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Two Green Thumbs Up: Digging Into Your Gardening Questions

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Two young patients from Franciscan Children's in Brighton water the garden they volunteered to take care of during their stay. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Two young patients from Franciscan Children's in Brighton water the garden they volunteered to take care of during their stay. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

With John Harwood

The best green thumbs on the planet answer all your gardening questions from the soil on up.

Guests:

Melinda Myers, nationally known gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist who has written more than 20 gardening books. (@Melindagardens)

Steve Bender, senior writer at Southern Living, where he has written a gardening column called “The Grumpy Gardener” for more than 30 years.

Libby Weiland, statewide network coordinator for Vermont Community Garden Network.

Listener Questions, Answered:

Chipmunks in a fenced garden. Any suggestion for how to get them out and keep them out? Rabbits outside of the garden, but digging holes in my yard. The yard is too big to fence them out but these empty holes are ankle-breakers. Any non-lethal prevention method?

Myers: "If you use repellants, try to apply before they start doing damage. Obviously, a little late for this year, but if you use repellants, there are a lot of natural products out there — and vary it a bit. Scare tactics don't work for a lot of us in urban areas because they're used to us: sound and noise and human smells don't work very well. The further you get away from the city or having neighbors further away, you might try some strong scented soaps, or human hair, cayenne pepper. It's a battle. And they have all day to figure it out."

I have a new septic system and we had to take down some trees, so I have full sunlight in a nice big area, that's covered with sand and bark mulch. What would be appropriate ornamental flowers or grasses to plant on that septic system that will not hurt the system or will grow in sand?

Bender: "You're looking for something that's going to have foliage during the summertime but you don't want deep roots. One plant I would suggest if it's a sunny area: gaillardia, or blanket flower. That will even grow in pure sand on the beach. It takes very little care, it blooms from spring to fall, nonstop, it doesn't need to be fertilized, it comes in lots of different colors and has a daisy-shaped flower."

The house behind us put running bamboo up in between our properties and it comes so close to our foundation line. I'm wondering: is it going to damage that foundation line?

Myers: "With bamboo, keeping it away from the house is probably a good idea. Their root system is pretty strong, I haven't really seen or heard of problems with bamboo pushing on the foundation."

"We all need to remember that the majority of insects in our garden are good guys. They help with pollination, they help manage bad insects, they do a lot of good things for us."

Melina Myers

Could the guests speak to the importance of planting native plants to promote insect diversity?

Myers: "Native plants do a lot of good things. They are the best source of pollen and nectar and food for our insects, especially those beneficial insects. And we all need to remember that the majority of insects in our garden are good guys, and they help with pollination, they help manage bad insects, they do a lot of good things for us. Sometimes that's hard to remember when you see holes in the leaves of plants. They also have deep roots and that helps with water infiltration."

Is there anything I can do to get rid of bittersweet? I am currently just ripping it up and pulling it off the trees every season.

Bender: "Oriental bittersweet is a rampant invasive plant everywhere it's used. It's also probably the most popular thing to make holiday wreaths out of. Now, if one of those berries from a wreath that you have on your door makes it to your soil, you're going to have a bittersweet vine that's going to take over everything in a very short time. If you have one of those wreaths and you bring it in for the holidays, after the holidays, put it and seal it in a trash bag so nothing gets out, and throw it out with the trash."

Are there any particular succulents that would be able to grow outside in such a harsh winter?

Myers: "There are some hearty succulents. Prickly pear cacti [are] native to 48 of the 50 states, so you might want to start with prickly pear. Always having some you can bring in and out."

From The Reading List:

Southern Living: "Summer’s Showiest Vines" — "Way back in 1985, I wrote a one-page story for Southern Living about a spectacular but largely unknown tropical vine called mandevilla. Large, trumpet-shaped, deep pink blooms smothered the foliage. At the end of the story, I asked anyone who wanted a list of mail-order sources to send us a letter or post card (no email then). More than 5,000 did. So many people wanted the plant that it sold out all over the country. I said to myself, “I got the power.”

That particular selection of mandevilla was ‘Alice du Pont.’ While its flowers are beautiful, its six-inch leaves are coarse and dull green. Without flowers, no one would want it.

Fast-forward to today. Potted mandevillas in bloom crowd the fronts of garden centers across the land. This was my doing, I think proudly. But mandevillas today are vast improvements over the old ones. Plant breeders at Suntory Flowers in Japan crossed several species to create the Sun Parasol series. Smaller, deep green, glossy leaves have replaced the big, dull ones. Velvety blossoms of heavy substance supply rich colors of red, pink, or white. The plants bloom heavily from the day you buy them until your first frost in autumn. No summer vines give you as much bang for your hard-earned buck."

Denton Record-Chronicle: "Melinda Myers: Prevent, manage powdery mildew growth for healthy plants" — "Spots and patches of white or gray talcum powder-like substance on your plant means powdery mildew infected your plant.

This is one of the most widespread fungal diseases and attacks a wide range of plants. You may see mildew on a variety of trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables and lawn grasses. Don’t despair — you can reduce the risk of this disease with proper plant selection, maintenance and, if needed, organic intervention.

Powdery mildew is most common during hot, dry weather. Wet foliage does not increase the risk of this disease, but high humidity does. You’ll typically see more mildew problems in crowded plantings, damp and shady locations, as well as areas with poor air circulation.

Powdery mildew, like other diseases, occurs when the fungal organism and susceptible plants are present together and the environmental conditions are right for the disease to occur. Remove one of these factors and you eliminate the disease. You can’t change the weather, but there are some things you can do to reduce the risk of powdery mildew."

For millions of us, gardens grow joy and beauty. But also mistakes and frustration. If you’re like me, you’re not sure whether marigolds really will protect your tomato plants, or how much sun is enough, or exactly when to intervene to head off water stress. But here’s the good news: we have a trio of gardening experts to help guide with tips and advice for any climate or region of the country.

This hour, On Point: your summer gardening questions, answered.

- John Harwood

This program aired on June 27, 2018.

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