THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603290083
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING REMINDERS
SOURCE: Robert Stiffler
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
THIS IS THE time that honeybees swarm. Remember that honeybees are protected by federal law and should not be killed. They are important for the pollination of flowers, fruit trees and vegetables, and many bees are dying from mites.
If a swarm of honeybees forms on your property, The Tidewater Beekeepers Association Club will remove them for free, if they're low to the ground. If you have hornets, yellow jackets, wasps or other stinging insects, these groups will remove them for a fee: Tidewater Bee and Wasp Eradicator, 429-3134 (pager 626-9244); The Beekeepers Guild, 481-0706; or the Tidewater Beekeepers Association Club, 486-1573.
When you have such a problem, you usually want immediate action, so if you get an answering machine, I'd try all the numbers listed until you get a live voice. All of these groups will test any honeybees retrieved and treat them for mites, which helps keep their diminishing population from going down even more. Make it a priority this growing season to protect the bees. A TRUE TEST OF WARMTH
When is the time to plant?
``The Old Farmer's Almanac Book of Garden Wisdom'' by Cynthia Van Hazinga (Random House, hardcover $25), in a section titled ``A Method We Haven't Tried,'' says: ``Farmers in Lincolnshire, England, once practiced a unique custom for determining planting time. They took off their trousers and sat on the earth; if it was warm and comfortable enough for them, they reasoned it would be comfortable for their plants.'' The book is available in bookstores or can be ordered for you. SPRAY WEEDS NOW
Make sure to spray the weeds in your garden at once. Winter tough ones such as chickweed - and others - are blooming now and then deposit seeds for next year. Don't give them a chance to come back. Use a good but safe weed killer such as Roundup and spray at once. Similar organic sprays can be purchased in garden centers. ORGANIC CONTROL FOR GRUBS
For those who suspect grubs in their lawn and don't want to use diazinon as suggested last Sunday, the only organic control offered by the editors of Organic Gardening books is milky spore. It is a bacterial disease that kills beetle grubs. It takes one to three years for the disease to provide full control, but it remains effective for up to 20 years. It is not inexpensive, so check out costs as you make your plans. A WAY TO REDUCE GUMBALLS
Want to get rid of those gumballs without cutting down the tree? Or how about getting rid of mistletoe in deciduous trees?
From Virginia Tech's Diane Relf via Virginia Tech extension agent Randy Jackson, comes this advice: ``The plant-growth regulating chemical, ethephon, is marked as a fruit-thinning agent. Brand name is Florel. It is not commonly available on garden center shelves but can be ordered for you. This product can be used to reduce or eliminate undesirable fruit on ornamental trees and shrubs such as apple, crab apple, elm, flowering pear, horse chestnut (buckeye), maple, oak, sweetgum and sycamore. It can also be used to remove dwarf mistletoe shoots in ornamental conifers and leafy mistletoe in deciduous trees. Be sure to use only on the species listed on the product label. It is essential that spray be applied exactly as directed on the label to achieve satisfactory results and to prevent damage to trees.''
You'll most likely have to ask your favorite feed and seed or hardware store to order it. DRIPPING SAP WILL STOP
From the same source comes this advice: ``Some trees (birch, dogwood, maple and walnut) often bleed when early spring pruning cuts are made. They drip sap - often a lot. This can be alarming but is not harmful to the tree. As the tree leafs out, the bleeding stops. It is not necessary to use a sealant on the pruning cut. The tree will heal nicely on its own.'' ZOYSIA SEED NOW AVAILABLE
If you want a Zoysia lawn and don't want to spend hours on your knees digging little holes and planting plugs one foot apart, there is a new way - Zenith Zoysia seed. Warm season grasses do best if planted in spring, which means this zoysia can be planted anytime now on freshly tilled and prepared seedbeds. The cost is much less than sodding. Seed is available at Virginia Beach Feed & Seed outlets and perhaps elsewhere. A PLUM FOR THE SOUTH
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is introducing Black Ruby, a new Japanese-type plum that grows well in the humid Southeast climate. Bearing large, high-quality fruit in late June to early July, this plum has reddish-black skin and firm, yellow flesh. Black Ruby withstands plum leaf scale and is moderately resistant to bacterial diseases that attack plums in the Southeast. Trees are available now from nurseries in Tennessee. The department does not list what nurseries will have the tree, but its Georgia research lab should know where it can be purchased. Call (912) 956-6405. by CNB