Recently, a participant on a Wednesday at Winterthur walk asked how the Reflecting Pool is kept so clear, even though the water is relatively still.  Any tips?

Michele Christiano, the garden horticulturist who cares for that section of  the Winterthur Garden responds:

We have a pump and filter that keeps the water moving. Plus we use a biological algaecide and dye called Microbelift BioBlack to keep the algae down.

Another question surfaced yesterday. What deer repellent is used to protect the new plantings near the visitor center, along the tram road?

Dave Schurr, garden horticulturist, lets us in on his secret:

I have been using Liquid Fence brand deer repellant.  It should be available at local garden and home centers. I think it is working pretty well, but they say to change things up over time.  Deer will still try some plant material at first, and then realize it tastes poorly.  You first spray every week for three weeks, then monthly.  The odor is said to be unnoticed by humans after 24 hours. 

What questions do you have for us?

Horticulturist, Jim Pirhalla lends his thoughts to one of his favorite Daffodil cultivars:

To me, for all of the garden plants, daffodils (Narcissus spps.) have it made. Let me explain. After a long hard winter when even a yellow gum wrapper or a red cola can in the yard tricks one into believing that spring has arrived, here comes the daffodil. Other plants that emerge later in the spring are probably thinking to themselves, “They show up, with their nice, clean green foliage and bright, mister sun-shine faces. Where is the competition for these guys?” And when virtually the only other thing that is leafing out along a busy country roadside is multi-flora rose, how can anyone not notice the bright yellow flower of the daffodil which was probably planted decades ago when the site was once better tended.

Daffodils are a relatively fool-proof plant. That is, as long as they are planted in a spot that will get plenty of sun while the foliage is still green. Also, if you plant your daffodils in turf, avoid mowing until the foliage starts to yellow. And don’t plant the bulbs too deeply in the ground. All of these things will send your daffodils into a sure decline with little to no bloom.

Personally, one of my favorite daffodil cultivars is Narcissus ‘Ceylon’. It grows on average to 14”-18” in height with yellow petals, as one grower describes as “buttercup”. It has an orange to orange/red corona with a cup of medium proportion. Its bloom time is a bit earlier than most daffodils, around early to mid spring. For my garden, that would be typically in early April. It is also touted as being a long bloomer and I would say from my personal experience, that would be true. ‘Ceylon’ has, in my opinion, a simple yet “country nobility” look about it and is a daffodil that is not going to be obtrusive in size in the landscape, but is also not going to be lost in it as well. I would say that Narcissus ‘Ceylon’ is a perfect daffodil for a landscape of modest proportion. Plant some bulbs this fall and enjoy these true beauties next spring!

Have you seen this on the Front Drive?

This year, in our ongoing (albeit futile) efforts to battle the effects of the winter weather here at Winterthur, we have reintroduced snow fence to our arsenal.

Placed at strategic spots throughout the property in staggered sections in late autumn by our interns Mark Wolanski and Christine Hare, this is not the snow fence I remember as a kid growing up in the farm land of southern New Jersey. Lighter and easier to install than the redwood stained, slat and wire fence of old (though still in use), the plastic fence has proved its worth and toughness at the first snow.

How does it work you ask? The idea is simple. Make the snow drift where you want it instead of where you don’t. Wind driven snow will pile itself when the wind is too slow to carry it or encounters an obstacle. This causes drifts in places such as, against walls and at the edges of terrain drops. Snow fence is designed and placed to slow the snow laden wind enough to drop most of the snow immediately on the opposite side of the fence it encounters (I love physics!) causing a drift in the field. That way we can keep much of the snow from drifting across roads and parking areas. Cool right? So far it is working the way we’ve planned.

Just one problem…we need more.

Hey…give me a break! I thought we had enough based on where I remembered drifts last winter. Now…I am of sound mind but those “50’s moments” do occur every once in a while. Another lesson learned and plans are in place to get more for next year.

In the mean time, stay warm and drive carefully. Spring will be here soon.

Q

One of the secrets to Winterthur’s success with leaves is the use of mulch mowing. We still rake and suck up a lot of leaves – but thankfully not as many as they used to in Mr. du Pont’s day. I am re-posting some information below from last fall on this process. If you haven’t tried mulch mowing I encourage you to test it out, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how efficient it is.

“… a mature, healthy tree can have 200,000 leaves. During 60 years of life, such a tree would grow and shed 3,600 pounds of leaves, returning about 70% of their nutrients to the soil.”
Wisconsin County Forests webpage

Think about how many millions of leaves will be gathered here at Winterthur and in the many gardens throughout the Brandywine Valley this autumn. Cleaning up leaves in fall is one of those meditative, seemingly inescapable, chores that come with caring for a garden. Here at Winterthur we still rake and blow millions of leaves, but more and more we are supplementing leaf removal with mulch mowing.

If you hate raking leaves you have a simple alternative – mulch mowing. Mulch mowing is a process that cuts up and macerates the leaves, leaving them in place in your garden to decompose over the winter and following growing season. While not promising a total escape from gathering leaves, it offers gardeners an alternative to dealing with piles of leaves.

Mulch mowing is not terribly complicated. I’ve illustrated the basic steps below with photos and captions.

Set up your mower for mulching; most mowers allow you to run them without a bag and with an insert that closes off the mower deck. This keeps the leaves and grass from being discharged and allows the mower to cut the vegetation into finer pieces.

Wear proper equipment. You should wear safety glasses, hearing protection, and boots when using this equipment. Leaves can conceal rocks, roots, and other obstacles – better to be safe than sorry.

Mow over leaves and any plants ready to be cut back. You don’t need to confine yourself to lawn areas. You can mow over plants, such as hosta, that are going to lose their leaves anyway.

Repeat mowing weekly or as needed. The photographs above were taken 5 minutes apart. You can see how the mower reduced the leaves to finely chopped pieces that will filter down to the surface of the soil. Whole leaves left in the garden tend to mat down and can smother grass, bulbs, and other perennials. The process of mulch mowing chops the leaves into finer pieces, allowing your plants to grow freely as the leaves decompose and return to the soil.

Will someone stop hitting the fast forward button, please?  Over the past seven days we have progressed about three weeks—flower time, that is. We have gone from smelling the spicy scent of star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) to the perfume fragrance of lilacs (Syringa vulgaris cvs). It makes my head spin even more to think that just a month ago we still were snow covered.   This is a whirlwind spring if ever I can remember one.  Both extremes in Mother Nature’s weather forecasts have made us have to rethink and prioritize our gardening tasks, tabling some until fall or even next spring since the window for some of our horticultural work has been greatly condensed—or even passed by. 

Our saucer magnolias (Magnolia x soulangiana) and cherries are still in flower but are beginning to drop their petals.  The emerging leaves from some of our canopy trees are shedding their protective bud scales as well which, along with the petals, can form pretty “debris” on the ground below.  One garden task that is ephemeral but a celebration of this above described moment is moving the petals aside—usually with a blower, but a broom or rake will do, too—and creating a pathway that is lined in pastel flower petals, sprinkled with a few spring green bud scales. The grove of magnolias at Magnolia Bend is a perfect setting for this petal pathway as there is a bench placed at the end to draw you in; if not physically then at least visually.

I gave a tour to a group from The Morris Arboretum on Tuesday and we stopped along the Pinetum allee and admired one of our specimen cherries, Prunus ‘Accolade’ at the height of its flower. A light breeze was coming off of the adjacent field and along with the sunlight, created a shimmering effect as the petals fell.   Everyone reveled not only in the tree’s beauty in full flower but the magic captured in that moment.  As we stood out away from the tree, petals still in our hair, a higher breeze came through and whisked the petals from the tree and in “mid flight” the breeze changed direction and the petals—still high in the air—went back toward the tree, glimmering in the light.  We had never seen anything quite like it.  Spring can be a frenzied time in a gardener’s world but it is capturing moments such as petals dropping or a first flower opening that allows us to pause for a moment, catch our breath and feed the soul.

This is a time when the horticulturist who cares for the March Bank takes a deep breath from all of the hard work in preparation for this moment (she does not “tip toe through the tulips”). However, in sections where bulbs such as snowdrops are not part of a successional planting we will divide and transplant the clumps to increase their presence in the garden. Snowdrops (Galanthus) and snowflake (Leucojum) can be divided “in the green” meaning after flower when the foliage is still present. It is recommended with most others bulbs to divide as the foliage is going dormant or in the fall. This may be the best practice but I find that I tend to divide all of my bulbs after flower as it allows me to better visualize their placement. The hastiness on my part may result in a reduction of flower the following year but it is a system that works best for me—otherwise the job may never get done. With gardening tasks we must know thyself!

“… a mature, healthy tree can have 200,000 leaves. During 60 years of life, such a tree would grow and shed 3,600 pounds of leaves, returning about 70% of their nutrients to the soil.”
Wisconsin County Forests webpage

Think about how many millions of leaves will be gathered here at Winterthur and in the many gardens throughout the Brandywine Valley this autumn. Cleaning up leaves in fall is one of those meditative, seemingly inescapable, chores that come with caring for a garden. Here at Winterthur we still rake and blow millions of leaves, but more and more we are supplementing leaf removal with mulch mowing.

If you hate raking leaves you have a simple alternative – mulch mowing. Mulch mowing is a process that cuts up and macerates the leaves, leaving them in place in your garden to decompose over the winter and following growing season. While not promising a total escape from gathering leaves, it offers gardeners an alternative to dealing with piles of leaves.

Mulch mowing is not terribly complicated. I’ve illustrated the basic steps below with photos and captions.

Set up your mower for mulching; most mowers allow you to run them without a bag and with an insert that closes off the mower deck. This keeps the leaves and grass from being discharged and allows the mower to cut the vegetation into finer pieces.

Wear proper equipment. You should wear safety glasses, hearing protection, and boots when using this equipment. Leaves can conceal rocks, roots, and other obstacles – better to be safe than sorry.

Mow over leaves and any plants ready to be cut back. You don’t need to confine yourself to lawn areas. You can mow over plants, such as hosta, that are going to lose their leaves anyway.

Repeat mowing weekly or as needed. The photographs above were taken 5 minutes apart. You can see how the mower reduced the leaves to finely chopped pieces that will filter down to the surface of the soil. Whole leaves left in the garden tend to mat down and can smother grass, bulbs, and other perennials. The process of mulch mowing chops the leaves into finer pieces, allowing your plants to grow freely as the leaves decompose and return to the soil.

On my way to work this morning I heard a radio commercial for grub control. It’s a tongue-in-cheek spot from a major lawn care product supplier that is pretty funny really. Kind of 1950’s, flying-saucer-ominous-voice-in-panic type deal. Ugly monsters in the lawn devouring grass roots! Run for your lives! Something like that. Smart advertising for the most part. It blends the seriousness of a grub problem on turf with a “…don’t worry, it can be controlled. Even prevented…” message. For guys like me who worry about turf all year long and the blade-watching, home turf hobbyists across the country, this is good news. So I figured this was a good subject to blog about.

Grub damage at Winterthur

No doubt; white grubs can be a nightmare. We’ve had problems here at Winterthur in the past. They cause turf damage quick, fast, and in a hurry. Recovery from an infestation can take a long time depending on the extent of the damage. And, to top it off, they become adults and eat Momma Q’s roses as some sort of beetle. Certain beetles lay eggs in the soil under your grass. The eggs hatch and the grubs feed on their favorite food. Your grass roots. They dive deep and over winter then come back up in the spring and eat again before becoming beetles and repeating the cycle.

Is that messed up or what?

Now…don’t panic…I don’t know how to break this to you but… you’ve got grubs in your lawn. You probably never knew. But if you haven’t been applying an insecticide on your lawn for grubs chances are, you’ve got ‘em.

Hold on. Don’t go flinging the grub control just yet. Here’s the deal. You’ll probably never see damage from “your” grubs (keep them to yourself thank you very much) if there are not a lot of them in your lawn. A healthy stand of turf, properly mowed, fertilized, and watered can tolerate about 5 white grubs per square foot. If your turf is under stress due to drought, disease, or pretty much anything, the tolerance threshold drops. To know if you have a problem with grubs look for brown patches of grass that seem to be getting bigger as the week progresses (grubs work fast). Not all brown patches on your lawn are grub damage so here’s the next step. Try pulling on the blades of those brown patches. If the grass lifts quickly and comes up like newly laid sod, the roots are gone and chances are you’ve got grubs. Take a closer look, if they are there you’ll find them just under the surface of the soil trying to get out of the light. If there are only 2 or 3 grubs per square foot gather them up for fishing bait if you want but don’t overreact. Keep some water on the area and the grass should recover. Just consider a grub prevention treatment next year.

Grubs

However, if you see more than five in that square foot section, it is time to get rid of them. Head off to your favorite garden supply store and choose from any number of grub controls out there. Apply as directed on the product label then properly care for your lawn as you would normally, keeping an eye on the damaged area(s). If the conditions are right your turf will recover on its own. If you need to reseed…reseed. Simple, easy, no panic here…right? That’s how I roll.

Myth Buster
Here’s a myth I heard from a former employer:
To get rid of moles in a lawn spread grub control. It kills the grubs and the moles leave ‘cause there’s nothing for them to eat. Right?
No…no…no…

OK…it sort of makes sense. This would be true if moles ate only grubs (they don’t), or, if your yard was not on the way to a yard where a mole needed to be (it is). Moles like shortcuts..

The fact is, moles go where moles want to go. They can be an indicator of grubs, but they are not a reliable diagnostic tool. Myths like this have resulted in non-targeted applications of pesticides, which add to potential environmental problems to numerous to count here. Insecticides are for insects only. Use them when you need to, but try to have a little tolerance. Always read the label before applying any pesticide.

Mower Jockey Bonus Question!!!
(No prize just the satisfaction of knowing that you know)

By looking at a white grub, how can you tell what kind of beetle it will become when it reaches the adult stage? (Leave your answer as a comment on this entry.)