Control creeping cucumber with spray or pull roots

Tag : cucumber

A: I feel sure you have creeping cucumber, Melothria pendula . Unlike a cucumber, it is perennial and continues to come up fromits roots each year. The best way to control it is to spray theleaves with glyphosate (Roundup, etc.) if they are not near yourgood plants. Or you can pull the vine from your bushes and from thesoil, trying to bring up as many roots as you can.
Q: We have been told that peanut shells are not good for mulch inflower beds because they attract nematodes. Is this the case?
LES KINNEY, e-mail
A: Peanut shells don't attract nematodes, but they might bring themin from where they were grown. Peanut farmers wage a constantbattle with nematodes. The tiny soil worms attack their crop at anychance. Some, but not all, of the nematodes that damage peanuts canharm landscape and garden plants. Unless you know specifically thatthe peanut shells come from nematode-free fields or that they havebeen treated to eliminate nematodes, I wouldn't use them.
Q: When is a good time to prune rosemary? How much?
JIMI ELLIS, e-mail
A: You can prune just about any time, but early April would be best.Try to leave a few inches of greenery on each stem you shorten. Ifyou cut back into the brown twigs, they will not re-sprout.
Q: Our 9-month-old boxer puppy chewed all of the bark off our plumtree. Is there anything we can do to save this tree?
MICHELE ALI, e-mail
A: I don't have good news. If the bark has been removed completelyaround the trunk, the tree will die due to the girdling. Most ofthe tubes that carry water and nutrients back and forth in the treeare right under the bark, in the cambium layer. If the tubes inyour tree are severed, nothing can help the plum. Plant another oneand wrap chicken wire loosely around the trunk to deter the puppy.
Q: My husband and I recently purchased a new lawn mower. We wouldlike to donate our old electric mower to charity. Can you suggestan organization?
DIANE RICCARDI, e-mail
A: What generosity! The Atlanta Tool Bank ( www.toolbank.org ) has 200 organizations that depend on it to loan them tools toclear lots, fix up dilapidated homes and make the city a nicerplace to live. They are conveniently located next to the expresswaynear Turner Field and would be delighted to accept your mower plusany other tools you think would be helpful to their mission.
Q: I want to plant in an area that's full of weeds. Would it bebetter for the soil to cut the tall grass down, wait two days andtill it under or spray Roundup on it, wait a while and till itunder? Is there any benefit to the soil getting "fresh material"vs. "chemically treated" material?
TIM TIMMERS, e-mail
A: I'd spray glyphosate (Roundup, etc), wait four days and till itinto the soil. The fresh material might have a negligible amount ofnitrogen in it, but either kind of tissue will add organic matterto the soil.