Rhubarb OK to compost

Do I need to worry about composting certain items in my garden? I thought of this while reading the article about rhubarb, and it got me debating whether I should be composting rhubarb leaves. Let me know if there are any “greenery” items that I should avoid.

Don Millikan

The only “greenery” material you shouldn’t compost is weeds with ripe seeds. Anything else, including rhubarb leaves, can be composted. The composting process breaks down the toxic essence of the rhubarb, so it is no longer a problem.

Other things to exclude from a compost pile include all meat and dairy products, fats and oils of any kind, and dog or cat feces and litter. The food products can draw unwanted visitors like raccoons, skunks and rats to the pile, and the dog and cat waste can carry parasites we humans can pick up.

Pine cone worms for birds

These little tiny worms are raining down from my pine trees. What are they and what should I do about them?

Julie Wilbur

They are pine cone worms, a fairly common worm found in pines and some other conifers, and this year they seemparticularly abundant. The folks at the Spokane County Master Gardener Plant Clinic have had a number of people asking about them.

The worms are a light tan, about a quarter- to a half-inch long and thin. The live ones I saw were quite active, but are harmless and won’t cause any damage to other plants or anything they rain down onto, but they may create a bit of a mess.

The worms are the larvae of a moth that laid its eggs in the cones on the tree. They drop to the ground on a thread to pupate and then turn into moths later this summer. There is no reason to treat them with anything but a broom and a dustpan or let the birds have a feast on them.

Pinch back begonias

I live in Bayview, Idaho, and I started my begonias a couple of months ago. It is still too early to put them out, but I have a problem with one. It is getting really leggy.

Can they be pinched back like other plants? If so, where do you do it, at the next flower bud or in the center of the plant?

Shirley Taylor

I am going to assume they are tuberous begonias and can be pinched back fairly hard, back to a leaf node. Within a couple of weeks they should start sending out new shoots and fill the plant back in.

This can also be done during the growing season, to head back plants and stimulate new growth. It keeps the plants bushy and compact through the summer.

Hopefully, by the time you read this, the weather will have settled down a bit and you won’t have to worry about putting them outside.