Neil Sperry's Mailbag

They have disfigured many of the trees.

We'd like to get the grapes out of the trees, then redirect their vines onto arbors we plan to build. Is there any certain way to do that pruning to maximize the health of the vines? Some of them are 10-12 inches in diameter.

To be honest, I would never mess with the old vines. I've faced the same issue, and the best thing to do is to cut them out of the trees and also to get rid of the old root systems either by pulling the stumps or with a broadleafed weedkiller poured at full strength into holes you drill into the stumps.

Then, if you want grapes over your new arbors, you would simply plant whatever type you want on the supports. You'll get much better plants much more quickly if you start with vigorous, young plants.

Remember, too, how large those old vines are as you build the new structure. Grapes require large and substantial supports.

Several things will help. Some may have been done at the time of planting.

First, stake and guy the tree so that it cannot tilt. There are occasions where that won't be needed, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Wrap the trunk with paper tree wrap from a nursery or hardware store.

Wrap it from the ground up to the lowest limbs, and leave the wrap in place for one to two years. It will protect the trunk from sunscald and borer invasion.

Soak your new tree deeply on weekly intervals during spring and fall, 5-day intervals in the hottest part of the summer. Apply a root-stimulator fertilizer monthly for the first year or two.

Apply the same broadleafed weedkiller mentioned earlier. That one category of products will eliminate all types of non-grassy weeds.

Treat while the nettles are growing most actively.

This winter the peeling section has gotten bigger and is going around the tree about 2 feet up the trunk. Will I lose the tree?

Photos are attached.


What you show in the photos looks like the characteristic sunscald to which I referred in an earlier question. Your tree may also be infested with borers due to the ongoing injuries from the peeling bark.

Spray monthly with a borer preventive, and wrap the trunk to protect against any further sunscald.

You may need to thin out the top growth to compensate for the loss of conducting tissues.

You may, indeed, lose this tree. Be sure you always wrap the trunks of new oak trees, also Chinese pistachios.

Scalping gets confused with dethatching and aerating. To explain all three terms: scalping is the removal of winter-killed stubble from bermudagrass lawns. It involves setting the mower down by one notch (or, in extreme cases, two notches). It's a nasty, dusty job, so you'll need to wear quality goggles and a good respirator. Do it in late February or early March. You will eliminate many of the weeds in the process, plus the soil will warm up more quickly. New growth, therefore, will be more noticeable.

Nonetheless, it's an optional process that's more for good looks than for the health of the lawn.

Dethatching, by comparison, involves removal of the undecomposed organic matter that accumulates between grass runners and the soil surface. It is not a common problem, but when it does show up it will almost always be in bermuda. Good maintenance efforts will generally diminish the need to dethatch your lawn. Most of us never have to do it.

Finally, aerating involves removing plugs of soil and organic matter from the top couple of inches of the lawn. It allows moisture and nutrients to penetrate into the holes, therefore, into the soil. Unless you have terrible soil compaction, this, too, will probably be optional.

Roses of Sharon are lovely summer-flowering shrubs. They do vary a good bit in their mature height and growth form, however, so be sure you planted a type that has the genetic potential to grow as tall as you had hoped.

Pruning will not help, other than perhaps to get the plants to thicken up.

Apply a high-nitrogen fertilizer in early spring and again in early fall.

Whether you move them yet this winter or not will be up to you. You should remember, however, that these are deciduous plants, so to use them as a screen still leaves four to five months that they would be bare.

Use a broadleafed weedkiller spray containing 2,4-D. You'll need to read and follow label directions carefully to avoid damage to desirable plants nearby. However, if you apply it carefully with a pump sprayer set to deliver a comparatively fine mist, and if you include one or two drops of a liquid dishwashing detergent to help the herbicide hold onto the leaves, you should see good results. I'm not a big advocate of weed-and-feed fertilizers as they bring too much risk of damage to trees and shrubs.

Mondograss (a.k.a. monkeygrass) can be dug and moved at almost any time of the year. Late winter and early spring are very good times, as the plants quickly reestablish in their new homes. Tennis-ball-sized clumps that you plant on 8-inch centers will give you a quick fill. Plant them closer together if you're planting on a slope. For the record, you'll want some type of barrier such as metal edging driven almost all the way into the ground to keep your mondograss from spreading into your lawn. Be sure, too, that you do actually want to line your bed with any plant. That will draw a lot of attention to the walk, when it's usually better to draw attention more toward the front door itself.

Pre-emergent weedkillers work only on annual plants. Bermuda comes back from its roots and runners. Adding further to your problem, anything that kills bermuda will also kill St. Augustine. The good news is that if you take better care of your St. Augustine in terms of mowing, watering and fertilizing it, it will crowd out almost all grasses, bermuda included.

Neil Sperry
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