Thursday, March 03, 2005
Winter grass seeding is no joke
John Arbogast
Landscape consultant John Arbogast answers your questions every Thursday. Send questions about your lawn, garden, plants, or insects to:
Dear John
5102 Greenfield St. SW
Roanoke, Va. 24018
Or send an e-mail. Answers will be given only in this column. Please don't send pictures or samples.
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Q: What are your thoughts about the idea of scattering grass seed on existing thin grass during the winter so that the snows will carry the seed into the soil and germination will happen in the spring when mild weather starts? I recall hearing farm folks talk about doing this many years ago. Is this idea just an old farmers joke?
A: This method could be what’s called “dormant seeding,” which is a bonafide lawn seeding method and not a joke. Dormant seeding means sowing at times when germination will not occur immediately due to chilling mid-fall or mid- to late winter weather
However, dormant seeding is for gamblers who are willing to use good seed and their time without any guarantee of even a low percentage of success. Many of the seeds will die due to winter’s fluctuating temperatures and many seeds will simply wash away, especially if the site is on a slope. I have tried “dormant seeding” in my many years as a homeowner and was lucky to get some success.
Q: I need to move 25 to 30 of my English boxwoods that have been planted here for 35 years. They are about 30 to 40 inches tall. We will have some home renovation work done in late spring. Please give me all the details. I am worried about boxwoods’ taproot, and thought about root pruning in anticipation of transplanting.
A: Successfully transplanting English boxwoods that have been in the same location for over 30 years and are as big as yours can be done but will probably be a challenge because of the heavy mass of roots surrounded by soil that must be carefully dug up. My attempts at transplanting boxwoods many years ago taught me that well-established English boxwoods are not forgiving.
Very early spring would be a good time for transplanting because the soil has begun to warm a little by then, which is necessary for quick growth of new roots. Also, the plants are still dormant.
English boxwoods do not have a dominant taproot, but they have and need a deep-growing fibrous mass of many roots that must remain in contact with damp soil throughout transplanting. The depth of the boxwood root system depends on the quality of the soil that each plant has been growing in. However, I would expect that your long-established plants should have an 18 to 24 inch deep root mass. Thus, a backhoe with a wide digging bucket, a very capable operator, plus room to maneuver will be needed for digging your boxwoods. New holes must be wide but only as deep as the root balls to be accommodated. Use of machines to dig holes can result in holes with slick walls that can be difficult for new roots to penetrate.
It’s now just a short time before your early spring transplanting, so you don’t have time for root pruning. However, water the boxwoods deeply once each week before transplanting to condition them for the move.
Fertilizer will not be helpful during transplanting or at anytime during the first year in the new location. Your most important post-planting job will be to water the boxwoods deeply once each week during their entire first year except when the ground is frozen or when there has been abundant precipitation and deep watering during droughts in their second year.
Q: Whiteflies are ruining my indoor-outdoor Lantanas. I have unsuccessfully used 3 containers of a house plant care product and a systemic insecticide. What should I do?
A: Unfortunately, an infestation of this sap sucking, rapidly reproducing insect pest is a good reason to throw out plants. Eliminating infested plants helps prevent the spread of whiteflies to other plants.
To continue your battle with whiteflies, try these remedies:
1. Thoroughly spray with a refined horticultural oil for indoor plants obtained from a garden center or home store; your objective will be to smother all whitefly life stages so spray underneath the foliage to coat all whitefly stages on the under surfaces.
2. Apply Safers Soap for indoor plants as directed on its label every four days.
3. Lure whitefly adults to their sticky death by placing several of those bright yellow plastic sticky traps sold at some garden centers for whitefly control all around your Lantanas; replace traps that have attracted numerous stuck whitefly adults.
GARDENING IDEA
Here are reminders for preparing soil for the spring garden or spring flowerbeds: don’t work with wet soil that stays in a mud ball when squeezed; mix in a 1 to 2 inch layer of organic matter; withhold fertilizer until the plants or seeds are there.
