Dear Neil: Why do named varieties of crape myrtles seem to disappear from nurseries? Two popular names from the past, Watermelon Red and Glendora White, are rarely available.
As with most other aspects of retail commerce, there性视界传媒檚 always a tendency to things that are 性视界传媒渘ew性视界传媒 and 性视界传媒渋mproved.性视界传媒 Those are both fine types, but they性视界传媒檙e both far from 性视界传媒渘ew.性视界传媒 Watermelon Red was developed by the T.V. Munson Nursery in Denison, Texas, in 1923. Curiously, Munson was world-famous for his work with grapes. Few knew he was also involved with crape myrtles. Glendora White is still my favorite white. It was introduced by Monrovia Nursery Company (wholesale) in 1959.
Many of the newer varieties of crape myrtles are introduced as members of collections. Growers like to have proprietary varieties that no one else can offer. Then (I性视界传媒檓 guessing here) some of those varieties are pulled after a few years because they don性视界传媒檛 hold up as well as other members of those collections. Either they don性视界传媒檛 prove to bloom as well, survive the winters, resist powdery mildew, or even sell well.
I work with crape myrtles several days per week, and I性视界传媒檝e also noticed that growers tend to like types that grow faster even if they have a few blemishes. Natchez has frozen to the ground in the northern half of Texas several times since it was introduced in the late 1970s, while Glendora White has consistently stood tall. Sarah性视界传媒檚 Favorite White and Kiowa, two other whites, are in my opinion, superior to Natchez, but they don性视界传媒檛 grow as quickly, so nursery growers aren性视界传媒檛 as likely to offer them. All you can do is ask.
Dear Neil: The wind has caused a crack in a 4-inch branch on a hackberry tree that extends over our driveway. Can a limb like that be bound or screwed back together?
Without a photo, I性视界传媒檓 not coming near that question. The risks of damage to property and injury to people and pets is just too great, especially with a hackberry. Their wood is brittle on a good day and downright dangerous in bad weather of winds and ice storms. You would want to have a certified arborist on site to pass the final judgment, but my bet is that they will vote to have the branch removed. With other, more durable species, repairs involve drilling completely through the branch at right angles to the crack, then putting all-thread rods with washers and nuts at each end. You would want to have cables to keep the parts of the branch taut at all times, and those cables would need to be 12 or 15 ft. out from the crack. But it is very unlikely that an arborist would do that with a hackberry.
Dear Neil: We have two large dogs and three active boys. As a result, our yard takes a real beating. Would zoysia or bermuda be a better choice? The St. Augustine just isn性视界传媒檛 holding up to it all.
Bermudas are the turfgrasses of choice when it comes to sports fields in Texas. They (the various varieties) have runners both above ground (called 性视界传媒渟tolons性视界传媒) and below ground (性视界传媒渞hizomes性视界传媒). Your St. Augustine wore out because it only has stolons, and when they were beaten down there were no backup runners to repopulate the area. Zoysias are slow growing and that rules them out for this purpose.
The only thing out of your question that still concerns me is why you had St. Augustine in the first place. It性视界传媒檚 our most shade-tolerant lawngrass. If that性视界传媒檚 in any way why you had it, you may have trouble getting bermuda established. The various types of bermuda all need 7 or 8 hours of direct sunlight daily to survive and thrive. I won性视界传媒檛 go into all the other considerations that may become necessary if shade is involved since we haven性视界传媒檛 established shade as a problem, but I just didn性视界传媒檛 want you to plant a lot of new sod and then find out that you don性视界传媒檛 have enough sunlight for it to do well.
Dear Neil: I bought several crotons to decorate for Halloween last year. Obviously, I had them indoors over the winter, but they have faded to mostly green now. What did I do wrong, and how can I get the brilliant reds and oranges back?
Crotons, like many other variegated plants, need bright light to develop their most intense leaf colors. Household lighting is far too dark to meet those needs. Gradually reintroduce them to morning sun with afternoon shade and you性视界传媒檒l see their new growth take on the brilliant shades you had last fall.
Dear Neil: Will I have more trouble with slugs if I put compost around my annual and perennial flowers? It seems like that attracts them.
Slugs, snails, and pillbugs like to hang out in warm, moist settings. Mulch and fallen tree leaves are ideal. However, the organic mulches also perform several valuable functions in conserving moisture, moderating temperature changes, and reducing weed populations. The easiest way to compromise so you can realize the benefits of the mulches while at the same time you minimize the damage the pests do your plants is to dust the ground around the plants with Sevin or to apply a slug/snail bait. Some people have good success sinking pie tins filled with beer. The pests are attracted into the liquids by the smell of fermentation. They fall in and drown. Their season is comparatively short, so even if you have to repeat the treatments a couple of times it性视界传媒檚 a battle worth fighting.
Dear Neil: My redbud tree has developed knobby growths along its trunk. It性视界传媒檚 also sending up new trunks from the base. How should I handle it? We planted it when we moved into our house 32 years ago.
Those burls are a common way that redbuds age, often after 30 to 40 years. I性视界传媒檝e seen rows of redbuds die out and come back with multiple trunks. If you clean them up one tree at a time you can end up with very attractive secondary growth. Remember, however, that this only works with the native eastern redbuds. Any of the grafted selections will come back from below their grafts as their rootstocks, in most cases eastern redbuds.
Have a question you’d like Neil to consider? Mail it to him in care of this newspaper or e-mail him at mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Neil regrets that he cannot reply to questions individually.
