In the Garden this Week

I had to take a long time to mow in the garden this week because I had to pick up all the frogs and toads in the grass and put them in the flowerbeds. It is all good because they go after all the little crickets and grasshoppers.

Many people have noticed quite a bit of purslane growing in the gardens and flowerbeds this year. If you want to get rid of this, pull and remove it. If you toss it back on the ground, it will root again in the soil. It is also a food source used raw in salads, frying, or thickened soups like okra.

The bug of the week is the soldier beetle. Not all beetles are bad. These eat aphids and pollinate flowers. They are attracted to yellow flowers like goldenrods. The one we have in the state is the golden soldier beetle.

The needles on spruces dying and dropping off on the interior of the tree are normal. It becomes not normal if the tips are brown (with a purple tint) or the top of the tree dries up. This could be a sign of cytospora fungus. The fungus rarely kills the tree, however, will weaken it and the tree might succumb to winter injury. Follow the dying branch to a canker (a weeping area of resin) and prune out. The disease is more pronounced on mature blue spruces.

This is the time to reseed areas in your cool-season lawn. Make sure you keep the area moist until the grass seed sprouts. If you want to try a buffalo grass lawn, seed in June or the first of July since it is a warm season grass.

Talking about lawns, the brown patch is showing up. This fungus causes small patches in the lawn to turn brown to white. The problem is becoming worse since the humidity levels have been increasing during the past few years. Use liquid fungicide on the patches so they do not spread. They are also resistant grass varieties to plant.