Adrian Higgins • Garden Plot Archive • Column: Ornamental Gardner • Home & Garden Section • Garden & Patio Section • Talk: Home, Garden and Food message boards • Subscribe to the Live Online E-Mail Newsletter and receive the weekly schedule, highlights and breaking news event alerts in your mailbox. The Garden Plot With Adrian Higgins Washington Post Garden Editor Thursday, June 05, 2003; 11:00 a.m. ET Got a chronic case of green thumb? Like getting your hands dirty? Adrian Higgins, garden editor for The Post's Home section, is here to help. Higgins is a firm believer in "tough plants for tough times" -- the varieties that combine good looks with stiff resistance to disease and pests. He currently rules over a garden filled with spring bulbs, daffodils, ornamental onions, perennials, asters, yarrows, hostas and day lilies. Higgins, an avid organic gardener who believes chemicals are a last resort, also tends his own herb and vegetable gardens where he grows peas, garlic onions, lettuce, rhubarbs, radishes, carrots and more. Higgins is the author of two books, "The Secret Gardens of Georgetown: Behind the Walls of Washington's Most Historic Neighborhood" and "The Washington Post Garden Book: The Ultimate Guide to Gardening in Greater Washington and the Mid-Atlantic Region." The transcript follows Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Baltimore, Md.: I am moving into a home in August. The rear lawn is a 95 percent weeds, 5 percent dirt, maybe a blade of grass. It's also the size of a slightly overrated postage stamp.

I suppose I need to put down grass seed. And I'd like to put in some greens along the fence and deck boxes to brighten it up. I have no gardening experience, other than killing a few potted plants.

Can you lend some tips and reccomend a book or Web site? Thanks!

Adrian Higgins: Since it is small, this project won't take long. Haul in as many bags of peat humus, compost as you can, throw in a couple of bags of ground limestone, and after skimming off all the weeds, use a garden fork to turn all the good stuff into the top four inches of soil. Rake it smooth, and sow seed, I recommend turf type tall fescue. Look for a named variety and avoid blends with bluegrass and rye grass. Keep the lawn misted, not wet, and in a couple of weeks you will have the beginnings of a lovely lawn. Do this in early September, mow it to three inches high with a very sharp blade when it gets to four inches, and keep fall leaves and other stuff off it, including dogs and people.

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Slugs -- yuck!: I have heard all sorts of homemade remedies for ridding your yard of slugs. One person told me to go out late at night with a flashlight and a bottle of salt and salt each slug I see. Others have suggested lids full of beer. I try to garden organically... what would you suggest? I am concerned that if use too much salt it could harm the plants?

Adrian Higgins: That is a concern, you have to be very accurate with the salt grains. This is not a remedy for the ham fisted. Another solution is a solution: of chlorine bleach in a water pistol, squirt away. Beer traps are supposed to work, I find the idea rather messy.

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Arlington, Va.: Help! My husband, in an attempt to eradicate persistent weeds along our chain link fence, was a little too heavy-handed with the RoundUp, and consequently killed patches of our neighbor's lawn.

My question: Other than apologizing profusely (which we have done), can we "fix" the problem now, or do we have to wait until fall to reseed the patches for them?

Thanks!

Adrian Higgins: If you wanted to be really diligent, scratch the dead patches now and sow with a quick sprouting annual rye grass, and promise to go back in September with permanent fescue. Perhaps a better solution might be to buy some strips of sod (I keep calling it turf, but my colleagues here tell me to call it sod. Sod has an entirely different and profane meaning in England, from whence I came).

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Lorton, Va.: Hi Adrian,

I really hope you can take my question! Regarding tomatoes, how much sun is really neccessary? I have planted mine in a plot that gets about 6-7 hours of sun, however a lot of it is morning light. The spot is in full light from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. I've also put down that reflective red plastic mulch that is supposed to help increase production. Do you think my tomatoes will get enough sunlight? I know that afternoon sun is more preferable, but this is the place in my yard that gets the most overall sunlight. I'm sure you probably get a lot of questions about tomatoes, I've just always been somewhat confused as to what constitutes full sunlight.

Thanks so much for your help, your advice is always practical and easy to understand!

Adrian Higgins: It sounds as if you might have enough light to make it work, but expect your vines to stretch and misbehave, and for fruiting to be less than for a plant in full sunlight, which is generally considered direct light from at least noon on.

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Arlington, Va.: Last year my purple coneflower plants grew nice and bushy and produced many flower "buds" (for lack of the better term). Unfortunately, many of these "pre-emergent" flowers failed to full develop and those that did had washed out and missing petals. Early blooms from this year's plants show similar signs. Is feeding needed? If so is it too late and what kind?

Adrian Higgins: I haven't heard of this malady before, the only thing I can think is that your coneflowers need more sunlight. If you think they don't, move them.

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Lakeridge, Va.: Adrian... yea, sunshine!

Have just planted a largish, mature azalea, var. Hershey Red, in a flowerbed underneath a maple tree. Lotsa space for annuals around the bush, and was wonderin' if caladiums would complement the bush, at least in terms of compatible soil prep and the like. The merchant wasn't sure if the azalea will tolerate shade, but I haven't yet planted its companion, so would appreciate your take on the need for sun for that variety. Thankee!

Adrian Higgins: Maples, i.e. Norway, red, silver and sugar maples, cast dense shade and have lots of surface roots. You may be successful in getting the azalea to grow there, but I would definitely improve the soil a little and remove some of the lower limbs of the tree to bring in light. Coleus needs some soil to itself, so you may want to plant those in pots.

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For Baltimore, Md.: Since the back yard is "the size of a postage stamp" why not consider skipping the grass altogether? A mix of perennials, woody plants, and groundcover would be lower maintenance, at least after the initial planting.

Adrian Higgins: That's certainly an option, especially if you build a little patio so there is a place to sit.

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Arlington, Va.: Good morning. I have a question about getting rid of weeds in my azaleas. There is literally a weed system running through the entire shrub..they look like grape vines, and it's impossible to tell when looking underneath the shrub where the weeds start. Is there some magic azalea-weed killer I can use to treat the whole shrub? Thanks much.

Adrian Higgins: No, you will have to pull it out by hand. The vine itself is not so much an issue as the root run of the vine. If it is totally intermingled with that of the azalea, you may want to dig out the azalea, hose off all the mud in the roots, and then separate them.

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Cumberland, Md.: Help for scraggly, leggy shrubs.

1. I have a lilac -- few blooms, planted in the shade, only leafy at the top -- what can I do and how severely should I prune it back?

2. Rhodedendron near the house -- few blooms, in the shade --very leggy. What can I do and how severely can I cut it back and still have it bloom next year? Would like a much lower bush.

Thanks

Adrian Higgins: Well the rhododendron might be moved if it is not too large. Lilacs are difficult to move once established. Rhododendrons like their feet in the shade and faces in the sun, lilacs like to sunbathe from head to toes.

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Ballston, Va.: Adrian -

I know this is a factor of the current weather patterns, over which you have no control; however, when can I decide if my tomato plants are languishing due to absence of sunshine and warm temps, and will bound back when we finally get some sun; or if they are too far gone, and I need to rip them out and plant anew?

They are rather pathetic-looking, and seem not to have any new growth in the three weeks they have been outside. I have fertilized, and have NOT touched them while wet, so I don't think (I hope) they don't have blight.

Adrian Higgins: Just be patient, you have done the right thing. In today's Home Section, Barbara Damrosch talks at length about this cool, wet spring and how to cope with it.

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Charlotte, N.C.: I finally realized that my boxwoods were in such awful shape because of a thrip infestation, which I treated, as you advised, with insecticidal soap. The new growth looks better, but the dead leaves underneath look terrible. Is it too late to prune them back? They're about 40 years old, so they are mature and I haven't pruned them in several years. Thanks!

Adrian Higgins: What you should do is pluck the foliage, that is, remove surface branches sporadically around the whole shrub. This will cause leaves to growth thicker into the bush and mask the old leaves, which in time will drop.

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Somewhere in Connecticut: Adrian, could you please help? I have several mountain laurels that are sporting some rather yucky brown spots on their leaves and didn't really bloom this year. What can I do to help them? And I have another request: I recently planted some perennials and dug up a few fat white grubs -- is now the appropriate time to treat my lawn for grubs? Thanks so much.

Adrian Higgins: I suspect the plant is showing signs of fungal leaf spot disease caused by the prolonged wet weather. Take it to your county extension office for a diagnosis. You can spray against it and, more importantly, remove infected leaves to prevent its spread. Remove fallen and diseased leaves at th base of the plant too. The grubs are getting ready to pupate and emerge as beetles, it is too late to apply a grub killer, I suspect. This is best done in the early fall before the new little grubs move deep for the winter.

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Linden, Va.: Observation: One good thing about all this cool and rainy weather; it has delayed a lot of garden pests' arrival and has given their preditors a head start. Seems strange but I haven't yet seen the potato beetles, aphids or cabbage worms among others, but I have noticed ladybugs, mantises and those beneficial wasps.
Question: Is this the calm before the storm, and when it gets really hot there will be an onslaught? (I hope not, couldn't bear another plagues on Egypt so to say.)

Adrian Higgins: I don't think we'll have a plague of locusts this year, the rain has taken care of that, but I do fear that we will have lots of slugs and mosquitoes in a few weeks.

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Washington, D.C.: Hello Adrian,
What negative effect, if any, will the excessive rain have on our vegetable garden this year? Although the tomatoes are getting tall, the cukes and cantelope melon seem slow to grow. Thank you.

Adrian Higgins: Plants may well die before getting established. One thing I can safely predict after living in Washington for more than 20 years, the summer will get hot and we have time to start again later this month.

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Arlington, Va.: Re: organic slug control.

I've done well using Escar-Go from Gardens Alive (www.gardensalive.com). I believe it's made using iron phosphate, which is apparently non-toxic to non-slugs.

Adrian Higgins: That's a good, low toxic remedy. Some of the older slug chemicals pose a real danger to pets.

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Ashburn, Va.: I have started an herb garden in planters. I have mint, cilantro, dill, basil, oregano, flat leaf and curly parsley, garlic chives and regular chives.

The recent weather has done wonders for their growth, but my guess is that I need to start trimming them back, since I planted them a little too close together and they are starting to grow into each other. What is the best way to do this and is there any specific method I should use when snipping them for use in cooking.

Adrian Higgins: You could both trim the top growth, which will promote bushiness, and simply lift the herbs and reposition them with more elbow room.

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Cumberland, Md.: Follow up: Leggy Shrubs. Alas both bushes have been around for a while and came with the property when I bought it.

What can I do to improve them?

Adrian Higgins: Cut down some surrounding trees.

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Boston, Mass.: Good Morning,
I appreciate your chats and have learned a great deal from reading them. I have a vegetable garden located along a chain link fence. There are intrusive weeds entwined in the fence that I do not have the physical ability to pull or dig out. Are there any other organic methods to eliminating the weeds? A spray solution, perhaps? Thanks very much for your insights.

Adrian Higgins: If the weeds cannot be pulled, the soil needs to be improved, I would say. Build up with layers of shredded leaves and rotted compost. You could take a paint brush and paint the offending weeds with glyphosate. You may have to repeat this two or three times.

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Falls Chuch, Va.: For the first time, I planted tomatos in pots on my balcony which faces south. I put them in at the end of April, who would have guessed our current weather pattern. With the cool temperatures I'm surprised that I have fruits already starting to form. If they don't get enough heat and sunlight, what will happen to them. I'm new to gardening, but wanted to give it a try. If this helps they are the patio variety of tomato plants. Thanks.

Adrian Higgins: The fruits will regulate themselves, growing and ripening with the sun and heat. The beauty of plants in pots is that you can move the containers to the sunniest location.

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Clarksburg, Md.: Adrian, thanks for making yourself available.

I plant brussels sprouts every year, and every year they topple over. I buy started plants from the nursery, and in past seasons planted them so the top of the potting soil they come in level with my garden. I understand I need to plant them deeper so as to give them a better root hold, but how deep? Do I bury them only so the top of the plant is showing (they're about 8" to 10" tall), or just to where the first leaves start to branch?

Adrian Higgins: I would set them no deeper than an inch or two below the level they grew in the pots. Consider stakes, best put in when the plants are young. Brussel sprouts have a bad name, but fresh brussels that have not been overcooked are one of the tastiest morsels from the garden. We are all conditioned to tasting old vegetables from the supermarket and have denied ourselves the pleasures of fresh food.

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Shaw, Washington, D.C.: I recently dug up some ornamental grasses and potted them in nice, large pots for the patio. I used new potting soil, and have watered them daily, but they're not looking as healthy as they were in the ground, and I think they're getting worse. Is this the wrong time to transplant? And is there anything I can do to help save them? Thanks!

Adrian Higgins: Grasses do not transplant terribly well. (Nursery grown stock, which has developed in pots, are fine) Cut back on the watering and place them in the sunniest spot you can find. I fear you may be overwatering them.

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Old Town, Arlington, Va.: Adrian, I have some patio tomatoes. What size pot should they be in? I think the pot their in is too small. Thanks!

Adrian Higgins: If you think the pot is too small, it probably is. Patio tomatoes are supposed to be tidy in habit, probably growing only to four feet high and two to three feet across. I would put them in a container at least 18 inches across.

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Reston, Va.: I just moved into a new home and there are a number of badly overgrown juniper bushes in the front yard. The whole group of them is about four feet high and twenty feet long. I'm not even sure how many there are. My question is, how much can I trim them back? I'd like for them to be about half their current size, but I'm also considering just removing them and planting something nicer. What do you think?

Adrian Higgins: Junipers simply don't lend themselves to rejuvenation pruning like other plants. I would take them out. The roots are dreadful but the soil is nice and damp. I would employ an extremely sharp axe for the job.

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Rain, rain go away: So about a month ago I planted lots of herbs and a few veggie plants and then it rained and rained and rained. I lost the cucumber and now the basil looks very droopy -- any hope of saving it? It is in a large pot with tarragon, rosemary and dill which are all holding their own.

Adrian Higgins: Please see earlier responses, including the reference to Barbara Damrosch's column in the paper. Are you all reading it out there? I feel we are very lucky to have Barbara on board, she is both a seasoned gardener and terrific writer.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: How the heck do you get rid of poison ivy? It returns in our back yard every spring/early summer!

Thanks!

Adrian Higgins: Put on knee length boots, thick pants, heavy long sleeved shirts, and thick gloves and hat, and then tell your spouse to go to it.

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Virginia: Dear Mr. Higgins,

I have some Dianthus plants and I think they will no longer flower until next year, what should I do with them, cut them down to a couple of inches from the ground, just cut the dead flower stems, please help. Thank you

Adrian Higgins: Just remove the flower stalks, the foliage looks lovely year round.

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Mineola, N.Y.: Dear Adrian,

I've got a clump of daffodils that failed to bloom at all this year. Additionally, they've experienced a gradual decline in bloom over the years. They are in a northwest location under a dogwood tree. I believe they get enough sun, given the microclimate and the lack of a canopy from the dogwood, but do not know whether to rip them out and toss them or replant elsewhere.

Additionally, I've had no success with nasturtium. I bought a small six-pack of starter plants in March, repotted them indoors as they grew and replanted them outdoors into window boxes in a southern location in mid May. The plants lost all their chlorophyll and eventually died -- all but one. I've not had success with nasturtiums in the past - those I've planted in early summer -- so they represent a challenge to me.

Any advice you can offer on the two topics above would be appreciated.

Adrian Higgins: The daffodils should be lifted this summer, divided and replanted in a sunnier location. Nasturtiums need poor soil low in nitrogen. You may be killing them with kindness.

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Annandale, Va.: How can I introduce some color other than green to my very shady and large backyard which now has half grass, some azaleas and evergreens?

Adrian Higgins: Consider plants with bright foliage, including Japanese painted ferns, hakone grass, lamium, variegated liriope, and Japanese ribbon grass.

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Alexandria, Va.: I wrote in last summer, as a novice, to ask why my potted lavender had not bloomed all summer. I was told that it usually takes two years to bloom, and so I took care of it all winter. Guess what? Yesterday, I noticed all kinds of spikes, getting ready to flower! Thanks for letting me know I had to be patient, I'm totally excited about the flowers.

Adrian Higgins: Well done. Mine are beginning to color up. Just make sure that you don't mulch the plant with anything other than gravel or sand. Organic matter would rot the crown, especially in this weather.

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Silver Spring, Md.: If you sow grass in September, how are you supposed to keep leaves off of it until it grows to 4 inches?

Adrian Higgins: If you sow it in early September, the soil is warm enough that it germinates and grows quickly so that the root system forms an adequate anchor when you rake leaves in mid October through November.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Adrian,
Early this spring I purchased mail order tree roses from Jackson and Perkins. They were bare root, but sturdy and healthy looking; there were no planting instructions enclosed, nor did the company respond to my e-mail request for information. So, I planted them in large pots for the patio, with good potting soil, and good drainage.

Did I plant them incorrectly by setting the roots 8" below the soil? The only stem graft I could see is where the tall trunk meets the top blooming part of the tree. Some people have advised I should have placed the roots just barely below the surface of the soil. In any case, they are growing fine, with buds on them now. Thanks!

Adrian Higgins: I think you did plant them too deeply. There is a swelling where the top is grafted on to the rootstock. That graft should be set just above the soil line. I suppose these standards might be grafted high, at the top of the trunk rather than the bottom. In either case they should be planted so that the top of the roots sit just below the soil surface. Well, folks, I am afraid we have run out of time again. The weather has turned, all will be right from now on. See you next week.

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