Tookie

The Peace lily is also called a "closet plant" and requires a lot of water, so you can also take it out of the dirt and place it in a jar of water. Change the water weekly and you're good to go. I've had one for 4 years and sometimes add a little Miracle Grow and it will bloom a nice white flower.

worrywart

1moremom, where are you?! Now that I've had my plants in the ground for about 10 days, I've got black caterpillars crawling through the beds. What are they and how do I get rid of them? (I warned you that I'm a newbie.)

Moominmama

worrywart, here's the "eewww" technique: Take a bucket of soapy water, and put on your gardening gloves. Pick the caterpillars off the plants and drop them in the soapy water. Or, if you're feeling like to you need to vent off some aggression, gently place the caterpillars on a stone and firmly place another stone on top. Apply pressure.

Or. you could gather up one or two in a baggie, plus some of the damaged leaves they are chewing on, and take them to your local upscale nursery --preferably one that tries to find non-toxic solutions to these pesky problems. Make sure the baggie is well sealed.

Or, call the local county extension agent, and be prepared to minutely describe the beasties -- this means you BRING THEM INTO YOUR HOME -- or take the phone outside.

dmd77

It's also possible that your black caterpillars are not bad insects. Caterpillars (as we should all remember) do become butterflies. If they're black, they're not cabbageworms, which are not a good thing. Is it possible they're not caterpillars, but slugs? (Slugs don't have legs; caterpillars have six of them, all of them segmented.) Try this website: http://www.whatsthiscaterpillar.co.uk/america/hairy.htm

worrywart

You're both terrific! Thanks. (Loved the "Apply pressure"!) I have no problem with that.

over30

Slugs and voles are the worst enemies of hostas. Voles (and moles and gophers too I assume) burrow underground and eat the roots. In the south many gardeners plant hostas with a wire basket around the roots to prevent the munching. I have tons of hostas, however, and have never had a problem with root chewers. The slugs can be taken care of by removing all leaves and mulch from around the plant, using a commercial slug killer, sprinkling diatomaceous earth around the plant, or putting out saucers of beer at night (you'll have to remove the corpses in the morning and replinish the beer).

Note: Diatomaceous Earth is the hard shells of sea creatures. These shells have sharp edges and tend to tear an insect up from the inside out. Diatomaceous Earth is not harmful to humans or other large animals.

I do have chipmunks that have eaten most of the roots of a dogwood tree. The thing is leaning at a precipitious angle, but still blooms like crazy every spring. It won't hurt anything when it finally falls, so we're leaving it alone.

The black caterpillars are most likely going to turn into something beautiful. They can be destructive, but worth it in my opinion.

1moremom

If they are little caterpillars and you are in the eastern U.S., they could be tent caterpillars. Definitely apply pressure to them.
I am also a hosta junkie, a dangerous and potentially expensive habit.

JMParent

worrywart - If you have deer around, some of the plants, especially the hostas. WILL be eaten to the very root. You have to be very diligent to protect them.

There are some good deer repellent products on the market, but I would apply them more often than instructed.

worrywart

Hi JM, that much I do know which is why I'm finally planting a garden after 22 years of living in deer country-- we put in a 6 ft fence this year. Of course, I still check first thing each morning to make sure no one has jumped it during the night.

dmd77

1moremom: Tent caterpillars do not crawl around on the ground. They make tents up in the trees. Gypsy moths, however, do. But they're not black.

emeraldkity4

I have a question that I am embarrased to ask Ciscoe.
about 18 years ago my husband planted a doug fir that had been a living xmas tree by our front walk ( in a really bad place but that is another story)- the tree had been in a cardboard pot, but despite my warnings- my husband thought it would disintgrate and he wouldn't have to remove it from the pot so he didn't!

It has been growing, but it just seems narrow for a evergreen- is there anything I can do?

Moominmama

EK, have it taken out before it gets any bigger! If it's in the wrong place now, it'll only get worse -- those puppies get huge, and it'll eventually need some expensive branch thinning so it won't drop branches on your head. Of course by then it'll likely have buckled the walkway.

Maybe the marmots from SA will drive a car into it so your husband will see that it's damaged and needs to be removed before trunk rot sets in?

1moremom

dmd, of course you are right.

worrywart

Okay, I'm back for more advice. Which fertilizer do you recommend for perennials? Which proportion of nitrogen to other stuff? (That's the extent of my technical-eese). My plants are blooming beautifully (minus a couple of bleeding hearts that seem to have rotted out) and I'd like to keep them that way. Thanks all!

Moominmama

Look for a balanced fertilizer, where the numbers are roughly the same, like 4-4-4. I like a mild, organic-type fertilizer. Go to your local non-chain, upscalish nursery and talk to someone on the staff. They will be very knowledgable and helpful about brands available in your area.