Gardening Tips:

The first thing to do is evaluate, clean up and remedy any disease, pest or hurricane related problems on existing landscape. It was a long, hot summer and with an abundance of rain that may have created some fungus and disease problems Check your plants and treat if needed with Copper Fungicide or Liquid Systemic Fungicide 5. Remember, fungicides are “preventative” and only slightly change existing- they just reduce the spread of disease. If you have plants that are particularly susceptible, plan on starting fungicide spray early in the spring, in future.

Rust

Scale

Aphids

Black Sooty Mold

Scale and aphids can be especially bad in the summer and these sucking insects will suck the life right out of your plants. Check the undersides of leaves, branches and new growth tips. These insects go after almost ALL plants and spread quickly all over the plant and then surrounding plants. Aphids can be light green, orange or yellow and most often can be controlled with Horticulture Oil and scale with Spinosad. It has also been a bad summer for spider mites.  If you have junipers, cypress, cedars or arborvitae in particular and are seeing the foliage turn brown here and there, you probably have spider mites. Control with Spinosad or Horticultural Oil.  We also have seen a lot of thrips on flowering plants like hibiscus and roses.  They are tiny little black bugs that often prevent flowering buds to open and eventually fall off.  Also control with Spinosad.

Two other problems we have seen a lot of lately are Mealy Bugs and Powdery Mildew. It is often hard to tell them apart, but the fluffiness of the Mealy Bug residue is usually your clue.  The white “powdery” mildew sticks to stems and leaves, similar to a powder.

To treat Mealy Bugs, treat with Horticultural Oil or Spinosad- both of which are insecticides that will work. Most of the Powdery Mildew you see on plants now, probably started back in the spring.  Interestingly, water actually inhibits the growth of the fungi for Powdery Mildew and often it appears on plants that in partial shade or are shaded by foliage or other plants. Like many other fungus issues, spraying known problem plants early with fungicides are the best option but you could use Fungicide 5 as above, which has active and proactive ingredients.

Powdery Mildew

Mealy Bugs

Weed beds, and if you didn’t fertilize your plants in September do so before mid month so plants have time to harden off before winter. This last application to plants, palms, citrus, fruit and shrubs are especially important. We recommend the Nurserymen’s Sure Gro slow release 8-4-12 Palm for palms and most basic shrubs and trees, the 8-4-8 Citrus for citrus and fruit bearing trees and the 6-8-10 Bloomer for flowering shrubs and trees. However, one plant you should NOT fertilize is your Bougainvillea…this plant will bloom better if left alone now until spring!

Freshen mulch, if needed to control weeds and reduce watering needs. Mulches come in a variety of choices from pine barks, cypress, colored red, and black. Stone is another option whether it’s red rock, lava rock or river rock. Weed mat should be laid before stone is spread to keep it from disappearing in the dirt. We offer many varieties of mulch in the bags, as well as some varieties of bulk mulch and stone that we can deliver.