Newsletter for Nordonia Hills Garden Club gardener s gazette Around the Trellis July 2009 What a wonderful cool summer we are enjoying this year. Great for working out in the yard, but not so for trying to get tomatoes to grow. Each year that we have been living here we have tried to grow tomatoes with no luck. I am bound and determined to get some tomatoes this year! So come on warmer weather... Our TREE DEDICATION CEREMONY, will be this Saturday, July 11, 2009, 10:00 a.m. at Northfield Center Township, (Rain Date July 25th). This is for the tree that we donated last November. For all of the members who are able to attend on such short notice please wear you club shirt. The local newspapers will be there taking pictures. If you don t have a club shirt and would like one, Lilian still has some available so now would be a great time to purchase one. Our Members only Picnic is next Wednesday, I m looking forward to it and hopefully we will still have some nice cool weather so we can enjoy it even more. Blessings to y all, Janet Matherly BOARD MEMBERS President Janet Matherly, 330.468.7765 meadowyck@windstream.net Vice President Kerry Wichert, 330.467.6866 sogreenwithenvy@aol.com 2nd VP Peg Krutko, 330.467.6017 pkrutko@alltel.net Secretary Elaine Nidy, 330.467.8600 CTBEAR24@aol.com Treasurer Leanne Schroeter, 330.468.8579 Lar897@alltel.net COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS Historian Peg Krutko, 330.467.6017 pkrutko@alltel.net Sunshine Beverly Herschman, 440.735.1953 redbev@aol.com Refreshments Bernadette Evans, 330.467.7878 Co-Chairs rbtd55@roadrunner.com Linda Gesinsky, 330.908.3290 Ways & Means lgesinsky@roadrunner.com Lilian Coluccio, c:216.832.0187 lilianc@alltel.net Public Relations Betty Stricharczuk, 330-468-6453 critics@earthlink.net Membership Jan Filmeck, 330.468.6590 jif45@windstream.net Photographer s Jeanne Dombrosky, 330.467.5864 jmdombrosky@roadrunner.com Suzanne Shields 330.650.0331 cshields@roadrunner.com Garden Tour Ava Hain, 330.467.6809 keiko100@netzero.net Special Events Angie Stimson, 330.908.3922 stimsoa@ccf.org Newsletter Editor Janet Matherly, 330.468.7765 meadowyck@windstream.net Page 1 Page 3 Page 3 Back Page Inside This Issue President s Message Calendar of Events Garden Club of Ohio Report Treasurer s Report Members Only Picnic Tree Dedication Sunshine Report How Gross Are the Grubs? Creative Staking
July 2009 2 Calendar of Upcoming Events Board Meeting: Wednesday, July 8, 7:00 p.m. at Angie Stimpson s home. Tree Dedication Ceremony: Saturday, July 11, 2009, 10:00 a.m. at Northfield Center Township. Members Only Picnic: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 6:30 p.m. at Sagamore Hills Park, at the back Pavilion. MEMBER S ONLY PICNIC July 15, 2009 Sagamore Hills Park - Back Pavilion If you haven t already signed up with our Refreshment Chairs please do by July 13th. We need to have a final count of members coming in order to purchase enough meat/drinks for the picnic. The club will provide the chicken & drinks. As in the past: Member s last name A-M Please bring a side dish Member s last name N-Z Please bring a dessert Tree Dedication Ceremony 10:00 a.m. Saturday, July 11, 2009 Northfield Center Rain Date is Saturday, July 25, 2009 I would like to encourage all members to come to our first tree dedication at Northfield Center Township. For those members who have club T-shirts please wear them, we will be having our picture taken by the newspapers. WEB SITES TO CHECK OUT http://gardensnorth.com http://www.bcollingwood.com/germination.htm Garden Club of Ohio www.gardenclubofohio.org Membership Cards are in from GCO. Make sure to see the membership chair, Jan Filmeck for your card. I would like to have someone take over as our club representative for the Garden Club of Ohio. This position would be responsible, when your schedule allows for you to attend the local quarter meetings and report back to the club as to what took place as well as other items which would be determined as time goes on. If you are interested please contact Janet Matherly. July 1, 2009 CHARTER ONE BANK Treasurer s Report Date Type of Income Deposit Type of Expense Withdrawal $3,193.80 June 11 Bluestone/Potting Soil $150.00 June 15 Old Mill Greenhouse (gas station plants) $160.50 June 16 Classic Design (Garden Tour/Plant Sale Sign $35.00 June 22 Membership Dues $22.00 Ending Balance $ 2,870.30 July 1, 2009 KEY BANK Treasurer s Report Date Type of Income Deposit Type of Expense Withdrawal $216.70 Balance as of July 1, 2009 Ending Balance $216.70 Leanne Schroeter, Treasurer
How Gross Are the Grubs? By Lois Tilton (LTilton) July 03, 2009 Permission granted by Daves Garden to reprint. www.davesgarden.com While there are several kinds of grubs that damage turfgrass, most are relatively harmless as adults. The most notable exception is the destructive import, the Japanese Beetle. Once it emerges from the ground where it has been gnawing the roots of your plants, its life of destruction goes into high gear. Grubs, otherwise known as white grubs, are the larvae of beetles belonging to the family Scarabaeidae, named for the dung beetle Scarabaeus sacer that symbolized the rising sun in Egyptian mythology. June Beetle In North America, the most commonly found native species of grubs are sometimes known as chafers and include the June beetles (aka June bugs, May beetles) of the genus Phyllophaga, the unrelated Green June beetle (Cotinis nitida) and the masked chafers of the genus Cyclocelphala. A typical white grub is a whitish color with a hard brown head capsule and a darker terminal segment. Entomologists can identify the species of grub by inspecting the pattern of hairs on this anal segment. White grubs are legged and their bodies curved in a characteristic C-shape. While the life cycle of the different species varies, typically the adult female deposits her eggs in the soil, where they hatch into grubs. These larvae then feed on the roots of plants, doing damage to crops and to turfgrass. In the winter, they burrow deeper into the earth to avoid freezing, then tunnel upward again in spring. Some species may spend more than a single year as larvae, others emerge in the next spring or summer as mature beetles. In the lawn, a large infestation of grubs can destroy substantial sections of grass by eating away the roots so that the sod can be easily lifted from the soil. When the grass is rolled away, the grubs can clearly be seen just below the sod. Often, additional damage is done to the lawn when animals such as skunks and raccoons dig holes to hunt for the yummy and nutritious grubs. This may reduce the grub population, but it doesn t help the grass! Continued on Page 4 New Sunshine Chair and Raffle Coordinator I want to welcome Beverly Herschman who will be taking over for Linda Uridel as our new Sunshine Chair and Raffle Coordinator. Our raffle will start back up at our August meeting, so if you have anything you would like to donate for the raffle please bring it then. Thank you. Sunshine Report Necia Cerveny - Surgery July 1st Pat Spagnola - Recovering from surgery If you know of any other members who might be ill, facing surgery or who just need our thoughts and prayers, please notify: Beverly Herschman at 440.735.1953 or by e-mail: redbev@aol.com Public Relations Chair Needed Betty is only filling in until we have someone else to take over this position. Betty will help train you and will be there for any questions you may have. So come on folks we need someone to take over this position. Please contact anyone from the board to let us know you are willing to help out. July 3 2009
4 July 2009 Continued from Page 3 It is this damage to lawns that has been the greatest motivation for the typical homeowner to make war on the grubs. It was once common to apply insecticides such as diazinon to the lawn, but such poisons kill indiscriminately and are now discouraged; diazinon is now largely prohibited in the United States for non-agricultural use, but newer insecticides such as imidacloprid are still available. Less toxic biological controls are becoming more widely used. Spores of the bacterium Bacillus popilliae, often sold under the name of Milky Spore, can inoculate a lawn with bacterial milky disease, which effects the grubs of Japanese Beetles. Another method of control is the introduction of several species of parasitic nematodes such as Steinernema carpocapsae applied to the lawn. Japanese Beetle larva The problem with most these methods (Milky Spore is said to be specific to the Japanese Beetle) is their lack of target specificity. A wide range of insects and other arthropods, many beneficial, live in the soil, particularly in their larval stages. Widespread application of toxic substances can do serious ecological damage. This is also true of the use of nematodes. Even if a species of nematodes only attacks grubs of the Scarabaeidae family, there are thousands of beetle species that might be affected, most of them harmless. Few prevalent species of grubs grow up to be serious problems to gardeners. The common June beetle, for example, is usually little more than an annoyance as it flies against window screens at night. But in North America, a foreign invader has now changed the stakes. Early in the last century, the Japanese Beetle Popillia japonica was accidentally introduced into an environment where it was free from natural enemies. It has since spread westward, establishing itself in most areas east of the Mississippi. Japanese Beetles feeding Current U.S. distribution of Japanese beetle This insect, while destructive as a grub, becomes an even worse pest as an adult. The beetles can accumulate in vast numbers to feed on their preferred species of vegetation, and they are capable of serious damage, sometimes defoliating entire plants. Their method of feeding on leaves is skeletonization, consuming the tissue between the veins. They will also feed on flowers and fruit. A few of their preferred targets are roses, grapes, plums and corn, as well as birch and maple trees. As the Japanese Beetle enters a region, the use of both grub controls and insecticides rises in response as homeowners, gardeners and farmers combat the infestation. Nontoxic methods have been tried. Pheromone traps, which attract the beetles into a trap from which they are unable to escape, have had mixed results. Many people insist that the traps attract more beetles to a location than were originally present. This has been my own experience. While I trapped thousands of beetles, the number of them feeding on my plants only seemed to increase. So far, alas, the beetles seem to be winning, and causing unfortunate collateral damage among related species as humans attempt to control them. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 2009 Club Theme of the Year A Year to GROW! Not only in memberships and community projects but in club friendships as well. $17.00 White 1 Small Green 1 Large Is available on our club web site Club Shirts Club shirts available in two styles: golf or T-shirt Show your support and purchase one today! Golf Shirt T-Shirt $19.00 White 1 Medium Green 2 Medium
Creative Staking Sooner or later, you re going to have a floppy plant that needs some help standing tall. Of course, there are all kinds of plant supports available, from inexpensive bamboo stakes to the more high-end vinyl-coated Y-stakes and plant supports. But sometimes it s fun to use something that s a little unusual to keep your plants on the up-and-up. Here are a couple of ideas that work well and are simple to do. LEAN ON ME How can you throw away a trusty old rake, even if it s losing its teeth like the one at right? Cut the handle off at an angle so it will poke into the soil easily. If your New England aster starts to lean, the rake provides a simple prop. CLIMBER CLIPS Small spring-hinged hair clips hold plants to bamboo stakes. Make sure the fingers of the clip can go around the stake, as they do in the bottom photo, without pinching the stem. The clips come in lots of colors, so choose bright ones for tiny accents, or clear or dark ones for more subtle support. Check out lots of other creative gardening ideas in Easy Weekend Gardening, Vol. 3, (Used with permission) www.gardengatenotes.com/2009/06/16/creative-staking Janet Matherly Nordonia Hills Garden Club Newsletter Editor 8091 Rushwood Lane Sagamore Hills, OH 44067 TO: