Gardener turns weed into decorative arch: Gardener’s Almanac

“A desperate gardener solves problem” – Wichita gardener Theresa Cromwell came up with a creative way of dealing with an elm seedling that she couldn’t pull up from the roots and that was driving her crazy. She had bought a statue of St. Francis for her backyard, but it was so heavy it remained in the front yard, up against a brick wall. So Cromwell decided to take the weed and train it up and around the statue, forming an arch.

“As you see, the results of training a weed can be beautiful,” she writes. Since it’s been years since she trained the plant, she can’t remember exactly how she did it, but it probably involved a stick and some plant clips. “I kept bending it.” The trunk is now about 1/2 inch in diameter, she says. People who recently attended her garage sale were fascinated by it. Now, of course, she has to keep it trimmed to look nice.

Grub control in lawns — If your lawn has had problems with grubs, put a preventive treatment on in the first half of July, recommends Ward Upham of K-State.

Otherwise, after grub damage is seen, grub insecticides such as Dylox or carbaryl (Sevin) are normally applied in late July, he says.

Merit (imidacloprid) is a preventive and is safer to use around pets and humans than traditional grub killers, Upham writes in the Horticulture 2016 newsletter. Merit can be found in Bayer’s Season-Long Grub Control, Grub No-More and Grub Free Zone. Water in whatever produce you use.

GrubEx, containing chlorantraniliprole, is best applied earlier, in April or May, though applications through June should be effective, Upham says.

Pulling potatoes — Potatoes should be dug when the vines are about half dead, Upham says. Let the potatoes “set” by keeping them in a shady, dry place for a day or so, then move them to a cool, moist spot such as a cellar or cool basement for longer storage, he advises.

Planting calendar — Snap beans.

Garden events

Jasmine and John Collins — That’s the theme for the next Tuesdays on the Terrace at Botanica. ConTrails of Oz will perform, and dinner and drinks will be for sale starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday on Botanica’s Terrace. The gardens are open until 8. Admission is $10, $5 for members. Dinner costs $7; picnics also are welcome.

Botanica closed on the Fourth — Botanica will be closed on Monday for the Fourth of July.

Talk on color through perennials — Marilyn Mosteller, former owner of the now-closed Sunnyside Nursery, will give a talk on adding color through the season with perennials on Tuesday at a meeting of the Haysville Horticulture Club. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Haysville Community Library, 210 Hays Ave. in Haysville.

Talk on hybridizing daylilies – Daylily hybridizer Terry Pitts of Sterling will be at Botanica on Wednesday to talk about how you can take two plants of the same species and cross-breed them in hopes of making a better flower — the art and science of hybridizing. He has more than 8,000 seedlings. The lunchtime lecture, at 12:15 p.m., is included in Botanica admission. Lunch will be for sale for $8 from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Family Game Nights at Botanica – Botanica serves up oversized board games and other activities on Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission is $3 those hours during the summer. Picnics are welcome.

This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Gardener turns weed into decorative arch: Gardener’s Almanac."