Beaver Creek Nursery NEWSLETTER. July Just me checking out the Nursery June 30, 2015 Go AWAY rain!!!!

Transcription

1 Beaver Creek Nursery NEWSLETTER July 2015 Just me checking out the Nursery June 30, 2015 Go AWAY rain!!!! In This Issue

2 Thoughts for July Pay Attention B4 & After Quick Links... Us Landscape Photos More About Us View Our Past Newsletters Thoughts & Observations You know, July is usually a great month for just laying around and relaxing a bit since everything else in the landscape has already been taken care of or at least should have been. However, with all the rain we have had this past month I think the easy life for most of us is somewhere in the future. I am tired of the rain and really sick of seeing all the weeds. Weeds, weeds and more weeds. Kill em off and here comes another batch. It's like a game with them. HAHAHAHA HA old man! Reminds me of an old Dave Clark Five song "Here we come again...uh uh...catch us if you can...uh uh". Roundup sales in June should be through the roof. Probably should have bought Monsanto stock back in April. In case you are not aware Monsanto's patent ran out years ago on Roundup so you can buy cheaper weed killer. Just look for the active ingredient of GLYSOPHATE. Then take the money you have just saved and come spend it at Beaver Creek. Haha!! Also, whatever product you buy, add a couple (and only a couple) drops of Dawn dish washing liquid to your sprayer of weed killer. It will act as a "surfactant" which means it will help the weed killer "stick" to the leaves and stay there longer so it can be absorbed instead of running off. Again, just a couple of drops. You don't want to give your weeds a bubble bath now do ya?

3 It's that time of year to check your roses for Rose slugs and Rose Rosette disease. You can read more about each of these if you are so inclined in our archived Newsletters or by clicking here for Rose Slugs or here for Rose Rosette disease and scrolling down to each article. Carpenter Bees are active as usual. Again, if you are in an investigative mood you can click here and read the article "What's all the Buzz about" There are still remnants of destruction from the past two winters. Still seeing dead plants and trees or those with branches completely dead. Even those that have been in the landscape for years. When we go from a Zone 6 to a Zone 3 for a couple of back to back winters we all get to find out just exactly what those cold hardiness zones mean. Scale is showing up on Magnolias and with the humidity Powdery Mildew is starting to enter the picture also. If you are not sure how to treat either of these feel free to call. And lastly... I think I may need a Shrink! Every time I take a break here from typing and get up and look out the door I think it's raining again... Naw...can't be!!! Can it???

4 Ok Kids, Pay Attention Now! Today we are gonna talk about

5 BUGS!!!!!

6 AHHHH...BUGS??????? Geez...Get a grip!!!! They're not in here! I'm talking about the bugs in your garden and on your landscape plants. As you know, there are many different types of bugs and many of them are actually helpful to your plants such as the ladybug because they eat other nasty and destructive bugs. However, today I want to tell you all about one particular little critter known as a

7 Flee Beetle There are dozens of different types of Flee Beetles that eat on a variety of different plants especially in your vegetable garden. Different species will eat on different plants such as corn, beans potatoes, spinach, and squash to name a few. There are also some that like your landscape plants especially Weigela, Itea, Butterfly bushes, Hydrangea, Veronica, Coreopsis and Salvia. This particular one is called a Red-headed Flee Beetle. As you can see in the above photo it has a prominent red head and a shiny black body. It is very tiny being about 1/4" in length but it can be extremely destructive for its size. This little muncher also has hind legs like Arnold Schwarzenegger so that it can leap when disturbed or frightened.

8 The Flee beetle lays eggs that overwinter in the leaf litter around plants, hedgerows, windbreaks etc. They hatch in mid-may to early summer but can have up to 3 generations of leaf eating babies so be prepared to monitor your plants through mid summer. Their destruction is easily noticed in the early stages of dinner since they will eat a small round hole through the leaf that looks like a shotgun pellet hole. With heavy infestations these holes may all run together so that your plant now looks like this... Midnight Wine Weigela Although I normally advise against using Seven as a chemical treatment it is one of the limited available products that will actually have knockdown power to eradicate this voracious eater from your plants. However, PLEASE use the liquid Seven instead of the powder. Again, the powder is bad juju since honey bees can walk through it and carry it back to their hives on their

9 legs and do more damage to their families and our future than a few flee beetles can do to your plants. Before & After Before

10 and After North Side Re-located Snowfountain Cherry in center and away from shade of house. Pee Wee dwarf oakleaf hydrangeas either side of windows. Gold Beret barberry staggered through center. Blue Girl hollies behind cherry. Red Crimson Curls heuchera ( cora bells) front right and left and Varigated Liriope in center front curve.

11 Before Notice Snowfountain Cherry. This is the one moved to the north side center. Before

12 Before

13 Overgrown and crowded shrubs and tons of Varigated Liriope. Liriope was reused as needed throughout new landscape. and After

14 After

15 After

16 Limelight Hydrangea tree form between windows will soon be in full bloom. Dwarf maroon Bagatelle barberry along curve in front of Limelight. China Girl holly under windows. Acouple of Little Princess Spirea and one red Knockout rose at porch end of walk. Have a

17 Safe and Enjoyable 4th and remember WHY we celebrate it!

18 Ahh...am nearing the end here. Time to take a nice quiet walk and relax...

19 Oh...Wait...I Can't... It's raining again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20 A Closing Thought "What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."...zig Ziglar Beaver Creek Nursery Southeastern Indiana's Largest & Most Unique Nursery