DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711220063

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: GARDEN REMINDERS

SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER

                                            LENGTH:  147 lines

WHICHEVER CHRISTMAS TREE YOU CHOOSE, WATER IT WELL

LAST WEEK I talked about plantable Christmas trees. This week, let's discuss cut trees, those you buy soon for use indoors.

Fraser fir is the most popular Christmas tree in this area, known for its excellent needle retention. It's almost perfectly shaped, has soft blue-green needles and is easy to decorate.

Douglas fir is also popular with green aromatic needles and excellent needle retention. It also has a great shape and is easy to decorate.

Noble fir is sometimes called the most elegant Christmas tree because of its sturdy branches. Branches are wide spaced, allowing use of large ornaments and good visibility.

Scotch pine has declined in popularity but still a lot are sold. Its close branches and upside-down-funnel shape make it one of the easiest trees to decorate. It's a good tree for people with small ornament collections or those who like to decorate with bows and garlands. It doesn't drop needles until you take it down, and then it usually sheds all over the floor.

There are other choices, too, but whatever you choose, buy early, cut an inch or two off the bottom of the trunk and put it in a pail full of water outdoors. Check the water often, because cut Christmas trees drink a lot. FERTILIZE LAWN NOW

Last call to fertilize your lawn. The third and final fall application of fertilizer should be made this month. With all the recent rain, your grass probably looks lush and green, but the roots need food to grow all winter.

Root growth now means a much better-looking lawn next summer. Use a high nitrogen fertilizer. I use 22-4-14 but any similar analysis is fine. ROOT AN EVERGREEN

Cuttings of evergreens such as taxus, juniper and arborvitae can be taken any time after Thanksgiving. November and December are the two best months for starting evergreens from cuttings.

Take a cutting 4 inches long, remove needles from the lower two-thirds, dip into rooting compound and stick it outdoors in a bed of coarse sand. The sand should be in a well-drained and shaded area. Water thoroughly and keep watered next spring and summer.

One year from now, your evergreens should be rooted and ready to transplant. This is advice from a new book, ``Free Landscape Plants,'' selling for $11.95, mailed to 4390 Middle Ridge Road, Perry, Ohio 44081. HOW TO STOP INCHWORMS

Entomologist Peter Schultz, director of the Hampton Roads Research Center, says that if you had inchworms hanging from your trees or on your fresh laundry last spring, here's what to do. Put a strip of duct tape around tree trunks, head high, so children can't reach it. Then coat the tape with Tanglefoot, available in hardware and garden centers. The female caterpillars climb the tree this time of year to lay their eggs, but you can stop their march up the tree with Tanglefoot. A VOTE FOR DAYLILIES

Daylilies are becoming more and more popular. They are one of the few flowers that deer, voles and moles will leave alone. That old complaint that ``they bloom once and then they're gone'' isn't valid any longer. New varieties bloom all season, even up to this week.

Make sure to plant only ``reblooming'' varieties. Daylilies can be planted any month of the year, but there is no better month than now. UNDER COVER

If your tender plants haven't been hurt by the cold, there is a way you can keep them growing. Reemay Garden Covers, available in garden centers, keep the soil up to 15 degrees warmer than uncovered ground. Reemay is a non-woven polyester, durable enough to last several seasons.

Put these garden covers over vegetables or houseplants still outdoors. Or they can be used over winter crops such as broccoli and spinach. In the spring, they warm up the soil earlier for planting.

The covers are like a lightweight sheet and are easy to use. If you can't find them, call (800) 514-4441. WINTER ROSE CARE

Last week I put my roses to bed for the season, by cutting off long branches that had no buds. If yours have a bud that might open for Thanksgiving or Christmas, leave that stem until after it blooms. Remove a few inches of the twiggy top growth of all bushes but nothing more.

``It is important not to trim back the main stems of the rose, because these hold food for the roots during the winter,'' said Dick Hutton of the Conard-Pyle Co., known for its award-winning roses.

Slight pruning helps prevent the bush from blowing in the wind and becoming loose in the ground, which causes the plant to freeze and die. The buds you leave should be cut when they bloom and then bring that stem down to the level of the rest of the bush.

Finally, spray all bushes thoroughly with an insecticide and fungicide to kill all bugs and diseases. Many diseases overwinter, so this is important. You can use a chemical or organic spray.

Lastly, mulch them well with pine straw or pine bark. Some recommendations say you should remove the old much to prevent it from harboring a disease. I never like to remove any mulch, because eventually it becomes compost. I cover the old mulch with new. MANTEO GARDEN PROGRAMS

The Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, N.C., one of this area's best-kept garden secrets, has an education coordinator and now offers a complete program of events. Here are a few:

Tuesday: Signs of Fall for pre-school children; $1 fee.

Wednesday: Signs of Fall, for children grades K-3; $1 fee.

Dec. 2 and 6: Christmas sale. Discounted items and lots of plants. A suggested gift is admission to the garden for an entire year for $7.

Dec. 9 and 13: Making a traditional holiday wreath; fee $18.

Dec. 10: Making a tabletop Christmas tree; fee $25.

Dec. 22: Holly and ivy wreath workshop; fee $15.

Dec. 18, 22 and 23: Evergreen traditions for children; fee $1.

The Elizabethan Gardens is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Dec. 1 until the first weekend in March, and there will be no admission charge during that period.

Education coordinator Anne White is available to give tours for groups of 10 to 30 people. Slide shows are available for larger groups. The garden meeting hall is also available for rent to non-profit organizations and for weddings and receptions.

As with all gardens, volunteers are always needed. The Elizabethan Gardens is a non-profit organization operated by The Garden Club of North Carolina. It is located at 1411 Highway 64/264 outside Manteo. Call (919) 473-3234. CAMELLIA PROBLEM

A reader question last week from Robert Zedler in Virginia Beach concerned strange growth on the leaves of sasanqua camellias. The growth was identified as ``bud sport.'' Further discussion indicated it could be that or galls.

Sasanqua camellias often get galls on their leaves, which cause the leaf to swell. The control is the same for either problem. Pick off and destroy the swollen leaves. Neither problem damages the plant but makes it look strange. GET HEALTHY WITH PLANTS

If you're interested in horticultural therapy, which is widely used in health facilities, the American Horticultural Therapy Association has an information request form, listing all the books and bulletins they have available. For a free copy, mail your request to them at 362A Christopher Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. 20879-3660. NATURALIZING BULBS

If you've heard the term ``naturalizing bulbs'' and wondered what it means, it refers to planting bulbs throughout your landscape that, after planting, are capable of thriving and multiplying without assistance from you.

Crocus, narcissus and most daffodils are ideal for naturalizing. The best way is to throw a handful of daffodils on a bed of ground covers, along a stream bank, by a pond or a grassy bank. A bed of vinca is ideal for naturalizing daffodils, because it provides a blanket of green surrounding the yellow daffodil flowers. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE ASSOCIATION

Douglas fir, left, and Scotch pine both have good needle retention.

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