Don’t spread unhappiness with fertilizers

One thing that gets us gardeners upset is people who use broadcast seed and fertilizer spreaders – either hand held or wheeled – for putting on weed-and-feed fertilizers. It ends up killing the neighbors’ flowers, as it can throw the weed killer out many feet on either side. I have had people on both sides of me do this more than once.

P.D. Spokane

I have to agree with you. While using weed and feed is convenient, people don’t always stop to think about what they are doing. With the fall fertilizer-spreading season coming up, it is a good time to remind folks that the “weed” part of a weed and feed mix not only kills weeds in your lawn, it will kill any other broadleaf plant it comes in contact with; annuals, perennials and some shrubs. If you are using a weed-and-feed product, apply it with a drop spreader that simply drops the granules on the ground as you wheel it along. They go right where they are supposed to and not into flower beds. Better yet, apply fertilizer to the entire lawn and then go back in and apply a weed killer only to areas that have weeds. By putting it only where it’s needed you don’t put too much into the environment, where overuse is becoming a major source of pollution.

Battling whiteflies

We have been in Spokane for only three years and have a small yard that is beautiful in the spring through midsummer. Then the whiteflies come, and by the middle of August we are dumping some of our pots because of damage. We have been spraying this year and it helps a little. We change the dirt in our pots each spring. What can we use to control them, and how do we prevent them from coming back?

New to Spokane

Whiteflies are tiny insects that live on the underside of leaves of plants. They suck plant juices, and if there are enough of them, they can cause the leaves to wilt, turn yellow and drop off. This reduces photosynthesis and weakens the plant. Whiteflies are white, about 1/16 inch long and tend to fly out of the plants in clouds when they are disturbed. The best thing you can use on them right now is an insecticidal soap applied every five days. The spray must reach the undersides of the leaves where the bugs live. Next spring inspect the starter plants you buy carefully at the store. Run your hand over the display and see if any bugs fly out. If they do, go somewhere else to buy your plants. If certain plants seem to be infected by them, don’t buy those plants. Encourage the presence of ladybird beetles, spiders and parasitic wasps that will eat them. Clean up the area around the plants at the end of the season. It probably wouldn’t hurt to scrub out your pots before you put them away.