Prime's Clippings February 2016

75 Degrees on Jan. 30? Winter Must Be Over!

It may still be a little too early to pull out the bathing suit!

I wouldn’t start planting begonias just yet, but 75 in January? I imagine we will soon see our weather imitate the January stock market and maybe have some frozen precipitation before we see real spring weather. But these long warm spells play heck with plants in winter.

Watch for weeds to explode onto the scene in February, and trees may start to bud early. It is late enough now to cut back roses and ornamental grasses, but if this warm spell persists, a late hard freeze could knock some things back. But the day I can predict the weather a month out is the day I can tell where your stocks will be in a month.

We will be busy putting out our first winter weed application and remember that it takes at least two applications. Our crews are busy cutting back roses, perennials, and grasses, so please let us know if you are not already on a regular schedule for these chores. And if you are needing your trees shaped or cleaned up, we should schedule before they leaf out as it is much easier to see what really needs to be done.

My official prediction: Regardless of what the weather is doing, Spring will begin March 20. I don’t think I can go wrong with that one.

Our Annual Mulch Special Continues Through Feb!

Mulching your beds is absolutely the best thing you can do for the health of your soil and plants. Mulch reduces weeds, improves soil structure, conserves moisture, protects plants from extreme cold and summer heat, and gives your beds a neat appearance.

Take advantage now! Mention our newsletter for 20% off normal prices.

Don't Forget These Winter Chores

February is the month to transplant trees, shrubs, and many perennials. If you have something that doesn’t quite fit and has not been in the ground too many years, now is the time to find it a new home. Keep as much soil around the root ball as you can, and water with root stimulator and liquid fish/ seaweed emulsion.

While trees are still void of foliage, prune to remove mistletoe, low limbs, and perform corrective pruning for crossed limbs, weak forks, and other potential hazards. It is much easier to see what needs to be done when the leaves are off.

Cut back ornamental fountain grasses, roses, and groundcovers such as liriope and Asian jasmine this month. We are strongly recommending that everyone have their liriope (monkey grass) cut back this year. There is a fungal crown rot that is infecting liriope throughout the area. It is a serious disease that will slowly kill out large patches of your bed and has no practical chemical control. Cutting the plant back in late winter is one of the recommended preventative measures along with avoiding too much water.

This is also the time for severe pruning of overgrown shrubs, or shall we say perhaps a shrub that may not have been planted in the best location? Regardless, you can cut many shrubs back to wood now with a good chance they will leaf back out in spring.

Veggie gardeners have a lot on their plate this month. It is time to plant many cool weather leafy and root vegetables, including onions, carrots, kale, peas, broccoli, collards and most all greens, and even lettuce. You may still have to cover tender new plants a few times, but all of these are at their best before temperatures get hot.

A Serious Problem For Crape Myrtles

An extremely destructive  pest is troubling crape myrtles in north Texas. This is a type of felt or bark scale that is doing serious damage and is difficult to control.

Look for a black (sooty mold) coating on the bark of the trunk and on the branches. The insects appear as white, waxy encrustations likely to occur anywhere on the plant. Larger female scales "bleed” a pink liquid when crushed. Careful examination may reveal dozens of pink eggs under some of the larger white scale covers.

Texas A&M does not yet have a full treatment regimen, but dormant oil sprayed before the leaves emerge and a systemic insecticide containing imacloprid will need to be applied 2-3 times through the season.

If you have noticed the symptoms above, call for an evaluation and treatment plan.

Knockout Roses - Pruning and Rosette Disease

Knockout roses have become a mainstay of our local landscape both in commercial and residential settings. Knockouts are just  one of a number of Earth-Kind roses, a special designation given by Texas AgriLife Extension Service. There are numerous others including the smaller Drift roses.

Unfortunately, rosette disease has become widespread throughout the metroplex in just the last few years, and these once bullet-proof roses are just as susceptible as any rose to this deadly virus. Spread by a tiny eriophyid mite, the recommended treatment for diseased plants is to remove them and spray adjacent roses in hopes of controlling any mites that may be in the area. Since the mites may crawl from one plant to another, rethinking your rose bed so that plants have a little space between them may help prevent spreading the disease.

At the same time, it appears that the mites are also carried by the wind or even piggybacking on other insects, so there is no guarantee.

And there is also a possibility the disease may sometimes be located in only one section the plant and not systemic. If this is the case, it may be possible to prune out a diseased section and see if the plant recovers.

Does this mean that we can no longer enjoy beautiful roses in north Texas? No, we can still plant, but we must be vigilant in watching for symptoms and need to avoid large mass plantings.

Another subject is whether or not healthy Knockouts need to be trimmed.

Knockouts are  popular for many reasons- they are consistent bloomers throughout the season, they have attractive dark foliage that holds late into the winter, but their biggest attribute may be their ability to  perform with little care.

Although Knockouts can be enhanced by traditional rose pruning techniques, they really only need a serious pruning about once a year. They don’t require dead heading to encourage more blooms, but occasional shaping is perfectly acceptable throughout the season.