For many gardeners, their plants are like children that they rear, nurture and care for with lots of TLC. When a plant shows signs of illness or trauma, the proud “parent” wants to put things right. But these “kids” can’t tell you where they hurt!

That was the problem faced by two readers who wrote to me when they noticed problems with their holly bushes.

QUESTION: “I was wondering if you know why my mature holly bushes have dark black fungus that looks like mud on the leaves? I have landscaping with over 50 hollies and only the four that are against the house facing west have problems with the leaves.

”Also, why do I have moths in the lawn? I noticed them today while cutting the grass. Is there any way to get rid of them? I have fertilized the lawn twice this season already, the last having insect control in it.” – Laren Imperatore

ANSWER: I believe the black spots could be a result of aphids. Once you control the aphids the black should eventually wash off. Using a systemic insecticide for aphids, spray both tops and bottoms of the leaves as directed on the label. Concerning your lawn moth problem, here is a link to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville on lawn insects. It is a big document but on page 9 you will find thee information you need on sod webworms.
http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/PB1158.pdf

QUESTION: “Last year, in the spring, I planted a holly bush in my front yard which gets
lots of sun. By about September/October last year, the leaves had started to turn brown and fell off. I just bought another one and have planted it in the same place. Do you have any advice on how I can make sure this one survives?” — K. Roy

ANSWER: Holly bushes like full sun with well drained, highly organic acid soil. Aside of that, they generally will grow fine.

When you went to purchase your new holly, it would have been a good idea for you to have taken pictures of the one that died to let the sales person work with you to find out why it died. This would have been beneficial in knowing before planting another in
the same place so you could be careful to check for those signs.

Continued plant care is important. You should follow the same path that the garden center was using in caring for the new holly. When you purchased the plant, they should have given you care information to continue with after planting. If you didn’t receive any info, you should contact them on this matter.

QUESTION: “I have a hedge of 12 emerald greens on the south side of our house. They have been in the ground for about six years and have grown nicely. Our winter was colder than normal by a few degrees with a bit of snow several times and a late spring. The shrubs have been beautiful and green all winter but now all are showing some brown on one side. There is new growth on top.

“Is this a disease or anything to remedy or be concerned about? We live on Camano Island, about 90 miles north of Seattle but with better weather than Seattle due to the shelter of the Olympics to the west. We are on the northern end of a “convergence” zone which brings weather in around to mountains to Everett, WA.”

ANSWER: From what you tell me, it sounds like freeze damage. It doesn’t always show up in late winter. Sometimes it takes warmer temperatures for the plant to realize it is wounded. If the browning continues to envelope the plants, you may need to look further, for other suspects such as spider mites or too much dampness in the soil. With the plants producing new growth, it does sound like they are trying to work their problem out.
Good luck with them.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

QUESTION: “We live in a small neighborhood of stone houses built in the late 1920′s. Moving into a stone house was a dream come true. However, we quickly found out that the water table in the area is quite high, and the soil is mostly clay.

”Fortunately, the house already had a sump pump system that drains out into the front lawn. Unfortunately, it runs every 10 to 15 minutes and because the soil in this area is clay, it was creating an un-mowable bog in the front yard. We have added to the drainage hose so that it now goes all the way down to the storm water ditch that runs across the front of the property. Now all that water sits across the front of the lawn next to the street. It still doesn’t drain back into the ground, and is starting to creep into the neighbor’s property (making him not so happy with us.)

”I’ve looked at installing a rain garden or bog garden along the side of the ditch, but I’m not sure it will look nice enough for the neighborhood since this would be along the front of the house. We’ve also considered pulling the water to the other side of the basement, collecting it in a rain barrel, and creating a water garden in the back yard. The engineering of that would be tricky and I’m not sure the water wouldn’t just overflow and come back into the basement (causing more problems). Also, I am unclear as to whether either of these options would actually move the water far enough under ground to keep it from just coming back up in the sump pump.

”Do you have any suggestions or creative ideas on how to turn our extra 75gal/hour of water into an attractive part of this home?” — Jessica

ANSWER: That is quite a problem. From the high water table (and maybe also from wet weather springs) it sounds as though your lawn is completely saturated. Because you do live in a suburb area and are most likely under building and hardscape code limitations, I would recommend talking with someone in your local building codes office. They should be able to discuss possibilities with you within the neighborhood restrictions.

The easiest solution would be for the city to allow you to pump the water up to the street level to run into the storm drains. But, some cities have restrictions against that. This is something that does need to be handled so that it doesn’t create damage to the structure of your home (or create interior mold problems) and put further strain on the relationship with surrounding neighbors. Here is a link to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with an article on creating a bog garden. http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/design/handbooks/watergarden/8.html

QUESTION: “I have a question about what kind of worm this is and how to get rid of it. It is green worm that lives in trees and eats the leaves. It produces rat-like feces on the ground below where it eats and it sticks to the tree. We have tried to get rid of it and spray the tree but they still keep coming back. Can you please tell me what this is and how to get rid of it? Thanks!” – John M. Engrisch

ANSWER: From what you tell me, I am not sure what the worms are or the type of tree they are feasting on. I think they might be pearslugs, sometimes known as cherry slugs (Caliroa cerasi). According to the Integrated Pest Management Program at the University of California, almost immediately after hatching, a pearslug exudes a slimy green coating that covers its entire body and gives the appearance of a slug, although in reality it is a sawfly wasp.

The UC site suggests that a pesticide called Spinosad could be effective. You can read more about pearslugs and other garden pests at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/PESTS/pearslug.html
As it is a long URL, you can click on a direct link when you find this column at my Web site, www.landsteward.org

I suggest that you make a point to spray the soil underneath the tree that is encircled by the drip line. I would do this every time you spray in order to break the cycle.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to “mailto:steve@landsteward.org”>steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

Imagine your garden without birds and butterflies. What a quiet, still and lifeless place it would seem! If you, like most gardeners, cherish the sights and sounds that birds bring to your landscape, there are simple ways to make your landscape irresistible to flying wildlife.

Remember the movie “Field of Dreams”? To paraphrase the famous line, “Build it and plant it and they will come.” Today I have a quick rundown of tips and plant suggestions to help you do just that.

To create a garden that’s a haven for songbirds, you simply need to supply them with three basic requirements for survival: food, shelter and water.

Bird Feeder(s)

Feeders range from almost free to madly expensive. If you decide to put out a bird feeder, look for one that is difficult for squirrels to access, and resolve to keep the feeder stocked through the winter as many birds will come to rely on your specific feeder as a major food source.

Bird House(s)

Birds that like to nest in hollow trees are finding fewer and fewer potential homes. Add a couple of bird houses and you are helping to resolve the problem. Buy them ready made at home and garden stores or make it a family project with some simple tools and free plans available at http://www.freebirdhouseplans.net

Water
A birdbath, or better still, a water feature will provide birds with another reason to visit. In summer, you’ll need to be sure the water is fresh and not merely a mosquito farm, and it winter check to see it isn’t frozen.

But the best thing you can do is plant an environment that provides food and shelter while adding beauty to your landscape. Some examples:

American Bittersweet (Calastrus scandens)

This is a fast-growing climber producing beautiful clusters of yellow-orange fruit in the fall that birds seem to love. It’s a native plant, usually sold bare root, and adapts to almost any kind of soil. It also looks spectacular in flower arrangements around Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Carolina Alspice (Calycanthus floridus)

Dense, fast-growing shrub with lustrous, dark green foliage that turns yellow in the fall. The dense foliage provides welcome cover for birds. The fragrant reddish-brown flowers give way to urn-shaped seed capsules that mature in fall and persist through winter.

Black Lace Sambucus

Aptly named, this elderberry variety is often described as “stunning” with its finely-cut purple-black foliage, similar to that of a Japanese maple. It can be a better choice than other acer varieties due to its adaptability and durability. In the spring, creamy pink flowers contrast with the blackish foliage, but the birds will enjoy the black-red berries that emerge in fall. Leave the berries for the birds or harvest for elderberry wine or jam!

Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa)

A delightful flowering shrub that produces edible fruit for human or bird consumption. Considered a good “wildlife plant,” Nanking Cherry can create an attractive flowering hedge or windbreak and a good refuge for birds making for the high ground when danger (e.g. kitty) approaches. Mature height: 6 to 10 feet.

Crape Myrtle “Natchez”

The abundant clusters of long-lasting, delicate, white flowers, along with the attractive peeling bark, make this a popular choice for garden designers. The birds will thank you for the brownish fruit that arrives in fall and persists through winter. Natchez can reach a height of 30 feet at maturity in full sun and loamy soil.

Red Barberry (Berberis thunbergii)

A great “dual purpose” shrub for birds! It is dense, rounded and thorny, providing safe cover, and the bright red berries provide food from late fall through winter. You’ll love the masses of small, deep red-to-purple leaves that make it a spectacular hedge or filler shrub.

If possible, leave an area of your lawn unraked in the fall. You’ll see ground-feeding birds busily flipping through leaf litter searching for insects.

Give them a few good reasons and the birds will come!

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org