NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
April 13, 2000
Ron Smith, Extension Horticulturist
North Dakota State University
Q: We built our home in 1972 on a small farm northwest of Aberdeen, S.D. We planted a sapling maple tree (we brought with us from Minneapolis) the same year right in front of the house. Now 20 feet tall, it is the most beautiful tree we could ever imagine, but this spring for the first time ever it began weeping/bleeding sap or something, and a liquid literally ran right off the tree, dripping from branches, and sort of running from the huge trunk. Could this be maple syrup? Is there any danger to our tree? The liquid must be sweet, since we notice squirrels licking it now and then! Why after 28 years, it is only now letting out this liquid? (Aberdeen, S.D., e-mail)
A: The maple is "bleeding" sap that is used to make maple syrup. The sap flow is coming from breaks in the bark caused by the vicissitudes of life--hail, wind, birds, squirrels and of course, we humans. It is starting now because the sap is flowing within the tree, and it likely that there is great osmotic pressure within the tree because of the extensive root system that it has finally developed.
It is nothing to worry about. The sticky sap will likely attract insects as the spring goes on, which in turn will attract birds to feed on the insects. There is nothing you can do, unless you want to tap the tree and collect the sap to make the syrup (it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup, I believe, depending on the species of maple).
In a nutshell, enjoy one of the small workings of our wonderful ecosystem!
Q: I just got some peonie bush bulbs. My problem is planting them. They are showing stems like a tree, but there are also pinkish root-looking things shooting up. Which way do I plant them? Which side goes up? (Pennsylvania e-mail)
A: Peony crowns have buds which we often call "eyes"what you are calling the "pinkish root-looking things" sticking straight up. Be careful to not touch or bump them because they break or bruise easily. Set the roots so that the tips of those eyes are about 1 inch below the finished surface of the soil. You might want to give the crown a good drench with a broad spectrum fungicide as a hedge against any disease organisms lingering amongst the tuberous roots. Bordeaux mixture or Daconil 2787 are a couple of examples.
Q: A full-page Sunday newspaper ad said "Super growing flowering shade tree grows roof-high in just one year!" The ad also said the "Royal Paulownia" grows in virtually any soil, requires no special care and is hardy to minus 30 F. Is this too good to be true? Will this tree really grow like this, especially in our climate? (Fargo, N.D., e-mail)
A: Paulownia tomentosa, also known as royal paulownia, princess tree and empress tree, is too good to be true, at least the way it is described in the advertisement.
It will NOT survive in North Dakota. It is hardy to zone 6 which is Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. Try it in zone 5, and it will die back to the ground in typical winters. Where it can be grown, it is an extremely messy tree, similar in character to Catalpa, which is hardy here but not desired from an ornamental viewpoint. Where it can grow, it grows extremely fast, and is therefore used for land reclamation. Its very coarse texture through all seasons would not make the royal paulownia a welcome addition to the North Dakota landscape. We ought to be thankful this tree cannot survive in our region.
Q: What kind of fertilizer is best for my cucumbers and pumpkins, as far as high yield and early yield goes? I can order 25 pounds of 20-20-20 all-purpose fertilizer from one place for $24.41. Another option is 5 pounds of Miracle Grow (15-30-15) for $14.95.
What kind of yield per season could I expect from 100 asparagus plants once they're established? I know it depends on about a million things, but could you just give me a ballpark figure?
I've read you shouldn't start cucumbers or pumpkins to transplant more than two or three weeks before you set them out. Do you agree? Would you set them out about May 20 (I live near Jamestown) or is that still iffy since they are so tender? I will have black plastic down and cloches above them. (Jamestown, N.D., e-mail)
A: I prefer Miracle-Gro. It has a good spectrum of major and minor elements that others lack and doesn't cause excessive vegetative growth.
Asparagus should yield between 40 to 50 pounds per 100 plants.
The longer the cucumbers and pumpkins sit around waiting to be planted out, the more difficult it becomes to get them established. May 20 is still iffy, but gardening any time of the year in North Dakota is iffy! With the plastic down and clotches above them they should do OK.
Q: What is the best treatment for apple scab? I have used Sevin to control apple maggots with good results. I believe apple scab is a fungus. Is that correct? Is a lime-sulfur mix about the best to control apple scab? When and how often should I spray the trees?
Last year slugs ruined about 30 percent of my tomato crop. The slugs would remove the outer skin of the tomato and then a small black insect would then bore into the tomato. How does the slug live over winter? I cleaned the garden to be free of any material that would provide cover for the pests. I do have a strawberry bed at one end of the garden. I also had the garden tilled last fall. Is there any product that can be used before tilling the soil prior to planting? (Faulkton, S.D., e-mail)
A: Apple scab is a fungus that comes about with the humid weather of summer. There are some cultivars that are more susceptible than others, so selecting a resistant cultivar is the first step in limiting the incidence of this disease. Lime sulfur is a good preseason, or dormant, spray to sanitize the tree's surface. Do not apply after leaf-out. Once the leaves have emerged, use benomyl or captan fungicide, or something available locally that is registered for scab control. Spray about every two weeks. This acts as a good preventer, but nothing really cures this disease.
Slugs can be controlled just as you have done, through good sanitation. They can go into a "hibernation" that allows them to survive under leaf litter and other debris. Some have likely overwintered in your strawberry patch. There are plenty of slug control products on the market. Spreading egg shells or diatomaceous earth around each plant will also cut down on the damage. Hydrated lime will also work at controlling them.
Q: My question concerns perennial bulb planting--namely, tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. I dug them up last fall to divide (and while trying to get the house painted) and never got them re-planted, or the house painted, either! Anyway, do I have to wait until fall to replant, or what would happen if I stuck them in say, early summer (warm enough to finish painting type weather)? I would guess they would not bloom this year.
Also, do you know of any lavender species hardy enough for here? (e-mail)
A: It all depends where you stored your bulbs. If you kept them at room temperature or just above freezing, they may not have had a sufficient enough cold treatment to bloom this year. If they did, you will get some blooms. I suspect the former rather than the latter. Just plant them whenever you can. They will bloom when they are ready to do so.
Concerning the lavender, the hardiest one is L. angustifolia, which is listed as being hardy to only zone 5. This creates a challenge for those of us in love with the plant who want to grow it in the Red River Valley.
Normally, I would say forget it, due to the zone difference, but my emotions are overriding my reasoning ability, so I say go for it anyway. Do your best to protect it through the winter, and plant it in well-composted soil that has excellent drainage. After heavy fall frosts have set in, cover the crown with leaves stuffed into a bushel basket, held down with bricks to keep it from blowing away. Do anything you can to encourage snow collection around the plant.
Q: Last year I planted 12 hedge roses and they did very nicely. I dead headed the spent blossoms. Now, someone has told me that should not be done on hedge roses. What is your opinion on that? Also, I did not cut them down last fall. How should they be trimmed now in the spring? Should I cut only the tops since they are a hedge? They were about 2 feet tall last summer.
A: Hedge roses don't need as much fussing as the others. They need almost no pruning except to remove the diseased or dead winter wood, along with getting rid of anything that is tangled and non-blooming.
Q: A friend has done extensive remodeling to her home and her yard as been ruined in the process. They have several large trees in their neighborhood. Can you purchase sod for shade areas? Her whole yard will need to be redone and all of it will qualify for the shade sod. (Valley City, N.D., e-mail)
A: Shade sod will be hard, if not impossible, to come by. Sod farms are in 100-percent sunlight, but some mix in shade tolerant cultivars as well. If you can find out what cultivars make up the sod, then I can tell you whether there are any that are shade tolerant in the mix or blend.
Also, it depends on the tree species. Some produce what is known as a "dappled shade" where there is sunlight that dances across the turf surface during the day. Most grasses will do acceptably well under such conditions. Where the shade is solid for most of the day, then the most shade-tolerant cultivars would be necessary.
Some examples of shade-tolerant Kentucky bluegrass cultivars are Glade, Glade II, Touchdown, A-34, America, Bristol, Eclipse, Enmundi, Mystic, Nugget, Ram I, Sydsport and Chateau. Likewise, there are many cultivars of creeping red fescue. Chewings fescue and hard fescue are quite shade tolerant and are included in some shady lawn mixes.
Of course, you can always purchase the standard sod that is available, and seed into it the shade tolerant cultivars that I have mentioned here as the original begins to thin out. Keep in mind that shade-grown grass survives better when it is mowed high (3 inches), fertilized less (about half the rate of sun grown grass) and not allowed to go into drought stress from the tree root competition.
Q: While visiting the East Coast I fell in love with the beautiful tulip poplars. I've been checking catalogs and some say that they are hardy in this area (Breckenridge). Would they be hardy and bloom here? (Breckenridge, Minn., e-mail)
A: The Liriodendron tulipifera, or tulip poplar, is an easy tree to fall in love with, and it may survive for a time in your location. It can tolerate a temperature to minus 25 F without injury but will most likely never get to the size of the ones that you saw back east--70 to 90 feet tall. It does prefer a slightly acid soil pH 6.5 and is subject to sunscald and is sensitive to moisture stress.
Q: I have a flower bed where I like to put petunia plants. For the past two years the petunia leaves have been yellow with green veins and the plants have been small. This does not happen to other plants I put in this bed. I use an all purpose fertilizer and that has not helped. Do you have any ideas how I can prevent this from happening this year? (Beach, N.D., e-mail)
A: A number of things could be the cause. Petunias are sensitive to high pH, which leads to a shortage of iron (Fe) being available to the plants, resulting in a stunting of the growth. Another possible contributing cause could be the root systems are container bound in a knot when transplanted and the root system then has a limited surface area to uptake adequate nutrients.
I would suggest incorporating generous amounts of Canadian peat into the planting sites this spring prior to planting. This will help to depress the pH somewhat. Then, use Miracle-Gro as your fertilizer source right after transplanting to help make iron available to the petunias and other plants. Repeat on a monthly basis.
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Do you have a gardening or houseplant question? Write to Hortiscope, Box 5051, NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, ND 58105 or e-mail to Ron Smith at ronsmith@ndsuext.nodak.edu.
Source: Ron Smith, (701) 231-8161
ronsmith@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Dean Hulse, (701) 231-6136