Garden Talk: Don’t let Saskatchewan winter kill your water garden

Jill and Rick Van Duyvendyk answer all your gardening questions in Garden Talk on 650 CKOM and 980 CJME every Sunday morning from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Here are some questions and answers from the Sept. 29 show.

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Q: How do I overwinter an outdoor water garden in a trough? It has with two water lilies, King Tut grass, goldfish and an oxygenator.

A: There’s a couple ways you can do it. One is to place a barrel or a bucket in a very lightly heated garage that’s kept around 0 deg C degrees then put everything inside that barrel. You can also lift the water lilies — mostly you’re going to have them in a little basket — and let them drip dry a bit. When they are not totally dry, put them in a plastic bag, seal it and throw it in the corner of your basement until next spring.

Q: What can I do about maple bugs?

A: They’re harmless, but you can use a Shop Vac with a bag inside, vacuum along your foundation and then throw away the bag. You can also use sprays like Doktor Doom and SpiderBan along the foundation of your house, but make sure you just spray them on the concrete. Try not to spray anything right on the siding unless you do a sample spray and let it sit for 24 hours first to make sure you’re not going to stain your siding or a stucco. Even blasting cold water at them works because they don’t take much to kill.

See Dutch Grower’s guide to getting rid of maple bugs here.

Q: When is the best time is to move larch trees?

A: You can move any of the evergreens right now. Trees up to about three feet in height can be moved by hand very easily but once you get over three feet then you need to use some machinery so that you don’t disturb the roots — especially with pines because of the stick root system that doesn’t hold the soil very well. If you try to move them bare root or by hand the root ball will break off and the tree will die.

When moving with machinery, dig a trench around the root ball by hand and then wrap it with burlap and tie them with string or wire or something like that to hold the roots together and then you can pick them up and and move them.

Q: Is there a chart that lists all types of shrubs and tree pruning times for Saskatchewan?

A: There’s not really a chart. The internet can help you find specific information for pruning in Saskatchewan. One thing that is very easy to remember for shrubs, is that anything that blooms early in the spring — like lilacs, double flowering plums, flowering almonds, rhododendrons etc. — prune them after they finish blooming. If you do a major pruning in the fall or early spring you cut all the blooms off so that sort of is counterproductive.

Only prune those early blooming shrubs, like if you’ve got a lilac that’s 12 feet tall and you need to bring it down to six feet, when they are dormant. Most shrubs you want to prune them out when the leaves fall after a couple of good frosts. Other shrubs like dogwoods, nine barks, potentilla, and spirea, can be pruned after a couple of good frosts.

Q: Should I prune climbing roses before winter to prevent breaking?

A: You can tie the rose to a trellis net, so they don’t break. Roses should be pruned in spring. Leaving a lot of the branches will catch snow, which is a great insulator. Cut roses back by at least one third in the spring to get more growth and more flowers.

Q: How do I deal with elm seed bugs that are leaving stains on siding?

A: Control elm seed bugs the same way as you do the maple bugs. Often a good blast of cold water will kill them because of the high pressure. Using a Shop Vac also works really well,
and just throw away the bag. You can also use residual sprays like Doktor Doom to spray on the foundation. The bugs go into the foundation because the nights are cool now and the foundation of the house is warm. As soon as the bug crosses that sprayed area, they die. The pyrethrin in it affects the nervous system of the bugs, so then they just fall on the ground, wiggle and die.

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Q: I have an issue with tiny flies in the house. What are they and how can I control them?

A: At this time of the year, fruit flies, fungus gnats and aphids can all come inside. Fungus gnats can be introduced inside if you bring an outdoor plant in. Put some sticky strips around in the soil or use pot poppers, which is a nematode, or just a piece of fruit or a potato on the soil will attract the little worm from those flies. Make sure that your screens are closed tight and seal any cracks around your house, like where your gas line or electrical pipe comes inside, or your where your dryer vent goes outside.

Q: When do I apply lawn fertilizer in fall and do I need to soak the lawn right after fertilizing?

A: Water it now to set the fertilizer to strengthen the roots for winter. Don’t wait too long or you can blow out any sprinklers. When you hear people say their sprinklers got destroyed, it’s usually the brass fitting that expands, freezes and then breaks. Plastic fittings can split if they are old But the plastic can can expand and contracts a bit. Most trouble is caused by the fittings that burst like elbows. When there is a frost forecast make sure you turn the water off to the outside and open up your taps and your valves so when the water freezes it has somewhere to expand.

Q: The leaves of my 30-foot ash tree have curled and have black stains on them. What to do about this?

A: It’s ash bug. They suck all the juices out and that staining is from the excrement when they’re sucking on the juice. Often they won’t hurt the tree unless they get really bad. If they do get really bad, you can either blast them with some cold water or apply an insecticidal soap or pyrethrin. Keep infected trees watered and fertilized to get new growth so the tree can sustain itself. If it starts getting dry and the insects are sucking at the same time, the tree just can’t replenish the moisture. The bugs go into hibernation and will come back next year again, so you just have to keep on top of it.

Q: Can I plant bulbs where I have sprayed Roundup?

A: Yes, because Roundup only affects what it touches and it doesn’t affect the soil.

Q: How do I get rid of tree suckers in my lawn that are about six inches high?

A: The best thing to do is trim them off. If you spray them with anything, it can affect the mother tree where the suckers came from. You can cut the roots 6-10 feet away from the tree, and then spray the suckers but if you spray them with something like Roundup it will affect the main tree. Keeping the suckers trimmed or because if you cut them out, you’re going to create more.

Q: How and when do I move a Hot Wings maple that’s about 12 feet high with a 2-inch trunk?

A: You will need to move it using a machine if it has a two-inch trunk. You have to dig out a big root ball so will need a machine to lift it out of the hole. Dig a big trench around it and then use burlap to wrap the roots, and tie it up before lifting it out of the ground.

Q: When do I prune fireblight on a cotoneaster hedge?

A: You should prune it as soon as you see fireblight. Don’t wait until the fall. You can trim cotoneaster right to the ground and they will come right back again with fertilizer and watering in the next season. Remember to clean up all the debris — the leaves, the branches, twigs, everything — and remove it out of the yard. Do not put it into your compost.

Q: What’s up with the huge ladybug population in Saskatchewan right now?

A: The ladybug population is not a bad thing. There are eight spotted ladybugs which are from Europe that have been populating really heavily, and competing against the native ladybugs. If there’s a lot of ladybugs, it usually means you got lots of aphids. When there’s lots of food the ladybugs reproduce like crazy.

Q: My pyramidal mountain ash has long branches loaded with berries that are drooping badly. How much can I prune off them and when should I do it?

A: Wait until they get some frost on them. They should be turning a nice red colour soon. You can start pruning them when they get a bit of colour and can do some light pruning right if you want to cut some of the berries. Leaving the berries on allows birds to feed all winter. If you do prune off the berries then keep some to put in a bird feeder.

Q: I have an old clump of asparagus, probably planted the early ’80s, that I’d like to divide. How do I do that and when?

A: Do it in April so that the plants can get rooted well. If you do it in fall make sure that when you replant them to mulch them heavily so that they they’re well protected for the winter because they won’t be well rooted. Dig up the whole clump and you can divide it out into little pieces. You can divide it into big clumps or little roots that have a crown to it. Plant them so the crown still shows and don’t bury them too deep.

Q: Is too late for deep watering of trees?

A: Best time for deep watering is about the middle of October but if you’re going to shut the water off, you can do it anytime now.

Q: Should I cut blooms off geraniums when bringing them inside in fall?

A: Spray them down to make they don’t got any insects and cut the blooms off to give the plants a bit of a rest for a couple months. Watering them sparingly without letting the plants become bone dry. In January, you can start bringing them up into the full sunlight and growing them again for next year.

Q: I saw a Virginia creeper in Regina with beautiful fall oranges and reds but my plant in Saskatoon goes from green to brown each year. Why do we not get the fall colors?

A: The colours are affected by sunlight. If the plant is in a shady spot, the leaves won’t turn that red because they need full sun to get those colors. It is also possible the plants were overfed with nutrients. Fertilizing the plants too late in the season and keeping them growing too long in the season means the leaves stay green and when the frost hits they’ll just turn brown. Reduce watering around the September long weekend.

Q: Can ground be started direct from seed in Saskatchewan?

A: The season is not long enough here, even if you plant at the beginning of Aprils so it’s best to start them inside to give the plants extra bit of time so that you can get a harvest.

Q: My potatoes were very scabby this year. I specifically bought certified seed and planted them where potatoes had never been planted before and they’re still scabby. What can I do?

A: Make sure that you don’t plant potatoes in an area where you have a lot of humus and organic material. Scabs in your potatoes are usually because there is too much organic material in your soil. By moving locations every year, if you do get scab you’re not re-introducing it all the time. Don’t put manure where you have potatoes to prevent scab.

Q: What can I do about a large stink bug population that damaged my tomatoes?

A: Stink bugs are kind of gross looking, but if you squish them, that’s where they get their name from. They have a odour that you don’t want to get on your hands, either. Stink bugs want to come inside for the winter, so make sure that you clean up all your plants. Soap and water will kill stink bugs, especially if you’ve still got fruit on your tomatoes. Make sure that you wash your vegetables before you bring them inside so you don’t bring any stink bugs in the house either.

Q: My strawberries have a lot of runners but never bloomed. What causes this?

A: They should have had some blooms but this year was a weird one for strawberries. With lots of runners you should be a lot better off next year. If the plants are in an area where they won’t get a lot of snow apply mulch to protect them at the end of October.

Q: My strawberries are still producing, but they’re getting brown spots that then rot. What’s going wrong?

A: Moisture from watering in cool weather can cause a fungus. It could be an insect burying into the into strawberry itself but most likely it’s a fungus.

Q: Is it too late to separate rhubarb plants?

A: Wait until the first frost hits, then you can dig them up, split them and then transplant them without a problem.

Q: Why do you put a white bag over perennial sweet peas?

A: A black bag absorbs heat, and a white bag reflects the sun so keeps the temperature stable.

These questions and answers have been edited and condensed.

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