The Garden Plot – Transcript Adrienne Cook Special to the Washington Post Thursday, July 8, 1999

Adrienne Cook The Washington Post

Adrienne Cook was here fielding your questions and comments concerning gardening and horticulture.

A self-proclaimed "practical gardener," Cook's love for horticulture stems from her roots, starting with a grandfather who bred day lilies and camellias. An organic gardener, Cook has been putting her heart and soul into the soil for 30 years. In her job as a Post columnist, Cook has been offering "real and simple solutions for basic problems" for the past 20 years. Practicing what she preaches, Cook balances her time between her numerous backyard projects, including a batch of perennials, fruit trees, a cut-flower garden and a burgeoning green house. Currently she is growing apples, cherries, apricots and various berries, but her favorites are the veggies: peas, tomatoes and herbs.

Over the years Cook has contributed her green-thumb knowledge to several publications, including Organic Gardening, Good Housekeeping, Southern Accents and Fine Gardening.

Madison, Wisconsin: I've heard that Morning Glories prefer poor soil if they are to bloom. What should "poor" soil consist of and how long after they've begun growing should I start to see blooms?

Adrienne Cook: Prefer? Probably not "prefer." Tolerate, certainly. The issue, of course, is flowering, and morning glories will thrive -- and bloom -- in a range of soil conditions. They are adaptable, which makes them both valued and disdained, depending on whether you've got a zillion little seedlings coming up all over your garden (which is what they'll do next year) or trying to nurse along a plant or two. Don't expect your morning glories to bloom until they are at least six feet up a trellis, or August, whichever comes first. Morning glories are actually at their peak during September, and will continue blooming well until frost. Cooler temps will do more to inspire bloom than poor soil.

Centreville, VA: What are the best exposures for Niko Blue and Lace Cap Hydrangeas?
Morning Sun, Afternoon, Shade, Full Sun .....?

Adrienne Cook: Hydrangeas love sun, afternoon sun is the best. They tolerate some shade, but make that morning shade if there is to be any; or lightly dappled shade, like under a thin -- not thick -- tree canopy. I love both these varieties. By the way, once they are in the ground, avoid moving them, for they take some time to establish themselves and give you a good bloom.

charleson sc: my wife is determined to feed our roses with fish or fish emulsion,that she makes herself. It is easy to get fish down here.Do you have any suyggestions as to how to make fish emulsion or to use the fish that we catch for the roses
mike

Adrienne Cook: I've never tried this. You probably know the old story of how th Indians shouwed the Pilgrim's how to plant corn by putting a fish head in each planting hole, beneath the seed? I'd be afraid that this would attract a ;large number of four-legged creatures that you wouldn't want visitng your roses. My only suggestion would be to compost the fish remains for six months before using them in the garden. Certainly they would provide plenty of nutrients. Emulsion is a highly concentrated liquid that's made from fish and kelp. If you experiemnt with this, I'd love to hear from you in the future as to what worked and what didn't.

Reston, VA: Hi!

I just bought a new home and
inherited 10 tomato plants and
10 green bean plants.

Help!! I am not a qardener and do not like working in the
dirt at all.

I also inherited a corner of the garden filled with weeds.

What is the easiest way to take care of the tomato and bean plants? Also since the weed plants are in another bed right next to the tomato and bean plants, how do I kill off the weeds or get rid of them without harming the other plants?

Thanks.

Adrienne Cook: Ten tomato plants will wind up taking a much larger portion of your garden than the 10 bean plants. In fact, 10 bean plants will provide you with a mere handful of beans for about two weeks, then you can get rid of them without guilt. The tomato plants will need some care if you think you want to get some tomatoes out of them.

Water them (if you are permitted by your jurisdiction) weekly with a really good soaking, letting the soil surface dry out between times. Apply a mulch, which is really just a weird word for "covering the soil." This can be accomplished with shredded leaves, shredded newspaper (plain sheets of newspaper are tricky since this can stifle plant roots and prevent oxygen circulation) or, my favorite, straw, which is usually available at garden centers. You can also buy shredded bark mulch (avoid the bark "nuggets," which break down too slowly to be appropriate for a vegetbale garden). This covering should go on the soil when it is moist (after you've watered. It will keep the soil cool and moist and prevent weeds.

You should plan on staking your tomatoes; it'll make picking the tomatoes much easier and your garden won't look like a hideous jungle. Just get some tall stakes -- seven feet or so -- from the garden center and use strips of material to tie up plants -- string or wire will cause damage to stems.

Mow the weeds down and keep them mowed. In September, you can till them up a up, add a bunch of slow-release lawn fertilizer and overseed it with grass. You'll have to mow, of course, but you won't have to garden.

arlington: Hemp seems to be all the rage in clothing and whatnot these days. How does one grow it? Is it legal to do so for medicinal and-or utilitarian purposes in VA? Or MD or DC?

Adrienne Cook: Check with the local county extension service; should be listed in in the Blue Pages under local or state government.
Even if it were legal to grow, you'd need acres to make any textiles from it.

Bethesda, MD: Help! Rabbits and-or deer have been nipping off the tops of all my tomato plants! Is there any way to keep them from ruining my crop?

Adrienne Cook: Fencing works pretty well for bunnies. If it's deer, the fence has to be TALL! Actually, if it's only the tops of your tomato plants, that should not prevent them from doing just fine. A little judicial pruning stimulates bloom and fruit production and often makes plants more bushy and healthy.

washington: I loooove basil! What's the best way to grow it in my little apartment? What sort of soil and nutrient mix do you recommend?

Adrienne Cook: Start basil from seed in small pots and then transplant the young seedlings into larger containers when they are about three or four inches tall. Basil needs LOTS of light and sun. A very sunny window will work as long as the days are long. As they get shorter, however, you will find that the basil begins to turn yellow, get very tall and leggy and will stop producing foliage. You will need supplemental light starting in October if you want plants to continue thriving. Sixteen hours is the minimum. Florescents work well as long the plants are close to the light source. Varieties to try for pots include Sweet Basil, Common Basil, Bush Basil.

Arlington, VA: There's an all-out insect war going on in my garden. First it was the aphids. Pesky buggers. Then these white fluffy bits started showing up everywhere. I'm not even sure what they are. Now the japanese beetles are gnawing on everything in sight! HELP!! Between the rabbits and the bugs, I'm not going to have any veggies for myself!! I'm willing to share with the rabbits. What can I do to save the remaining plants from the beetles??

Adrienne Cook: This has been an extraodrinary year for white fly -- one of the biggest complaints I've been getting. Use pyrethrum or rotenone sprays, or a combination of the two. These are organic pesticides. They break down very rapidly in the enviroment and leave no residual damaging poisons. However, they are toxix to all bugs, including beneficials, so use judiciously -- a single spraying hopefully will do the job. Pyrethrum also works well on Japanese beetles, but the beetles tend to come out at the same time as bees, which you should avoid spraying. Tyr hanging beetle traps; this at least will get some of the adult populations and prevent them from laying eggs for the future generations. I like an organic product called Neem (sold as Rose Defense in many garden centers). If have used this successfully on roses and many other plants to protect them against beetles, which do not like the taste of the stuff and go elsewhere. The one good bit of news I can offer is that many of these pests go in cycles -- a bad year of Japanese beetles typically is followed by delcining populations until you have only a few "resident" beetles that do minimal damage.

Portland, OR: The bottom leaves of my tomato plants are turning yellow. Any tips?

Adrienne Cook: Cool, wet weather will often cause spetoria of toamtoes. The first signs are yellowing of leaves at the bottom, then they mosve up and eventually the whole plant is affected. Once it hits, there's very little you can do to stop it for that year. Don't add the spent plants to your compost; rather, get rid of them completely after they have died. Make sure all tomato debris has been removed from the soil in the fall. Remove any mulch you've used and replace it with new mulch. Don't plant tomatoes in the same place next year. Try different varieties. Hope for hot, dry days, which are less conducive to septoria and other forms of wilt that effect tomaotes, cucumbers, melons and squash.

Falls Church: What can I do to get rid of Japanese beetles--or at least lure them away from my vegetable garden?

Adrienne Cook: Place traps well away and upwind form the garden to lure the beetles there; cover low-growing varieties such as beans and eggplant with garden fabric. Use neem (sold as Rose Defense) spray to prevent beetles from chewing foliage. Spray adult beetles with a pyrethrum-based organic pesticide. Next year, you'll have far fewer.

dc: My kids and I planted some sunflowers a few months ago and are enjoying watching them grow. However, there are always black ants on them and I was wondering whether they eat the leaves of sunflowers. If not, would you know what kind of bug is nibbling on the leaves and what can we do about it ? I've tried Sevin but it doesn't seem to work very well. Thanks.

Adrienne Cook: Black ants won't hurt your sunflowers. You may have slugs, or beetles, or a combination of chewing insects. Sunflowers usually can withstand some damage and not suffer. If you feel you MUST spray, avoid Sevin. Try an organic pesticide, such as insecticidal soap, purethrum or rotenone. These are all pretty good on differeent pests and will break down rapidly in the environmentl, leaving no residual poisons. Usually the birds that are attracted by those glorious sunflowers will return the favor by nailing the bugs on them. The best thing you can do is show your children the way nature takes care of itself in a lovely cycle of bloom, pest and predator.

washington, dc: Rats are eating my vegetables off the vines. I've tried putting up a chicken wire fence, but they are burrowing underneath. What else can I do to keep them away?

Adrienne Cook: Call Anthony Williams' office! The mayor has been making a big deal out getting rid of rats in the city. They are almost impossible to thwart, once they've found something they like to eat. I've had similar problems with raccoons, which, like rats, will find a way to circumvent any barrier. Would you risk electric fence, set a few inches from the ground? That finally worked with the raccoons, which got zapped by the fence before they had a chance to start digging.

Oostburg, WI: When planting a new lawn in a new neughborhood, most of my neighbors are using contractors to spray on seed and fertilizer. I want to wait to fall, use a hand spreader, and cover with with marsh hay or straw. Which will be the most successful in the long run?

Adrienne Cook: This is strictly opinion, mind you, but here goes: Lawn companies by their very nature set up lawns that require maintenance -- THEIR maintenance. There are some lawn companies out there that specialize in chemical-free, low-maintenance lawns, but they are few and far between. That would be one way to go, if you were to go the lawn-company route. Doing it yourself will require more work at the beginning, but you can tailor such choices as organic vs. chemical, type of seed and how much/little mainteneace you are willing to put in in the long run. I'm much more in favor of the homeowner doing his own lawn, if for no other reason than that you get to learn about your soil that way and you will be mnuch less suceptible to scams by lawn companies.

Reston, VA: I have a moss problem in my yard and I have tried putting Lime on it like the gardening centers recommend. Nothing seems to work on successfully killing the moss which is starting to take over the yard. What do you recommend for the Moss That Wouldn't Die?

Adrienne Cook: It'll take several years of persistent liming and overseeding with grass seed to "get rid" of the moss. Typically, mosses grow in shaded areas of the lawn, which are the hardest to get going in grass. Keep liming, and each fall and spring, rake out as much of the moss as you can, cover the bare areas with an organic, slow-release fertilizer and then some new seed. There are mixtures that do well in shade. Cover this with a light mulch of straw or marsh grass or whatever your local garden center has available cheap. With persistence, you would be able to elminate much of the problem.

I actually rather like moss. You don't have to mow it. It's soft.

McLean, VA: Hi,
I'm so glad you have this on-line chat. I used to hate gardening because I never knew what to do when things started dying on me. Now I have on-line experts who can give me instant advice -I hope-.
I planted 2 vines about a month ago, the trumpet vine is doing wonderfully, but the other, a honey suckle -japonica ?- with varigated leaves just sort of sits there and doesn't seem to be thriving. Any tips on what I can do to help it along ?
Thanks.

Adrienne Cook: I'm so glad you like gardening! Now you are getting a real dose of the first law of gardening -- patience. Your trumpet vine is a robust, enthusiastic grower, which your honeysuckle hybrid needs a little coaxing. If the honeysuckle is in good doil, just leave it be and don't expect anyhting like your trumpet vine. The honeysuckle will take ayear or two to really make a showing (mine didn't bloom until its third year) and will never get as big as the trumpet vine, no matter how long you have it. It is better behaved, you will find, if a little more reticent.

Washington, DC: I love snapdragons, but can't keep them going all summer. Many look perfectly healthy and then suddenly give up the ghost -wilt-. This year a new problem-- the flowers -mostly- have black bugs in and around them. Lots. Half ant, half bug looking. Couldn
t identify in any books. What might these be, are they harmful and how should i control?

Adrienne Cook: Last reply -- Gotta go! Try rotenone, an organic pesticide that comes in powder form. It won't look too grand when you sprinkle it on your flowers, but it should knock out what sounds like the damage of flee beetles or stink bugs. Use carfeully -- honeybees that love snap dragons also wil be harmed by rotenone.

Alternatovely, cut the snap dragons back to the ground and let them start up again under garden fabric. They will cover well and in September when they bloom again you should have fewer bugs to contend with. Good luck!

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