Spring Questions

John Wilson

With alternating warm and cool temperatures one didn’t know what to do. It seems that spring may finally be here to stay. Along with the arrival of spring comes a variety of seasonal questions. I’ll try to answer a few of those here.

FIRST, there is nothing you can put around your house to repel snakes. Moth balls don’t work! Human hair doesn’t work! Ultrasonic devices don’t work! The only way to keep snakes out of an area is to build a snake-proof fence around the area you don’t want snakes. This may not be practical or eye-pleasing in the landscape. The more practical method is to discourage snakes by making an area less inviting to them.

Snakes like areas where they feel secure and protected. Eliminate those areas and you will discourage, but not necessarily eliminate, snakes. Rake up leaves that might have blown in and use a weed-eater on tall grass that you can’t quite get with the mower along the foundation. Pick up stacks of boards  and move any firewood that you didn’t use away from your home.

SECOND, if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to put crabgrass preventer on your lawn. (I put mine on early this week!)  This will only kill germinating seeds so it won’t control weeds that have already emerged. These products will also kill germinating grass seed so do not apply it to areas where you reseeded or overseeded your lawn.

If you had a lot of problems with crabgrass or spurge in your lawn last year, make a second application around the first of July. The treatment now can be a combination with a lawn fertilizer, especially if you haven’t fertilized your lawn yet this spring. However, an application in mid-summer should not include fertilizer.

THIRD, insect pests, such as ants, lady beetles and clover mites, are making their spring appearances in homes. Last fall these insects made it part way in… in cracks in the foundation or under siding… and spent the winter there in a protected area. Once it warmed up this spring, they made their way inside rather finding their way back out.

Once inside, vacuum up insects or use an aerosol insect killer. The better solution is to find the cracks or crevices where they are getting in and seal it with caulking so they can’t get in next year. Not only will this keep insects out, but this should also help with your heating bill.

FOURTH, some evergreens have needles that recently are turning brown, starting at the tips and working back to the base of the needle. This condition is called winter desication, also known as winter scorch or winter burn. The injury actually occurred last winter, but is just showing up now. It is not caused by an insect or disease, so there is nothing to spray to treat it.

Keep these plants well watered through the summer and next fall before the ground freezes. Adding an organic mulch like wood chips helps hold moisture in the soil. Light injury will be hidden when the plant puts on its new growth later this spring. Heavy injury may kill some branches or the entire plant. If in doubt, wait to see what the plant looks like after new growth has developed, then decide whether its coming out of the injury or whether to prune out branches or remove the entire plant.

FINALLY, any rhubarb that has come up and gets hit by a late frost is still safe to eat. There is a garden legend… that’s kind of like an urban legend, only it just pertains to the garden… that if rhubarb is frosted it becomes poisonous. There is a toxic compound in rhubarb leaves, so the leaves should never be eaten, but this compound doesn’t move into the stalks if the plant is frosted.