GARDEN FANATIC:Red, white and blue gardening

“Summer has set in with its usual severity.” “” Samuel Taylor Coleridge

With each passing year, I wear more proudly that I am a 50s child (in more than one way), born and raised in Laguna. I love our country (if not her current direction) and hold a lot of affection for Uncle Sam. I recall that I once rated him just slightly below Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, but above the Tooth Fairy. In retrospect, I am sure this occurred only because two of them brought me Christmas gifts or foil-wrapped, chocolate eggs.

Speaking of gifts, summer has set in, with sunnier, warmer weather. Your garden requires deep and thorough watering for trees, perennials, annuals and the lawn. Try applying mulch over all of your planting beds; you’ll be glad you did.

Cultivate the beds to keep weeds from competing for water and fertilizers, and raise those lawn mowers to cut the grass. Finally, don’t forget to shear your hedges of boxwood, privet and others. Read on, and let’s get back to the garden with the Plant Man.

Question: Which is better, the so-called anvil loppers or the bypass style? Also, are the added-leverage, gear-reduction models worth the extra weight and cost?

Answer: I always recommend bypass pruners over the anvil. The reason is simple: Bypass pruners make a “clean,” surgical cut, which heals quickly, while the anvil pruners “crush” tissue that subsequently takes longer to heal. Unless you are pruning brush that is greater than 1 inch in diameter, stay with the no-frills, standard models.

Q. Mr. Plant Man, I have lots of dirt showing in my flower garden. What should I plant to fill things in?

A. A list of hardy summer annuals begins with petunia, vinca and marigold. Warmer weather would allow you to plant zinnia, verbena and gloriosa daisy. Coreopsis, ageratum, nicotiana and dahlia also deserve consideration.

Q. Why are new rose leaves red?

A. It is one of the beautiful acts of nature that new rose leaves are a beautiful burgundy color. It is a signal that the plant is healthy and a promise that new flowers will soon appear.

Technically, new rose leaves are red until sunlight activates the chlorophyll process to turn the foliage green.

Q. I am a beginning flower gardener. I have white spots on my newly planted roses. Have I caused this problem?

A. Just because you are a beginner doesn’t mean your roses have to develop white spots! Even serious rosarians have to battle this disease, which is known as powdery mildew. It is a widespread and potentially serious malady of roses.

The powdery covering consists of fungal strands and spores. The spores are spread by the wind to healthy plants.

The fungus saps the plant nutrients, causing distortion, discoloring, and often death of the leaves and canes.

Powdery mildew may occur on roses anytime during the growing season when rainfall is low or absent, temperatures are between 70 and 80F, nighttime relative humidity is high, and daytime relative humidity is low.

I recommend that you apply 1.5 tablespoons of baking soda and 1/2 tablespoon of Ultra Fine horticultural oil to a gallon of water.

Repeat the spray at intervals of 7 to 10 days if mildew reappears.

Q. My neighbor tells me I have rust on my lawn. What can I do?

A. Rust is a common problem on both bluegrass and ryegrass. It may even be spread if you don’t clean your mower with water after mowing!

The most common control is to apply a high nitrogen fertilizer to maintain rapid growth, water regularly, mow frequently and remove the clippings. If the disease is severe, treat with Daconil every seven days until the lawn improves.

Catharine and I always look forward to the Fourth of July holiday. We can kick back on our deck and watch the traffic clogging our streets (somewhat kidding).

We toast America on her birthday and dream of travel south and beyond. It’s going to be another great summer in Laguna!

See you next time.