Memorial Day weekend is a time for remembering lost loved ones but also a time for renewal. lf you’re not fishing or hiking, that renewal is often found in gardening or just being out in your yard.
Here are some things to do this week: harden off your veggies and check your trees and lawn for pests.
Many folks are going to garden centers in search of their favorite warm season veggies to plant. Harden off these plants. Hardening off gets these greenhouse plants adapted to our intense sunlight and wind. It’s not much different than you and I being cooped up inside all winter, we will sunburn if precautions are not taken when we go outside. We have to get used to it and so do your plants. A common strategy is setting these plants out for a half hour, doubling the time each day until the end of the week. Your plants will have been exposed to wind and sun for a solid eight hours. Now you can plant.
Be on the lookout for some tree and lawn pests. Gardeners have been seeing borer activity and lawn grubs. Borer activity has been documented in a number of trees in Wyoming. Borers literally bore into trees, lay their eggs, and their offspring are worms that tunnel throughout the interior wood causing the tree serious injury. As the worms become adults, they bore out of the tree.
Borer activity has been seen in green ash, cottonwoods and aspen, and even a few maples. To check for borer activity on your trees, inspect the trunk of the tree from a foot off the ground to six feet up. Look for holes a little smaller than that of a pencil. Prevention is the key. There are over-the-counter insecticides at most garden centers that can be applied on the ground around the tree. The insecticide is then taken up by the root system and distributed throughout the tree. If borers attack, the insecticide will kill these culprits before any serious damage is done.
Lawn grubs are grayish - white grubs that live just under the surface of the soil. They feed on the roots of grass and, in the process, kill the grass. Affected lawns often have crows and raccoons in the yard that gorge themselves on these grubs. A sure way to check for grubs is to dig down 2 to 3 inches into the soil and look at the roots of your lawn. Positive identiiication is essential. The good news is grubs are easily controlled by using a lawn grub insecticide.
So, if you're not fishing or hiking this week, get your veggies and go for a walk around your landscape.
Looking for great plants for your Wyoming landscape and garden? Check out:
