Gardening Tips for July by David Barkley (July 2005)

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• Irrigate warm season grasses as needed. Most lawns will need 1.5 inches of water each week, best applied all at one time or split into two 3/4" applications several days apart.
• Watch for chinch bugs in St. Augustinegrass and be prepared to apply Talstar to control them.
• Weeds are really adaptive to the harsh conditions that prevail in the summertime. Check on your weed population, get the weeds identified, and control with the appropriate weed control product. The best weed control strategy is to have a well established lawn which prevents weeds from establishing.
• Fertilize the warm season grasses with 1/2 to 1 pound of actual nitrogen for our area (except for Centipedegrass).
• Continue to mow at the proper heights for the various grasses.
  Centipedegrass    1.0 - 1.5"
  St Augustinegrass     2.5 - 3.0"
  Bermudagrass    .75 - 1.25"
  Zoysiagrass    .75 - 1.0"
  Tall Fescue    3.5 - 4.0"
• Watch for mole cricket activity - small tunnels at the soil surface. Merit is usually applied for mole cricket control in late May and followed up with an application of Talstar or around the first of July.

Crape myrtles

Crape myrtles are some of North Carolina's favorite summer landscape trees. They provide great color and interest in the landscape and they are also adaptable to numerous stressful landscape situations. Several tips to consider for enhancing their performance are:

• Take care of Japanese beetle problems immediately. Use appropriate insecticides (Sevin, Talstar, Orthene, or Malathion) to control the generous population of beetles.
• As the flowers begin to fade, keep the limbs trimmed back. You will also notice that many of the limbs will be drooping under the heavy load of blooms. They should be trimmed periodically to maintain an upright form.
• Now is a good time to prune lower growing branches back to enhance the tree form of the plant. Stored energy reserves are low at this time and new growth will be minimized.
• Help your crape myrtles lose weight this summer. As the flowers fade, tip prune them. This will encourage new, dense growth and more flowers for late summer.

Boxwoods

Boxwoods are great landscape plants, especially if they are planted correctly and given routine maintenance. Designers find them very helpful in solving design problems. This is the time of year to address possible insect infestations.

The four insects which can cause damage are boxwood leaf miner, psyllid, mite and Japanese wax scale. The most destructive pest is the boxwood leaf miner. The larvae feed on the tissues between the outer surfaces of the leaves all summer. This results in blotch shaped mines on the foliage. The infested leaves appear blistered from late summer through the following spring.

By fall you can expect premature leaf drop. The insecticides recommended to control leaf miners are Malathion, Merit and Orthene.

The boxwood psyllid causes a characteristic cupping of the leaves followed by a general grayish, dingy, unhealthy appearance. Japanese boxwoods are the least susceptible to this mite. Control with Dimethoate or Malathion.

A severe infestation of Japanese wax scale detracts from the overall appearance because of the numerous white scales and honeydew that is excreted causing a black fungus called sooty mold. Horticultural oil sprays will control wax scales.

Old, established plantings can have a multitude of problems. Aside from the insects and diseases associated with old plantings, one needs to evaluate the overall health, size and shape of the planting. As boxwoods get older, especially American Boxwood, they can get rather large.

Severe pruning on an unhealthy, non vigorous plant can destroy it and recovery may be slow (death may result) after severe pruning.


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