What’s Up with the Sampson County Master Gardeners

First and foremost, on behalf of our county’s Master Gardener volunteers, I extend our profound thanks to all who supported our spring plant sale. This includes our membership, Cooperative Extension staff, and returning and new customers. Your support enables us to offer a variety of plants to brighten and environmentally enhance your surroundings, both indoors and out, and it enables us to keep our greenhouse and grounds healthy and flourishing. Especially important is a new scholarship initiative we have recently launched for our county’s high school horticulture programs to enable the realization of projects that positively impact our environment and have long-term educational benefits for the students involved. We are grateful to you.

May has arrived and gardening season is now in full swing. Below are some helpful, research-based gardening tips offered by NC State Cooperative Extension for what you can do this month in your landscape and garden:

Lawn

• Leave clippings on the lawn. They return nutrients and water to the soil and do not contribute to thatch (a dead layer of grass and roots that builds up, acting like a sponge and preventing nutrients and water from reaching good soil).
• If your lawn has a thatch layer thicker than half an inch, power rake this month to remove thatch.
• Aerate your lawn only if soil has become compacted. The best time to aerate a lawn is when grass is actively growing from May to June.
• Frequent mowing encourages lawns to thicken and reduces weed problems. Maintain Bermudagrass, zoysia and centipede at 1” tall and St. Augustine at 3-4”.
• Spray broadleaf weeds with a post emergent herbicide. The optimal product to use will depend on the weeds you want to control and your turf type.
• Check lawns for white grubs and apply insecticides by mid-June. It’s best to control Japanese beetle grubs in May or early June. Use products labeled for grubs like Merit, Advance Lawn Grub Control, and Season Long Grub Control.

Flowers, Trees and Vegetables

• Prune spring-flowering plants, such as forsythias, azaleas, camellias, oakleaf hydrangeas, and spireas immediately after flowering if possible but before mid-July. If you wait until late summer or fall to prune, you will remove next season’s flowers.
• Scout for bagworms on trees and shrubs, paying special attention to Leyland cypress, junipers, and cedars. Cut out or spray with Sevin, malathion or Dipel.
• Look out for common rose diseases: blackspot and powdery mildew. Many fungicides are available to control these diseases including: Daconil, Funginex, and Immunox. Spray applications should be every 7-10 days starting in the spring and after heavy rains.
• Plant late season vegetables such as pumpkins, peppers, cucumbers, okra and sweet potatoes.
• Remember to fertilize your vegetable garden six to eight weeks after germination.
• Harvest onions, potatoes and garlic when their tops start to die back.
• Mulch around vegetable plants to reduce disease problems and to conserve moisture.

Until next month, happy gardening to you, and let’s hope for good, soaking rain!

Written by: Ann Butler