Why I Oughta...

Last growing season (2023), I started to use Neem Oil to treat some pests like Sawfly Larvae on my Disneyland Roses and Magnolia Scale on our Saucer Magnolia tree in the front yard.  I fell behind on the roses and saw the foliage turn into lace over the Summer.   That's when I started a dual-treatment approach with both Neem Oil sprayed on the leaves and stems and a systemic granular insect treatment.   This year, I'm going to try to stay ahead of things and despite not seeing any signs of Sawfly Larvae, I went ahead and sprayed the three original Disneyland Roses with Neem Oil.  The front yard Roses don't seem to have come back (sad), so I only sprayed the three on the side of the house.  I also sprayed the trunk and branches of the Saucer Magnolia.   Below is one of the Disneyland Roses after dousing the leaves in Neem Oil.  I have this hand-pump sprayer that I've (now) decided is my Neem Oil sprayer.  I'm going to mark it with a...

One of the things that I've had on my last few annual 'to do lists' in the garden is to keep up with various seasonal tasks like feeding, treating, pruning, etc.  Basically....good garden and tree maintenance.  This year, it came in at #16 on the list and included items like feeding the roses ( which I did last week for the first time this season ) and dividing perennials, protecting everything from winter and rabbits and... treating trees.  For the past few years, I've had the fine folks at Davey do an annual deep-root feeding treatment of everything in the yard (in the fall) and I've complemented that application with one of my own on a few select trees.   Start back in 2020, I noticed that our Greenspire Lindens were being covered in Yellow Jackets and upon inspection, it appeared that the trees were inhabited by aphids - which in turn created honeydew - which was what the Yellow Jackets were after.  In order to get rid of the Yellow Jackets, I had to...

Tree buds are some of the stars of our Winter garden here in Northern Illinois - Zone 5B.  As I've continued to grow as a gardener and observed the natural rhythm of our garden, I've come to really appreciate buds.    I used to think about the garden season cycle as something that starts with Spring and ends with Winter, but as I've watched our garden more, I've now come to the realization the garden growing season actually starts - for many things - in the fall.  That's when trees set their buds before they head into dormancy.   Tree buds are all unique and tell a story.  One of the sets of buds that I've been following for a number of years is the Saucer Magnolia tree that we planted in our front yard in 2017.  I posted some photos of the Saucer Magnolia buds last year - in February .    Here's how it looks right now - in early January. This tree continues to grow up and out.  And, it appears that the aphid and/or scale problem th...

Starting last Spring, I decided to be a little more proactive in terms of protecting some of our trees from pests.  That started with the Greenspire Lindens that are currently espalaiered into a horizontal cordon.  For the past few years, I noticed that the trees were being swarmed with yellow jackets and/or wasps .  Turns out, they were there feasting on aphids that are drawn to Linden trees.  So, starting last year, I treated both Lindens with five gallons of this tree protect & feed solution .   It seemed to work and there were no wasps around all season.  This season - NOTE: I'm posting this in early June, but I actually did this project in early May, 2022 - I pulled back the mulch around the Lindens and made a little ring for the solution to soak in around the base of the trunk.  I made up five gallons of solution per tree and slowly dumped it on. See below: This year, I also decided to treat the Saucer Magnolia tree out front the same wa...