Spring chores now at hand
By ROBERT KESSLER Penn State Cooperative Extension Franklin County office

COMING EVENTS

March 17 - Franklin County 4-H Pig Club re-organization Meeting, 7:30 p.m., Franklin County Extension office, 181 Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg.

March 17 - Cooking for Crowds, Franklin County Human Services Building, 425 Franklin Carm Lane, Chambersburg.

March 17 - Franklin County Animal Rescue Team, 6:30 p.m., Franklin County Extension Office, 181 Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg, open to the public.

April 3, 10, 17 and 24 - Beginning Beekeeper's Shortcourse, Franklin County Cooperative Extension office, call (717) 263-9226.

April 15 - Goat & Sheep Producer Meeting, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Franklin County Extension Office, Rm. 3, call (717) 263-9226.

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SPRING CHORES

It is now March and it will soon be officially spring. It is already Daylight Savings Time, so we have daylight now to get some yard work done in the evening before dark. Here are a couple suggestions of things you can do.

- If you have ornamental grasses, you can remove the brown dead foliage that you left on the plant for the winter. By now with all the winds we have had, it is pretty tattered. One easy way to trim it is to use a belt, rope or string to hold the old stems in a tight bundle, then cut them off with a gas or electric chain saw; or if you have a saw attachment for your weed trimmer, you can use it. If not, pruning tools or even a tree trimming hand saw will work. By removing the dead foliage now, your new growth will get started sooner in spring because the plant will warm up sooner.

- Once you have the ornamental grass cut off, check to see if the clump should be divided. You can tell by looking at the center of the clump. If it looks like the inside is not growing as well as the outside, it probably needs to be divided into several slumps, which you can relocate.

- Next, check your lawnmower. If you serviced it last fall, it will be ready to go, but if not, then you need to get it serviced before you start this season. Check your owner's manual to see how to clean or replace the air cleaner and spark plug. You also need to take off the blade and put on a sharp one if you have an extra set or take your blade to be sharpened now before the spring rush. You don't want to start the mowing season with a dull blade that will tear the blades of the grass.

- Walk over your lawn and if you notice any bare spots, you can seed these anytime the ground is dry enough that you can work it in. Loosen the soil in the bare spots and scatter some seed on the area and then slightly cover it with soil, and firm it slightly with your hand. If you have larger areas, then you will be using rakes etc. to do this. Seed will then lay dormant until it gets warm enough that it will germinate and start growing. Be sure you patch the spots with a grass similar to what you already have. If you are not sure what type of grass is in your lawn, use a seed mix that has two to three varieties of bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and a fescue. Stay away from an inexpensive spot and repair mix that has a lot of annual grasses because they will look fine this year and then die next winter leaving you a thin or bare spot. Be sure to water these spots or put a little straw over them to help the grass seed germinate.

EARLY SEASON WEEDS

IN YOUR LAWN

One of the earliest weeds to show up in your yard in the spring will be wild onion and wild garlic. These two plants look very much alike, but they have their own odor, so if you really want to know what you have, pick off a few leaves and smell the torn ends. If it smells like an onion, then that is what you have. A troublesome weed that also shows up early is Starof Bethlehem. It also grows from bulbs, but has a flat leaf with a light mid rib. It has been sold as an ornamental but can escape and become a bad weed in lawns. The leaves are hollow in cross section. The plant will get a white flower which is why it was grown as an ornamental.

As mentioned, all of these weeds grow from bulbs so control of the bulbs is very important to getting control of these weeds in your lawn. We can get fairly good control of wild onion and wild garlic with a product that contains 2, 4 - D and dicamba. Spray the weeds when they are small or after they are mowed once you start mowing your lawn. Be sure it is at least 50 degrees when you spray the weeds.

Star-of-Bethlehem is very difficult for homeowners to control. If you have a serious problem with Star-of-Bethlehem, you should have a professional applicator spray your lawn with one of the products he can purchase that contains the chemical Carfentrazone, which will give good control, but will not kill 100 percent of the weed. They may also have other products that will control the Star-of-Bethlehem. If you have this weed, start this spring to get it under control because it may take more than one year.

FRUIT DISEASE

CONTROLS

There are several diseases in fruit that a homeowner can easily control with dormant sprays. Peach leaf curl is a very common disease that causes leaves to thicken and get miss-shapened and fall off early. This problem occurs when the leaves just emerge from the bud. Control can be achieved by applying a spray of lime-sulfur, fixed copper or Bordeaux mixture. Any garden center should have at least one of these. Spray your peach trees soon and before the buds start to swell on the peach trees.

If you grow any raspberries, you probably have had a problem with anthracnose. It is a fungal disease that causes reddish purple spots to occur on young canes. It can lead to death of the canes, defoliation and poor fruit quality. The fungus overwinters on the canes and then in the spring the fungus produces spores that infect the new growth.

Sanitation is an important part of control. Go out now and remove old canes that have a sunken gray spot on the canes. Remove spindly canes to help get better air flow through the existing canes. Then spray your raspberry canes with lime sulphur (the same as for peach leaf curl). This should be applied while the raspberries are dormant and again just before the buds start to open. This will give you good control of anthracnose.

If you grow fruits in your backyard, you probably have learned how to deal with the diseases and insects that plague fruit growers. If you want to plant fruit trees in your backyard, be sure you have learned about how to grow good fruit and be aware of the problems you may encounter. Growing fruit is not easy. If it was, we would not have lost as much of our orchards that we once had in Franklin County.

Robert Kessler is an extension educator specilaizing in consumer, horticulture and energy issues.