Articles by Dr. Francis Gouin

Are You Committing Lawn Abuse?

Without a soil test, you can’t know what your lawn needs

Fall is the season to renew your lawn. Earlier this month, I advised you that lime is the best treatment you can give to your lawn. Now, I’m cautioning you that fertilizing your lawn may well be counterproductive. If you have been applying conventional lawn fertilizers for years, most likely you are wasting your money and contributing to the pollution of the Bay. Lawn grasses require very little phosphorus (P) as compared to nitrogen (N). A single...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 9/29/11

Split-Trunk Trees Are Shot

Don’t bother trying to put them back together

Irene left us many trees with split trunks. Splitting occurs mostly on shade trees with narrow crotches. Narrow crotches are weak and break easily when strong winds whip the branches back and forth. I have seen many people, including arborists, bolt these trees back together. It may seem that the operation was a success. But within eight to 10 years, the patient will have developed a good case of heart rot, and the tree will become a hazard. Fertilize Hollies in the Fall...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 9/22/11

Farewell to Toppled Trees

You can’t stick those root balls back in the ground

If Irene pushed over a tree in your landscape, chances are it will never recover, so it is best that you remove it and replace it. Over the years, I have seen many home gardeners and arborists try to rescue toppled trees by bracing them. However, I have never seen full recoveries, even after the trees have been braced for several years. Shortly after the braces are removed, the trees begin leaning. In the Garden this Week Repot Your House Plants Now Houseplants become...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 9/15/11

Grow a Lime-Green Lawn

Lime is inexpensive and the best boost for your lawn

The lawn is the pride and joy of many homeowners. Treat it right and you can keep it that way. If you have not had the soil under your lawn tested in the past three years or more, most likely it is quite acid. If so, you’ll get a bigger bang for your buck by applying lime in place of fertilizer. The addition of lime not only raises the pH of the soil to a more desirable level for plant growth but also supplies much-needed calcium and magnesium. The...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 9/8/11

The Stinkbug Plague

They’re feasting in your garden and invading your home

A number of Farmers Market customers have complained to me about stinkbugs in their vegetable gardens, and many have brought me tomatoes and peppers marred by punctures from stinkbugs. Some of the tomatoes show the creased cat facing similar to what I have mentioned seeing on peaches. Other tomatoes exhibit a puncture mark with the surrounding tissues turning brown. Another customer brought me several ears of corn, with the husk on, with much of the silk missing. After...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 9/1/11

Brown Leaves in Summer

What’s the deal?

At the Thursday Deale Farmers Market, a number of Bay Weekly readers have asked what is causing so many trees to turn brown. This year the browning of leaves started in late June and has progressed rapidly. The browning has nothing to do with drought, which some people blame. The black locust leaf miner is responsible. Because of the rapid spread, it appears that the insect over-wintered and had an early start on this year’s foliage. During the most...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 8/25/11

The Bay Gardener’s Four-Legged Companions

What’s a farm without dogs and cats?

The Gouins have had five dogs and four cats. Yoder, our first dog, was an Appalachian beagle, from near Grantville in the Appalachian mountains. His mother was a beagle and the father, a neighbor’s dog. He was given the name Yoder, which is Mennonite, because we purchased his first dog food at Yoder’s meat market and locker. Our second dog was a black cocker spaniel named Dixie, so named because we purchased her from a breeder in southern Virginia. She loved to...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 8/18/11

The Plant Doctor Is In

I enjoy challenges in trying to solve plant problems, but I’ll need a full case history

A growing number of Bay Weekly readers are coming to the Thursday afternoon Deale Farmers Market with plants to be identified or with plant problems. I don’t mind interrupting sales of peaches to answer your questions. However, I find that I am not able to provide much assistance because many people bring only a leaf, a single flower or a photograph. Others try to describe the symptoms. Plant identification requires more than a leaf or twig. Bring a branch so I can see...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 8/11/11

August Is a Great Time for Transplanting

Trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials move best now

Many home gardeners wait until spring to transplant in their landscapes. But if perennial plants such as trees and shrubs could talk, they would tell you that August and September are the best times for transplanting. In the Garden this Week Skip the Wound Dressing After Pruning It was once customary to apply an asphalt-based wound dressing to pruned surfaces. Extensive research conducted by Dr. Alex Shigo has conclusively demonstrated that wound dressing actually does a...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 8/4/11

Code Orange Means Danger to Plants As Well As People

Healthier plants mean more oxygen and a healthier you

While relaxing in my hammock under the shade of our mature cherry bark oak trees, I realized that my heritage river birch tree, growing in front on my house, was expressing air pollution symptoms. The older leaves were turning yellow and beginning to fall. I noticed similar symptoms on the magnolia and crape myrtle. In the Garden this Week Make the Right Pruning Cuts After reading last week’s timely tip on summer-pruning trees and shrubs, you’ll no doubt go to...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin; 7/28/11