EDDIE SEAGLE: Prepare to transition from spring to summer landscape

Life is a precious gift so live everyday thankfully with hope, love and faith. As you will never know what any moment could bring your way. — Pauline Seaport.

With each passing day, May is closer to saying goodbye as summer is only about a month away. As May expires into June and spring transitions into summer, all eyes begin to focus on the weather and summer activities, vacations and weekend trips, baseball and swimming, among others in the great outdoors. School will soon be out and yardening (yards, gardens, lawns, and landscapes) will get more attention. Here are some things to do in the late May landscape.

Annuals: Remove all faded blooms to prevent annuals from going to seed and consuming needed food reserves, thus encouraging continued flowering. Remove all weeds that compete with annuals for space, light, air, moisture and nutrients. Inspect all beds and plants for any insect and disease activity. If detected, spray appropriate chemicals as per label directions.

Chrysanthemums (mums): Prune your mums to prevent unnecessary elongated growth. Pinch these plants back about 4 inches, and continue to prune the new growth as it reaches 3 inches in length. Stop pinching when flower buds begin to form and develop.

Fire ants: Fire ants are very obvious because of their mounding activities and fiery bite. Select appropriate chemicals of choice from local garden centers and follow label directions for use. Treatment may be mound applied or broadcast pending specific insecticide and severity of problem.

Gardenias: Inspect your gardenias for yellowing in the leaves, especially between the veins. This is usually a deficiency in iron which is termed iron chlorosis. Correct this issue by applying Epsom salt to the soil and iron chelate as a foliar spray.

Geraniums: When outdoor geraniums become leggy, make cuttings to root in pots for your patio, deck or terrace. Insert three 6-inch cuttings in an 8-inch pot of peaty, well-drained soil or promix (or similar product). Keep moist, but not wet, until roots are formed and new growth is evident. Then reduce watering to the amount needed only to prevent wilting. Continue to grow these plants into well-developed specimens for your curb appeal enjoyment.

Irrigation: Inspect your irrigation system on a regular basis to ascertain proper function and uniformity in output with each head. Simply watching it cycle through the stations is a basic way for visual evaluation. Periodically place catchment containers in particular zones to measure actual output or flow rate. Do not over-water.

Kudzu bugs: Be on look-out for these pesty little creatures which are becoming a major issue for us. This is a fairly new pest to this country. The adults will move to a host legume to lay eggs and die. They reproduce on such plants as kudzu, soybeans and wisteria. This time of year they will congregate in groups or communities on almost anything, but are not feeding (only a nuisance). They will overwinter in the home (like the ladybugs) and then emerge in the spring. Spray them with pyrethroids to discourage their presence. You can smell them also.

Lawn repair: Don’t postpone lawn repairs. If you re-seed, plug or lay new sod on eroded or damaged areas now, the new turf will have sufficient time to establish by the end of the growing season. Prepare the soil in the bare areas before seeding, plugging or sodding. Consider using sod to repair most areas of any significant size, and seed or plugs in smaller situations. The establishment rate with sod is rapid, thus restricting the opportunity for most weeds to establish and invade. Be sure to keep these areas moist to encourage survival and rapid establishment. Do not waste water but keep moist until established. If using herbicides to kill existing vegetation prior to sodding, wait 10-14 days after application to prepare the soil and lay the new sod.

Mole crickets: The mole crickets are becoming very active at this time. Chemicals are most effective during this part of the season because of the susceptibility of the young to pesticides. The mole cricket kills by eating the roots of turfgrasses and/or tunneling through the soil, causing dessication and death. Choose a recommended chemical based upon identification and advisement.

Mulching: This is one of the most important steps in getting the landscape through the summer. Mulch creates positive curb appeal, discourages weeds, conserves moisture, and insulates the soil against excessive heat. The most readily available organic mulches are pine straw, wood chips, bark nuggets, peanut hulls, pecan hulls, grass clippings, shredded leaves, among others. To be most effective, the mulch should be distributed at a depth of 3 to 4 inches.

Perennials: Remove faded flowers for curb appeal, plant health and aesthetically-pleasing landscape with new showy flowers. Be sure to prune those perennials that will grow too large for their site. Remove approximately one-third of the plant (leaving two-thirds) and the resulting plants will be more compact and floriferous. Remove all weeds that compete with perennials for space, light, air, moisture and nutrients. Inspect all beds and plants for any insect and disease activity. If detected, spray appropriate chemicals per label directions.

Shrubs: Many container-grown shrubs can be planted, including gardenias and azaleas, provided you water them faithfully during the hot, dry weather of July and August. Another approach is to purchase plants now at reduced prices and plant them in decorative pots for use around the home. These potted plants will dry out more frequently, so remember to adjust your watering program accordingly. Prune arborvitaes and junipers now for good structure since they are completing their main growth for the season.

Think in terms of native and sustainable plants in the landscape. May this bit of awareness ignite your desire to learn and ask questions, encourage you to further apply your gained knowledge, and bring you to further realize that environmental stewardship and sustainability should be at the foundation of all your home landscape activities.

Keep your hanging baskets and potted plants refreshed with water and food. Remember to feed and water the songbirds, and give your pets the care they need. Also, be on lookout for children playing and bicyclists riding along the streets and roadways throughout our communities as summer draws closer. And remember to safely share the road with motorcycles. Look three times before entering the highway. Drive alert and arrive alive. Don’t drive distracted or impaired, and don’t text while driving. Help the homeless every chance you get. Let’s keep everyone safe while continuing to enjoy this late spring season.

Many thanks to all who read this column, which is an effort to provide each reader with timely and useful information. It is a small contribution on my part in “paying it forward” to my readers. In keeping with this thought, many of you know that we are planning our annual mission trip to Peru this summer. We are currently raising funds to help finance this mission trip (discipleship journey). If you feel led to do so and would like to donate to this cause, please make a check payable to Heritage Church and mail to Eddie Seagle, Peru Mission Team, 108 Tallokas Circle, Moultrie, Ga. 31788. We would appreciate your prayers for a safe journey as well, and many thanks to each of you.

You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. — Psalm 139:13-14.

Eddie Seagle is a sustainability associate, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), agronomist and horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International), professor emeritus and honorary alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), distinguished professor for teaching and learning (University System of Georgia) and short-term missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle @yahoo.com.