The fall brings Garden Festivals and Garden Tours to the Lowcountry along with corn mazes, pumpkin picking and other outdoor activities for the family. Charleston Garden Festival at Middleton Place will be Oct 17-19. For more information call: 556-6020 or go to their Web site: www.charlestongardenfestival.org. “Autumn on the Ashley: A Lowcountry Horticultural Fair,” will be held at Magnolia Plantation, Oct 11, 18, 25, 26 and Nov 1, 2.  For information call: 571-1266 or go to their Web site: www.magnoliaplantation.com.   

The fall also brings many webs to our Lowcountry trees.  Some are bad for the tree; some are good for the tree and are just Halloween decorations.  The web that is very close to the trunk and main branches, like a white stocking pulled tightly against the bark are tree cattle.  Tree cattle or bark lice are beneficial insects that clean organic matter out of the crevices of the bark of the tree.  They do no harm.  If you are a “web-a-phobic” you can spray the webbing off with a high pressure hose; however, you will be ridding your tree of a free maid service.  

The web that is out at the tips of the branches engulfing the foliage, are webworms.  The worms should be visible as well as half eaten foliage.  Webworms tend to favor pecan, walnut, hickory, persimmon, sweet gum, fruit trees and some maples. In the forest, natural predators do a good job of keeping this pest in check. In your landscape consider the size and age of the tree before treating. If your tree is young and you can easily spray it, use Bt (a bacteria that affects certain insects – biological warfare!). Organic products containing Bt are; Thuricide, and Dipel. The webworms devour the foliage on trees. The foliage is what the tree uses to collect sunlight and to make food for itself.  The repeated defoliation of a tree can permanently injure the tree. Spray the leaves next to the nest and the nest itself with Bt, and when the webworms eat the leaves, the bacteria will make them sick.

Fall is a good time for planning and planting. While planning your new landscape additions this fall, don’t forget the amendments to your soil.  Amendments will help to ensure a healthier plant next summer when the heat is on by growing a stronger root system throughout the fall and winter.  Soil test now for your 2009 program and any new areas that you are adding this fall.  Any of the Back To Nature products (Cotton Burr Compost, Natures Blend, Flower Bed Amendment, Composted Cow or Chicken Manure) will greatly improve your soil and your plants health.

 Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply, 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511).  Fax your questions to 406-2700 or e-mail them to your newspaper’s editors.  You can also call in your questions to the Garden Clinic, Saturdays 11:00-Noon, on News Radio 94.3 FM (721-TALK).  

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