Careful with blackberry bushes

I have had blackberry bushes at the Pioneer Heritage Community Garden for a couple of years, but now it looks like the garden will be closed. Can you give me some tips on transplanting my blackberries to a new garden?

Deby Fredericks

Bummer! Water your planting well before starting this. On a cool, cloudy day or in the evening, carefully dig up the largest clumps of canes in manageable pieces, preserving them with a good clump of dirt around the roots. Try to keep as much of the soil around the roots as you can. Cut the canes to 3 to 4 feet and pack them into cardboard boxes or plastic buckets with holes drilled in the bottoms and move them to their new home immediately. Replant and water well. If you have to store them for a few days, put them in a shady place and water daily. They may wilt a bit but should come back. Good luck.

Fairy rings can be beat

What is the best way to get rid of the mushroom rings in the lawn? Any help will be appreciated.

C. Bingham

Fairy rings are not easy to get rid of but the following method will work. This method is based on research done by scientists at Washington State University and will take about a month of time and close attention to procedures. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes if you really want to get to the bottom of this.

1. Rake the mushrooms up or mow them off with the lawn mower. They will not hurt the lawn.

2. Aerate the area of the ring with a spade fork or crowbar to open passages to the grass roots. Go down at least three inches. Punch as many holes as you can, moving the fork or bar back and forth as you go, to break up the soil profile even more. You can core aerate but the coring tubes may not be long enough to give complete penetration.

3. Apply water with a wetting agent such as liquid dish soap or a commercial product to help the water penetrate the soil. Use 1 teaspoon of soap per gallon of water and pour several gallons on the ring. The soap will not hurt the grass or kill the fungus; the soap breaks down the surface tension of the water allowing it to flow more easily.

4. Then drench the area thoroughly with plain water to the point of having standing water. Do not use a sprinkler – it will not get enough water on the lawn. Use a hose for large areas and buckets for small ones.

Now to the hard part: Repeat steps two, three and four, every three days, for four weeks. The fairy rings will begin to disappear after about two weeks but do not give up. This process, though tedious, does work.