Q: Ten years ago, I planted a 10-by-25-foot area with daylilies. Over the past few years, liriope has invaded the bed. I want to get rid of the liriope and have tried digging it out but it keeps coming back and spreading further. Now all the daylilies have lost their leaves and gone dormant for the winter. Can I spray the liriope with RoundUp without killing the daylilies? Steve Roos, email
A: This is an ingenious idea. For safety, if there aren’t too many daylilies, put a handful of soil onto each daylily plant. Glyphosate (RoundUp) is quickly neutralized by soil, so once your daylilies are protected, you can spray the bed and kill the liriope. In my experience, it takes two applications to kill liriope, so respray in a couple of months, before the daylilies send up leaves.
Q: I noticed that one of the oak trees in our yard has leaves that are significantly larger than in prior years. Do you know why that might be? Diane Foley, email
A: Larger-than-normal leaves could be caused by a couple of things. Typically it’s because the previous year’s environment was better than normal. Maybe someone gave it extra fertilizer or more water. Unusually warm or wet weather can cause trees to produce larger leaves than normal. It is possible that some source of shade was removed. The leaves of seedling trees are often quite large for a couple of years so they can grab all the sunshine possible and compete successfully with nearby plants. Let me know if you think of a cause other than these.
Q: My neighbor told me their “yard guy” advised them not to mulch leaves onto a Bermuda lawn. I don’t think mulched leaves will hurt a Bermuda lawn. After all, it is pretty much dormant by late fall. Your thoughts? Wesley Hardegree, email
A: As long as the leaf pieces are dime-sized or smaller, they will settle into a Bermuda lawn just fine. It’s best to leave some of the brown grass blades sticking through the leaf layer. Almost immediately, earthworms from below and fungi from above will start digesting the leaves, turning them into a source of nutrients for the grass. The University of Georgia fertilizer recommendation for lawns states that you can reduce your fertilizer rates if you use a mulching mower, so you can save money by mulching lawn grass trimmings as well as fall leaves.
Email Walter at georgiagardener@yahoo.com. Listen to his occasional garden comments on “Green and Growing with Ashley Frasca” Saturday mornings on 95.5 WSB. Visit his website, www.walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook Page at bit.ly/georgiagardener, for his latest tips.
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