Focus 580; Lawn and Garden Care

Good morning welcome to focus 580. This is our morning talk program. My name is David Ensor. Glad to have you with us. Please welcome back here to the program Sandy Mason. She's horticulture educator with you by extension in Champaign County. And starting in the spring through the summer into the early part of the fall she is here once a month it's always on a Tuesday. They're always on the second Tuesday and we invite your questions about lawn and garden care. If you have questions about trees and shrubs flowers vegetable plants house plants if you're having a problem call and tell us give us the best description and Sandy will see if you can dual diagnosis or you have other kinds of questions maybe you'd like some suggestions on particular kinds of plants for a particular place in your yard. We can do some of that and all you have to do is give us a call 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 here for Champaign Urbana toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 1. Welcome back. Good morning. Pleased to have you here. Coming up know in our area over the next few weeks we're going to have a bunch of garden walks and maybe one we mentioned right up front is the Champaign

County Master Gardeners garden walk this will be on Father's Day. So take dad put him in the car to say good day and we're going to go look at some gardens. It's Sunday June 20th from 11:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the afternoon. You have to have a ticket. And it cost a few dollars but if you are interested in going and you know seeing what other people have done with their gardens maybe getting some ideas and you know the master gardeners are just nuts about it. You're just fanatics about gardening in a good way. Yes of course it's socially acceptable in a nice way. Yeah. So that's coming up on Sunday June 20th and then communities around Champaign-Urbana some of the other places you want to go. Sure I'm going to give you the rundown and I'm sure wherever you are there's probably a garden happening in June most of it happened in June. We do have one coming up June 13th. Sunday Decatur the extension Master Gardeners over in Decatur having their garden walk on June 13th and you can call the extension office at 8 7 7 6 0 4 2 for that one. June

19th this Saturday is Monticello as garden walk and you can call the Chamber of Commerce there are eight hundred nine 5 2 3 3 9 6. If you don't give a get all these I'll give these to David so people don't end up all these question and then a question 20 at the champagne County Master Gardeners June twenty seventh is Mahomet's garden walk and that would be great. You can call 5 8 6 5 0 6 6 and then also on June 27 is the Vermilion County master's over in Danville in their garden walk so. It's it really is a great opportunity to see what other people are doing plus you know usually this time of year we all need a break from our own garden. We just had so much fun. You know we didn't plan big and it's time to get away and just ensure a firmware before the Japanese beetles get here before the Japanese. Oh yes sure. Mr. Pitt OK well you know I know they come it's a reality I mean it's a reality and Phil was here not very long ago and you know he was going he last year well was it last year. We were really lucky it was not for a lot of places. Now I suppose some people would say I had just as

many of them as any time but a lot of people said well that they noticed that there were fewer and that had something to do with the fact that the previous winter had been cold enough down deep enough in the soil so that some of them were actually killed and they didn't make it. Sometimes cold winters are good. Yes in this particular case yes. Now I think he was sort of saying now this winter was more like normal. So we probably will see a Brazilian. So enjoy it now that we didn't so enjoy for the Japanese people get here and then you've got to be watching. When the first ones you need to go out there the course the easiest thing is just to go out there and pick them off. The scout. Yeah gotta get with the scout guy because he also said that the thing about Japanese beetles as they like to feed were Japanese beetles have fed before them. So the more you can do to reduce that initial damage then that means your plans will be less attractive to subsequent beetles so right you got to kind of get on it right. Yeah you really have to be vigilant the very beginning and you say we use Expect him toward the end of

June so we should have a few weeks here but really start looking probably around June 20th or so really start looking for exactly. So first of all you say dad first of all going to go out in the garden look for Japanese beetles this morning then we're going to go on a garden walk and then later you can grill some chicken. See what are the deal. Plan isn't it. I think all the dads out there are saying ooh golly. Our lines are full. Let's talk with some folks who are listening and Matt toon is the first and that's line number four. Hello. I have a lot of pin oak trees that are just covered in gold here and they really didn't leaf out of yours well either seem to be having a lot of strength out of them is there anything to do about that. On the stems you're saying you've goals are there you want to after another golf because a golf ball with a lot of thorns almost taken out of them. Yeah yeah. Yeah unfortunately there isn't really a whole lot you can do about Gauls the timing has to be

just right. And you could you know possibly spray form and have to be early in the season you could possibly spray form for you really felt like that it wasn't you know that the tree was really suffering almost but the tree is suffering for other reasons to be honest with you things like They're very intolerant of high pH soils so they tend to get some iron deficiencies do they look halfway green or the leaves are you know some are green Some are yellowish green sea yellow that yellow green is a good indication iron chlorosis very common on pin oaks because we just don't have acidic enough soils. And I'd almost bet that's more likely why the tree is suffering rather than just the galls use it galls or you know that kind of unsightly as some are kind of cool actually but most of time it's just kind of anesthetic thing and usually we don't see a whole lot of problems with the health of the tree due to gall So I would be thinking about you know getting some what's called iron key late. On the soil be thinking about trying to get the Ph down on the soil and that's really going to help Europe the most Okto.

Thanks and good luck. Thank you very much let's go on to Chicago I think line number one. Hello hello. Yes yes I've got an easy one right on the matter today. It's a case of states and the scabby man said If you plant and then plant flies and mosquitoes they don't care to be had on your barbecues in the backyard is that a missile or is it really so if you plant meant they won't bother you at your barbecues. Yeah he said and then plant the stuff like the older you know. Well you know there's all kinds of you know they get sent to geraniums only things called Mosquito plants and we think they really have looked at you know researching trying to see if does this really help and really what they found the most is that you just have to just about have to be rolling around in the plant was for it to really be helpful just having it you know several feet away isn't really going to help you a whole lot it's a matter of proximity to the plant plus that the volatile oils are actually being released. So unfortunately sounds like a good

idea but unfortunately you haven't mentioned that someone been gone. But stay away. Good luck on that one too. You could like hang pieces of the mint plant on you. Probably nobody else would come around you but I probably you know that might help. All right and thank you thank you thank you sir. We see a lot a lot of that unfortunately. It's one of those things where there's a little bit of truth to it and unfortunately it kind of gets expanded in so do a little research on that subject or just enjoy the plants and not think about them too much being something's going to keep the flies and mosquitoes away. OK. Next we'll talk with someone in Urbana one too. Oh I've got it back yeah and that's not the gold term with the smooth leaf but the heavy leaf and the plant will be looking fine and two days later it'll be just all shriveled up and dad like. Like it's just it's just wilted The whole thing's right. Have you have you pulled it up once it does that.

No I dug it up and I should. I have and I have to sort of let them. Yet the one thing that I've noticed with the with the black eyed Susans and even I even seen it on gold storm the ornamental one that we often purchase is they get a problem. And usually the reason I mention is to pull it up is that you find out real quick that it when it is a good indication when it wilts that quickly or maybe it will when the sun's out then recovers the next morning. That's often a good indication that that that either is just plain old dry or it's got root rot problems and it just doesn't have enough roots to take up and of moisture and I'd almost bet if you dig down or try to pull it up it a pull up real easy like there's nothing attached. So is this something that's going to spread to others that have to be careful about how we dispose of the plant. Is it something in the soil. It's are lots of them around it seem to be healthy if that is what I have found that usually seems to take out a few plants and doesn't necessarily take out the whole patch. As you say there's plenty I'm the kind of reseed themselves and do their own thing and so I would imagine especially now that it's gotten a little bit drier it probably occurred way back when when we had a lot of moisture so

probably what's going to happen is you're going to lose a few here and then you'll find that the rest them are fine. It is a sobering kind of thing so the only thing you could do if you really wanted to do something with it would be to use like a soiled wrench fungicide. But even when normally with these kind of plans we wouldn't necessarily recommend that but they're there to come in there right off and have that. To do that the soil I think yeah I think you'll find a few of them may die but then the rest them will be fine. OK so unless it's really widespread I would assume a leave it alone right I think that's probably the best thing great. And it really is one of those kind of things where often the weather changes. We see this a lot with kind of weather kind of changes and then the disease isn't as likely to go rampant because that's a good sign. Also there is some advantage to drive C to have high dry summers but I want a sprinkler. Yeah yeah yeah good luck. Thank you and let's go to champagne. This is lie number three. Well I park some I planted dad has for the first time

last. Here and I decked him up on the floor and I put them in a shoe box and with some dirt and I wonder how do I go. Now they're all dried up and I wonder how we go back we planting them. Are you seeing any little sprouts or anything. Oh yeah well sprouts coming off of the roots. Oh you know you are they all should shriveled up and the roots look. I'm looking. Up and I have to have them you know but I do something wrong. Well it's tough you know dad is there a little bit tough to get through the winter some because they have a tendency to dry. It's kind of like if you've ever tried to store sweet potatoes for long periods of time it's kind of the same thing they have a tendency to dry out and get kind of shriveled up so sometimes during the wintertime with dahlias especially you might actually have to add a little bit of moisture either to

the peat moss or whatever you've got them in because they shrivel up too much. Normally this time of year you be seeing some little sprout coming off from their roots are good. They may be I think what I would do is if you want to go ahead and plant them it's certainly warm enough outside if you want to just go ahead and plant them and see what happens. Or at least get them into a warmer spot or whatever I assume it's been plenty warm or it may warm. Yeah what you may want to do is or just plant them in a pot real quick and just water and then see what happens but it's probably not a good sign it will tell you that's probably not a good sign that they're not at least showing some sprouts or bugs or something. So is this. So is this something I should have done like next year. Right. I would put a man I think you're right on the money there as far as you know make sure that they don't freeze that's one thing they need to be cool but not too cool. And if you can put them in peat moss or sand or something like that and then check them periodically like that when adding voice. Yeah and then look at them in December in January and if they're really starting to shrink and

shrivel up then you just add a little bit of moisture to the peat moss or whatever we have them in. So you may have kept him a little too warm too that's one thing I would wonder about if they're in really warm temperatures they'll dry up pretty fast too. OK. So tried again but thank you thank you. Let's go next to a caller in Pike County and this would be on our toll free loading point for yes this year I had a professional trainer. Person pick out a prairie flame crab apple and he planted it and I think you did a really good job and it's large and it looks really stressed at this point and I'm wondering if I did something wrong or should I leave it alone or just keep it watered. So we've planted the spring. Yes it was planted in April and it was a big hole. And I mean it's a big tree it had a huge fridge. I thought it might struggle a bit but I think it says not to fertilize it so nothing but try to watch its

moisture and rightly so I haven't really been doing it a whole lot right have you been watering a recently though. You know after the big grains I. Yeah I really knew trees like that actually for the first couple years not even just the first year but the first couple years. You really need water during drought periods and that means you know once a week at least they should be getting plenty of water once once a week and if it's really windy or really dry it might even be twice a week depending on you know what your soils are in those kind of things but you really need to you know get a little trowel or whatever kind of check the soil should feel more Oist and if it doesn't then it should be water in it. How far down to you. Like six inches. Usually we say six to eight inches but you don't have to do that once usually you can you know after you water it to what you might when you know you check it before you water and then after you water it for such a you know check how long you've been watering it and then see how long it takes to get it wet down to six to eight inches then you don't have to do that once and figure OK I need to leave it on for an hour or so. OK you know that's when you at least once a week I

would again depends on the soil and how hot it is but when we have really warm temperatures like this in a lot of wind you may find you're actually watering it twice a week. OK and then my second question comes from fat humans because now a lot of perennials go on sale. And is it really too hot to plant them now I mean they really struggle. It's it's another one of those things that I think I've certainly done it. But you will have to make sure that you water them. Because they're not established and certainly even though you put them in the soil and all that kind of stuff they're not established and so you will going to have to water McGann probably wants a week or so. Again you would have to put as much water on a small perennial obviously but if you are going to have to watch and mulch them too I would with the tree in the perennials have two that will help a lot. OK. To make sure I put wood chips. OK. So much things wrong I wrote house last year we planted a number of perennials so it seemed that that initially in their first year they really didn't do all that well. No they're looking better. How long does it take. Generally speaking for them really to get established so that they will

they will really do well and look like you would like a blog right. Well most print as you said that first year they kind of just sit there. But really what they're doing is they're putting out roots so it's a lot of stuff is happening there but you don't really notice they don't put on a new top growth New Year's Eve that second year most of the perennials that gets the point where they're really looking pretty good and certainly by the third year they're really starting to flourish but usually the second year they're really they have to be a little bit more patient with with most of the perennials but it certainly can be done. Our guest this morning Sandy Mason she's a horticulture educator with you by extension in Champaign County she's here once a month to talk about lawn and garden care and if you have questions you can call us. 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. And we'll go next to urban a 1 1 0 0 0 0. Bunch of us in my husband's family have and will have bought cemetery plots and a country cemetery that has no trees and we want them all together because we'd like to

propose that we put in some trees and if we haven't had time to really look really hard to figure out what would work for the cemetery because they have concerns about being able to mow under them and I have a big budget. The little township cemetery and I don't want to make it so big that its roots are going to disturb nearby cough and we're going to have our ashes put in and we fit in the room but anyway where would one look for that kind of information or can you give us some suggestions. So do they have do they have size restrictions I assume they might even have some have no trees there at all so they don't really have any restrictions as far as well getting into it I would have to have. Take it to the passion commissioners and get it approved. Now are you looking for shade necessarily are you looking for just something to make it look a little bit nicer. I think we'd like to make it look nice and we'd like to get something like truth and we'd like to get something in there recognizing that the cemetery has valid concerns.

Sure. OK somebody very much from oh I want something that's not going to call them more expensive or hard when I have a lot of trees to make up. Well I would think you know usually a pretty good bet if there are a lot of the crab apple trees because you can you can find some that are disease resistant you'd always want to select one that's resistant to apple scab It's a common disease around there here and you know they're they're nice and they have the spring flowers and you can you can get just about any size you want. Most of them are going to get above like 45 feet or so so they're not going to be huge trees. So trees that are very doable I think for the most part and you could do a nice sort of cluster of three of them or something in one area and it would really give a lot a lot more impact than have been like one tree here and one tree there and one tree over there especially if there's no other trees does that make sense. It could so you could have in like sort of a bad area or maybe they're some of them and then that way that they don't they would have to mow around three trees they'd only have to mow around this bed. So if there's a place to do that I

think that would be easier for them to maintain if they're sort of all together. So I think crab apples would be a good suggestion even some of the smaller flowering trees things like red buds and some of those I think probably with most of the places it probably just as soon have something that's a little bit smaller. You know I think so too. So probably along those lines are you looking at small flowering trees it would be my thought. Yeah probably. Second question and this has to do with my garden. I put a bunch of compost from my compost heap and garden and I transplanted some quants that needed dividing and several different kinds of plants coral Bill lilies and they're looking kind of yellow and I'm wondering when I need to and that the compost might have or might have too much in abundance I have a need balancing. So they went looking. So and you don't think it's just because maybe they're dried out or discern being moved or. Well that there are too many times and actually I've got some native lilies that I moved from

our farm in Ohio and they're they've been you know for three people to get to. Do not be yellow I'm surprised they still live. Well it might be a couple things I think you certainly could go and fertilize them I'm not sure I'd give them a whole lot of it. Well actually could probably if they're showing yellow you might use that just like a 10 10 10 or 12 tall 12 or something along those lines. Usually compost if it's truly composted. That's not going to be an issue as in enough nitrogen but if it if the compost really wasn't completely finished then there's always that possibility that maybe it's still you know using up some nitrogen that's in the soil and a robin in from the plant so there's certainly always a possibility if it sort of can still decomposing. That makes sense. Well I'm a lazy composter I have to compost next to each other and when one gets full I start the next one and when I need when that one gets full I emptied the first one causing the stuff from the top layer of the one I'm emptied onto the new newer compost because those are less complex and I

don't ever turn it because I don't have. Time answers which is fine I mean there's a reason why you have to I mean it just takes longer obviously if you aren't turning him but if you're stiff you're taking it out and you can still see what it used to be as in still you know leaves or stems or something then it's not completely decomposed which means it could you know actually be taken some nitrogen from the soil so I would wonder about just fertilize and you may find that that works out fairly quickly this is if I was going to fertilize it probably do it real soon here because you don't really want to be fertilizing in the real heat of summer necessarily. And then I think the other thing you might think about doing especially since you're Lilly's about a problem on a regular basis get a salt test and see what's going on. You may find there's something else there. I'd like to ask you for your column not to take up more time we have some time to talk about garlic mustard and that the Master Gardeners consider a garden too or at some other season like spring or fall. OK. Yeah you know we've we've thought about that in the spring and fall but then we run into things like you know bad weather if the weather and unfortunately you know in the

springtime Sometimes we have an early spring sometimes we have a late spring so sometimes you know I understand what you're saying but sometimes it's a little bit. It's tougher to do those spring which we have to do sort of short notice one little phone treat everybody. Thank you a bunch. OK thanks for the goal. We got next somebody up here ready to go in Danville. One two you know. Thanks for taking my call I would like to know you send me what you know how to keep an eye out of hummingbird feeders. Well I think I've heard a couple things actually. The bird store I guess the wildlife store will recall I got these little red cups and you put water in them and it hangs above your bird feet above the hummingbird feeder and then you keep water in it and then they'll try to get to the hummingbird feeder but then the water keeps them from getting to him. And that seems to work real well for me so that's it just and it's fairly inexpensive. The other thing that I've read is to

use Vaseline. I've done that and it does not do it at home. Yeah yeah. So somehow there get into it but you're putting it on like the chain or whatever you've got that's hanging OK and they're still getting. Yeah. Let me jump in. What they're doing but I was so I would try those those little red cup things have worked out really well they have a name like I wish there's specifically meant to be used with hummingbird feeders. And it's just a little red cup and it's got it's got like an eye hook on both in and so you just basically hang it in between your feeder and the branch or whatever that has and how. They're about the size of a 8 ounces but an eight ounce cup. Oh OK all right. I don't want them thank you sir thank you. And we certainly welcome other questions about the things that grow in the home landscape Sandy Mason is here from you by extension in Champaign County. She's here on the program once a month always on a Tuesday we talk about lawn and garden questions and if you having some problem or you're looking for a plant

suggestion you can give us a call 3 3 3 9 4 5 5. And toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5 7 called in with an off the air question want to know what can you do to control borders on a white friends tree. They actually have borders on a white friend's tree. We probably need to figure out which bore right offhand I don't know of a board that attacks white friend I've just been sitting here on the web looking at different websites that mentioned white fringe and there are were a whole bunch of them here but none of them mention characteristic disease or insect problems so I'm not you know they all describe the habitat in the tree and what it looks like. But I haven't seen any and I've now looked and maybe five or six in and none of them say anything about it then humans. Yeah I think the one thing with that with a lot of the bores for the most part is you know they're generally attracted to stressed plants anyway so a lot of times your best bet one of things to do is just to get the you know find out why the tree is stressed you know got a lot of worries about

a bill. Why you know maybe it's a drought. Maybe it's you know different things going on in the area. Poor ph soil or something going on so you may want to find out if it's just not growing very well because of that because it's usually why the boars are coming in and so that would be one thing that I would think about. We can check out my office if they want to give me a call at 3 3 2 1 7 3 3 3 7 6 7 2 and I'd be glad to do a little bit more search images that I just don't know one right offhand that's going to be attacking fringe trees. So and what you my human want to do is to go ahead and just remove that those stem cells that are being attacked and then try to help the health of the tree and then see if it doesn't. Oh OK well I just know that it's probably about the best we can do right at the moment for the questions are welcome in fact we have some other folks here who are ready to go and somebody else cell phone. That's line one. Hello hello. Yes yes I have a question about a light like force you have to

push our back a lot more and it gets a lot of sun. But prior to plant in the Porsche there were several pine trees at the power company. And it cut down. So there were a lot of tiny needles in the soil. We've had the lilac bush for a facsimile eight years and this is the first year we've gotten any flowers at all that I can recall. And it's like only one or two blooms. I was wondering if the soil has changed because of the pine trees are for doing something wrong. Now do you prune it at all. Well at least at this it was just a small. Bush when we got it and now it's probably over for four or five feet high and you haven't been doing any pruning or we throw it through the back at the end I think I went you know I don't know anything about plants. I have to apologize but my wife I think prunes it back in the fall. OK that's probably the problem right there. The lilacs are like for Scythian a lot of the spring bloomers they put on their flower buds the year before. So if you

prune in the fall you're pruning off the flower buds. Oh I see so you have to prune them like right now right after they bloom that's when you prune them. I see. And then they'll have a chance to go and put on their flower buds because that's usually a lot of times if things just aren't blooming maybe they're being pruned at the wrong time or maybe the flower beds are just not making it through the winter for one reason or another usually lilacs is not an issue but sometimes that you know if it's really really cold but that's certainly an old enough plant that you should be seeing some good flowering on it so I'd watch when you prune it that probably be one thing you may want to think about using like a 5 10 10 or some like that fertilizer although it sounds like it's growing just fine. You know mulch it watered during drought you know really trying to increase the vigor of the plant but I'd almost bet it's a pruning problem. The soil won't be a problem. It really shouldn't be an issue because around here you certainly could get a saw test lilacs are pretty tolerant of a wide range of salt PH So that really shouldn't be a big deal for them. But you certainly could get a salt test done to see what else is going on there but.

It sounds like it's only ok growing apart and everything else seems to be growing. Yeah right. OK right so I don't think it's probably an issue but so I'd watch when you print. Thank you very much. I thank you for the CO map to next line number for the morning. I have a couple things one the lady who called with the aunt in the hummingbird feeder whom I've been putting up with that for years and finally this year found a product that is safe and nontoxic. It's called Tree tanglefoot carrier and it's basically a camper and he for an extremely castor oil and an incredibly sticky format. Yeah and you can just take a popsicle stick and smear a little of that anywhere along the path where the ants get to the feeder like it's hanging from a branch of the branch right around it used to protect trees so it's not going to hurt plants or anything. The ants won't go near it and the ones are brave enough to get stuck. And every so often as it catches up the dust and such You just scrape it off and put on some fresh and as I haven't had an aunt sent.

Oh it's a good idea to tanglefoot you should be able to find out I would think in most most garden center type places even probably farm supply places. I got it in the seed and feed store that I did with the eager suggestion and then the question I have is we have a patch of ment on the north side of our house and for the oil it grows very well it's very happy there except for the last two or three years it gets up so big and then the number of the leaves start getting a little dark spots on them and the number of spots increase the leaf just kind of curls up and also it's like I said it's on the north side of the house and when I go to water a lot of times I scare up a number of small bugs and I'm wondering if this is an end. Sect infestation. And if so or if you have another idea of what it could be how to treat it and still not make the ments unusable. So is this getting sun at all. You know the Norse and not a lot of direct sun. Almost all indirect although our houses lights the house 10 feet away is light

him so there's a lot of reflected light. Well I would wonder probably the first thing I'd wonder about is actually disease problems because sometimes specially if you have a really thick patch and if you're doing overhead irrigation or just the fact that it's so humid in those kind of things sometimes you stark and some leaf disease problems and so I wonder especially when say there are spots that would that's a pretty good indication we might be seeing a fungal disease of some kind. So I think what I would what you might want to do now where are you located. Are you mad. You could certainly check with the Coles County Coles County Extension does have a Master Gardener Program and so email and check with the Coles County Extension and maybe bring in bring in a sample and see if you can see what's going on and they can certainly probably also tell you whether it might be an insect problem. You've hit on the other thing obviously if you use in this in in eating you're using it in into your whatever. You have to really watch what putting on it. So I think what I might think is there any way to open it up or maybe thin it out a little bit you know do some

divisions so that actually you know goes ahead and the leaves might actually dry out a little bit or when you water don't water the leaves those kind of things to try to keep the leaves dry. You know this ability Oh it would be awfully hard not to get the leaves wet but it could probably be. That might help sometimes just thinning. Or if you can do just use a soaker hose or something where you're not going to actually do overhead irrigation sometimes that will help too. Already thank you very good luck. All right thank you for the call and again lines are free if folks want to call in with Question 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5. We have a clarification on the board question. I don't know if you had a little miscommunication or something but because they the caller called back and said this was an ash that they were talking about they want to talk about Ash Borer So that's there with this is a whole different different different following story. Still without Although we are you know on the lookout for MRO emerald ash borer

is still to a lot of the stuff I just said is that usually they do come in on stressed trees for the most part and I can check her real quick to see if I can find out. As for some timing on those kids you could actually if someone wanted to use a spray you could actually go ahead and use a spray on that but maybe we could take another call and I'll look here and I think that is one of the things that also when Phil was here the last time we talked a little bit about and I thought that he said I'm not sure where the caller was calling from but that we I don't think that we have seen in Champaign County we've seen any ash borer I thought this was something pretty much to the to the north of us but maybe as close as Michigan. You're sort of right and we were right in the northern Right yeah right now and hopefully it stays up there yeah but we don't necessarily. Yeah because it's really a bad if you get it in your ass it's really a bad deal. So we would not want to see that that's bred here we might lose a lot end up losing a lot of trees and actually does look like this would be good. As far as timing for that is mid-June. So that's. And then to repeat again

and two weeks later. And what is it that there are yeah I tried that probably in trying to think of what they could actually use on that since we've lost several of our different products probably made a cloak Prid would be one of them and we might think of. And I'm just I need to look at that probably the newer recommendations so maybe they can get a call for a good 2 1 7 3 3 3 7 6 7 2 but if you go into the garden center store and ask for a boar spray. We used to use the Durban type products but those are off the market now. Unfortunately we don't have a whole lot of options there. But that would be one thing and this would be the time to go and spray those but to keep the plant healthy that is the other thing. And probably it would be if if you can if you have the time it would be a good idea to try and make sure that is what the problem is right don't try don't treat for something that you actually don't really have. Right so right. If you can have somebody look at it or if you can. I don't know if that be the kind of thing where you could actually take up take something into one

extension person near you or course if they're in Champaign-Urbana there's a plant clinic people write take write stuff to or just take a picture or even just taking a picture of the holes or whatever sometimes that helps. And I certainly do get Bors I mean certainly is a possibility that they might have borders other borders not the emirate lash but they certainly get some of them go to another caller. Line 1. Hello I'm calling about we have a small tree that I believe it's a crab apple or cherry that is exhibiting. There's the several leaves that turn yellow and they have brown spots on them and some of the green leaves also have faint brown spots on them. I would if it's a crab apple I'd almost bet it's probably apple scab which is a fungal disease. OK have you noticed this in the past have you seen it before.

I haven't seen it before now. OK. Just last week. Oh OK. But I mean in years past had it done and now before it is fairly common. The reason I ask is if you've seen it before and that some of the crabapple trees are do not show good resistance to Apple spit apple scab so that's always a possibility with with some of them. If you get a disease resistant riding then most the time when I get a problem unless there's really a severe disease pressure. So that would be one thing that I would think of Unfortunately you're too late it's a fungus disease and has to be if you're going to use a fungicide have to have been done when the leaves are first expanding. So you're really too late for this year. I guess the good news is if that's truly what it is apple scab it's not life threatening that's the good news for you. So it's it's just not going to look crappy this year. That's the technical term that's what we are right now with Apple scheduling what we say is that the leaves to they turn yellow and they fall off and sometimes in July and August you don't see a whole lot of leaves on the tree but they

seem to be able to. If it's a halfway healthy tree they seem to be able to recover fairly quickly from it but you know you'd want to you know if it is really stressed you might it's not good obviously so you might want to water during drought periods those kind of things but most of the time it's not can be life threatening and again if you wanted to you know take a sample of plant clinic or take it to your local extension office they could give you a better idea if it's truly apples Cameron. Thank you thank you. We have about 15 minutes left here with Sandy Mason 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 here in Champaign Urbana toll free anywhere that you can hear us 800 to 2 2 9 4 5 5 this is a show that we do every month we start in the spring through the summer into the fall second Tuesday of the month she's here and it's just an opportunity to call in and talk about plant matters. If you having a problem call and tell us about that maybe you're interested in some kind of suggestion for a particular plant for someplace in your yard that you want to plant anything that has to do with things that grow in the home landscape or house plants. We do that 2 3 3 3

9 4 5 5. We do also have a toll free line that was good anywhere that you can hear us. So if it would be a long distance call use that number and so here in Champaign Urbana 3 3 3 9 4 5 5 and toll free 800 to 2 2 9 4 5. Next caller in line is in champagne and that's Line 1. Oh come I don't knock you for taking my call. I have a problem with grass growing between the bricks we break the patio and we're describing Conkwright what where do they get their rather than concrete. Yeah I think it's is it is it just seems like they are coming out from seed or is it actually like bluegrass kind of working its way in every thing just kind of seems like they're coming in and probably you know it's one of those things that with brick sidewalks you may get There's just sand in between which I assume there must be.

You're always going to get a certain amount of weed seeds are going to come in. But usually you can take care of it. You know certainly something like some of the non selective herbicides you could certainly use those like round up any of those kind of things you obviously have to read the directions and follow label directions make sure you don't get anything you want to keep. But it's pretty good for those kinds of things. Also I've even had fairly good luck with actually just a even a just a bleach solution on really young seedlings sometimes it's actually worked really well too and specially since you're just doing the brick sometimes that's work too. So you may you may want to think about that but if you can get it to the point sometimes if you can kind of beat it down for a while then you find that just over a period of time you disown him nearly so many weed seeds they finally sort of work their way to the point where you're not getting so many germinating. How that relates to Lucy and what percentage is that and when I might break that prayer and what I found as a basic kind of get this cleaned up for the most part you know especially when sometimes they can get a little slippery if there's a loud your ingrown on a minute shade and jelly I just use. Really I used probably a 50

percent bleach solution. OK thank you. All right. Thank you. And then next we'll go to Bourbon ace line for Hello. I know I live in a house that I rent. My landlord lives right next door and he is a landscaper by trade between us on our on our mutual property we have four different mulberry trees three of them are several years old and the fourth one I think they just put in a little bit ago. Two of them the ones that are that are in more shade are both doing pretty well. The other two including the oldest which is in I don't know 15 feet high at least. And the newest which is maybe six feet high are struggling on the oldest one which has beautiful yellow blossoms although they've never been very profuse.

In about half the limbs are still there. And the other half is about to leave out OK but it doesn't look good and we pinch some buds off and they're just hollow and just crumble. And when were these planted one of them the one I just described is five years old. And these are mulberries. Is that what you said. Very I said I'm sorry I meant Magnolia. Oh OK. Do the yellow flowered Mulberry why would you play them over anyway but why would you let them go because they come up on their own when we might want to listen mothers are you right. If they're where you want to be and they're great OK Magno yeah ok we'll differ sorry sorry I there's only ones that they don't you know they don't like drought for one thing. So I don't know if these get watered periodically you know for years the last couple years we've had all kinds of rain.

OK well at least in my area it's been dry for probably the last three weeks. You know just enough time that they would dry out so that the one they had wonder about or if you know there's any concerns about it getting too wet I mean need I would almost bet it's some sort of environmental thing going on there. They were just not getting established or something's happening right there you might want to get us all to us to see what's going on. OK he kind of wants to cut it down and I rather didn't I'd rather give it a chance. But I mean what do you think is going to happen or is there anything that we can do other than water. Your best bet is to water. I mean just water during drought periods and just try to let the tree do what it needs to do. You know with with a lot of the trees you know you really have to evaluate it you know if I if I've got this much you know die back or dead branches on it and I'd remove those which you know any of the dead branches should be removed. You know what's the treatment look like in a system a quality tree. So that's what happens probably as a landscape

Arisa looking at that way. Well and I'm sure it is. Thank you. We we have a similar I have a similar situation at my lady's house she lives in a condo up in palest Heights which is a suburb of Chicago. And it's on a pond and right between her right on the edge of the pond but you know in front of her house is that is an old maple I mean not ancient but full of full height made. And it's just it's leased out very sparsely and. I heard somebody else has it. There are a couple problems in that it could have been you know. Yeah unfortunately with some of the maples they get a lil disease called for to kill him. Ver to silly I'm pretty sure you know it sounds like it sounds like a disease doesn't like something you might hear. And unfortunately it seems to happen on some of those older ones you know as they

age they get this news or what you'll see is you know this year this limb doesn't leaf out in the next year that lamb doesn't leaf out and you kind of get this sort of slow decline over time and it is unfortunately it's one of those things we can't do a whole lot about. Only I know you probably get sick here on this but just you know trying to in a water during drought period try to keep the tree as healthy as you can it is really about your best bet if that's truly what it is. But it would be something probably a professional arborist needs to take a look at because you need to get the deadwood out of there anyway. So I haven't. Studied it quite in the way you describe it it looked to me like there are some limbs that are bare and others that at least it seems like the whole tree has leaves. Parsley which could be declined for other reasons too I don't know with they've done anything like some of those old trees sometimes as they built houses or condos or whatever they backfill and they put a whole bunch of soil on top where it shouldn't be. Sometimes that can be a slow decline kind of thing which is almost what this sounds like it's just declining for one reason or another

side. I'd look at the trunk it shouldn't go into the ground like a telephone pole it should have a natural flair to it if it doesn't have a natural flare then somewhere along the line they've added salt to it and that's not good not good at all. So I would just look for those kind of things and see if you can figure out what's going on. OK good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you Mandy. We'll try to get a few more callers in here we have about two maybe three four minutes with Sandy Mason the woman who definitely has natural flair. I'm not sure how to take that I mean you could enter at 333 W I L L toll free 800 Due to do w while Bloomington is next line to. Well hello yes i am. My question is I have for Nico blue. Hi Jan just pushes that have always been pink and I think your attitude and I am just wondering if my timing is off and that's why. Get them blue if there's a certain time period you're supposed to put it on or do you put it on

once every two weeks or I never heard specifics on exactly how you're supposed to go about doing that. You probably really need to use something like aluminum sulphate on the soil rather than just using the can I soon this is just a liquid you just put in and right in the water if you really need to do more than that with these guys because you really need to try to change the soil and I'm trying to do and so aluminum sulphate is something you do and you probably only do that like a couple times a year. Probably should have been done when they were planted. Be honest if you actually mix it within the soil and then plant them oh so an additive probably won't work. Then it gets harder because it's you know obviously you're just affecting the top surface of the soil rather than down below which is really what should have been done so if it's you know and if it's one of those things that maybe you might want to if it has been in there very long you might want to dig it up and you know change the soil and peat moss make sure there's a lot of organic matter put in your loom sulfate. Be great if you could do a salt test to find out what's going on and make sure you know where the PH isn't.

OK but you know that or just be happy with pink flowers. Or just be happy with me. OK OK so women are still OK. All right thank you very much. I have a hydrangea has been on the ground for a couple of years it's supposed to have pink flowers has never flowered it all I'd be happy to make pink flowers pink it's fine I just like to see some flowers and I tell it you know when I say look what is up with you here. No I don't I don't you know that's all really but I guess right now I just compare it to all the nice plants around and say they're doing very well. Can't you learn something here from them you know I drink is really are tough in that they do you know especially the pinks and blue ones. They bloom on old wood. So if you don't have wood from the previous year as in it dies back or you cut it off at the wrong time then you get all kinds of foliage and no flowers it has to have that old wood there is a new one now called in last summer that blooms on new wood and old wood both so that's like the in thing now and I'd ranges you have to worry about if that flower beds don't make it through the winter because it blooms on the new. So there you go. All else failed.

Well let's go to what champagne wine one hello. Hi quick question I have. And transplanted lilac bush maybe about a couple months ago. It was just at the end of blooming and it's turned brown now and it goes Dems are still pretty resilient. They they they aren't brittle or anything but that autumn leaves and everything are brown so we don't know what to do now. Well I would not give up on I like the jelly pretty tough. OK and what I would do and if you say that you know if you can just scrape the stem with your thumb nail and it is still it's green under there or look at the buds to see if they still look plump. Then even if it's browned up completely there's still a good chance that it will go ahead and leaf out again. OK so do we prune it back or do we do I don't know if I would just wait to leave it as it is and then watch again watering point at the end for today is watering during drought periods but it really is you know it's like everything you get to yet to have a healthy plant

for it to really do well so I would start watering it on a regular basis and then see what happens I certainly would not give up on it and not get up on it. OK and then we have a brand new not a brand new. It's a 20 year old pear tree. We transplanted it while it did really well we did it in the fall and it weathered the winter Bloom blossom It was gorgeous in the spring but now it seems a little. When we're not sure if that's kind of typical because they arborist who did it said it would take a couple years. Oh is he really that in and you know if the leaves are glossy we water it and it looks fine. Other than that it looks thin now that all the blooms are caught I think it's fine I mean I think it's wonderful that you've gotten it this far because that's a fairly old tree to be moving so I think that's fine and certainly this year to have it a little thin is not a big deal. OK so I just continue with good hand with good care and I think it should be fine. Wonderful thank you.

All right thank you well there we will have to leave it because we've come to the end of the time folks here in and around Champaign Urbana champagne County do remember the champagne County Master Gardeners garden walk on Father's Day Sunday June 20th. Tickets are necessary cost a couple dollars for you there but I think you probably enjoy that so where can people get tickets if you get tickets all over the place. Any of the garden local garden centers you should be able to find tickets for them here in Champaign Urbana. Oh really easy also the extension of Sandy Mason she's horticulture educator with you by extension in Champaign County I think very much. Thank you we'll be back with us again by the time would be will be well into July. I'm sure it'll be love I'm sure.