If I move a perennial poppy plant will it bloom this summer? Should I wait until after it has bloomed to transplant it??
—Nancy Hanson
Hi Nancy,
I would recommend waiting to transplant until after the Poppies have bloomed. A transplant, even if done carefully, could shock the plant and prevent it from sending up a flower.
Hi, Do I need to take extra precautions to protect my lavender over the winter, or will it winter ok here?
Thanks Dylan
—Dyan
Hi Dyan,
Lavender isn’t considered a Minnesota hardy perennial, so we usually recommend taking extra care to make sure the plant is planted in the ground, not in a container, and covered with several inches of insulation. The recommended cover is clean leaf or grass mulch, or a hay or straw cover. (And, since the plant isn’t too tall, try cover the plant to the top.) The best time to cover is after we’ve had a hard frost and the night temperatures are below freezing, around mid November. Good luck!
Should you split and transplant Hostas in the spring or can you also do it in the fall?
—Connie Braun
Hi Connie,
Hosta splitting can go on any time, either spring or fall. Hostas are really quite hardy plants and can tolerate the splitting as long as you are sure to water. Even this late in the season it’s possible to damage your plants by not watering, especially a transplant or replant will require a little extra care giving on the part of you, the gardener. So go ahead and split away. The leaves may lay limp, but do leave them on to collect as much Autumn sun as possible.
When should I start planting bulbs?
—Amy
Hi Amy,
You can plant your bulbs as soon as now, early September. It is important to get them in the ground before a hard frost to give them an opportunity to root in.
All of our bulbs come direct from Holland via the Netherland Bulb Company. I’ve included their link below to offer more insight into bulb planting. They are the bulb experts!
What type of bug is pictured on your website under the "Ask the Expert" logo? I have them in my flowers and would like to treat my flower beds to get rid of them. Thank you.
Beth
—Beth
Hi Beth,
That is an Earwig. They live in cool moist places and love mulch and such that provides cool and moist. You can treat the soil with the Home Defense insecticide from ORTHO.
Next year, I SWEAR I'm going to mulch my gardens. I've seen some very pretty coconut shell (I think) mulch -- dark brown, almost like dirt, and they don't discolor?
My questions: Should we wait until spring to add mulch? Am I right about the coconut shell mulch? Is there a reason to use one mulch over another? What cost difference are we talking about here? Many thanks --
—Maureen
Hi Maureen,
Mulching is a great idea for any season. Applying a 3″ or deeper cover in the spring will help prevent weeds from coming up all season and will aid in keeping moisture in the ground. Mulching in Summer and Fall can help to maintain a nice looking garden and home and keep all the fall seeds that are flying around from germinating. Personally, I tend to mulch whenever I have time to! I prefer any shredded mulch, like a cypress or cedar, I feel like these types of mulch keep sunlight from reaching the soil layer and stay put better. Having said that, most people just choose what they like to look at. Bark mulch and COCO mulch are just as popular here in the store and priced about the same.
COCO would add the most nutrients to the soil as is breaks down, but it will break down sooner than a wood-based mulch. *COCO mulch is poisonous to dogs too, so be careful.
I have a beautiful 35 yr old sugar maple in my front yard. I have been told that it is suffering from verticillum wilt. I would LOVE to save this tree is there anything I can do now that might save it next spring? I am so sad to loose this beautiful tree. Thank you in advance.
—Bev Haw
Two summers ago I purchased 3 gorgeous peony plants from Sunnyside Gardens. This year they are covered with powdery mildew. What is the best course of action to treat the plant? I'd hate to lose them! Thank you for your help.
—Melissa Lally
Hi Melissa,
The mildew on your peony plants is ugly, but rest assured, isn’t going to do too much damage. I would recommend spraying with a fungicide and fertilizing with a liquid fertilizer. By fall you will want to cut back the peonies and discard the leaves away from your compost pile as they are covered in spores (a spray of fungicide now will help to kill those spores, but some may linger). Applying fertilizer now will help ensure the damaged, stressed leaves can produce enough energy to be strong next season. Odds are good that your plants will recover nicely as they come up fresh next season.
What's the best way to stop the Japanese Beetles from destroying my grapevine. I tried the soap in the bucket pick them and drown them technique but guess I was too late. I have lots of grapes will they survive if I just let the beetles eat the leaves?
—Amanda Powell
Hi Amanda,
I have a grape vine at home too and every year I choose not to treat the beetles. Every year I have a pretty poor fruit yield, but a yield non the less, and the leaves usually become absolutely destroyed. If I were to treat the Beetles I’d try to treat the grubs in the soil first and let the current round of adults die off. If you wanted to treat the adults there are some safer products on the shelf that you can use with produce.
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Hi, I just purchased two new pee gee hydrangea trees a week ago. They are both showing some yellow leaves on the interior of the plant. They are planted in great soil and I have been watering them well while they adjust to their new location. One plant had a few yellow leaves when we bought it but it now has many more. Any ideas what this is and if I should be worried about the trees long term?
—Mike Levad
Hi Mike,
My advice to you is to keep up with the watering. The root ball of a newly planted tree can be difficult to saturate with water even with the newly amended ground holding water quite well. As a rule of thumb, we like to say that a shrub or tree won’t show signs of OVER watering until several weeks into an intense water schedule.
Dear Sunnyside: I am looking for a short, colorful perennial that does not get taller than 8-10 inches. I am planting in and around moneywort, otherwise known as lysimachia nummularia'Aurea.'It will be in a space around a lamp post, the diameter of which is approximately 4 feet. Thank you so much! Mrs. Corinne Klatzko
—corinne
Hi Corinne,
A perennial Geranium comes to mind. The variety ‘Max Frei’ is magenta pink and blooms for quite a long time. Otherwise there are some shorter Geum or Dianthus varieties that would work well too.
I planted a couple of sweet potato vines in my big pots as a bright green accent to my flowers. Unfortunately I found out that the bright beautiful heart-shaped leaves have been damaged/chewed by some insects. I had looked into the pot and I did not find suspected insects although I really do not know what I suppose to look for. I am just wondering what I can do to prevent my sweet potato vine from this kind of damage?
—Rui
Hi Rui,
Sometimes tiny chew holes happen at night, or when we least expect it. Everything from June Bugs to Earwigs can be the culprit and they attack at night or in the early morning hours. The damage can happen over the course of a couple nights and then not again for the rest of the year.
If you don’t see any bug, it doesn’t make sense to spray an insecticide. However, I would recommend picking off the worst of the leaves and fertilizing with a liquid fertilizer. The sweet potato vine is pretty tough and can usually bounce back from even the worst attack.
I hope this helps!
I saw a picture of this bug on your website. I have these and do not know what to use to get rid of them. Please help. What causes me to have them and do they cause any harm?
—Jamie
Hi Jamie,
Earwigs are a nighttime pest. They can hang around inside your home and in dark corners until night and then they find their way to nibble on foliage of garden plants and fruit trees. If you’re noticing them causing damage then consider spraying an insecticide at night with a flashlight. It’s the young earwigs that cause the most damage and they don’t stay in the adolescent stage for very long.
For inside the home, consider using an ortho product like Home Defense.
What perennial would you suggest planting in a flower bed that is quite wet and shady? I have tried roses and rhododenron, but neither of them have survived. I would like something rather tall.
—v hayek
Hi v,
Best for wet and shady areas? Two things come to mind. First, the tallest goatsbeard is fast growing, extremely hardy and can grow up to four feet tall and wide. Second is the variegated dogwood or ivory halo dogwood. Dogwoods have a very fiberous root system and can handle wet ground quite well.
I am looking for suggestions for window boxes, west facing, under overhang, so not many hours of sun, but intense when it is present. /thanks!!!
—teresa caspar
Hi teresa,
Based on what you’ve described, it seems as though good old geraniums would thrive as well as an assortment of trailing foliage vines like sweet potato or vinca. Sometimes that hot afternoon sun, even in small doses, can be powerful enough to allow you to grow many of the sun annuals on the market. So don’t shy away from wave petunias or sun coleus if you think you get at least 4 hours of hot afternoon sun.
Dear expert, I caught the last part of a TV segment about a new deer repellent tablet that was developed by UMD. Do you have the product or know about it? Thank you for your kind attention, Jill
—Jill Boyat
Hi Jill,
Sunnyside Gardens offers…
How do I keep my neighbors cat from using my flower box as a litter box?
—Lorna
Hi Lorna,
Repels-All by Bonide lists cats on their animal repellent. I’ve also heard of people deterring the pets by simply applying a layer of shredded mulch to their planters and gardens. It seems that the cats don’t like to scratch wood chips like they would soil or sand.
I just added the manure/humus mixture to my gardens. Do I need to wait before I add the shake and feed continuous fertilizer to the soil? Thanks, Jane
—Jane
Hi Jane,
You can add the shake and feed at any time. The slow release fertilizer is pretty mild and will not burn your plants.
1. I have a broadleaf weed that has spread via its strong root system into my pachysandra ground cover. Because both the weed and my ground cover have entangled root systems, I cannot pull the weed and its root system out of the bed. How can I kill the weed without harming my pachysandra?
—M
What I mess. I’ve got something similar going on in my garden. Unfortunately, there is no good “kill” solution to this problem. What I can suggest is this, if you can’t pull the weed by hand, then you should consider trying to remove sections of your ground cover with a sharp shovel. Cut manageable sized squares, three inches deep, pick up the slice and weed out the unwanted vegetation over a wheelbarrow while you let loose dirt fall. Then transplant the pachysandra back into your garden. This is a very tedious process, but may be worth it considering the amount of ground cover you have established.
Our two pyramidal arborvitae plants, about 7 feet tall, became bent over during one of the snowstorms, and they are not bouncing back. Should I try to gently wrap them and then stake them upright, or should I give them more time to correct themselves?
—Linda Jensen
Hi Linda,
Do assist your plants! They would benefit from some staking and supplemental support. Be sure to use garden tie or chafing free twine that won’t damage the bark of your arborvitae.
