Compleat Gardener: A little pruning, then sit back and watch the show
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 11:57 PM PDT
By Marianne Binetti
For The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe second week in August is time for cutting back in order to enjoy the fall garden shows ahead. Prune off the faded roses and water your rose plants well but resist the urge to fertilize. Go ahead and strip off the yellow and black spotted leaves of disease-infested roses now so they won’t spread their spores all over the garden. Don’t worry if this leaves your rose plants naked and leafless. There is still time for your roses to sprout new foliage and put on another show of blooms as soon as the fall weather begins.
Perennials that have passed their prime can also be pruned to make more room for the fall-flowering plants. If you have tall phlox, lilies or hollyhocks that are near the end of their flowering cycle, off with their heads. You can prune these tall plants back to half their height and add the long stems to your compost pile.
Q. I have two shrubs in nursery pots that I never planted into the ground. One is a lilac and the other a hydrangea. I made a mistake and forgot to water them both and now the plants have lost their leaves and look dead. My question, how can I tell for sure if a plant is dead? I don’t want to toss these out if some pampering would bring them back to life. — P.L., Olympia
A. Give your wilted plants the fingernail test to check for signs of life. Just scratch the bark at the base of any woody tree or shrub with your fingernail and look for any sign of green. Sometimes a leafless or wilted plant can be revived if you move it to the shade and water well. Do not fertilize a dead-looking plant. Even after you see signs of new growth resist the urge to feed struggling trees and shrubs. Tiny new roots are trying to grow and too much plant food can burn them.
Q. How can I get the earwigs out of my dahlias without spraying poison? Every year when I cut dahlias I find these insects deep inside the petals of my flowers. — R.E., Enumclaw
A. The answer is right in your hand. Take this newspaper and roll up a few pages and spray slightly with water. Lay the damp newspaper at the base of your dahlia plants. After a few nights the earwigs will move into the newspaper where it is cool and damp during the day. This works best with young plants. If your dahlias are already blooming and infested, use a small clay flower pot (available at craft stores) on top of the stake supporting the dahlias. Poke some damp newspaper or rotting grass inside the upside down flowerpot and use this earwig condo to cover the top of your dahlia stakes. If you find any black beetles in either of these simple traps release them. Shiny, black beetles devour slug eggs and are good for the garden.
Q. I have some dusty Miller plants that have silver leaves. I planted them late and they still look tall and skinny. Is it too late to prune them back and make them grow more bushy? — B.T., Kent
A. Go ahead and get snippy with dusty Miller and any other annual or bedding plants with the show girl tendency of showing too much leg. Petunias, snapdragons, fibrous begonias and lots of other plants tend to get tall and lanky by mid-August and snipping out the top of the plant with a quick pinch of the fingers or scissors forces these annuals to branch more on the sides so you’ll enjoy more color. Dusty Miller, hosta, coleus and other plants with colorful foliage also behave much better if you remove any flowering stems that appear. Once you let these foliage plants bloom and go to seed they figure their duty is done and they stop growing fantastic foliage.
Send your gardening questions to Marianne Binetti at P.O. Box 872, Enumclaw WA 98022, enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a personal reply. Or visit her Web site at www.binettigarden.com
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