Q: I really want a butterfly bush but have read that they are invasive. What are your thoughts? Ruthanne DeRaimo, Coweta County
A: Just because it is called butterfly bush does not mean it is the best or only choice for a butterfly garden. There are many other plants that are just as good or better and that you don’t have to worry about becoming invasive. Here are some great nectar plants: ironweed, butterfly weed, Joe-pye weed, creeping phlox, abelia, liatris, Mexican sunflower, coneflower and single-flowered zinnias. Remember that if you want a successful butterfly garden, concentrate on larval host plants. They are the ones butterflies lay their eggs on and that the caterpillars eat. Most butterflies have specific needs and will only lay eggs on one type or family of plants. Adult butterflies will pass over a garden overflowing with flowers to get to one of their larval host plants. I know that other states have declared butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii, to be invasive, but the Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council does not list it as being problematic at this time. I’ll take their word for it. I note that several new butterfly bush hybrids are described as sterile. An online search yields more than a dozen.
Q: I plowed and seeded my very shady front lawn with shade-tolerant fescue last fall. It came in kind of thin. I’d like to overseed but also need to lay down preemergent. What is the best way to do this? Andrew Platto, email
A: You can’t apply both seed and a preemergent in spring. I think you should overseed lightly now with 3 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet. Fertilize now with any brand of lawn fertilizer that does not contain weed killer. Fertilize again in May at half-strength. In the future, cut your grass at your mower’s highest setting and water whenever the soil is dry. Carefully spot spray weeds. In your shady situation, I’d forgo area-wide weed killers altogether. Their effect on weak fescue roots is not worth the weed control you’d gain.
Q: Can you please recommend a product and process for tackling clumps of bluegrass weed in our zoysia sod? Andrew Wigley, Cumming
A: It’s almost impossible to selectively kill an undesirable grassy weed that’s growing in a desirable grass at this time of year. I’d carefully spot spray the bluegrass clumps with glyphosate and fertilize the zoysia twice this summer, in mid-May and in late July. Apply your preemergent in September.
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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