Fall may be in the air, but gardening season is still happening, and you may have questions. For answers, turn to Ask an Expert, an online question-and-answer tool from Oregon State University’s Extension Service. OSU Extension faculty and Master Gardeners reply to queries within two business days, usually less. To ask a question, simply go to the OSU Extension website, type it in and include the county where you live. Here are some questions asked by other gardeners. What’s yours?
Q: What’s going on here? All the leaves are looking like this. They are getting an hour of irrigation every other day, now decreased to every third day. – Lane County
A: It looks like your climbing hydrangea has leaf spot. Leaf spot is a fungus that is seen on hydrangeas as brownish spots that can cause the leaves to drop earlier than normal. While leaf spot usually has negligeable impact on the health of the tree, it can eventually weaken the tree if it repeats for several years.
To help control leaf spot remove and destroy all leaves as they fall as leaf spot overwinters on the infected leaves. Do not overhead water to lessen the time the leaves are wet. Prune out any dead branches to help improve air circulation, which will also help the leaves to dry quicker when they do become wet. More information on leaf spot can be found at Hydrangea - Leaf Spots.
Hydrangeas do like lots of water but can be overwatered. They need about 1 inch of water per week. Signs that they are receiving too much water including leaf edges that have turned brown and root issues.
Be sure to provide your hydrangea with a healthy growing environment that includes proper water, sun and soil conditions. This will help your plant to increase its tolerance to damage caused by disease. This site has general information on care: General Care for Hydrangeas. – Jan Gano, OSU Extension Master Gardener
Q: I’m being told I can’t get a crape myrtle tree shipped to me because Oregon has restrictions, and the company won’t deliver. – Clackamas County
A: There are a couple reasons there might be restrictions on your crape myrtle order. If the nursery is not reputable or hasn’t been inspected there could be contaminants in the soil sent with the tree. These could be insects, diseases or invasive plant seeds and we don’t want them imported with plants. Another reason they might not be able to ship your plants is if the seller is not willing to get an Oregon Department of Agriculture nursery license. Oregon requires this once the seller sells $250 worth of rooted stock.
It looks like many nurseries around the area have crape myrtle for sale, so it won’t be hard to find these beautiful shrubs locally. – Jackie Dougan, OSU Extension Master Gardener
Raised garden bedsOSU Extension Service
Q: We are starting a garden hoping to have as much produce as possible to cut costs on the food bill each month. I have attached pictures of what the planter boxes look like (as left by previous tenant). We want to buy starters to plant but aren’t sure if this is the right time of the season or what would plant well with what. There is already a tomato plant and a blueberry bush. Any advice you have would be great. – Multnomah County
A: I’m attaching the site for the best beginning gardening magazine, Growing Your Own. Especially check out the “Container gardening” section and the “Dates for planting” sections.
You can leave the blueberry for a couple years, but the container looks a little small for it, so consider where in the yard you might plant it or how to get a larger container. Harvest the tomatoes then pull the vine out to be ready for next year.
You might also want to top off the soil with some “garden soil,” rather than compost, if you can find it at a garden store before you plant anything since you don’t know what was grown in there before or how many nutrients are left. At this time of year, you can plant starts of lettuce, spinach, radish seeds or any of the cool weather Asian greens. Most garden stores or even some farmers markets may have starts of what is appropriate for planting now. I’m including a website with hints for winter gardening as well. It’s aimed at farmers, but page 38 has some planting dates for winter crops.
The only other caveat for your boxes, is to make sure they get at least six hours of sun a day for the best success with vegetables. – Rhonda Frick-Wright, OSU Extension Master Gardener
Q: Is it safe to consume food (crop/fruits) from plants that were rooted (propagated) using a rooting hormone? Is there a safe version? I’m propagating blueberries/grapes. – Benton County
A: Rooting hormone that is used expressly for rooting a plant for propagation does not pose a threat to human consumption of fruit later produced by that plant. The hormone product used during propagation will not persist in the plant long enough to cause any translocation to the fruit, as fruiting happens a long time after the plant is rooted. – Patty Skinkis, OSU Extension viticulture specialist
Redbud leavesOSU Extension Service
Q: I planted two eastern redbuds last June when we built our house. This year they have wilted leaves and brown spots on them. I know there are a couple of fungal diseases that they can get, but I can’t seem to diagnose it myself and am wondering if you might be able to help me.
The trees are in a sidewalk median between the sidewalk and the road. They are on the east side of the property, but get full sun most of the day. There is drip irrigation on them that runs for 45 minutes twice daily – once in the early morning and once in the evening. They each have four, 2-gallon per hour drippers on them so I think that means they’re getting 6 gallons in the morning and 6 gallons in the evening each day. Perhaps the drippers aren’t in the right place. My biggest concern is that they have a fungus that goes untreated.
A: The most common fungal disease in our area is anthracnose. But this doesn’t match the symptoms that we’re seeing in your photo. The timing is also inconsistent. Anthracnose is a problem that starts up in the spring when the leaves are emerging and it’s still rainy. Here’s more about anthracnose so you know what to look for next spring.
It’s more likely that these trees are struggling to get established. If you planted last June then they went through a very hot summer followed by a cold wet spring. And now it’s hot again. This is a hot spot with much radiant heat from the concrete surfaces. You can check if your irrigation system is working by taking a trowel and digging 4-5 inches down around the drip zone (the edge of the branches).
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