Vol. 13, No.3
May/June 2009
University of Illinois Extension, Pike County Horticulture Newsletter
Pike County
1301 E. Washington St.
Pittsfield, IL 62363
Phone: (217) 285-5543
Fax: (217) 285-5735
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate
in any program we offer, please contact University of
Illinois Extension, Pike County at 217-285-5543.
Articles in This Issue:
Please Help – Send Email addresses ................... 1
Gardening Tips From Sharon ............................. 1
Pike County Master Gardeners ........................... 1
Upcoming Events ................................................. 2
Dogwood Trees are Popular Choice .................. 2
Prune Spring Flowering Trees & Shrubs ........... 2
Plant Fun for Youngsters .................................... 3
Know Where Utilities are Before You Dig .......... 4
Check Out SI Gardening On Line ...................... 4
New Website – Tips for Taking Soil Samples ..... 5
Websites of Interest to Gardeners ....................... 5
Grow Bountiful Vegetables in Containers .......... 5
Tips for Watering ................................................ 6
How to Select Termite Control Services .............. 7
Wet Weather Brings Anthracnose ....................... 7
Mulching.............................................................. 8
Tick Season is Here ............................................. 9
The Master Gardener’s Plot ................................ 9
Please Help – Send Email Addresses!
We are looking at ways to cut down our mailing lists,
with the increase in postage May 11. We hope you
enjoy our newsletter and we want to keep providing
you with gardening and horticulture information
through this newsletter.
If you have an email address, we would be more than
happy to email the newsletter to you. Please provide
your email address to us. Please email
cwestfal@illinois.edu with your address.
And, if you are not interested in receiving
this newsletter, please let us know and
we can discontinue mailing it to you.
We really appreciate your help!
Gardening Tips From Sharon
Do you often wonder if you are picking produce at the
peak of freshness? Maybe you have a problem with a
pesky insect.... Seasonal suggestions could be just a
click away! Sign up to receive email gardening tips
throughout the growing and harvest season from
Master Gardener Sharon Crum. Simply send an email
requesting to be added to ‘Gardening Tips from
Sharon’ to cwestfal@illinois.edu or call the Pike
County Extension office at 285-5543.
Pike County Master Gardeners!
Master Gardeners are members of the local
community who are interested in lawns, trees, shrubs,
flowers, gardens, vegetables, and the environment.
These volunteers complete approximately 60 hours of
instruction in all areas of home horticulture to become
certified.
Pike County has some very knowledgeable Master
Gardeners. They include:
Sharon Crum
Duane Lanchester
Suzanne Lanchester
Sally Lemons
Pauline Little
Glenna Olson
Peggy Rawlings
They volunteer their expertise to projects throughout
the county. They continue to do an excellent job!
Thank you, Pike County Master Gardeners for all you
do!
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Summer Horticulture Telenet Series:
Turfgrass Diseases – June 16 - 1:00 p.m.
If you strive for that golf-course-perfect lawn but
can’t get the diseases under control, this program is
for you. Learn how to identify common turf diseases
and what you can do to prevent or control them.
Registration deadline: Friday, June 12.
Don’t Blame the Plant – June 30 – 1:00 p.m.
Lightning, wind, flooding, improper planting, animal
damage….so many things impact our landscape
plants. Rather than focus solely on “pests,” learn how
things beyond the plants control influence
survivability. Register by the June 26 deadline.
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The small size of this tree makes it a popular choice
for small spaces. Homeowners often add a dogwood
tree to their landscape in order to enjoy the spring
floral display presented by this small tree.
Avid bird watchers will plant a dogwood in the yard
to help attract nature’s wild creatures. During the fall
and winter, the red berries produced by this tree are
enjoyed by many songbirds.
Today’s choices are red, pink, and white flowering
dogwoods. A mature dogwood will reach a height of
15 to 30 feet. This tree will grow in partial shade to
full sun. The leaves in the fall are an exciting scarlet
color.
Landscaping on the Wild Side – July 14 – 1:00
p.m.
Once established, the dogwood is relatively drought
tolerate.
Attracting wildlife to the home landscape involves
more than a couple of bird feeders. Whether they fly,
flutter, scoot or scurry, wildlife adds an extra element
of excitement to our landscape. Wildlife-friendly
landscapes can be beautiful, but with an added
dimension of interest. Your landscape becomes a
fulfilling leisure activity to share with family and
friends as you learn to identify the many different
creatures that call your landscape home. The result
is not a garden-gone-wild, but a well-maintained,
attractive haven. Registration deadline is July 10.
Dogwood borer is a pest that will damage dogwood
trees. This insect burrows beneath the bark in the
larva stage, disrupting the flow of sap. The insect can
cause enough damage to actually kill the tree. When
mowing or using a weed trimmer, be especially
careful to not damage the tree’s bark – damaged trees
are more attractive to the dogwood borer.
Registration Details
Each session is $5. Handout materials will be in color.
Advance registration is needed one week before the
program you attend. If you would like a CD of the
program, please add an additional $2.
To control dogwood borer, spray the trunk of the tree
with permethrin in mid-May and again in mid-June.
This insecticide will need to be applied annually.
The flowering dogwood is a good choice for small
spaces and adds floral delight to the yard.
Prune Spring-Flowering Trees, Shrubs
For More Information or to register, contact the
Pike County Extension Office at 217-285-5543
Upcoming Fall Horticulture Telenet topics: Tree
Maintenance; Poisonous Plants; Bonsai
As our spring-flowering shrubs and trees finish
blooming, it is time to prune them so they will flower
on schedule next spring. These plants bloom best and
can be kept in bounds with annual pruning.
Watch upcoming newsletters for more details!!
Since early-flowering plants bloom from buds set the
previous summer, prune now so plants have plenty of
time to set buds for next spring. Begin by removing
all dead or broken branches.
Dogwood Trees Are Popular Choice for
Home Landscape
Flowering dogwood trees, which are
native to this area, are found in the
woods and along the back roads of
southern Illinois.
Multi-stem flowering shrubs can become too tall and
bare at the bottom. They can be renewed by cutting
out a number of the oldest stems to the ground each
year. This stimulates new growth from the roots. Cut
out 1/4 of the oldest stems all the way to the ground.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
Renewal in this manner helps keep the plant free of
borers and scale insects, and the oldest stems will be
only 4 years old.
3
Keep the area small so it will be easy to manage. A
section that is oversized will be too overwhelming for
children to care for over the whole season. Encourage
their success.
Old plants may have only a few main stems. The
immediate result of renewal on these plants may be
somewhat unattractive. But, new shoots from the
bottom of the plant will provide a better shape and
foliage to the ground. Then, future renewal pruning
will result in no loss of beauty.
One fun project to do outside is to make a teepee and
duplicate an early American success story. The
American Indians gave us beans and corn. Often the
Indians planted beans at the base of corn so as the
beans grew, the plants could climb up the corn stalks.
Stems remaining from renewal pruning are often too
long and ungainly. Therefore, single-stem plants and
small flowering trees may be headed back. Head back
overly long branches by removing them to a shorter
side branch that grows in the same direction or away
from the center of the plant. The result will be a
smaller plant, but it won’t change the character or
shape of the plant.
Find a sunny area of the garden. Take five branches,
limbs, stakes or dowel rods about eight feet long and
tie together with string near one end. Spread the
untied ends out to form a teepee. Divide the circle
forming the base of the teepee into eight sections.
Have five divisions containing stakes and nothing in
the remaining three. This space will form the entrance
to the teepee.
Flowering trees and single-stem shrubs are often
grafted on different rootstocks. Remove any suckers
that are growing from the ground. Also, flowering
trees bloom best on horizontal branches. Remove any
strongly vertical water sprouts that shoot up through
the center of the tree before they take over.
At the base of each stake, plant three pole beans. For
some color, use Scarlet Runner or hyacinth beans. As
the plant grows, there will be a shady place for
children to crawl under. Beans can be picked from the
outside and the inside.
Often, people are afraid to prune because they think it
will harm the plants or because they are afraid of
making a mistake. But, pruning actually stimulates
plants to grow, making them more vigorous and
healthy. They flower better, and they continue to
grow. So if you make a mistake, in a season or so
when the plant has recovered, you can do the pruning
again the right way. Do not be afraid to experiment.
Plants can take quite a bit of abuse and still come back
to provide beauty.
Plant Fun for Youngsters
Summer is right around the corner and
gardens are already growing strongly
this season. This is a great time to
start introducing children to the
plants around us and getting them
involved in gardening.
Start at home. Let the young ones be responsible for a
few plants in a corner of the garden. Let them plant,
water, weed, and pick their vegetables and flowers.
A variation on this is to attach long strings from the
ground to the garage eaves and continue this along the
length of the wall. What forms will be a lean-to type
dwelling.
Inside the house, children can view the process of
seeds germinating by growing bean sprouts.
Take a glass quart jar and put into it one-fourth cup
mung bean seeds. Cover the opening with a piece of
clean pantyhose or cheesecloth and attach near the top
of the jar with a rubber band.
Pour water into the container, rinse, and pour out.
Pour enough water into the jar to cover seeds with an
additional one-half inch. Place in a dark area at room
temperature. Rinse seeds two or three times per day,
replacing the water. The sprouts will be light-colored
since they have been kept in the dark. The bean
sprouts will be ready to use in a few days.
Field trips are fun for the whole family. Visit a
nearby park or nature center. Look at the different
shapes of leaves. Call your city hall and check if there
is a farmers market in the area. It's interesting to talk
with the growers of food and flowers.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
Make a game of spotting how many different parts of
the plants we use as food. For example: fruit
(cherries), seed (peas), stem (rhubarb), flower buds
(broccoli) or roots (carrots).
Know Where Utilities are Before You
Plant
It seems so simple … locate the utility
lines before planting. But, all too often
we rush to get trees, shrubs, and other plants
in the ground before summer heat arrives.
4
notification. They will mark the location of
public utilities but not private utilities such as water
well service or supplemental cable or internet lines
that the homeowner has run between buildings.
Homeowners can also directly contact their utility
companies to request a line marking. Some
companies such as LP gas tank services may not be in
the JULIE network and may need to be
contacted directly.
Before buying a home, it is always a good idea to
confer with the owner about other potential privately
managed services on the property.
Whether you are adding some plants to your own
landscape, planting at a community facility, or
advising a client, emphasize the importance of
locating all utilities before digging. Failure to know
where utility lines are can result in loss of service,
repair expense, injury, or even loss of life if gas or
electrical lines are damaged.
JULIE is a statewide service, except in the Chicago
area. You can reach JULIE by calling this toll-free
number: 1-800-892-0123. For more details about the
JULIE service, visit this website:
www.illinois1call.com
Today’s average home not only has electrical, phone,
water, and gas service but also internet, satellite or
cable TV, and septic lines.
Check Out SI Gardening Online
Additional phone and electrical lines may be
connecting sheds, barns, and other outbuildings as
well as outdoor pole lights and landscape lighting.
Underground plumbing installed for irrigation and
outdoor wood-burning furnaces should also be
considered.
Although some utilities are above ground and visible,
the majority are buried in the ground.
In general, avoid planting any shrubs or trees
immediately above or next to underground lines.
When above-ground utility lines are present, limit the
below landscaping to turf, groundcovers, or lowgrowing shrubs. Most medium to large trees will
eventually reach tall lines, and even some “small” tree
species can reach heights of 10 to 15 feet.
One of the best free services to Illinois homeowners is
the “JULIE” utilities locating service. JULIE stands
for Joint Utilities Locating Information for
Excavators. With a call to JULIE, local cooperating
utility partners are notified of your digging project,
and they will come to your property to locate and
mark underground utility lines.
The utility locaters usually come within 48 hours of
If you haven’t yet visited the SI Gardening website, take
a few minutes to browse at
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort. This site
contains printable fact sheets on all kinds of topics –
from growing bulbs to lawn care to growing pecans.
The site also contains information for commercial fruit
and vegetable growers, as well as fact sheets on common
insect problems in and around the home.
Three new fact sheets have recently been added to the SI
Gardening website,
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort.

Spring Seeding a Home Lawn – includes advice
for starting a new lawn, spot seeding, and overseeding lawns. You’ll find this fact sheet in the
Flowers and Ornamentals section.

Growing Rhubarb – provides detailed
information for growing success. It’s in the
“Fruits and Vegetables” section of the site.

Pruning Climbing Vines – this fact sheet
provides tips for both fruit and flowering vines
such as grapes, ivy, and clematis. This one is in
the Flowers and Ornamentals section.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
New Website Includes Tips for Taking a
Plant Sample
Extension’s new Distance Diagnostics website not only
explains the Illinois Distance Diagnostics system but
also provides information on how to collect a good
sample for diagnosis or identification.
A unique feature is a Picture of the Week that shows
various samples that have been submitted. Check it out
at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/distancediagnostics/
Don’t forget if you have a plant or insect problem that
you would like us to identify, we have the DDDI system
we can use. We take a picture of the sample you bring
to our office and send the pictures via the DDDI system.
We typically get a quick response with an analysis of the
submitted sample.
5
as lettuce grow well in hanging baskets; however,
tomatoes need at least a three-gallon container. Have
the kids paint kitty litter or bird seed buckets for
colorful garden containers. Or dress up 5-gallon
restaurant buckets with spray paint specifically for
plastic.
Be sure to use potting mix or container soil mix rather
than garden soil.
When selecting vegetable varieties for containers look
for bush, compact or dwarf varieties. For tomatoes
select determinate types that stay smaller than
indeterminates such as Big Boy.
Minimum container sizes and appropriate vegetable
varieties include:

Half-gallon containers: parsley (one plant,
varieties Dark Moss Curled, Paramount);

One-gallon containers: cabbages (one plant,
any varieties); cucumbers (two plants,
varieties, Salad Bush, Bush Champion, or
Spacemaster); green beans, (two to three
plants, Topcrop, Tendercrop, Derby); leaf
lettuce (four to six plants, varieties: Green Ice,
Salad Bowl, Red Sails, Black-Seeded
Simpson, Buttercrunch, or Oakleaf); spinach
(direct seed, thin to one to two inches apart,
varieties: American Viking, Long-Standing,
Bloomsdale, or Melody); Swiss chard (one
plant, varieties: Fordhook Giant, Lucullus);
cherry and patio tomatoes (one plant,
varieties, Pixie, Sweet 100);

Two-gallon containers: beets (thin to two or
three inches apart, variety: Ruby Queen);
carrots (thin to two to three inches apart,
varieties: Little Finger, Danver 's Half Long,
or Nantes Half Long); egg plant (one plant,
variety: Dusky); pepper (two plants, varieties,
Lady Bell, Gypsy, Crispy, New Ace, or Red
Chili); radishes (thin to one to two inches
apart, varieties: Champion, Comet, Sparkler,
White Icicle, or Early Scarlet Globe);

Three-gallon containers: standard tomatoes
(one plant, varieties: Jetstar, Celebrity, or
Super Bush).
Websites of Interest to Gardeners
Watch Your Garden Grow –
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/
Successful Container Gardens –
http://www.urbanext.illinois.edu/containergardening/
Selecting Shrubs for Your Home –
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/shrubselector/
Selecting Trees for Your Home –
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treeselector/
Living with Wildlife in Illinois –
http://livingwithwildlife.extension.uiuc.edu
Grow Bountiful Vegetables in Containers
Do you have a yearning for
yams? A hankering for
jalapenos? Or a craving for
carrots? Good news. It's not too
late to grow your own and you
don't need your own plot of
land. Many vegetables will grow well in containers on
a patio or balcony. Plus many varieties are as
beautiful as any ornamental flower.
A successful vegetable container garden requires
particular attention to the size of the container, type of
soil mix, and plant variety. Any container can be used
as long as it is free of toxic materials, has adequate
drain holes, and is large enough to accommodate the
roots of desired plants. For example leafy crops such
If space allows, add a few edible flowers such as
signet marigolds or pansies. Or grow a theme garden
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
of tasty culinary combinations in large containers such
as half barrels.

Salsa garden: one garden bush type meaty
tomato such as Roma, San Marzano or Viva
Italia with one hot pepper plant. Add a few
green onions or scallions. Sprinkle seeds of
cilantro around the outside edge of container.

Pesto garden: two or three lettuce-leaf type
basil plants, two parsley plants, several garlic
cloves (this method of planting garlic will
yield harvestable leaves. To produce garlic
cloves plant in October for July harvest).

Herb garden: one each of chive, sage, and
rosemary plants surrounded by thyme.

Salad garden: cherry tomato plant with
sprinkling of lettuce and radish seeds around
the outside edge.
Vegetables require at least six hours of sun. Leafy
vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, collards, mustard
greens, and spinach tolerate partial shade better than
root vegetables such as turnips, radishes, and carrots
and fruit-bearing vegetables such as tomatoes and
peppers.
Plants grown in containers will need frequent often
daily watering. Be sure to water thoroughly each time.
Try adding water-sorber crystals to soil to help keep
containers moist.
Fertilize plants at least weekly using water soluble
organic or inorganic fertilizer containing
micronutrients. Choose fertilizers listed for vegetables
such as a 10-20-10 analysis. Follow label directions.
Cultivate containers of bountiful vegetables to enrich
your taste buds and your budget. Bon Appétit.
Tips for Watering
People are 55-75% water. We would
last just a few days without water.
However on day two a person is alive,
but I'll bet they don't feel so well.
Plants need water too. For example
watermelons and tomatoes are more
than 90% water. So how long can our plants last
before they literally "bite the dust" from lack of
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water? As one of my horticulture professors was fond
of saying, "It all depends".
As a general rule garden plants need about an inch of
water a week, but that depends on soil type, plant
species, and if the plants are well established. Clay
soils tend to stay wet longer, but are harder to rewet
once they turn to pottery. Anything planted this year
and any trees or shrubs planted over the last two years
need extra water. New plantings and containers often
need water daily. Even plants listed as drought
tolerant will need extra water if newly planted.
Vegetables and fruit plantings need water especially
during fruiting.
Generally new trees purchased as balled and
burlapped should be watered with one gallon of water
per diameter inch of trunk every 5-7 days if rain is not
adequate. For example a 2-inch diameter tree should
be given 2 gallons. Trees and shrubs purchased in
containers will need to be watered more often,
perhaps daily, depending on temperature and wind.
Established trees (more than 3 years in present
location) should be watered once a month during dry
periods. Apply water at the dripline, not at trunk.
With lawns it depends on whether you want the lawn
to stay green or just alive. Cool season grasses such as
Kentucky bluegrass naturally go dormant when it gets
hot and dry. Once they are dormant, it's best to leave
them there during hot dry periods. Cycling between
green-up and dormancy drains plant reserves. A
dormant lawn may not look as nice, but is less prone
to insect attacks. The lawn greens up once cooler,
wetter weather returns.
The common question is how much water is enough
to keep the lawn alive? Applying at least 1/3 inch of
water every 3 weeks should be enough to maintain
moisture in the crowns and roots for turf to survive.
Use empty tuna fish cans in area covered by sprinklers
to determine how long the sprinklers need to run.
Remember to mow lawns higher in summer between
2.5 to 3.5 inches and avoid applying nitrogen fertilizer
during hot, dry conditions. Limit traffic on a dormant
lawn. Water in the morning to reduce disease
problems and lessen water loss due to evaporation.
Use soaker hoses to efficiently water landscape
plantings. Check soil after half hour of soaking to
determine proper watering period. An inch of water
will wet an average of 6-15 inches of soil, depending
on soil type.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
Use 3-4 inches of wood chip mulch around trees and
landscape plantings to conserve moisture and reduce
soil temperatures. Consider plants such as many
native prairie plants that once established will tolerate
drought periods.
Grey water from showers, bathtubs, dishwashers,
washing machines and sinks can be used to water
plants. Check out our website for more information
about using grey water. Or stop by our office for a
brochure. Save water and shower with a friend or a
friendly plant.
How to Select Termite Control Service
Every spring, concerned homeowners
ask how to select a termite control
service once they know they have
termites. Here are some practical
guidelines to follow:
1. Do not panic. There is no need to
become frightened or unduly alarmed if
you learn that termites are or may be attacking your
home. These insects work slowly and your house will
not be ruined or collapse overnight.
2. Take your time. Do not permit anyone to rush you
into purchasing termite control service. A delay of a
few weeks or months will not make any difference.
There is always time to purchase this service wisely
and at your convenience.
3. Purchase your services from a reliable firm.
Buy termite control service with the same care and
discrimination that you would use in the purchase of
any other service for your property. Here are some of
the ways that you can investigate before you invest.
Illinois has a pesticide use and applicator law under
which all commercial pest control firms must operate.
Check to see the firm's credentials.
 If a firm offers references of work done in the
past, take time to check these references
carefully.
 If the firm is located in your own town or
city, check to make sure that it is a
responsible firm and that it has an established
place of business. This can be done through
the Chamber of Commerce or Better Business
Bureau.
 If the firm is out of town, it is even more
important that you make sure that it is
reliable. Most fraudulent operators work in
communities where they are not known. Ask
for references and check them carefully.
7
4. Beware of firms that:
Quote a price based on the gallonage of material
used.
 Profess to have a secret formula or ingredient
for termite control.
 Have no listed phone number.
 Show up unexpectedly and use evidence of
termites in trees, etc., as an excuse to inspect
the house.
 Want to trim trees and do general repair work
as part of the "deal."
 Cater to elderly or infirm people who are
living alone.
 Claim to be endorsed by the University of
Illinois.
5. Know the terms of the contract. Ask your termite
control specialist to provide you with a written
statement of the work he proposes to do and the cost.
He will then give you time to consider the estimate. It
is customary to guarantee termite control work, either
on a year-to-year basis, or for a 5-year period. Make
sure you know exactly what guarantee the firm offers.
Remember that a guarantee is no better than the
person or firm who gives it to you, cautions Robson.
A guarantee is not evidence that a firm is reliable.
Most fraudulent operators use a showy contract and
guarantee as a part of their sales promotion. You will
probably be asked to sign a work order when you
engage a firm. Understand clearly what obligations
you are assuming and what you are getting in return.
6. Most firms are reliable. Remember that most pest
control firms are reliable and legitimate business
organizations who are respected in their communities.
Most fraudulent operators are "confidence men"
whose only purpose is to swindle people out of their
money.
Wet Weather Brings Anthracnose
The wet spring, coupled with cool temperatures, is
ideal for several tree foliar diseases. The most
common of these is anthracnose, a leaf spot disease
that affects a wide variety of plants.
Anthracnose is the primary disease problem of
sycamores. Ashes, maples, oaks, dogwoods, lindens,
poplars, walnuts and tulip trees are also affected.
Anthracnose is not a specific organism that infects all
susceptible plants. The fungus that causes damage to
sycamores will not affect maples and vice versa.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
8
Dark brown, black or tan spots develop on stems,
leaves, flowers and fruits of the trees. Entire trees may
lose their leaves and appear unsightly in late May and
June.
Mulching
Most of the lesions start off as small, irregular shaped
spots that slowly enlarge and turn color. As the
disease progresses leaves turn brown and fall off.
Newly developed leaves may appear distorted and
abnormal.
The primary benefit of mulching is to reduce soil
water loss or evaporation. This means more water is
available to the plants, which means less wilting
problems.
The anthracnose disease may cause some stem and
twig cankers. These sunken areas will enlarge and
girdle the limb. Most of the damage is associated with
the smaller limbs. It is not uncommon for smaller
limbs to fall off oaks and sycamore and litter the area
beneath the tree.
Early stages of anthracnose can be confused with frost
or wind injury. However, anthracnose usually
continues to affect developing leaves while frost and
wind damage is limited to the initial flush of new
growth.
Cool, moist spring weather is needed for disease
development. Temperatures in the 50s and 60s are
ideal. Fungal spores overwinter on the ground where
splashing rain spreads the disease.
Few trees die outright from an anthracnose infection
and defoliation. Most trees have the ability to produce
a second or third flush of growth, though the amount
and size of leaves decreases each time.
Sanitation is a key element of disease prevention.
Rake and remove infected leaves and branches as they
fall. Compost or dispose of the debris properly.
Increase the air circulation around and in trees.
A professional arborist may need to be contacted to
provide assistance with proper pruning.
Fungicide applications usually are not warranted and
difficult to time. Applications need to be made before
infection occurs. Since the disease organisms can
continue to infect the trees, repeat applications would
be necessary.
Mulching is a sure-fire way to
eliminate many summer gardening
chores.
Typical soils can lose a quarter to half inch of water
per day when temperatures are above 90 F. Since
most plant roots are in the top 8 inches of the soil
profile, plants suffer greater wilting stress when
temperatures are high.
Mulching also keeps the soil cooler during warm
spells. Mulches act like insulation, preventing hot air
from reaching the root system. Roots grow better
when soil temperatures are in the 60s and 70s; proper
mulching can maintain this desired level when air
temperatures approach 100 F.
Weed control is another added benefit of mulching.
Most weeds need sunlight after germination to grow.
Mulching limits sunlight reaching newly germinated
seedlings. Fewer weeds mean less competition with
plants for water and nutrients.
Vegetable gardeners should realize that mulching
limits some diseases, especially fruit rots. Most
disease organisms are transferred to plants or their
fruits by raindrops splashing on the soil and bouncing
back up. Mulching deflects water droplets from
"bouncing" back and infecting the plants. Produce
commonly in direct contact with the soil—such as
cucumber, melons and even tomatoes—are less likely
to be infected by disease organisms when mulched.
Mulching also increases the ease of harvesting,
especially after heavy rains or irrigation.
Proper mulching consists of no more than 2 to 4
inches of an organic material such as wood chips or
composted leaves and grass clippings. If you use
cocoa bean hulls, which can lead to problems with
dogs if they eat it, limit yourself to 1 inch. Heavy
applications of cocoa bean hulls tend to mold.
Deeper levels of mulch may inhibit water and air
penetration into the soil or tend to compact. Shallow
mulching reduces the benefits of weed control, cooler
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
soil temperatures and water retention.
Ornamental plants such as flowers, shrubs and trees
benefit from 4 to 6 inches of mulching. However,
make sure to keep mulching material an inch away
from tree and shrub trunks to minimize insect and
disease damage.
Tick Season is Here
With warm spring temperatures, ticks are
becoming active.
The American dog tick is commonly
found on dogs and is the most likely species to be
found on man. It is rarely found in the home unless it
is carried in while feeding on the family pet at which
time it may drop off to find a hiding place. The
American dog tick is about twice as large compared to
other tick species that feed on humans such as the
deer tick and the Lone Star tick.
The adult tick is about 1/4-inch across and reddish
brown with eight legs. Male ticks have silver
markings and seldom enlarge even after feeding. In
contrast, the females have a large white area behind
the head and will swell to a length of 1/2 inch after
taking a blood meal.
An adult female tick may lay up to 6500 eggs during a
2 to 4 week period after which she dies. The eggs
normally hatch in 5 to 11 weeks. In the event that a
suitable host is not found, the larvae can survive for
more than a year without food while unengorged
adults can go for over two years without taking a
blood meal. However, under favorable conditions
their lifecycle may be shortened to around three
months.
Only the adults feed on humans and will attack dogs
particularly around the ears of the animal.
The deer tick is about 1/8 inch in diameter and usually
reddish in color. Both this stage and the nymph stage
can transmit Lyme disease to humans. Nymphs will
start appearing anytime in June and will be present
most of the summer. The nymph is much smaller than
the adult, about the size of a pinhead.
As with all ticks, deer ticks are most likely to attach to
the skin on the lower body. The nymph tends to attach
in the groin area. Deer ticks are most likely to be
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picked up in the northwestern and north central
portions of Illinois.
When visiting tick-infested areas, such as tall grassy
or brushy areas, use an insect repellent containing
DEET and apply it to the lower legs and ankles. Also,
tuck pant legs into the boots.
“I think that I shall never see
“A poem lovely as a tree....”
Joyce Kilmer “Trees”
The Master Gardener’s Plot
by Duane Lanchester
Poems about trees have the same relationship to real
trees, as columns about gardening have to real
gardens. So why are you reading this when you could
be working in your garden? And why am I in here
writing a gardening column when I could be outside
wondering why I bought all these peppers. (I haven’t
planted them because my garden has been a muddy
mess. I had to wait until it dried sufficiently so when
I took a handful of soil it would crumble between my
fingers instead of making a mud ball.)
One reason I’m not in the garden is: “THE GNATS
ARE BACK!” Buffalo gnats are hatching from their
watery nurseries and trying to invade noses and eyes,
and - like miniature vampires - looking for necks to
bite.
Not all the little flying things that get in your face are
buffalo gnats. Mosquitoes are meaner and nastier, but
not as numerous at this time of year as the gnats. And
I feel if I can get enough "Deet" spread on my
exposed skin, I am safe from mosquitoes. "Deet"
does not deter buffalo gnats.
I know a knowledgeable Master Gardener who says
vanilla will keep the gnats off. Vanilla has never
worked for me. Last year I used really good Mexican
vanilla; it didn’t work. This year we have something
called “Vanilla Fantasy.” Its list of ingredients
include: alcohol, water, and castor oil - but no vanilla!
It doesn’t work for me, but it makes me smell like an
opened bottle of Creme Soda. You can try it. Or you
could try kerosene. Or garlic - either taken internally
or applied externally.
Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter
My wife uses a veil like a bee-keeper; it works, but is
unpleasantly hot. I put on a pair of wrap-around dark
glasses and my Tilley hat, stick an I-pod in my ears,
and tell myself “They’re not too bad today.” (Or I
stay inside - and try not to fret about my unplanted
peppers.)
Fortunately before you have given all these
suggestions a fair trial, the gnats will be gone.
Buffalo gnats spend most of their lives as water
creatures and only emerge when water conditions are
right. During the summer the water which flows,
seeps, oozes by our mini-farm is icky with rotting
algae. The algae grew lush because it was fed by the
fertilizer washed from our fields and lawns. (This
water flows down the Mississippi to the Gulf and
helps create the huge “Dead Zone” where nothing can
live because decomposing algae has taken all the
oxygen out of the water.) I would think those nasty
gnats would love that kind of water, but in reality they
need the cool, clear water of spring to metamorphose
from nymph to gnat. So as the weather gets hot, the
water warms up, and the gnats are gone.
With gnats and mosquitoes around, you
probably don’t even notice the
occasional, apparently benign flying
aphid. These aphids, male and female,
spent the winter in warm places. When
the weather warmed up, they came out of their cozy
places - and had sex. Once they got that out of the
way, the males disappeared. Now, and for the rest of
the summer, all aphids will be female and all will
produce live children at an astonishing rate.
Sometimes a leaf will have a row of little aphids of
graduated sizes where a mamma aphid crawled across
it dropping babies as she went. It takes a lot of food
for such a growing family and the aphids get their
nourishment by sucking the juice out of our plants. A
colony of aphids can suck a lot of juice - which is not
a good thing.
If you are not sure you’d recognize an aphid, they are
kind of pear-shaped, often green, and maybe 1/8 of an
inch long. They may have wings; when the plants
where they are feeding begin to dry up, they began to
grow wings so they can fly someplace else.
Go look at your peonies. Even if you don’t see
aphids, you’ll probably see ants. Ants don’t eat
peonies; the ants are there because aphids love
peonies. And the aphids excrete (“Excrete” is such a
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cultured word: “I have to walk my dog so she can go
excrete.”) a substance commonly called “honeydew.” Honey-dew is that sticky stuff you can see on
the windshield of your car after you've parked under a
tree on a summer day. I’ve never licked my
windshield, but I believe it’s sweet. Honey-dew may
be the ant’s favorite food; they’ve even learned how
to “milk” aphids to get honey-dew. (Some Biblical
scholars believe the “manna” which the Children of
Israel ate in the wilderness was related to aphids’
honey-dew.)
Fortunately aphids are easy to kill.
In the days before chemical
pesticides, farmers used to drag
something through an aphid
infested field just to knock the aphids off the plants.
Most of the aphids would die in the dust before they
could crawl back up the plant. Today some form of
insecticidal soap is often sprayed on aphids. “The
Herb Companion” gives the following recipe:
1 teaspoon of dishwasher detergent (such as Ivory),
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil,
1 quart of water.
It needs to be sprayed directly on the aphids but just
the least little bit will kill them. Of course it doesn’t
take much to kill the plant... Well, I never said
gardening was easy. (But once I get those peppers in
the ground,...)
The articles in this newsletter have been
provided for you by University of Illinois
Extension, Pike County office.
The following have contributed articles to this
newsletter:
David Robson
Sandra Mason
Martha Smith
Duane Lanchester
Horticulture Educator
Horticulture Educator
Horticulture Educator
Pike County Master Gardener
Compiled and Designed by Cheryl Westfall, Secretary
If you have any questions or comments regarding the issue of
“Down To Earth”, please contact University of Illinois Extension,
Pike County, at (217) 285-5543.
Jennifer Mowen, County Extension Director
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of
Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
United States Department of Agriculture • Local Extension
Councils Cooperating University of Illinois Extension provides
equal opportunities in programs and employment.