QUESTION: I have a line of blueberry bushes that I have placed pinestraw underneath to keep down the weeds. This does a good job except for the nut grass. I have tried Round-up and it does not effect it. What can I use to get rid of this and still be safe for my blueberries?

ANSWER: Nutsedge is a difficult plant to control. The mulch you applied is good, but make sure it's a 2- to 4-inch layer. As you notice, once the nutsedge starts, it's hard to stop. You can wear the plant out with Roundup, but you need to apply a 5-percent solution of a 41-percent active ingredient Roundup (Roundup Pro, and to make a gallon of spray solution, you need 7 ounces of Roundup Pro per gallon). Apply to plants now, and then to 4-inch regrowth. This should just about do the plants in. Another product you could use is Manage. It can be used post-directed around woody ornamentals. As with Roundup, you need to be careful not to apply the spray to bark or foliage or allow the spray drift to contact the bark or foliage. (For more information on nut grass, or nutsedge, look in the Georgia FACES archives for Czarnota's 8/29/01 article, "Nut Grass a Mighty Hard Weed to Control.")

- Mark Czarnota
UGA horticulture weed scientist

QUESTION: This is our first year growing Kiowa Blackberries. The plants are sending out canes that are trailing the ground. Should we trim them or just tie them up along trellis?

ANSWER: Tying up the canes is best. It allows you to spray a herbicide under the vines this summer and get maximum yield next year. For additional information, see The Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium.

- Gerard Krewer
UGA horticulturist

QUESTION: My cannas look eaten up, and I'm told they have been infested
with Canna Borers. How and when do you control these?

ANSWER: The situation you describe sounds like canna leaf roller. Is the problem a caterpillar that gets in the developing leaf and ties it up, then chews it all up so that the tops of the cannas never unfold and wind up breaking over? This is the most common complaint with cannas, and it can be a challenge to control because the moth lays her eggs in the whirl of developing leaf tissues and the small worm immediately starts to tie the leaf down. This forms a nice shelter for the caterpillar and makes it tough to get any insecticide to the target. The key is to apply the insecticide often enough that there isn't any unprotected leaf for the moth to lay an egg on. Several insecticides are effective, including Sevin, Bayer Advanced (the formulation with cyfluthrin), and others. Dipel and other Bt products are also effective, but they wash off easily with rain or irrigation and would need to be reapplied more frequently. Your county Extension agent can help you with the choice of control products. If this is not the pest you have, give me a description or call your county agent to come look.

- Will Hudson
UGA entomologist

QUESTION: I am going to purchase a lime, lemon and plum tree to grow in large pots in my back yard. Can you give me recommendations on varieties that do well in South Georgia and let me know a good place to purchase them? I read your article on "Fertilizing Fruit Plants" in our local paper.

ANSWER: The University of Georgia Extension Service has a home garden plum publication, but the old citrus bulletin is not on the web. A partially self-fertile plum is a Methley. Plant a satsuma, not a lemon or lime. Satsumas are hardy to about 18 degrees. The Meyer lemon could be grown, but it would need protection below about 24 degrees. Kumquats are great in pots and hardy to about 15 (if hardened off).

- Gerard Krewer
UGA horticulturist

QUESTION: I'm trying to find some good garden mulch, free of seeds and plant roots -- just mainly wood mulch. In the past, I have gotten mulch that had everything in it. Now that it has decomposed, I have a large variety of unwanted weeds and plants. Can you help me?

ANSWER: I really wish I could tell you where to get this type of mulch, because I surely would get as much as possible myself. Mulch is just that: mulch. It doesn't go through a composting process in which it heats up and kills harmful organisms such as weeds. Even with the composting process and high temperatures, not all of the weed seed are killed. I make compost and reach 140 degrees plus and still have many weeds germinating. With any mulch there will be invasive weeds to an extent. The commercial pinebark and pinestraw are usually the most weed-free of all mulches. Any of the other mulches that are ground material will contain certain amounts of weed seed. This is especially true where there are large amounts of grass being incorporated into the product. Wish I had the answer you're looking for. Unfortunately, though, it's not there.

- Wayne McLaurin
UGA horticulturist

QUESTION: Can shredded newspapers be used as mulch in vegetable garden? Will red and blue color ink have any harmful effect on plants and soil?

ANSWER: Congratulations! You have just decided to put the newspaper to its very best use! Papers today are all using soybean-based inks and not the petroleum-based ink they used in the past. No problem with the ink. One thing that I would advise is to put something over the shredded paper to keep it from blowing. Also, keep it about 1 to 1.5 inches thick.

- Wayne McLaurin
UGA horticulturist

QUESTION: We have a satsuma orange tree that is six to seven years old. The tree appears to be healthy and is covered with blooms every spring and tiny fruits begin to grow. Very shortly, all the fruits but two to six oranges drop while they are about one-eighth inch across. The few remaining are so sweet and delicious. We were told to add lime to the soil and we did, without success. Maybe not enough? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

ANSWER: Adjust the pH to between 6.0 and 6.5. There may also be a shortage of bees for pollination or problems with the weather during pollination. Use a camel-hair brush to pollinate the flowers by hand. Do this on a warm, sunny day.

- Gerard Krewer
UGA horticulturist

QUESTION: I live in north Florida and have been hearing wonderful things about Gulfprince peaches and Gulfrose, Gulfbeauty and Gulfblaze plums. Where can I buy them?

ANSWER: You can find Gulfprince at any of these nurseries:
Cumberland Valley Nursery (800-492-0022), Vaughn Nursery (www.tnnursery.com/VaughnNursery/ or 931-934-2715) or HollyDale Nursery (www.hollydalenursery.com/ or 800-222-3026).

We do not have a list for the plums, but you can get that information from the Florida Seed Foundation at 850-594-4721.

- Gerard Krewer, Kathy Taylor
UGA horticulturists

QUESTION: I was wondering if anyone there is an expert on peach trees. I live outside of Atlanta and planted a peach tree in my front yard in a well-drained, full-sun location. So far, I have never been able to get the fruit to survive. I've been spraying every 10 days with Ortho standard fruit powder mixed according to instructions on the box. Here's the problem. Each year (in late April) the green fruit, about the size of an almond, emits a clear, gelatinous gook and then dies. Do you have any idea what this might be and what I might do about it?

ANSWER: You could be seeing an occasional fruit with plum curculio infestation. The females lay their eggs in the young fruit, and the larva feeds in the fruit. But even with these infestations, some of your fruit should mature, especially since you are spraying your trees. It's possible you don't have a variety appropriate to your area. If the variety has a low chill-hour requirement (below 600 hours for Atlanta), the trees will flower too early, and the developing fruit may be damaged by a late frost and abscise, or fall off. Frost-damaged fruit can exude a clear, gelatinous material, too. If the variety has a high chill-hour requirement (above 1000 hours for your area), the fruit may never mature properly. My best guess, without knowing the variety and considering your spray program, is that you have an early variety that's getting damaged by frost. You will know this if you cut through the seed (this time of year you may need clippers) and it's brown rather than clear or white. If this is the case, you'll need to buy a more appropriate variety for your location. Redhaven, Majestic, Monroe and Sunprince are good peach varieties for your area.

- Kathy Taylor
UGA stone fruit horticulturist

QUESTION: I live in Texas and I would like to know how I can purchase Scarlet Fox. I was in, Helen, Ga., where I bought a bottle of the wine. I cannot find it in Texas.

ANSWER: Habersham Winery in Helen, Ga., has a "Scarlett" wine. The winery has a Web site (www.habershamwinery.com) with contact information.

- Gerard Krewer
UGA horticulturist

QUESTION: How do I grow squash (zucchini, yellow) and cucumbers without that pesky worm or caterpillar that drills in the base of the plant and kills it? I've heard you can poke it with a wire to kill it. I can't seem to catch it early enough and there's several holes. I only get maybe two fruits. I thought it was better this year, planting more mature plants with sturdier stems, but they got them also. I'm used to New Jersey, where you produced way to many zucchini and tomatoes.

ANSWER: These are most likely squash vine borers. They can be hard to control. The best thing to do is to plant the crop as early as possible and don't wait until populations of the pest build up. Scout plants regularly and treat them before the first sign of invasion with a registered garden product such as Sevin or esfenvalerate (Asana XL).

- Bob Westerfield
UGA horticulturist

QUESTION: I moved to the mountains of northeast Georgia three years ago from south Georgia. I would like some information on growing tomatoes in the mountains. I live in Rabun County, at an elevation between 3,500 and 4,000 feet.

ANSWER: In the area you are moving to, you should be able to grow any of the cultivars you grew in south Georgia. You can grow more, too, and a good one is Mountain Pride -- a wonderful tomato. The main difference is when you can plant. At that elevation, you'll have a frost date of somewhere around May 1 to May 10 -- much later than you had in south Georgia. However, the tomatoes will continue to produce much longer, due to the cooler weather.

- Wayne McLaurin
UGA horticulturist