
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994                    TAG: 9406240104 
SECTION: HOME                     PAGE: G4    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER 
DATELINE: 940626                                 LENGTH: Medium

LEAVE CLIPPINGS ON THE LAWN TO HELP FERTILIZE GRASS

{LEAD} We have a mulching mower, and when my husband mows the lawn he leaves the grass clippings behind. Now my neighbor says that leaving them on the grass will kill it. We went to the Tidewater Homebuilders Home and Garden Show this spring. One of the speakers was Jeff Ball. He said that leaving the grass clippings was good for the lawn because it brings back the nitrogen the lawn needs. Our grass, though, is turning yellow in some areas. Who is right? And is this the reason our grass is turning yellow? We water regularly and my husband has done most of what Jeff Ball said to do. Can you give us some input? Our grass is Rebel Jr.

L. Nestor, Virginia Beach

{REST} You and Jeff Ball are correct. Leaving the clippings on your lawn can reduce the fertilizer needed by as much as one-third. Mowing tall grass with a regular mower and leaving those clippings on a lawn can smother and kill grass. But using a mulching mower and leaving the clippings on the lawn is smart - and won't kill grass.

You may be getting brown patch, a common summer disease during hot days and humid nights. It can be prevented with Daconil or Bayleton. The other possibility is that you have some rye grass in your lawn. It turns yellow and dies this time of year. Do not fertilize your lawn again until September, and then reseed it and apply fertilizer.

After weeks of hearing a woodpecker in my back yard, I finally spotted it in a tree. However, it turned out not to be one bird but two. There were two holes in a tree branch and one long, hollowed-out area. What can we do about woodpeckers and what can we expect in the way of damage? We have 13 very large trees in our back yard and several smaller ones.

S. Belcher, Chesapeake

Sounds like you're going to be den mother to a family of woodpeckers. They won't damage the tree they're in or any others. They eat insects they find in the bark. Woodpeckers are not harmful, reports Cape Henry Audubon Society spokesperson Becky White. Their hole in your tree is their nest.

They usually drill holes only in dead or diseased trees, so you might want to check the limb or the entire tree. Maybe that is why the birds found insects in it.

Woodpeckers are a protected bird, and many gardeners would love to have a nest of them in their yard.

Please tell me what to do about the strange bugs on my pomegranate. They ruined the fruit last year.

Elizabeth C. Jones, Chesapeake

Entomologists at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research Center say pomegranates are practically insect-free. Please send a sample of the bug and we'll try to identify it and offer ways to prevent more damage.

In Yankee magazine (for Mid-Atlantic states), there was a small notice about Scripton. It is a powder to be mixed with bird seed to keep squirrels out of the feeder. It costs $2.99 an ounce. Its spicy taste will not deter birds but will annoy squirrels. One tablespoon to 4 pounds of seed is the proper amount. I called the manufacturer and the person who answered said some Southern States stores, including one in Chesapeake, stock it. I hope you can get some Scripton and test it. The powder can be ordered by mail from S.S.I., P.O. Box 404, Annapolis, Md. 21404; the cost is $3.50, including shipping. The phone number is 1-(800)-229-5454.

Now for my question - how soon can I plant my Christmas amaryllis outdoors? It has new leaves already.

Mrs. Raymond Schofield, Hertford, N.C.

I've never heard of Scripton. I called the 800 number and got this additional information. It is a botanical that birds used to eat in the wild. It is a capsicum (pepper), and birds like it but squirrels do not. It's been on the market only six months. In addition to Southern States, it is now available at Wild Birds Unlimited in Virginia Beach and all Virginia Beach Feed & Seed stores. If any readers have used it, let us know if you were satisfied. I'm surely going to try it.

As for your amaryllis, it should be placed outdoors in the shade now. Water it weekly, feed it monthly. Bring it in during October and lay it on its side in a cool, dark room to give it a six-week rest. Then bring it indoors and it should throw out new foliage and bloom. Amaryllis are sometimes touchy and don't always follow the rules given in garden books, but most every year they re-bloom. by CNB