The following science-based articles may help you answer questions from the community.  Rosanne Sherry, URI Consumer Horticulture Educator, recommends you read them to help sharpen your own gardening and educator skills! Please send comments or suggestions for articles to rsherry@uri.edu.

From Master Gardener Recommended Horticulture Best Management Practices.

http://rockingham.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/rockingham_ext_vt_edu/files/horticulture/homeownerMGBMPlink.pdf

Practices that should always be recommended:

Vegetables

• Rotate crops to avoid the buildup of pathogens and pests in the garden
• Test the soil to learn the pH and nutrients already present
• Determine soil drainage capacity before planting
• Utilize companion planting/intercropping to attract beneficial insects and to take advantage of symbiotic biochemical and cultural benefits
• Use cover crops/green manures to improve soil nutrients and structure
• Practice right plant, right place, in order to take advantage of garden microclimates- hot areas, light angles and moisture sinks, when planning your garden layout.
• Identify insects (friend or foe), diseases or weeds and susceptible life cycles and evaluate the extent of the problem before taking remedial action (using the least toxic alternative).

Irrigation

• Improve compacted soil by aerating, double digging
• Select cultivars of plants and seeds that are bred for resistance and tolerate local conditions.
• In times of low precipitation irrigate landscape plants deeply and infrequently, at a rate of 1″ per week
• Irrigate early in the morning, rather than late at night, to minimize evaporation losses and allow the grass to dry off before evening.
• Irrigate deeply and infrequently while avoiding runoff. Light, frequent watering encourages shallow roots.
• Calibrate your irrigation system to deliver approximately 1 inch of water per week. Let cool season grasses go dormant in summer.

From UMASS Hort Notes Aug. 2017

Hosta Virus X (HVX) was first identified in 1996. Hosta enthusiasts have since been watchful for symptoms of the virus, which can include stunted, warped, or puckered leaves, color breaking or mottling (“inkbleed”), necrosis, and ring spots. These symptoms can be very subtle, and some plants will show no symptoms at all. Despite growers’ best efforts, plants infected with HVX are sometimes still propagated.

Most plant viruses have specialized relationships with the vectors that spread them. The most common type of vector is an insect pest such as aphids or thrips. HVX, however, has no known biological vector. The virus is spread mechanically, when sap from an infected plant is carried or splashed onto another plant. The virus needs a wound in order to infect, but this wound may be as tiny as a broken leaf hair. The virus is also spread by the propagation of infected daughter plants or infected seeds.

HVX does not kill plants; in fact, the color breaking symptom sometimes produced by the virus may even be considered desirable. A few hosta varieties were once propagated and admired for unique coloration that was eventually attributed to HVX.

There is no treatment for HVX once a plant is infected. Symptomatic plants should be dug up and destroyed. The virus can persist only in living tissue, so wait at least one season before replacing one hosta with another hosta to ensure any roots left in the soil have died. Be sure to clean gardening tools thoroughly between plants. If the problem is persistent, consider planting cultivars that are known to be resistant to HVX. ‘Bessingham Blue’, ‘Frosted Jade’, and Great Expectations’ are among several cultivars considered to be highly resistant to HVX.

Hostas can also get other viruses, such as impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV), which is transmitted by thrips.

From UMASS Landscape Message August 11, 2017

Pollinator Protection Resource Online: The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has developed a Massachusetts Pollinator Protection Plan. It is a set of voluntary guidelines that discuss best management practices for stakeholders seeking to promote the health of the European honeybee and other pollinators. This document includes information for beekeepers, pesticide applicators, land managers and farmers, nurseries and landscapers, and homeowners and gardeners. Please locate the MA Pollinator Protection Plan for more information here: http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/agr/farmproducts/apiary/pollinator-plan.pdf

Plant of the week: Hylotelephium spectabile (Sedum spectabile), stonecrop

Hylotelephium spectabile, formerly known as Sedum spectabile, is a succulent, upright, mounding herbaceous perennial growing 18-24” tall and wide. The flat, fleshy leaves are coarsely toothed, dull-green to blue-green and up to 3” long. The star shaped, small pink flowers emerge in late summer and last until frost. Flowers fade to a darker pink as they age. The species is not commonly found in commerce, but there are a large number of cultivars offering different sizes and flower colors.

Hybrids of Hylotelephium spectabile and Hylotelephiumtelephium are also common, and include H. ‘Autumn Joy’. Plants are best grown in dry to medium soil in full sun. A floppy growth habit develops when plants are grown in too much shade. Plants are drought tolerant and need good drainage for best performance. Hylotelephium spectabile has no serious insect or disease problems. Stonecrop can be planted as specimens or groups in perennial borders and rock gardens.