Home and garden Q&A: Lichens, liriope and lawns – Salisbury Post

Home and garden Q&A: Lichens, liriope and lawns – Salisbury Post

Warm climate through March prods property owners to inquire about their household gardening difficulties. Beneath are issues posed to above the earlier number of months.

Dilemma: I have his advancement rising all over my trees in my property. What is this and will it eliminate my trees? How do I control it?

Solution: Your plant has lichens on the limbs and twigs. The expansion of lichens does not trigger decline in growth or dying of shrubs and trees. Nonetheless, lichen improvement on tree or shrub is frequently involved with weak development or environmental tension of the plant. If realistic, the affected limbs or twigs can be pruned out to promote new advancement.

Concern: I assume my redbud tree is declining and dying. Sections of the tree are useless. Do these trees have a important ailment issue?

Solution: Indigenous redbuds are not a very long-lived shade tree as in comparison to oaks and maples. However, a single of the far more constructive areas of the tree is they generally are easy to develop, currently being a legume, and have extremely several pest challenges. When the tree begins to decline, it normally never ever recovers. There are new redbud cultivars that includes ample assortments of shades and leaf textures that adapt very well to our local climate.

Problem: Should really I mow my liriope this spring?

Respond to: Of course, it’s most effective to mow in the spring to rejuvenate new growth and remove dead or broken leaves. Increase the mower blade as high as feasible and make absolutely sure your mower blade is sharp.

Problem: What is that purple weed in my lawn and how do I manage it?

Reply: The weed is most very likely henbit or deadnettle, both equally similar to every single other. Publish-emergence herbicides containing 2, 4-D, Banvel and MCPP are built to regulate the wintertime weed. Having said that, in the course of flowering, the weed is tricky to destroy. Blooming broadleaf winter annuals are tricky and might be extremely hard to kill due to the fact they are in the process of creating seed and not adsorbing herbicides. Weeds ought to glimpse distorted and withered a few days just after application. Two purposes of wide-leafed herbicides 10 times apart are an outcome answer.

Concern: Can I more than-seed my garden now?

Response: Fescue can be over-seeded now, especially bare places. Never wait around far too late in the spring.

Concern: I have some limbs to lower back again on my tree that is hanging above my property. Must I use some type of pruning paint or sealer around the cuts to shield the wound?

Reply: No, many question about utilizing pruning paint for uncovered cuts. Pruning paint or wound dressing does not give any added benefits in healing or shielding tree cuts. Some researchers have proposed that it frequently will cause troubles later with fungus increasing guiding the paint.

Darrell Blackwelder is the retired horticulture agent and director with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. Call him at [email protected].