July 2009 Newsletter©
Koi, goldfish, summer weeds
and some other interesting
garden stuff!
The first records of koi are from China around 500 BC. These include instructions on how to breed them but they weren’t the colorful fish that we know today. These were wild carp, and they were introduced into Japan around 200 AD. Serious breeding to develop the color combinations we see today didn’t start until the early 1800’s in Japan. In the early 1900’s, the nearly scale free German Mirror carp was introduced into Japan and even more color and scale variations were developed. The Japanese call wild carp koi, the colorful carp we call koi are called nishikigoi in Japan and the first ones arrived in the United States in 1938. ‘Nishiki’ is a Japanese word that refers to Chinese brocaded silk, so ‘nishikigoi’ translates “brocaded carp”. An Americanized translation is “living jewels”.
Koi can be life-long companions. The typical age is 20 – 90 years, but one recently died in Japan that was 225 years old. Color combinations include white, orange, red, black, gold, yellow, blue and they can get quite large in deep water ponds, exceeding 30” in length. The finest koi (some of which sell for thousands, upon thousands of dollars) come from Japan, however there are a number of koi farmers in the United States that produce very nice fish (including some long fin or butterfly koi) and some excellent fish come from Israel.
Koi are addictive and so is water gardening. Almost everyone starts with a small pond and then makes it bigger…several times. Then, many enthusiasts get REALLY serious and want to know the difference between a Kohaku, Tancho Sanke, and Bekko and so on. They start looking for the perfect fish with good shape, even color distribution or patterns, which leads to competitions and forming societies. It hasn’t happened in Memphis…yet, but there are many koi societies scattered around the United States.
For smaller water features, goldfish are a better option and there are a number of varieties. Comets are the traditional orange goldfish, sarassa comets are red and white, shubunkins are white fish heavily spotted with black and/or orange, apricots are nearly yellow comets. Goldfish can get up to 12” long but because they like to hang around the surface, they can be an easy lunch for cats and herons. Koi are faster, larger and not as easy to catch.
Here are some things to remember about pond fish…
Don’t over populate: 1” of fish for every 5 gallons of water is a good guide.
Feed a good quality food. Not catfish food. Quality food is more digestible which helps maintain your water quality.
Only feed what they can eat in 90 seconds. You can feed them several times a day if you want, just not much at any one feeding.
Don’t feed them when the water temperature gets above 85°. They’ll munch on algae and insects and are less likely to get gut bacterial infections.
Koi like to eat plants. To have both, plants need to be protected.
Check your pond at daybreak. If the fish are at the surface gulping air, you need to remove some fish or increase aeration and water movement.
Summer weeds…Controlling summer broadleaf weeds with a granular herbicide has always been a challenge. You can’t use products like Trimec with temperatures over 85°. It can (and will) vaporize and seriously damage surrounding plants. However, we have a new granular herbicide for broadleaf weed control that is not temperature sensitive. Ferti-lome Dollar Weed Control Plus contains penoxsulam. As with any granular herbicide, it should be applied to wet grass. It controls many broadleaf weeds, including some tough ones, like white clover, lespedeza, Virginia buttonweed and wild violets. It’s also labeled for nutsedge suppression (but it will take multiple applications for control). Grassy weeds like crabgrass still have to be sprayed.
Last month we mentioned that MSMA is going away at the end of the year. We have quinclorac to kill crabgrass, but only in combination with a broadleaf weed killer that should not be sprayed in high temperatures, so buy an extra bottle or two of MSMA. That way you’ll have something to kill crabgrass you missed with a pre-emerge, until we get a replacement for MSMA.
A little about trees…
Below is an illustration of what the root zone of a tree really looks like. The example I like to use is to picture “a wine goblet on a dinner plate”. The root zone extends well beyond the drip line. That’s why you see grass thinning in areas that seem to get enough sun. It’s the competition for nutrients and water that causes the grass to thin in conjunction with the decreased sunlight. It’s important to protect the root zone of your trees. Do not apply weed and feed products or allow detergents from washed cars to run into the area. Avoid soil compaction from cars or heavy equipment. In the picture on the right, there has been an effort to protect the root zone of these trees. However, it was done by someone who knew little about how plants grow. The critical root zone extends beyond the orange fence and repeated heavy foot traffic around these trees will impact their health. I’ve seen this many times on construction sites. It may take 3, 5 even 7 years, but trees protected like these, up to the dripline, usually end up slowly dying.
The roots are at the soil surface for a reason. They need air, so don’t add any soil on top of the roots to “help the tree” or your grass. Aerating the soil helps your tree, especially if the soil is already compacted from kids and pets. Allowing a layer of leaves to collect over the root zone or applying a layer of coarse mulch over the root zone helps the tree also. This keeps the ground cooler, it holds in moisture and it’s a better environment for worms and microbes which makes for healthy soil.
After the storms…
Examine your trees closely. Remove any damaged limbs and clean cut any remaining breaks. Check damaged limbs for signs of heartwood rot or insects, especially borers. Do not use pruning paint.
The wind was just the first problem. If you lost part of your tree or an entire tree in the storm, soon you’ll see the secondary damage from the sun. Leaves are covered with a protective waxy layer called the cuticle. This clear layer helps regulate the amount of sunlight entering the leaf and helps prevents water loss. Leaves on a plant in the shade and the internal leaves on a tree, have a very thin cuticle layer. Leaves on the top of a tree, exposed to full sun, have a thick layer. When you lose the protection of the shade, full sun can now cook the foliage with a thin cuticle layer that was previously in the shade.
It’s important to take care of these stressed plants. Make sure you water deeply when needed. Apply Milorganite or Plant-tone throughout the root zone.
Things to look for this time of year…
Lacebugs on azaleas and pyracantha.
Bagworms on junipers, arborvitae, spruce.
Borers on dogwood, cherry, plum, peach and cherry laurel.
Whiteflies on gardenia.
Scale on euonymus and crape myrtles.
Reasons to come to Dan West!
Ah, you don’t need a reason, come by and visit!
Any questions?
What is BT?
Bacillus thuringiensis. It’s a bacterium that kills caterpillars. It’s available as a dust (Dipel) or as a spray (Thuricide). It can be used on ornamentals and vegetables up to, and including, the day of harvest. It works on bagworms, loopers, hornworms, tent caterpillars and it’s also used in water to control mosquito larvae. Caterpillars stop feeding almost immediately after ingesting it, but they may live for a few more days.
I’ve got fleas in my yard. Do I need to call an exterminator or can I kill them?
Chances are, if you call an exterminator, he’ll use a product called Talstar. The active ingredient is bifenthrin, which we have in both a liquid and granular form.
What about fleas on the dog?
We have permethrin with a label for use on dogs. You can use it once every 35 days, but don’t use it on your dog if you are already using any other flea product. Permethrin has an excellent label for ornamentals and vegetables. It’s a good choice for an all purpose insecticide.
But I worry about these flea products getting into the ground water!
Bifenthrin and permethrin are both synthetic pyrethroids and they bind quickly to clay or organic matter in the soil. They do not leach, even in sandy soils, because both are virtually insoluble in water. There is no danger of it moving. Nor can it be absorbed by plants, so you need not be concerned about nearby plants.
I bought a beautiful pink hydrangea and every year it gets “bluer”. How can I make it pink again?
Add lime. Aluminum makes them blue. Raising the pH makes the aluminum unavailable and makes the flowers pink. The target pH is 6 – 6.5 for good pink color and 5 – 5.5 for good blue color. For pink flowers, choose a fertilizer that is high in phosphorous. For blue flowers, avoid phosphorous.
With the high temperatures, how often should I water?
There’s not an easy answer for that question. You probably have a diversified garden with lots of types of trees, shrubs and flowers. All of which have different needs. The trees have huge water requirements, so it’s important to water them thoroughly and deeply. They may survive with minimal water, but to thrive and grow, they need much more. To keep your trees and shrubs healthy, apply a minimum of 1” of water per week. Let’s assume you have a small tree in your yard with a 30’ x 30’ root zone (not canopy width). That’s 900 sq. ft. One inch of water applied over 900 sq. ft is about 1440 gallons. A large oak with a 100’ x 100’ root zone requires about 16,000 gallons. It takes just shy of 70,000 gallons of water to get 1” over an acre (43,560 sq.ft.).
Some plants will need more, and new plantings (1 year or less) need to be checked daily. There are many variables that affect how much water a plant needs. The amount of sunlight it receives, competition from other plants, wind, size and quantity of leaves, all can affect the amount of water moving through a plant, even two apparently alike, side by side plants. Deep watering is critical. A particle of soil will not absorb any water until the particle above it holds 100% of its capacity. Frequent, short water cycles may keep a plant alive but long term, it does more harm than good.
Can I still prune?
For most plants…no. You can tip trim hedges, but it’s late to do hard pruning. If you cut now, the new growth that sprouts in 45-60 days may not have time to harden off before cold weather. Azaleas are starting to set flowers for next year, so don’t prune them. You can cut spent hydrangea flowers off just below the flower but no cane pruning. Hydrangeas are setting flowers for next year also.
Is there an organic fungicide?
Yes. We have neem oil, jojoba oil and soybean oil labeled for fungus control. Coating foliage with oil makes it difficult for fungal spores to get to the leaf tissue. You will need to be careful in high temperatures. The oil also slows the evaporation from leaves so you might get some curling or burn in temperatures over 90°.
This was last month’s contest. We had several correct answers. They are from left to right:
Agapanthus (Lily of the Nile), hibiscus, allamanda and bougainvillea.
This month’s contest is a little different. Unscramble this…ONNOCDY ADTOYNLC.
It’s the botanical name of one of the most common Mid-South plants.
That’s tough, I know. So here’s a hint…pants!
The contest ends on July 15th. Drop by either store to enter or you can email your entry to
questions@danwestonline.com. One winner, selected from all correct entries, will receive a
$25 Dan West Gift Certificate.
Thanks for shopping with us at Dan West.