Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 18, 1995                   TAG: 9506200013
SECTION: HOMES                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN ARBOGAST
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TAKE CONTROL OF THE SQUASH VINE BORER

By the time a gardener notices vines or bushes suddenly wilting, and holes in the lower stems filled with a tan sawdust-like material, it will be too late for control.

Recommended insecticides for squash vine borer are designed to deal with the following typical life cycle of this pest: The adult of this borer, which is a moth, lays eggs on susceptible, young vines in late spring; these eggs hatch into white worms that bore into the stems near the base and feed. The feeding causes a tunneling that prevents the rest of the vine from receiving moisture and nutrients. So, prevention is the best remedy because this pest works inside the plants where sprays cannot reach it.

Chemical preventives for squash vine borer recommended by Virginia Tech include diazinon, methoxychlor or Thiodan. Treat when vines begin to run; apply to base of plants four times at seven-day intervals; follow label for recommendation on days to wait between application and harvest.

If you can't apply preventive insecticides and you find in the coming weeks that borers are inside those stems, here's something that might allow the plants to recover and grow: Slit the affected stems with a knife; destroy the borer; if the plant has not already died, cover the damaged stem portion with soil and keep dampened but not soggy in hopes that new roots will grow. Also, because the squash vine borer spends the winter in the soil in a cocoon, plow the garden in late fall if possible to expose these to the winter conditions in hopes of reducing the number next year.

Learning opportunities

Fishburn Rose Garden: The Roanoke Master Gardener Association invites the public to a ``workday'' at the rose garden Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Participants may ask questions and observe rose care, which includes fertilizing, pruning and ``dead- heading."

This Roanoke City garden is located behind the historic Fishburn Mansion at Cleveland Avenue and Riverside Boulevard in the Virginia Heights section of Roanoke.

Community Arboretum at Virginia Western Community College: This might be considered the ``prime time'' at the arboretum, which is located at Winding Way Road and Colonial Avenue in Southwest Roanoke. Visitors can enjoy the beauty and read the plant name tags for ideas for their own yard.

Find color right now in the annual flower display beds; coneflowers, day lilies and many others in the perennial garden; yuccas in the rock garden; and hostas and others in the cool shade garden. This summer, enjoy and learn from all the annuals in bloom; sedums around the ellipse; a continual display of color and texture in the perennial garden, which will include yarrow and coreopsis; more hostas and astilbes in the shade garden; Evening Primrose and Dicentra in the wildflower garden; the herb garden with its fragrance and textures; and the hot summer beauty from the evergreen garden.