Garden letters

Southern Living, Sep 2001

Moving shrubs: When they landscaped our new house, they put some plants in the wrong places. So afew weeks ago, I moved some boxwoods, Indian hawthorns, and other shrubs to new spots. All are doing well, except the hawthorns. Is this the wrong time of year to move plants? PEYRE LUMP,KIN

PAWLEYS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

Late summer is not a great time to transplant shrubs and trees, because it's usually so hot and dry. A better time is late fall, after the plants go dormant. Because you've already done the transplanting, it's very important to keep the plants well watered. Soak the roots several times a week until mid-October, but don't fertilize until spring. Doing so would encourage more topgrowth and further stress your plants.

Cool seeds: What is the best way to save seeds I did not use this summer? Should I store them in the refrigerator until next spring? STORMY GILLIAM

COLLEGE STATION, TExAs

You can refrigerate them, but it's not really necessary. The most important thing is to keep the seeds dry. Storing them inside a ziptop plastic bag usually works well.

Plants for poor soil: Our soil is poor and sandy. What low-maintenance perennials would you suggest for either full or partial sun? ETHEL DE MONACO

PORT RICHEY, FLORIDA

You set down some pretty tough criteria, yet the selection of plants that meets your needs is surprisingly large. It includes lantana, daylily, butterfly weed, four o'clock, Stokes' aster (Stokesia laevis), Mexican heather, coneflower, balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflora), yucca, agave, blanket flower (Gaillardia sp.), and many ornamental grasses. Readers in the Upper and Middle South should note that lantana, four o'clock, and Mexican heather are annuals there.

Fall vegetables: Here in northeast Alabama, my tomatoes and peppers are still producing. Should I clear them out now to make room for fall vegetables? What vegetables should I plant for fall? STEVE MEANS

GADSDEN,ALABAMA

As long as your tomatoes and peppers are still producing, there's no need to yank them unless you need the room. What can you plant now? Lots of things. Try peas, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens, turnip greens, collards, Swiss chard, radishes, kale, and even carrots (they'll overwinter and you can harvest next spring).

Climbing hydrangea: Can you tell me what is wrong with my climbing hydrangea? I planted it several years ago in partial sun and partial shade, but it has only bloomed once. Help! DONNA BATCHELOR

ROCKY MouNT, NORTH CAROLINA

Nothing is wrong. Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris) is notorious for taking a long time to start blooming. It likes to get itself firmly established before expending energy in the way of flowers. There isn't much you can do to speed it along, other than giving it a little more sun. Also, make sure it has moist, fertile, well-drained soil that contains lots of organic matter. Mole control: How can we get rid of moles who have made our backyard a mess?

Amy WILDER

CLEMMONs, NORTH CAROLINA

One novel solution we've heard about is placing used kitty litter in the mole tunnels. The moles don't like the smell (can't say we blame them) and go someplace else. Other people recommend rolling up pieces of Juicy Fruit chewing gum and dropping them in the tunnels. Moles eat this and die. Or you could try applying an insecticide such as GrubEx to kill the grubs the moles are hunting. Be sure to follow label directions carefully.

September Tip of the Month: Collards are the number one vegetable in our part of the state. But the worms like them better than we do. You can spray every day, and they still eat. An old farmer once told me that sifting flour onto the leaves would take care of the worms. I didn't have enough flour so I tried sprinkling baby powder Guess what? No worms! JEAN B. PRIDGEN

ROCKy MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA

Tips of the Month are ideas readers say work for them. Southern Living does not test them. Submit tips on a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address to Garden Tips, Southern Living, RO. Box 523, Birmingham, AL 35201 or by email to southernliving@spc.com. For each tip published you will receive $25.

EDITOR'S

NOTEBOOK

When is being pretty, tough, and easy to grow not enough? When it comes to the chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach). It grows fast (to 45 feet), gives good shade, tolerates drought, and thrives in terrible soil. It features handsome, glossy leaves; fragrant, lilac-colored flowers in spring; and showy yellow fruit in fall. It was even immortalized by the Doobie Brothers in the song "China Grove." So what's the problem? Well, for one thing, it suckers and forms thickets. And the ripened berries can be kind of disgusting when they squish between your toes. Birds eat the berries and disperse lots of seeds, but sometimes the berries ferment first, resulting in wasted warblers losing control and smashing into billboards, tractor trailers, Drew Carey, and other large objects. In an ironic twist, the hard seeds have often been used to make rosary beads-probably for saying last rites over robins that nose-dived into Drew. Steve Bender