6/28/2009 - Mite Control, Planting update

For the record, I sprayed all the foundation shrubs today w/ All-Seasons dormant oil to control for mealybugs and mites. I seem to have a bad case of both and I've already lost one - no make that two - japanese hollies to mites/mealys. The remaining 3 0r so are under attack. I can tell from the leaf drop and twig die-off. My camellia, piers japonica prelude, and aucuba also have damage so I sprayed those as well. The piers japonica especially has been badly affected - it's leaves from last year are all stipled w/ yellow dots. I sure hope this helps. I'm going to apply a little bit more cause I ran out.

I applied it at 5 T./gallon of water or 2.5 fl oz/gallon using the handy-dandy ortho sprayer. I got down low and tried to spray toward the undersize of the leaves. It wasn't nearly as bad spraying or as difficult to apply as I'd envisioned. I feel badly that I've procrastinated this long and won't put it off as long once I get some more. The label seems to imply that I should apply monthly. So, I think I'll put a reminder on the old calendar and come end of July I will treat them again and maybe again in August. Mites tend to get worse in the summer - not sure about mealys - and it's hard to know if they've been treated. I promise to myself to keep a closer eye on them! I need to inspect the hollies near the end of the driveway and maybe spray those, too.

In other news, I finally planted my two aspidstra big bubbas - or whatever they'll called as well as the fatsia. They were all getting kind of pot bound but I took care to free the roots and disentangle them before moving them. I also moved a bear's breeches that I bought last year that wasn't doing so hot. I think it was eaten up by voles, but then resprouted and it did have small leaves. So, I dug it all up and separated all the root parts out and planted them down in the former magnolia bed. Will be interesting to see how they do there. That area has morning sun and some sun into the afternoon, but not much hot afternoon sun. I hope they take off. They are supposed to get 4-6' feet wide as a clump. They didn't seem to get getting that big in the shade, so I think moving them was a good idea. I still have one more in the shade that maybe I should move as well. It doesn't seem to be thriving either. It's leaves are big, but it's not growing that fast. The label says part sun-light shade I think, so this new location might be better. We'll see... The fatsia, which is supposed to like deep shade, is in a spot where it will get an hour or so of full to partial afternoon sun. Maybe a bad idea? I'm keeping an eye on it and if it starts burning I'm going to try moving it under the dogwood where the the rhodie used to be. I think it will like that spot, though I will need to keep in mind that if I plant more shrubs behind carissas that it's view could be blocked, so I'd have to locate w/ an eye toward that.

Also, last weekend I planted a bunch of impatiens and they are doing okay. In a second, I'm going to try doing surgery on my rain barrel to see if I can fix it so a real spigot can be attached and then I can use the soaker hose w/ the rain barrel. I hope I don't ruin it!

Also, I dug up that spice shrub that I got at a master gardener something or other a while back and planted out. It's been there a few years. Since it can take full sun to partial shade I decided to try putting it at the edge of the house on the side where the hose bib is. It's supposed to be a rounded mound shape when it gets full sun up to 6' wide. So, we'll see how it grows there. I'm experimenting! I think this is how gardeners and many others in life get things done. Get some info and then make a guess. If it doesn't work, then try something else. I think many things come down to a process of trial and error which you can sometimes limit w/ research on the front end, so that's what I did. We'll see how it goes!