Wait for spring to move crotons azalea leaf drop is normal and extra back garden tips from Dan Gill | Dwelling/Backyard garden

I have some crotons that have developed truly properly above the final two yrs, and I would like to relocate them from the front of my home to the yard because of to measurement. Is it Okay to do so now, and if not now, when? — Gary

Since crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) are vulnerable to chilly harm through winter season, it is greatest not to move them now and anxiety them. Wait around right up until cold temperature lets up and shift them in late March or April. Get as a great deal of their roots as you can. That will ascertain irrespective of whether they endure the transfer.

I hope you can aid me. My azaleas have by no means appeared like this even in the dead of winter season. Loads of leaves are turning orange and dropping off. Thanks for your assist. — Trisha Molony

This appears to be purely natural leaf drop. Even though azaleas are evergreen, personal leaves do not reside eternally. Azaleas lose their oldest leaves someday amongst November and April.

The aged leaves of darker-flowering azaleas tend to transform orange before they drop. The aged leaves of white- and paler-flowering azaleas are likely to change yellow before they drop. Vegetation may well seem a minimal thinner just after leaf fall, but they will glimpse high-quality yet again when the new, spring progress emerges.

I have listened to that if you moist down your vegetation ahead of a freeze it will assist safeguard them from destruction. I believe that I have viewed that citrus and strawberry growers do this. Will this function? — Chuck Bordelon

We have had a remarkably mild winter so much, but intense chilly is however achievable around the up coming 4 to six weeks. The brief solution to your concern is no. If the weather has been dry, it is significant to completely drinking water your landscape crops right before a freeze takes place. Vegetation that are drought-pressured often suffer additional injuries all through freezes even so, watering does not actually provide any defense to tender vegetation.

To guard plants with a masking of ice, the spray of drinking water need to start just prior to freezing temperatures start and continue on continuously until they end. Liquid water have to be constantly utilized for the protective gains to arise. This procedure is not frequently sensible in the common landscape and can direct to harm to the plant from the pounds of the ice and damage to the roots from excessive water when it melts.

We had a huge drinking water oak in our New Orleans garden that was eaten out by termites. We experienced it cut down, but a lot of chippings and filth continue to be. My husband wishes to use the chippings and dirt to fill in holes in our Amite yard. The tree also experienced seasonal caterpillars. We have several live oak trees on our Amite assets. If we transport that dust/wood chip mixture to Amite, will the termites and caterpillars that have been in that tree for yrs and years hitch a journey in that content and infest the trees in our Amite garden? — Terry

The caterpillars will not be transported, so that is not a problem. It is incredibly unlikely termites would be transmitted. Only a dwelling queen can build a nest, and they are extremely unlikely to survive the moment a nest is ruined and the workers dispersed. So, spreading termites to other oaks with the content is not really a worry. That said, I’m not a huge admirer of going wooden supplies all-around parishes.

The main concern is that utilizing a mixture of wooden chips and soil to fill holes is not a very good concept. The wood chips in the material will decay and vanish in excess of time, the level will sink and the holes will ultimately reappear. A little something like pump sand would be a considerably far better choice to forever offer with holes and lower places. The wooden chip/soil mixture could be stockpiled on-web page and authorized to compost (decay), then applied to create or enrich backyard garden beds.

Dan Gill is a retired client horticulture specialist with the LSU AgCenter. He hosts the “Garden Show” on WWL-AM Saturdays at 9 a.m. E mail gardening inquiries to [email protected].