Boardash: ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Tuesday January 19, 2010

Monday, January 18, 2010

ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Tuesday January 19, 2010

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Get Healthy in 2010

Gardening Daily Tips
For You
Tuesday January 19, 2010

Columbine (Aquilegia x hybrida)
Q&A: Cutting Back Schefflera
Q&A: Scale On Bay Leaf Plant
Tip: Plant Camellias
Get Healthy in 2010
Reader Photos

Columbine (Aquilegia x hybrida)

Today's Featured Plant
Columbine (Aquilegia x hybrida)

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Q&A: Cutting Back Schefflera

Question: Is it possible to cut back a schefflera very hard? Mine is more than ten years old and is taking over my living room.

Answer: Yes, you can cut your schefflera back. You can safely remove a third of the foliage; simply cut stems back to just above where a leaf emerges, and you should get a new sprout there. In the long run, you'll get a fuller bush if you cut some of the branches way back, so they will sprout near the main trunk, than shearing just the tips off all the branches.

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Q&A: Scale On Bay Leaf Plant

Question: I have been fighting scale on my favorite house plant, a bay leaf plant. I occasionally spray it with a home made mixture of 1 qt water, 1 tablespoon of dish detergent and 1 tablespoon of alcohol. I even tried a systemic poison. Nothing seems to permanently rid the plant of scale. Otherwise the plant is healthy and growing large. Please advise if there is any other way of getting rid of the scale once and for all.

Answer: Scale is notoriously difficult to control. You might try using commercially formulated insecticidal soap according to the label instructions and when the scale are soft and moving or crawling. Be sure to spray the top and bottom sides of the leaves as well as the brnaches and stems and especially where there are joins. Also, a weekly search and destroy mission done by hand under a bright light can make a big dent in the population; gently pop them off with a fingernail. This is the time of year when they seem to peak.

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Tip: Plant Camellias

When camellias start blooming, plant trees in morning shade location. Dig a hole twice as wide and as deep as the root ball, amend the soil, only if poor, with a shovelful of compost, and water well.

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ArcaMax Editors

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