Have enjoyable together with your protecting burlap wrap on evergreens – InForum

Q: People have loved our festive arborvitaes, which we wrapped within the fall with burlap after which added decorations for Christmas. Rabbits have been digging down and consuming the sod that was laid earlier, however they’re not getting by the arborvitaes! — Dori Okay.

A: Count the day misplaced you don’t study one thing new! Thanks for sharing your inventive thought.

Wrapping arborvitae with burlap has been completed for ages, however I’ve by no means seen the burlapped evergreens dressed up for the vacations. Your neighborhood is fortunate.

As a backstory, Dori and I exchanged emails this fall about defending their comparatively new arborvitae hedge. Burlap, utilized within the fall, can shield in opposition to devastating winter burn attributable to sunshine reflecting off the intense snow and desiccating winds.

As we mentioned on the time, burlap additionally discourages feeding by rabbits and deer, that are hungry for recent greens in winter. Rabbits and deer can devour arborvitae foliage so severely that nothing grows again, leaving the evergreens completely disfigured.

Thanks for sharing a enjoyable photograph.

Q: We learn your attention-grabbing dialogue final week of the Christmas tree recycled into an outside fowl feeder, together with the considerations of birdseed being scattered that might trigger undesirable crops sprouting in spring, and we’d wish to share some ideas. — Bob B.

A: As I all the time say, “We’re all in this together,” and sharing experiences is what it’s all about. Bob’s e mail continues: “The finest option to scale back undesirable crops within the spring is to make use of fowl seed that’s closely consumed.

“The cheaper mixes include low-cost commodities like milo and millet which can be eaten by much less fascinating birds akin to home sparrows. Milo is a pleasant reddish-colored seed that’s low-cost to develop and appears good in mixes, however is so laborious it’s solely eaten by birds like pigeons and turkeys, which most of us don’t wish to appeal to.

“Feeding black oil sunflowers is the best all-around seed. It’s high in oil, so is high in energy. A mix often means birds pull out the less desirable seed, knocking it on the ground and making a mess to get to the oil-heavy seeds like sunflowers. Uneaten seed ending up on the ground attracts mice, voles, rabbits, deer and turkeys.

“Many of us feed birds in the spring, such as goldfinches, with seeds like nyger, often referred to as thistle, but all nyger sold in this country is heat sterilized. Suet, peanuts, peanut butter and acorns are also good bird feeding commodities. We harvest bucket of acorns in the fall and feed to bluejays all winter.”

Thanks, Bob, for the nice strategies.

Q: I’d like to begin some geranium cuttings from some older crops I’ve obtained. Is it a good suggestion to make use of rooting powder to get the cuttings to root quicker? — Renae M.

A: Rooting hormones or powders, accessible from backyard facilities, may help induce quicker or extra prolific rooting of cuttings of many plant varieties. It’s not suggested by propagation professionals, although, for rooting geranium cuttings.

We realized this throughout our years of working a business greenhouse, wherein we rooted 1000’s of geranium cuttings yearly. The trade didn’t suggest utilizing rooting hormones on them, due to potential harm to the geranium’s tissue.

While rooting hormones are helpful for a lot of plant varieties, particularly difficult-to-root cuttings, geranium cuttings are normally finest rooted with out the remedy.

Although geranium cuttings will be rooted in water, utilizing a medium akin to sand, peatmoss, coconut coir, vermiculite, perlite, or mixtures, helps stimulate roots which can be extra fibrous, higher branched, and endure much less shock when transplanted into potting combine.

If you will have a gardening or garden care query, e mail Don Kinzler, NDSU Extension-Cass County, at [email protected]. Questions with broad attraction could also be revealed, so please embrace your identify, metropolis and state for applicable recommendation.