remaining upright after heavy rains. The foliage turns a brilliant mahogany in fall. Look for these and more of the amazing Hydrangea group at your local nursery and retail outlet if you can find them if they haven t sold out already.

5 Page 5 Mountain Gardener Donate Fresh Surplus Produce From Your Garden The most direct way to support those in our Western North Carolina community who are facing hunger is to donate food. Buying extra cans when you shop at the grocery store is one way to help year round. However this is a great time of year to donate surplus fresh, local, nutritious produce from your own garden. Manna Foodbank is accepting food donations from your garden and invite you to drop them off during business hours at their warehouse located at 627 Swannanoa River Road. If it s not convenient to do this please call them at FOOD (3663) and they will help you connect with a local food pantry near you! To learn more about Manna Foodbank go to Leaves are Going to Fall Get Prepared It s inevitable leaves are going to fall to the ground and will need to be raked, removed or handled in some way. Now is the time to get ready for this big event so you can take advantage of this readily available and valuable resource many gardeners call Brown Gold. Leaves that are whole, ground or composted provide incredible mulch and soil amendment to the vegetable and ornamental garden. The clay soil of many gardens can benefit greatly from much needed organic matter that leaves provide. The amount of room you have and whether you are an active or passive composter will determine which system is best for you. An active composter is someone who will actively tend and turn the compost, monitor the heat and manage it on a regular basis. Using a three-bin unit can be good to provide the different phases of compost new, in process and completed. For someone who is more of a passive composter building a welded wire holding bin may be all that s needed to hold together the fallen leaves. Here they can slowly decompose over time and be available to use for whatever purpose. It s also possible to use a tumbler or simply build right on top of the ground. Buncombe County Extension Master Gardeners maintain a compost demonstration garden at the WNC Farmers Market, close to Jesse Israel s Garden Center. There are four different composting methods on display. Compost volunteers tend to the compost materials on a regular basis with sometimes materials gleaned from the market vendors. Demo days are the 2 nd and 4 th Saturdays of the month from 11am to 2pm. 1 st Annual Harvest Conference Organic Growers School announces plans for the 1 st Annual Harvest Conference for home growers, backyard enthusiasts, and homesteaders on Saturday, September 6, 2014 at AB Tech, Main Campus in Asheville, NC. The conference features Janisse Ray, award-winning writer, naturalist, activist and author of 5 books of literary nonfiction, including Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, and The Seed Underground as keynote and special guest. For details go to website at: Vegetable Wilts Several common problems can cause vegetable plants to suddenly wilt. Often only one out of a number of plants in the same garden will be affected. Squash - Vine borers, a worm that bores into the center of the stem, eats away the stem tissue. Look for a hole in the stem with frass coming out. If caught early, gardeners are sometimes successful in splitting open the stem with a razor blade, removing the worms, closing the stem and then mounding soil up around the stem. Cucumbers - Most likely a bacterial wilt, which can also affect watermelon and cantaloupe. This disease is spread by cucumber beetles when they chew on the plants. Once a plant is infected, it cannot be saved. Remove it from the garden to reduce likelihood of spread to other plants. Tomatoes and other plants look for a walnut tree nearby. The roots of walnut trees secrete a chemical that is toxic to many plants. When tomato plant roots come into contact with walnut roots, the plant will wilt and die. Various plants Tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplant and many other vegetables can be affected by the soil borne fungus, Southern Blight. Check the base of the stem, often below the soil level, for white cottony fungus growth on the stem. Corn is about the only vegetable not affected, so would be a good choice for planting in the location next summer.

6 Buncombe County Center North Carolina Cooperative Extension 94 Coxe Avenue Asheville, NC EVENTS Aug. 2 - Aug. 9 & 23 - Aug Sept City Tailgate Market, 8:30am 12:30pm, info table, 161 S. Charlotte St., Asheville Plant Clinic, and Compost Demo., WNC Farmer s Market, 11am-2pm. Gardening in the Mountains, The Joy of Herbs, Ext. Office, 94 Coxe Ave. Asheville 10am and 5:30pm, pre-register, Free. Gardening in the Mountains, Getting Ready for Winter, Ext. Office, 94 Coxe Ave. Asheville 10am and 5:30pm, pre-register, Free. Newsletter compiled and edited by: Alison Arnold Extension Agent, Agriculture Urban Horticulture Persons with disabilities and persons with limited English proficiency may request accommodations to participate in activities mentioned in this newsletter. Please contact during business hours at least 3 days prior to the event. Recommendations for the use of agricultural chemicals are included in this publication as a convenience to the reader. The use of brand names and any mention or listing of commercial products or services in this publication does not imply endorsement by North Carolina Cooperative Extension nor discrimination against similar products or services not mentioned. Individuals who use agricultural chemicals are responsible for ensuring that the intended use complies with current regulations and conforms to the product label. Be sure to obtain current information about usage regulations and examine a current product label before applying any chemical. For assistance, contact your county Cooperative Extension agent.