Spring Frequently Asked Questions

What is happening to my peach tree? The leaves are curled and “blistered”.

You have a fungus called peach leaf curl. It should not kill the tree or harm the fruit. The best treatment is preventative. Fruit trees should be sprayed with a fungicide when dormant in the winter MONTEREY HORTICULTURE OIL AND LIQUICOP blended together will help prevent disease. A foliar spray containing kelp extract is helpful in spring to maintain the health of the new leaves. Try our MAXSEA KELP FERTILIZER if you get the “curl” Peach leaf curl only affects peaches and nectarines-curled leaves on other fruit trees is usually a sign of insect damage. Right now you can fertilize with DR. EARTH ALL PURPOSE FERTILIZER or DR.EARTH FRUIT TREE FERTILIZER .Both are available at the nursery.

There are little worms hanging from my oak tree! They are eating everything.

You have “fruit tree leaf rollers” commonly know as Oak worms. They arrive in spring and hang around by their silk just a few weeks. The best treatment is to spray the tree and surrounding plants with Bt. Bacillus thuringiensis, is a safe, organic insecticide that will just kill worms. A more natural treatment is to place Western Blue bird boxes in your yard and let the bluebirds (not blue jays) eat them for you. Blue birds have a huge appetite for worms and are very active at this time feeding their young. Use SAFER BT or CATERPILLER CLOBBER on your plants to stop the worms. You can also spray your petunias and geraniums to stop the budworms and on tomatoes to stop the hornworms.

Why do I have ants in my plants? The leaves are sticky and shiny.

Ants and aphids go hand in hand. The ants eat the honeydew secretions left by the aphids, and the aphids are eating your tender buds and leaves. Get rid of the ants and your aphid problem will not be so bad. Placing a band of TANGLE FOOT at the base of your plants will prevent the ants from climbing up the plant. A strong blast of water will knock the aphids off. MONTEREY TAKE DOWN GARDEN SPRAY or BUG BUSTER, both Earth Friendly products, will take care of both buggers. Ant traps placed at the base of the plant will eliminate the ants too. We carry TERRO ant traps (filled w boric acid) that will wipe out the entire colony safely. Releasing ladybugs will help control the aphids.

I have “alligator looking” bugs on my plants. Are they good guys or bad?

The larval or juvenile stage of ladybugs look like little alligators. These good guys eat more aphids than their adult counterparts. Provide an insecticide free area to keep your good bugs happy.

My plants have new growth but look “tired and yellow”, should I feed them. Why?

After our long, wet winters, plants need a shot of fertilizer to get growing in the spring. We recommend feeding most of your plants with or DR. EARTH ALL PURPOSE in late March/early April. For plants that require more acidity, we reccommend DR. EARTH CAMELLIA, AZALEA, AND RHODODENDRON FERTLIZER. Try to feed before a rain to wash that fertilizer into the soil. Do not feed too early, you do not want to encourage new growth until danger of frost has passed. OSMOCOTE slow release fertilizer is a great solution for people who are busy and forget to feed their plants!

Many people wonder why we need to feed plants in our yard when plants growing along the freeway or in the forest are not fed. In nature, Mother Nature takes care of feeding by allowing leave litter, animal manure, and dead plants to break down and slowly put nutrients back into the soil. In our yard, we clean up leaf litter and therefore this process does not occur. Plants along the freeway look great at 65 MPH, a closer look will show that they too are hungry. Healthy plants are more apt to ward off disease and insect problems.

What should I do to my lawn now? It looks good, but by summer-it looks terrible.

Check out our “Honey Do” list for the spring to see what type of fertilizer you need to use. Spring is a great time to aerate your lawn, reseed, and add some compost. Aerating is important to help air and water movement to your lawns roots. After aerating, rake up the cores, apply a thin layer of KELLOGG’S ORGANIC SOIL BUILDING COMPOST, and reseed. A healthy lawn will withstand the heat of summer better. Lawns should not be watered daily and no watering after 3pm. See our article on lawn care for more help. DR. EARTH LAWN FOOD,GB ORGANIC LAWN FOOD, and PROHIBIT FERTILIZER/PRE EMERGENT are in stock now.

If pre-emergent is used on the lawn in spring-wait until fall to reseed.

I am ready to start my veggie garden-is it too soon?

The general rule of thumb is you can plant you veggies when you can sit your bare bottom on your soil for 20 minutes. Planting too soon will not give you veggies sooner. Plants need warm soil to grow new roots and absorb nutrients. You can plant veggies through Memorial Day! Plant tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, melons, eggplant, cucumbers, corn.

Do not forget to plant herbs too! Use DR. EARTH VEGETABLE FERTILIZER to get your plants growing.

Help, I have bugs on my fruits and veggies? I have ants and spiders! What can I spray that is safe and Eco-Friendly?

There are many new safer/eco friendly pesticides and chemicals on the market. The “Green” trend is good for the Earth and environment. Here are a few new products.

SERENADE is a beneficial bacteria that eats fungus and bacteria. It helps control bacterial leaf spot, powdery mildew, rust, grey mold, blights, scab, fire blight, and more. It is OMRI listed too.

MONTEREY TAKE DOWN GARDEN SPRAY will kill all stages of insects including eggs. It can be used during the dormant and growing season. It is Pyrethrin based in canola oil.

MONTEREY BUG BUSTER is a spray to prevent spiders, ants, caterpillars, grasshoppers. It synthetic and can be used on lawns, around plants, fruits and veggies and as a perimeter spray.

SAFER DIATOMACEOUS EARTH contains diatomaceous earth and will help control all crawling insects-like ants, beetles, and roaches. It is also Eco Friendly

Many plants can be treated with systemic chemicals, such as BAYER ALL IN ONE ROSE AND FLOWER CARE or BAYER TREE AND SHRUB to prevent insects. Systemic chemicals are safer for the environment and last longer. “Systemic” means it is absorbed through the plants vascular system and works from the inside out.

What is happening to my evergreen trees? They are losing lots of leaves.

Most evergreen trees drop the majority of their “old” leaves in early spring. Magnolias. Redwoods, and Camphors are a few. You should see new growth at the branch tips. Feed your plants DR.EARTH ALL PURPOSE FERTILIZER and add the fallen leaves to your compost pile.

How do I start a compost pile? What can I put in it?

Late fall/early spring are great times to create compost piles. You can add grass clippings, leaves, weeds (that have not produced seeds yet), kitchen waste, and manure from herbivores. Adding newspaper will give your pile the needed “brown” matter and bring earthworms . Do not add meat/dairy products, diseased plant material, or animal droppings from carnivores. See our article on composting on the web page for more info.

We now have COMPOST SACKS in stock for those who want to compost and need a convenient composter that is easy to use and portable.