Q: I have a Meyer lemon tree in a pot outdoors for the summer. When we bought it, it had one lemon. But it has produced flowers twice and when the lemon reaches pea size they fall off. -- Ron Williamson, email
A: I think you have a lack of pollination. Meyer lemon is self-fruitful and will typically pollinate itself outdoors, but there is no harm in helping the process along. When you see an open flower, note that the pollen on the short filaments darkens after a day or so. This indicates the pollen is mature and ready to be transferred. Twist a piece of paper towel into a match-size stick and touch it a few times to the thin pollen-bearing anthers and then to the sticky yellow stigma in the center of the bloom. After a few days the flower will dry up and a tiny lemon will begin developing in its place.
Q: I live in France and I like St. Augustine grass but I don't know whether ‘Raleigh' or ‘Mercedes' is more cold-hardy. -- Morgan Savoyini, Paris
A: Paris is chilly in winter but I think St. Augustine grass would fare there just fine. ‘Raleigh' and ‘Mercedes' are the most cold-hardy cultivars of this grass but there is not much difference between them. Grass expert Tim Boyer said French lawn lovers grow bluegrass and fescue blends in the north, zoysia and cool season grasses in the central area and Bermuda, zoysia and St. Augustine grasses in the warmer French south.
Q: I have a pet rabbit, so I have plenty of rabbit manure I could use in my gardens. I would like to know if I can use it directly or if I need to compost it first. -- Kristin Howell, Jackson County
A: Rabbit manure contains more nitrogen than most animal manures so you are right to be cautious about using it. That said, if you use it sparingly, it shouldn't be a problem. I'd dig a two-inch-deep trench four inches from the base of a plant and drop in a quarter cup of pellets. Cover the pellets with soil. They will release nutrients for a month without burning the roots. Large tomato plants could use a half cup of "bunny power" every month.
Q: While researching composting, I’ve read that microbial activity is greatest when the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio is 30:1. How can I achieve that using only grass clippings and leaves? Are tea and coffee grounds and eggshells considered to be nitrogen or carbon? -- Ginny Myers, DeKalb County
A: It’s true that the 30:1 ratio is optimum for decomposition but nature rarely reads research. No matter what ratio you use, nature will find a way to break it down into something useful. Rather than consulting charts of the carbon and nitrogen content of various materials, I’d rather you mix brown landscape debris with green landscape waste in whatever proportion you have. Throw in a couple of handfuls of composted manure and the soil organisms will take over from there.
My rule of thumb is to start taking compost from a pile when you can barely tell what the original components were. In other words, when you can no longer distinguish plant stems, banana peels and individual tree leaves in the mix. Remember that you need a lot of compost to make a difference in your soil: typically one to three inches of organic material spread on a bed and mixed 10 inches deep.
Listen to Walter Reeves Saturday mornings on AM 750 and 95.5 FM News-Talk WSB. Visit his website, www.walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook Fan Page at xrl.us/wrfacebook for more garden tips.
