Boardash: ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Saturday September 5, 2009

Friday, September 4, 2009

ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Saturday September 5, 2009

Having trouble seeing this email? View the most recent issue or stories from previous issues.

NEW! Join BookDaily.com

Twitter Easy Cash Fast Make $215 to $926 Daily! Click here for details...

Quick Clicks

Hey You, Entrepeneur! Discover a Recession Proof online Business Here!

Flush up to 25 pounds of waste and toxins from your body!

Test and Keep a Sony Vaio Laptop - Free! Multi-media powerhouse - claim it.

Relieve your foot pain with Walkfit Platinum. New improved design , for the same low price. We've added a unique gel pad to our Bio-Lock heel cup for advanced cushioning and shock absorption. So you get cushioning where you need it and firmness where you need it! Click here for more information!

Q&A: Wormy Pecans

Question: Our pecan tree is probably 100 years old. Other trees in this area produce great crops, but our pecans have little white segmented worms. They also seem to rot before they ripen. Can you tell us what is wrong or how to improve the quality of the nuts?

Answer: There are two common pecan pests that fit the description -- the pecan weevil and the pecan shuckworm (also called hickory shuckworm). Your pecans may be infested by one or the other, or both. In any case, you can reduce the extent of the problem if you pick up and destroy fallen nuts at the end of the season, since that's where the shuckworm overwinters. It also helps to cultivate the soil under the tree to a depth of about 3 inches during late February or early March. Weevils are more difficult to control. If it's practical, you can shake the adults from the tree. Place tarps under the branches and shake them to dislodge the feeding, breeding weevils, and destroy them. These pests overwinter in the soil at a depth of up to 12 inches, making cultivation impractical and likely to damage tree roots. Fortunately, weevil infestations tend to come in cycles, becoming a problem every two or three years.

Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top

Q&A: Trimming Hydrangea

Question: I live in Ontario, so we have very cold winters. I palnted a hydrangea this past spring; how should I be pruning it? The bush is only 2 years old and gets pretty big in summer--about 3 ft high--but the tops get so heavy and they end up bending over. Is there any way to cure that?

Answer: You must be refering to Hydrangea arborescens (Smooth Hydrangea). Many other species of hydrangeas would not be hardy in your region. In your region it is best to treat this plant as an "herbaceous perennial"; that is, one that essentially dies back to the crown and regrows each year.

In late winter, cut back the plant right to the ground and fertilize lightly. Although cutting back like this should produce a sturdy stem, there is really nothing you can do to keep the flowers from weighting down the branches. You can, however, use them as cut flowers, or dry them for use in dried bouquets. To dry them, simply cut the flowers at the base when they are fully open and just beginning to fade, strip off the leaves, tie them in a bunch, and hang them in a cool, dry place.

Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top

Tip: Plant Snapdragons

Plant snapdragons now for flowering this winter. Plant seeds indoors, transplant into the garden in 8 weeks, or buy transplants from garden centers. If the plants are flowering by November, they'll flower through winter.

Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top

Send in Your Fall Baby Photos

While you're enjoying the long weekend with your family, be sure to take some pictures of your kids and grandkids -- and submit your best to the ArcaMax Baby Photo gallery!

It's easy to upload your best pictures, and just as easy to vote on your favorites. Or send your friends and family to vote for yours, and make it the most popular for the month!

To send in more pictures, visit the Gardening, Travel, and Pet Photo Galleries.

Subscribe to ArcaMax Parents instantly for more reader photos, parenting tips, and more.

Find out more before subscribing.

-- From the ArcaMax editors

Comment on this Story | Printer Friendly | Send Story to a Friend | Top

Today's Reader Submitted Photos

Click an image above to see full size and read caption.

To see more of our subscriber photos visit our full Photo Gallery.

Enter your Gardening Daily Tips pictures so you can show them off to other readers right here in this ezine and on the ArcaMax.com Web site. Click here to submit your photo.

Sincerely,
ArcaMax Editors