North Shore Gardener

By NORTH SHORE GARDENER
Barbara Barger

June 25, 2008 12:20 am

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Q: What do I make of this? I have two 12-year-old, white peonies in full bloom. Two days ago, I noticed a closed reddish bulb growing out of the middle of a bloom. This great big full blooming red peony is coming out of the center of this white one! Are the garden gremlins at work? Also, is it my imagination or has this been a spectacular year for blooming trees and bushes? My 8-foot-across blue hydrangea had four blossoms last year. Yesterday after counting more than 100 blossom heads, I stopped counting.

A: You don't have gremlins, but maybe another class of mystical characters known as the Seed Fairies (no relation to Tooth Fairies!) that have invaded your peonies.

Peonies do produce seed, which is seldom seen. It can drop to the ground unnoticed under a clump of peonies and grow! After several years, surprise! The new plant, which has been hiding unnoticed among the older plants, finally blooms for the first time. I think this is what has happened in your magical peony bed; that is, if you or your neighbors have any red peonies anywhere around the garden. If you don't, it could be a "sport," which is a genetic change that occurs in plants, sometimes producing an entirely new color or leaf pattern. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's quite beautiful in among your whites.

Many gardeners have noticed the lushness this year. Aren't we lucky?

With all the weather abnormalities that are occurring in the world today, we have been blessed with just the right combination of weather to give us this show.

Q: Is it necessary to remove hemlock mulch from around rhododendrons and azaleas in order to fertilize them or can you broadcast the fertilizer on top of the mulch and water in thoroughly? Also, what kind of fertilizer would you suggest and when is the best time to fertilize?

A: It is not necessary to remove the mulch. Just apply the fertilizer about 4-to-6 inches from the trunk of the plant and out to the drip line. Water in thoroughly.

Use a specially prepared, well-balanced azalea/rhody/camellia fertilizer. They are made by Schultz, Bayer, Vigoro, Miracle-Gro as well as others. Some gardeners swear by the product called Holly-tone, which is sold primarily for holly, since they are also acid-loving plants.

Fertilize as late as June, but not any later. Late fertilizing will promote new growth, which will not have time to harden-off before winter. You could also fertilize after a hard freeze in the early winter, but be sure the ground is frozen!

Azaleas and rhodys are not heavy feeders. Be sure to follow fertilizer directions and err on the lighter side! More is not better!

You might consider doing a soil test every few years, since your mulch tends to be acid. Azaleas and rhodys love an acid soil condition, but too much acid can interfere with the absorption of nutrients.

Q: My house is built on an old landfill (town dump). I don't know when it was started, but it was closed in the late 1950s. The fill is 30-to-35 feet deep in spots. The house is a small cape built in 1961 on solid footings drilled down to bedrock (very stable). The problem is that over the years, through freezing and thawing, the dump has started to come to the surface. I mean that quite literally. My yard sparkles from all the glass pieces. If I dig down as little as 3 or 4 inches in some spots, I can unearth whole bottles, pieces of shoes, wire, combs, etc. I have no way of knowing how much clean fill was put around the house when first built.

I wanted to build a vegetable garden but was afraid to have them grow in this soil because I don't know if it's toxic, so I built a 31/2-foot raised bed out of wood and lined it with plastic. I have filled it with compost (ironically, from the current town dump — grass clippings, leaves, branches; area landscapers use this.) Any comments?

Last but not least, I would like to grow grass in my backyard, but with all the glass I don't know how to start. The front yard grass seems to be denser cover than the back. It is sunnier than the back. There are many mature (30-plus years) maple, black cherry and poplar trees in the backyard, plus lots of bamboo. Have you heard of any type of barrier to put down to keep the glass from coming to the surface before planting grass seed? I have searched the Internet for information on this subject, but nothing fits. Any recommendations?

A: Before you do anything else, maybe your first step should be a call to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in your area (and I hope you have saved a few samples of what you are pulling out of your soil area!). Your next step would be to get a good soil test.

There is a barrier called weed cloth, but I've never heard of it being used for this purpose. I doubt that it would stand up to the glass shards.

You are doing what you can by using raised beds where you want to plant new gardens and further lining the raised beds in which you want to plant anything eatable. But be aware that the plastic will deteriorate in time, and it and the soil will have to be replaced.

You didn't say where you live, so I can't comment on the quality of the compost you are using from the dump, but you could request a soil analysis for the compost they are selling. Most people selling compost are proud to give this information to support the quality of their product. In the future, you might want to make your own compost and then you could control its contents.

Please keep in touch and let me know what happens.

Q: I have a magnolia that is about 50 years old. It has bloomed every spring. This year, it did not bloom at all, and I have noticed the bark has cracked and some has fallen off. Could it be that the tree is just old?

A: I doubt that it's the age of the tree. A magnolia generally has a life of between 80 to 100 years if well-cared for.

The split in the bark is a worry. It could be caused by weather conditions as well as insects or injury, but any split becomes a point of entry for rot and further insects.

I would advise you to call a certified arborist to asses the problem and suggest a solution. This is a valuable tree and is well worth saving.

There are methods of re-cutting the split and causing it to grow together, much like human skin is drawn together with sutures and allowed to heal. The older method of painting a tree wound with an insecticidal paint has lost favor now. Arborists will also determine if any insects are present, and they can suggest a proper solution, as bugs often set up housekeeping when they can find an easy entrance to a tree though a split or break in the bark.

Regularly fertilize and water the tree after the problem is diagnosed, and I think you'll have flowers again for many years.

This Week's Dirt

For bushier mums this fall: Pinch mums from now until mid-July.

How many pinches and how often? Pinch after every 6 inches of growth. Then stop pinching by mid-July to allow buds to form and mature in time for fall bloom. Your mums will be fat and full this fall, and less floppy too.

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North Shore Gardener by Barbara Barger of Beverly is a regular feature of the Home North section. Reach Barbara by e-mail at nsgardener@comcast.net or write to her c/o Salem News, 32 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA 01915. Her Web site is www.nsgardener.com