NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
August 3, 2000
Ron Smith, Extension Horticulturist
North Dakota State University
Q: I was told that it was possible to cut and dry hydrangea flowers to use as a bouquet, but I can't find anyone to tell me how to do it. Is it possible, and if so, how do you go about it? (Breckenridge, Minn.)
A: While not pretending to be an expert, I've seen many attractive hydrangea bouquets simply air dried. Harvest the flowers and hang them upside-down in a warm, dark room. When I used to teach landscape design to architecture students, many of them would use dried hydrangea blooms as "trees" in their scaled three-dimensional displays.
Q: One of my American elm trees has curled up leaves and small, red nodules on several branches. On another tree the curled up leaves have small green, bumps inside. Are either of these treatable or will they hurt the trees? (Herreid, S.D.)
A: They are no cause for alarm. These are insect caused galls that do mostly cosmetic damage to the tree. Nature has already laid out the course, so all you can do is observe!
Q: I have a very nice strawberry patch with lots of green plants and many blossoms, but no strawberries. Could you tell me what the problem could be? (Stockholm, S.D.)
A: Could be one of two things: one, a late frost when the blossoms were open and vulnerable, or two, the lygus bug feeding on the pistillate (female part) of the flower.
Q: We have an apple tree that has developed an almost rotten-looking area about half way up the trunk. The bark has peeled off above this area, but below the bark is OK. There were lots of blossoms and fruit has set. Should we take the tree out? (Milnor, N.D.)
A: Sounds like a good idea, but wait until after apple harvest is over. Then cut it up for firewood.
Q: The old spruce trees on our farm are dying. They were planted between 1915 and 1925, so they are very large. We have always lost a few to high winds, but this year they look really sick. Could the very high water table be the problem? The ones near a new "lake" that has grown in our yard are the worst. Also, there are a few pine trees planted within the groves that don't seem as affected. I have noticed some sap "bleeding" on the trunks. Could insect pests be part of the problem? They are large for spraying easily, but it would be worth the effort to save them. (Kathryn, N.D., e-mail)
A: It sounds like a combination of problems hitting your spruce trees. The high water table would stress spruce worse than the pines, although pines don't take too well to water crowding their roots either.
Sap oozing from the trees could be a number of problems: sapsuckers making the holes to attract insects to the sap, cankers or just plain physical stress from living so long.
I will not recommend any spraying at this point without more information as to what the cause is. I feel quite strongly, however, that the rising water table is the major problem.
Q: We have about a 20- to 24-inch-diameter maple tree in our back yard. Two years ago it looked great, but as you may know Ohio had quite a drought last year. The tree seemed to weather it OK, though it didn't look as great as it did the year before.
Now this year, we started out with less than average rainfall again. This may or may not have anything to do with it, but the maple has quite a few branches where the leaf buds did not fill out. This happened on the very end of some of the branches (12 to 18 inches in), while others filled out fine.
We fertilized with tree stakes in April, as we do about every three to four years. Do you think we have soil deficiencies, some sort of disease, cold weather damage or is lack of early spring rain fall the culprit? (The rainfall has since caught up, somewhat, but the leaves haven't come on. My husband says the buds are dead, and many have fallen off.) Our neighbor's considerable younger maple had the same condition when we first noticed ours. But since then, theirs has finished leafing out. Does this help? (Ohio e-mail)
A: It sounds as though the tree has suffered somewhat from the droughty months of last summer with some cambial death of some of the smaller branches. Continue to care for the tree in the best manner possible, but I suggest not using the fertilizer spikes as a nutrient source (for a number of reasons I won't bother going into right now). Generally, broadcast fertilization under the canopy and beyond will provide sufficient nutrients.
If you can, have a professional arborist come in and clear out the dead wood, but check out some references before the first cut is made!
Q: I just planted four rose bushes, all being hybrids, and they are in good sun, but out of four one went into shock (I think) from being transplanted, even though I used Safe vitamin B1. I am constantly having problems with my plants going into shock, especially hydrangeas. I usually have to deadhead all my flowers and a handful of leaves after transplanting. Is there something I am doing wrong or is this just to normal?
Also, I was wondering if fish emulsion is really that great of a fertilizer. I use it on all my plants, but I want an experienced opinion. I have some well-decomposed steer manure, but I was told by someone less experienced than myself not to put it in this time of the year because it will burn the soil. True or false? (e-mail)
A: Generally, the shock you describe is normal. Most hydrangeas are greenhouse grown under ideal conditions, and when they are moved into real world settings, the show their distaste by dropping leaves etc. As long as they come out of it, don't worry.
The fish emulsion and the composted steer manure are both fine for use in the garden. Both are low in nutrients and would be almost impossible to get a burn from either, unless someone spiked them with some extra nutrients to make them more potent! Use either without worry!
Q: Is there a way to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the amount of cotton that a cottonwood tree produces? I was surfing the Internet today and came across a comment from a man who heard there is a method out there that has "something to do with injecting a chemical into the ground that acts as a sort of 'birth control' that keeps the tree from producing seed." (e- mail)
A: Beware of birth control products for trees!! I doubt they work at all. I have never heard of any product that does this effectively.
Q: I am having problems with my Ponderosa pine. They have dark or even black coloring on the new buds and ants all over the trees. The trees are 3 years old and the problem is in only one row. Colorado blue spruce and Scotch pine in the same planting have no problems. I looked through some literature that I have and found nothing. Do you have any ideas as to what the problem is and a solution? (Amidon, N.D., e-mail)
A: I suspect it could be either a saprophyte that has developed -- aphids feeding and exuding their "honeydew" which is attractive to ants--or a bacterium. My hunch would go with some aphids in the buds. Spray with Orthene to see if that helps control the problem. Often, aphids' honeydew exudate causes a black saprophytic fungus to grow over the foliage, and when the ants find it, they go nuts!
Q: We just moved and there is a hydrangea in our backyard. Can I begin a new plant with a cutting, and if so, how? (Sacramento, Calif., e-mail)
A: Yes, hydrangeas can be propagated by cuttings quite easily. Take cuttings from this year's growth--about 6 to 9 inches long--and stick them in moist sand, misting frequently. If you can, get some rooting-up hormone (IBA etc.) and dip the cut ends into that material before sticking the cuttings into the ground. That way, the rooting will be accelerated and should take no more than about four weeks with this plant species.
Q: I have iris plants from my mother's yard in California. Last year they bloomed. This year, only one of them bloomed. They are full of leaves, but no flowers. One clump is between peonies, and the second is next to a flaming bush and daisies--all of which are next our house, which we had painted last year. What's the problem? (Britton, S.D., e-mail)
A: The problem of iris not flowering could be due to damage the painters inadvertently caused. If they had spilled any cleaner or paint on them, I'm sure they would be dead now. The painters probably covered the iris up with drop cloths, which could have had a detrimental effect on the flower bud set. As long as the foliage remains healthy, they should be OK in the future.
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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: Gary Moran, (701) 231-7865