This week I answer questions from readers: Q. I have this horrible weed/flower invading the grass in my front yard. It had little blue flowers in early spring. It has spread through about half my yard. How do I get rid of it? A. You have violets in your lawn - and violets are hard to eradicate. I don't think a broad-leaf herbicide will kill them and a broad spectrum herbicide would kill everything.
You might try covering the lawn with black plastic for a couple of years, then removing the surface soil containing the violet seeds, bringing in new soil and seeding the grass. This is so onerous, however, it's almost unworkable.
In any case, I wonder where the violets came from? If the source of the violet seeds (neighbours? city land?) is still there, seeds could blow in again and you'd have the violets back.
Your best bet is to shade the violets out by letting the grass get a little longer and treating your lawn so
well it stays lush and thick. The violets will remain because they have very deep roots, but they won't be as visible because they'd be submerged in long grass. Nor will they spread as fast because grass is a strong competitor.
Q. Last year my zucchinis all fell off the stems when they were about five centimetres long. Any advice? A. Your zucchinis have a pollination problem. This is happening to more gardeners now that honeybees are vanishing from gardens.
Bumblebees and many tiny wild flies (resembling wasps) still pollinate flowers. Mason bees aren't much help with zucchinis and other late-flowering vegetables because mason bees are dead by the beginning of June.
It would be best to plant pollinator-attracting flowers near your zucchini area. These include dill, chervil, coriander, mint, fennel and Sweet Cicely. If you let a few carrots, cabbage or parsnips go to seed nearby, they'll also draw masses of pollinators.
Your alternative is handpollinating the zucchini flowers. The female flowers have a small, round knob in the centre of the bloom. The male flowers have spiky stamens. You could take a new
paintbrush and brush pollen from the male flowers into the female blooms.
Hand pollinating is more work than adding pollinating plants but you'll need it if your first female zucchini flowers open before the pollinator-attracting flowers do.
Q. I want to move some tulips for next spring. Shall I leave them where they are or can I store them until the fall after the foliage has died back? How do I do this? A. Digging and storing is best. That's because tulip bulbs need thorough drying otherwise they tend to get fungus diseases.
Some tulips can come back for several years if the bed they're in is never watered in summer and we have a dry summer. But if we have a wet summer, fungus diseases will strike. For storing, dig up your tulips when the leaves turn yellow and take them inside until they completely dry. Then clean off the soil, discard any diseased or damaged bulbs and let them dry more. Then store in a mesh bag or in cardboard boxes and replant next fall.
Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions. Send them to her via [email protected]. It helps if you can tell me the name of your city or region.
