Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
3/6/00
Contacts:
Paula Flynn, Extension Plant Pathology, (515) 294-0581,
pflynn@iastate.edu
Elaine Edwards, Extension Communication Systems, (515)
294-5168, eedwards@iastate.edu
Yard and Garden Column for the Week Beginning March 10
In Pursuit of Healthy Plants - Spring Chores
By Paula Flynn
Extension plant pathologist
Iowa State University Extension
It's still the time of year when people are comfortably nestled in their easy chairs, making final selections on new plants to be installed in their landscape. The recent warm weather, however, should be a reminder that it'll soon be time to locate the gardening tools stashed behind the snow shovel. A few chores can be tackled now to ensure a healthy year for your plants.
Not pointing any fingers at guilty gardeners, some chores aimed at preventing problems should ideally have been completed last fall. Sanitation, or cleanup of diseased plant parts, is a good example. Pulling and removing blight-laden tomato plants is much easier in the fall when the plants come out pretty much as a unit, rather than in tiny bits and pieces as they often do in the spring. The less time disease microbes hang out in the yard the better. Many have tough, specialized structures that enable them to wait contently until a new plant comes their way in the spring.
To disappoint the pathogens lying in wait, you can rotate plants when possible. Many of the problem-causing pathogens selectively attack groups of related plants. For example, tomato, pepper, eggplant and potato share some common diseases. Unfortunately, setting up a good rotation scheme can be difficult when dealing with a small garden. Along the same line, incorporating a wide assortment of plant species into your landscape can offer protection from a catastrophic disease wipeout.
Speaking of planning, be sure to interview potential new additions to your plant family carefully. Does the apple cultivar have high resistance to scab, rust and mildew? Does the rose variety have resistance to black spot? After all, who has time for high-maintenance plants that require fungicide sprays every week?
Maybe your selection is described in glowing terms, but it won't work in your yard or planting zone. You can avoid wasting time and money by doing some preliminary homework. Have you ever heard someone (surely not you) ask, "I've planted a great new flowering shrub in my yard - now how do I take care of it?" At that point, we can only hope a spendy, sandy-soil-loving specimen wasn't planted in an oxygen-starved clay pit. Vigorous, healthy plants are best able to fight off fungi, viruses, bacteria, and nematodes. Healthy plants also can best endure our environmental extremes. Know the needs of your herbaceous and woody plant selections before you pull in your driveway with the plants sitting in the back of the car, or before they arrive in a brown padded envelope.
Be cautious and observant when shopping, and don't assume that new means healthy. Disease-causing microbes can hitch a ride to your garden on seeds or transplants. Take a careful look at the leaves, stems and roots for symptoms of future trouble. Be on the lookout for unusual spots, wilting, stunting and discolored roots. Purchasing seed and transplants from a reputable source should be a priority over seeking out the "100 plants for $2.99" deals.
Finally, get out in the garden and look after your investment. Do the rounds and spot problems early. Waiting until diseases are raging doesn't leave much hope for a quick fix.
That brings us back to your homework. Read up on the potential problems of your plants and know how to combat them. For example, maybe your peach tree is continually plagued with peach leaf curl, the fungal disease that causes puffy, distorted leaves with a reddish green color. In your reading you learn that is it controlled by applying a fungicide in the fall after leaf drop or early in the spring before the buds swell. The timing is critical. Or, you might be tempted to race out for an emergency treatment for a silver maple showing gruesome, tar-like spots on most of the leaves. A little investigation would turn up the best course of action: do nothing now, just rake up the leaves in the fall.
Because there are no perfect plans for a trouble-free planting (largely thanks to the weather) you'll have plenty of opportunity for garden and landscape troubleshooting. Fortunately, these "learning opportunities" can be held in check by doing your homework before the growing season gets under way.
ml: isugarden
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